Chapter 8 – Welcome to Years 3142, 5793 and 12375

About two and a half years ago I went to an international event that was connected to my research. You probably figured it out by now that I am a historian. So this event took place in Geneva, Switzerland and its duration was three days, first it was history, then physics and the last one was just networking between the two groups, meaning cocktails, food and talking.

And was I happy to see my friend, Dr. Ume Makito, an absolutely brilliant researcher, who actually works at The European Organization for Nuclear Research, as senior researcher and physicist dealing with theoretical physics on simulations and the predictions of black-holes appearing on Earth.

“Ume, is that you? Wow, what a pleasant surprise!” I yelled, scaring him.

*choking sounds* “You scared me, you know I get easily scared! But it’s good to see you, we haven’t seen each other in 10 years? It’s been so long. I attended your lecture yesterday, it was really good and I really liked how you made those smooth transitions between historical periods.” Ume said, with his eyes red from almost getting chocked to death.

As I extended my hand to shake his, I tried to see if he was a Brother, so I did the secret handshake, and he responded. “Ume, since when?” I asked him.

“Three years ago. Listen, do you want to have dinner tomorrow night? There’s something I need to show you, I discovered something that will blow your mind.”

“Oh man… why does this always happen to me? Please tell me it does not involve demons, witches or dancing skeletons.”

He took me aside and he whispered to me: “Cut the jokes. This is really big. I will not tell you now. See you tomorrow at 8PM at this address. I have to go to the CERN right now. It was a pleasure like always, tomodachi.”

So he wrote an address on a small paper that he tore out from his notebook and then he left. I wondered the city after that, went to my hotel and had a glass of whisky, then went to bed.

Next day, after I made some visits in the city at some friends I had there, I went on to meet Ume for dinner. The food was great, but at Ume’s request, we did not drink any alcoholic beverages.

“Not even a glass of wine? Come on, Ume, you’re exaggerating!

“Trust me, it’s better that we stay focused, you’ll drink whatever you want when you get home. But for tonight, we must stay absolutely 100% focused on the task ahead. Come on, let’s get the check and leave, time is of the essence.”

After we paid for dinner, we got a taxi to where Ume said he had his secret laboratory, where he did experiments outside of work and they where kind of forbidden. When I asked him what kind of experiments he did, not only did he tell me what, but he told me he finally figured it out, that it was working. He discovered how to travel to the future.

What he told me left me speechless. Like that was not enough, he told me that we would go to three different periods of time, one very far away from the others, so we will see how the world looks like thousands of years from now, but I was suddenly scared of what we might encounter in the future, so much that my mind just shut down completely for a couple of moments…

We arrived at his lab soon after, where I needed to drink some water, a lot of it because I knew Ume was not joking or lying. He was always so serious and he did not like any type of jokes.

“Tomodachi, are you alright? I did not want to scare you, but this is immense. Imagine the possibilities, what we will find when we go there tonight!” Ume said, as my heart skipped a beat.

“Going where tonight? Why me, Ume? Why didn’t you take one of your physicist friends? Why me, a mere historian, a nobody for your line of work?”

“Because you are paying very good attention to detail, that’s your job. And I don’t trust anyone else with this, in my field everyone tries to steal everyone’s inventions for money and fame… Especially something as groundbreaking as this!”

“Are you sure you want to do this; you have it all figured out? Are there any risks, did you calculate every single tiny thing so that we can return home safe and sound? What if it fails and we die?”

“I have taken every measure and nothing can go wrong. This is my entire life’s work, I cannot fail and I will not fail. These glasses will allow us to go to three different time periods, where we can stay for a maximum of seven hours in each year we will arrive to. The glasses have three small buttons, two on the right side and one on the left. I could not find a way to set the year manually, but I have managed to assign them a period of time, from the year 3000 up to 15000, and then the computer will generate three random years. I managed to tie both glasses together so that we can travel exactly to the same time, day and year and we will arrive in the same place in every one of those three years.

