by Lela Oswald
Laney felt safest living in the downtown areas of cities, in busy buildings like hotels or high rises/mid rises versus the Indianapolis and Los Angeles suburbs where she grew up. Something about always having people around to rescue her if she screamed comforted her. She had gone to a boarding school for high school in a rural area of northern Indiana southeast of Chicago and a few hours north of Indianapolis, and ever since then she had been averse to rural areas. It was just too easy to disappear into the woods without anyone seeing what went wrong. Too easy to hide a body. Too easy to kidnap someone without anyone around to hear the protests. But here they were in the middle of a busy city, and Martin was missing. Possibly even kidnapped?! The sheer panic was taking over Laney. She knew she needed to stay strong and focus on finding him. She could not give in to the panic.
Chapter 9: Time Jump Future.
Magdalena gave Milo a backrub to comfort him. She was video chatting with Melody in the other room. She felt helpless not being able to go look for Martin, but she knew it was important to stay in the hotel room in case he came back. She was glad to be talking to Melody though, since Melody always kept a cheery outlook.
“Sissy, I have a question for you,” said Melody.
“What is it?”, asked Magdalena.
“So you know how you always tell me about your dreams that predict the future? Well why don’t you try to have one of those now and then you can see where Martin is and then I’ll wake you up and you can tell us where he is?” said Melody.
“That’s not really how it works,” said Magdalena. “I don’t get to choose the topics I dream about. It just comes to me. I don’t control it. Besides, I’m not even tired. I’m way too worried about Martin to fall asleep.”
“Well it can’t hurt to try it right?” said Melody.
“I guess not,” said Magdalena. “We could start with some meditation and guided imagery, and then I could try to have a waking dream. I could try to use lucid dreaming.”
“What’s lucid dreaming?” asked Melody.
“Lucid dreaming is when you can control your dreams,” said Magdalena. The key is to talk to yourself throughout the day and say to yourself? “Am I dreaming or is this real?” Then once you form that habit such that it’s second nature to talk to yourself, then you start asking yourself that when you dream too. And once you ask yourself that in your dream then you can start recognizing that you’re in a dream. And once you recognize that you’re in a dream then you have the power to control your dream. You can take the reins and chart your dream destiny for the night. I’ve been practicing the prompts lately to try to get them to appear in my dreams.”
“That’s perfect,” said Melody. “You have to do that!”
“Well it’s meant for when you’re dreaming during sleep, not for when you’re just meditating while not sleeping. I don’t know if it’s going to work,” said Magdalena.
“You can do it, Sissy. You’ve got this,” said Melody. “I’ll help you.”
Magdalena closed her eyes. Milo was starting to fall asleep next to her. She put the cover over him and lay down next to him and closed her eyes so that she could attempt to meditate in order to induce a lucid dream.
“Okay Melody, I need complete quiet. In 20 minutes, if mom and dad aren’t back yet, wake me up. If I didn’t dream about anything helpful, we’ll try everything again and give it a second attempt. And we’ll just keep doing that until mom and dad come back. Set your watch timer for 20 minutes from now okay?”
“Got it,” said Melody. “Good luck, Sissy.”
Magdalena smiled and took a deep breath. It was time to enter the world of her mind. She took a few deep breaths and practiced visualizing Martin. Then she visualized her parents looking for Martin. Then she visualized her whole family together again. She pictured them all together in the future at Disney World.
She kept focusing on trying to channel her vision to Martin. Maybe it was possible our human brains were all connected to some type of wi-fi-esque energy that scientists hadn’t yet discovered. Magdalena knew it sounded far fetched but there had been so many instances of times she had thought of someone she hadn’t spoken to in months or years and then all the sudden the next day that person reaches out and sends a ping message on their virtual. At first she thought maybe it was just a coincidence, but it made her wonder, could there be some people who have particularly strong magnetic pull with their thoughts? The type of magnetic pull that can pull other people into their thoughts? There was so much scientists didn’t yet know about the brain. It didn’t seem out of the question to imagine that the brain, which is full of electrical impulses, could act as a communication hub and connection device like a radio in some capacity. Maybe we humans just hadn’t yet figured out how to connect our brains to one singular network of brain interface communications. Maybe one day we would get there.
FLASH! And just like that, Magdalena found herself inside of what seemed to be a nursing home full of elderly people in wheelchairs. She looked around confused, where could she possibly be? She walked down the hallway looking at the names on the walls of the nursing home residents. Then she saw it. Laney Orville. Her mother. She walked in.
Just then a nurse came up behind her. “Hi sweetie, You must be one of Laney’s grandkids.”
“Oh I’m her daugh….uh….yes….granddaughter.”
“I’m Annalisa, her nurse,” said the perky woman in scrubs. “I don’t think I’ve met you before.”
“No, I’m uh, only in town for the day. How’s my mom doing?”
“Let’s go see!” said the nurse as she walked over further into the room. Magdalena followed her.
Magdalena was shocked by what she saw as she approached the bed. It was her mother’s face, but much older and more wrinkly and with all grey hairs in a short haircut partially balding.
“Laney, your granddaughter is here to see you,” the nurse said loudly into Laney’s ear. Laney kept her eyes closed and didn’t say anything.
The nurse said as she entered some stats from the monitors into her virtual tablet. Her virtual tablet was much fancier than the ones Magdalena was used to back in 2040. This one had multiple layered dimensions of tabs open at once, and they all seemed to be animated and alive in a way that didn’t happen on the virtual tablets back in 2040. Magdalena peered over the shoulder of the nurse to see what all the tablet was saying.
“Well I’ll leave you two alone to catch up and have some alone time together,” said the nurse as she turned to leave.
“Oh nurse, one more thing? Is it possible there’s a spare virtual tablet around. Mine up, got...uh…..lost…. on the way here. Is there one I could use to try and video chat with my family?”
“Video chat? Sure maybe, let me go check” she said as she left the room.
The way she said “video chat” with a surprise in her voice made Magdalena wonder if in the future people were using holographic chats or something. She seemed almost surprised that Magdalena would want to use such an archarc technology.
But now that the nurse was gone, Madalena could try to get some answers from her mom. She looked at her frail mother on the nursing home bed.
“Mom, are you in there? Can you hear me.”
Laney turned toward her but didn’t open her eyes.
“Mom, it’s me Magdaglena. I’ve come to the future in my dream, and I need your help. Martin is missing, and we can’t find him. Can you tell me where he is? Do you remember the time he went missing in Hong Kong? Did you ever find him? Where was he?”
Laney said nothing.
“Mom, you have to focus. I need answers. Anything will help. Is there anything you can tell me about Martin? Where is he now? Is he alive?”
Just then, the nurse came in and handed Laney a tiny ring. Was this the new version of the watch tablet? How would she turn it on? She had no clue how to use this futuristic technology.
“Um, thank you”, said Magdalena to the nurse. “How do I….” Magdalena slipped the ring on and a b
unch of holographic AI characters popped up. “How can we help you?” the bunny rabbit character said.
The nurse smiled “I think you’ve got it from here. Have a nice video chat with your family.” She turned to leave and went into the room across the hall to check on another resident.
Magdalena stared at all the tabs on the tablet. “Show me Martin Orville” she said. She felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast holding the Magic Mirror. The AI said, “I’m sorry please enter your username and password for location services.”
Username and password. What is this! She opened an internet browser tab, maybe that would work. A Tab for “Today’s News” opened up at the top of the browser. Magdalena clicked it and scanned the news headlines. Maybe if she could figure out what was going on in the world that would somehow give her clues to figuring out what was going on with Martin.
The news tab selection choices included a politics tab so Magdalena clicked on that, as soon as she looked at it it must have read her eyes hovering over it since it clicked automatically based on her eyesight. The articles were talking about the recent election and how the Time Warner Comcast political party defeated the AT&T Verizon political party to win the most seats. It seemed that in the future internet and media communication companies were the main political division lines.
The political parties ran on platforms of free same speed internet for all versus free basic internet for all but higher speeds for those who can afford it. It seemed similar to the net neutrality political battles of decades past. Should those with means be able to have faster internet? Why shouldn’t the wealthy get better media if they could afford it? On the other hand why should everyone be equal? These were the questions at the center of the debate. It all went back to the age old debate about whether those with means deserve those means and what the social contract should be to redistribute said means to those with fewer means.
If wealth was largely a function of IQ and conscientiousness and those factors had been proven to be almost entirely of genetic origin, then why should people with genes that are less suited to thrive in a capitalist system be less deserving of resources like internet that are necessary for thriving in the digital age? On the other hand maybe having incentives and perks that only go to those who are winning the capitalist game allows capitalism to then thrive at a higher level and create products and services that then filter down and benefit those at the bottom.