This one over here will form an invisible armor around us, allowing us to breathe inside it, in case the air is changed or something. And this right here… this will open the portals for us to go to where it is we will be going. Our journey will be the greatest in history but, I must admit, tomodachi, that I am a bit anxious as well. What will we see there, what we will encounter? When we will get back, this will be the most important discovery in the history of mankind. Promise me you will come with me in this journey across time. Imagine what we can learn, achieve and see with our very own eyes. More so, we will be the first two people to ever travel through time.”

“I am very scared, Ume. But knowing the hard work and dedication you put into your work, as well as all the struggles you have faced until now to be where you are right now, I will come with you. But my question is, do you think THEY will ever let you go public with this major discovery?”

“Let us get back first. Of course, I imagine they probably will not let me go through with this gigantic step for humanity. But I do believe that progress is inevitable.”

“Let us take this journey then. I bow to brilliant minds and to the progress of mankind.”

He then gave me the glasses, we both said a prayer, hoping to return safe and sound. We both pushed the button for the portals to open and before me stood an oval like opening, which looked watery, about 3 meters high and 1.5 meters wide.

We looked at each each other, nodded our heads and pushed the button that generated the year we were going to. And then we went through.

YEAR 3142

After what seemed to be a very short trip, we found ourselves thrown intro the back of an alley, it was probably afternoon. After we recovered a bit, because the trip really shook us good, I asked…

“Where are we, Ume? Oh my God, it worked…” I said, speechless and in awe.

“I don’t know where we are, but let’s keep a low profile. We were both wearing suits, so we thought that a suit is a timeless piece and we will not be seen as outsiders…”

We started walking between the high black, grey and dark blue buildings and we started seeing people driving in what seemed to be cars, I think, but in the form of large ovaloid capsules with just three metallic wheels like in those fancy science-fiction drawings.

“Tomodachi, look…”

I looked up and then we’ve seen what looked like three moons that were very large and very close to our planet Earth… We were absolutely astonished to what we’ve seen as this was truly a magnificent sight. Then as we were walking bewildered, we reached an area that had some buildings very high in the air. They were probably some sort of government, city hall, maybe the leaders of this country that we were in were living and working there?

Then I bumped into someone on the street… he looked at me, almost like a robot, lifeless, senseless and emotionless, his eyes like vacant rooms and distant planets, and then he said. “I am happy, we are all happy, life is beautiful in Zil-Yan. The NetherCorps is keeping us all happy. Yes, happy.” Then he just continued his walk down the street, almost like he was programmed to do so.

“Ume, something’s wrong here. What the hell is going on? Let’s go over there and grab a newspaper and see where we are.”

“Yes, it is. I smell something really bad in the air, like a polluted smell coming from a tire factory. Can you smell it too?”

“Yes, come on. Hello, can I please have today’s newspaper?”

“We are happy here, we are all happy.”

“Ma’am, hi, the newspaper, please?”

“Print version or tablet version? Print is 2.5 dverkels, tablet is 0.25/5 minutes of usage.”

“Give me the print, please…”

On the first page it was written with capital letters:

“PEOPLE OF ZIL-YAN, BE HAPPY! NETHERCORPS WATCHES OVER YOU EVERY SINGLE DAY, DELIVERING YOU THE BEST OF CONDITIONS TO LIVE IN OUR BEAUTIFUL CITY!

Remember to take the happiness pills three times a day so that the world can remain the same, beautiful and joyous. Make sure to never be late at your jobs, eat well only from trusted sources provided by NetherCorps and be sure to donate 75% of your income to NetherCorps so that we can continue to function properly. You support us and we watch over you!

And remember the rules:

CURFEW STARTS AT 10 PM AND LASTS UNTIL 6 AM. ANYONE CAUGHT OUTSIDE DURING THOSE HOURS WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT, NO EXCEPTIONS.

THE NETHERCORPS MARTIAL POLICE CAN VERIFY IF YOU TAKE ALL YOUR PILLS. IF YOU FAIL TO COMPLY, YOU WILL BE IMPRISONED FOR TWO YEARS AT THE OBSIDIAN ASYLUM.

IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE THE CITY WITHOUT PERMISSION, YOU WILL BE ARRESTED AND TRANSFERRED TO THE NETHERCORPS PHARMACEUTICAL FACILITY WHERE YOU WILL HELP AT THE FABRICATION OF THE HAPPY PILLS.

In other news:

Earth-1’s population still being kept at 200 billion people, due to NetherCorps’ population control policy.

Do you want to work for NetherCorps? Enroll today at our HQ or call 1-800-576-384 and a state agent will guide you throughout the procedure.

We predict that Earth-3 will be colonized in the next 15 years, so we can live happy over there as well!”

“Tomodachi, snap out of it.” Ume said to me as I was left to my own thoughts…

“Is this how the world will be in the future? A totalitarian state that controls 200 billion people? It can’t be…”

“Hey, have you ever seen those movies where group of rebels save the world from totalitarian bastards? I’m sure evil never wins. Come on, let’s open them up and move to the next year, whatever year that may be.”

“Ume, this is too much to take in…”

“COME ON! We only have 30 minutes left, time goes by faster here. Push the button.”

And so I did…

YEAR 5793

We arrived in the middle of a… war. As soon as we landed, we were greeted by a military man with a huge weapon.

“I’m General Burroughs! What the hell are you doing dressed up like that, are you crazy? Lt. col. Masterson sent ya, yes? Fancy ass suits… Go over there in that shack and change. Hurry up, soldiers, that’s an order!”

We looked at each other and did as we were instructed.

“Nice one, Ume. We’ll die here, we don’t even know how to aim these things.”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll get a hang of them. We have to act the part, keep the glasses on no matter what! Let’s go!”

“General, can you brief us? What are we up against?” said Ume, trying to act like he was in the military for all his life.

“Are you out of your mind, son? What do you mean what are we up against? You lost your memory or something? In the Greatest War of Mankind, we almost defeated NetherCorps, but before we could claim victory, their leaders flew out to Earth-4 and before leaving they released the virus they’ve been working on in their Obsidian Asylum/NetherCorps Pharmaceutical Facility, which was a cover-up for human experiments and other atrocious things. So they’ve released this virus called Desolation, which wiped out 99.98% of the world’s population. NetherCorps still had the population control going on, although they finally allowed us to be 300 billion people. After the plague started, only 60 million or so survived and the rest died immediately, right on the spot, and some of the 60 million… Well, the plague changed them into some sort of humanoid mutants. More than that, it had the same effect on the fauna and flora of the world. So, some of the animals and plants mutated and adapted themselves to live differently in other environments. So… you know what? Get in that car and let’s go to battle, you’ll see it with your own eyes.”

“General, Ume said. We have a confession to make. We actually come from the the year 2018. Back home, I’m a physicist and my friend is a historian. We never held a weapon in our hands before so it’s most likely we’ll die.”

Burroughs looked at us with unbelieving eyes and the he said:

“None of my soldiers is gonna die, God dammit! What, you didn’t go to the army 3000 years ago? What were you doing, sitting in offices all day, reading charts and drinking coffee? You are with me now, you’ll fight with me and we will win this war. You understand me? Look at me, both of ya! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“Yes.” We both said.

“YES SIR! Not yes. Say it!”

“Yes sir! We will win!”

“You’re goddamn right we will!”

We drove through the barren wastelands for approximately seven minutes. When we got to where the rest of the team was stationed, Gen. Burroughs introduced us to Major Henriksen.

“Henriksen! Found these two wondering back at the base, they say they come from 2018. They were dressed in suits, for God’s sake! Teach ‘em how to shoot the thing, will ya?”

“Yes sir! So, guys, you basically pull the safety off, you aim for the creatures, pull the trigger and a large energy ray will come out from the gun, alright? The recoil is kinda strong so keep your legs firm on the ground and your arms as well. Got it?”

“The first wave is coming, move out!!!” Burroughs yelled.

And then… I have seen the monstrosities, four metres tall disfigured human-like mutants, enormous three headed lizards with shiny razor-like teeth, giant bats in the sky… But the scariest thing were the flying whales. They were absolutely gigantic, approximately 20 meters long, and with what seemed to be some sort of electric shield surrounding them.

We started shooting and we almost fell down at the first shot. We were approximately 100 or so men shooting at those things, the lizards and humanoids were the easiest to kill because they were slower than the rest. The bats where very fast and they were changing directions when they were seeing us taking aim. I managed to shoot some lizards and humanoids down and Ume did so as well.

The hardest ones to shoot and kill were the whales because their skin was very hardened so you had to shoot three or four times just to hurt them. They were fast as well…

“The second wave is coming? What the hell? This never happened, they came too fast!!! Fall back, everyone fall back! Burroughs yelled at us. “Let’s get to cover!”

We were getting pretty scared and as we turned away to run, Ume tripped and fell, breaking his glasses.

“Oh no… Ume…” I said with tears in my eyes.

“There’s no time for that, tomodachi. We can’t do anything about it. Come on, run, let’s go!”

We started shooting again, this time we’ve seen some dog-like mutants, their eyes as red as blood and they had spikes growing out of their backs. Only they were twice as big as a normal dog.

After a few hours of shooting and killing the beasts, I’ve seen that the timer has only five minutes left.

“Ume, there’s only five minutes left! Here, take my glasses and go, I’ll stay here!”

“Do you think I want to go back now… after all I have seen, after all of this? My friend, you must go alone to the next journey and see how the world is… I will stay here and continue fighting, maybe we will win or maybe not. Who knows? But I will find a way to leave a message for you to find when you arrive in the final year. Maybe you will find me again, old and wrinkled or maybe not, but just go. Now, please. I’ll find a way to let you know what happened. I am sure these guys have a lot of technology that even I can’t think of. So just go. It was a pleasure. Adios!”

“Uh… Ume, so long, my friend.”

I pushed the button, the portal opened. I waved goodbye to everyone and off I went.

YEAR 12375

I arrived to what I have first thought of as hell… There were powerful sandstorms swiping the lands and everything was a ruin, only hellish growls and fires in the distance.

The earth was scorched and probably, I mean not probably, the air was 100% not breathable and the planet that we once lived on had no human life left on it.

As I was looking around with amazed sadness, I was starting to see a red flickering light in the distance, I started running towards it and as I was approaching it I’ve seen that it was surrounded by a colorless shield, making it easy to see that it was a holographic message from my friend Ume. It was short so I will write here:

“Dear friend,

As promised, I have found a way to leave you one last message. After you left, we managed to kill all those bastards that day. Even though we were absolutely drained of energy, we managed to do it. I made friends with everyone here, I learned a lot about their technology and they made me one of their chief physicists. How cool, right?

So anyway… we continued the war for eight more years, but our numbers were dropping, people were beginning to get sick and die and so we decided to fly to Earth-3 and we barely made it out alive… We left in the year 6001 using some very powerful and fast capsules that sent us directly to Earth-3. I am one of the last ones leaving…

What we’ll find there I do not know. I would have liked to see what it’s like to go with you to the next and final journey before getting home, but hey, I think I got the better deal, right? I mean, I’m going to another planet, can you believe that? Hahaha…

What you’ll find in your last journey I don’t know, but I want you to return home safe and sound. I know you’ll never be able to sleep the same again over what you’ve seen until now, but it’s better in 2018 than in 3142 or 5793. Things are great in that year, even though there’s still some crazy things happening, but at least you don’t have to take pills that give you a false state of happiness or, you know, you don’t have to fight giant and ugly mutants, right? Oh, I killed a lot of bats, by the way. Got really good at that. Unfortunately, we lost…

Push the button now, tomodachi. Go back home and drink that glass of wine. You deserve it.

I wish I could come back with you, but I can’t. Be safe, my friend. All the best.”

After hearing his voice for one last time, I pushed the button and the portal opened and I went through, with tears in my eyes.

Home, at last… A glass of red wine in Ume’s memory.