It was sort of like the arguments for or against universal basic income (UBI), which was the main political battle of the 2030s. Some said we should try to see what the world would look like with UBI. Maybe people who like to work would continue working all the same with universal basic income. Maybe some people would work less if they were previously only motivated by money but then maybe some who are motivated by only intrinsic motives would work more to fill that gap. Maybe there would be an explosion of creativity and entrepreneurship coming from people who were previously unmotivated in their work and working with their bare minimum motivation only for money and to pay off student loan debt. The only way we could only really know if it were implemented on a universal scale. Otherwise those who are not at all motivated by intrinsic or extrinsic means or who were suffering from health issues and unable to apply their creative and/or profitable motivations could just move to the places that had already implemented universal basic income and then that would distorts the sample population and skew the measurements of the effectiveness of UBI as a policy and the impact on any social metrics that were collected like impact on happiness or productivity or whatever else was studies because the issue of sample bias would taint the variables.
Magdalena clicked on the health section of the news tab and saw articles about Genebook. Genebook seemed to be the successor to facebook. It combined social media with genetic information and ancestry information. For each new person you meet in the social media world it would tell you how you are related to them and how far back you are cousins. Someone from the same country may be a 25th cousin and someone from a distant country may be a 250th cousin or a 2,500th cousin. People could choose to opt into a world map that shows how they are related to each person in the world. Or they could keep that information only to themselves or to only those whose friend request they accept or to only those in certain networks or boundaries they select. Genebook seemed to elevate facebook and social to a new level, creating a world where it was impossible other-ize people because it so clearly demonstrates how we are all one human family. All one species perhaps created by an AI creator.
Just then Magdalena saw Laney rustling in her bed.
“Mom! Mom, it’s me Magdalena! Mom, where is Martin? Do you know where he is? Do you know how to contact him?” said Magdalena.
“It was all a game,” said Laney. “Rex programmed it. He programmed all of us.”
“Huh? Mom, what are you talking about? Mom, I need to find Martin. Can you call him?” pressed Magdalena with a sense of urgency.
“We’re all a computer program he built in the future. We don’t actually exist.”
“Mom, I think you may have some dementia going on. I need you to focus. Focus mom. Call Martin. Where is Martin? Do you remember the time he got lost in Hong Kong? Where was he? Was he just playing some hide and seek game with us? Was he hurt? Was he killed? THINK, mom!” yelled Magdalena.
The nurse must have heard the yelling because she came back in. “Is everything okay in here?” she said.
“Yes,” said Magdalena. “Actually, could you tell me who the emergency contact is for my mo---, for my GRANDMA.” She almost said mom.
The nurse clicked a button on her watch. “The emergency contact point person is Magdalena Orville,” said the nurse.
Magdalena nodded trying not to give away her identity and let the nurse catch on that SHE was Magdalena Orville. Was there another Magdalena Orville here in the future? What would happen if she tried to call the future Magdalena Orville?
“And what about Rex?” asked Magdalena.
The nurse again looked at her futuristic tablet. It says husband Rex Orville placed in deep freeze 22 years ago. I guess he’s waiting for the singularity. Pshhhh.” The nurse rolled her eyes.
“Rex?!” said Laney.
Magdalena rushed over to her mother’s side again. The nurse followed her.
“Where is Rex?!” said Laney. “Where am I?”
“It’s okay Mrs. Orville. You’re at Golden Oak Manor. An assisted living facility. You’re okay,” said the nurse.
“Does she do this often?” asked Magdalena.
“She does this every day,” said the nurse to Magdalena. She thinks her husband is still alive in some computer simulation out there and he’s going to come get her. She thinks it’s all part of some computer game he made. She thinks your grandpa created her in the future and he’s going to come back for her. She can’t process the fact that he’s gone, even though it’s been 22 years since he died and she came here.
“I have to get back to Rex!” said Laney. I just need to jump to the right time.
“Wait, JUMP? Like TIME JUMP?!” asked Magdalena.
The nurse chuckled. “Mrs. Orville, let’s jump you to some pudding okay? I’ll go get you a pudding cup if you promise to stay in bed and not get too excited here okay?” How does pudding sound? You like pudding, don’t you?” the nurse said playfully as she tried to lure Laney to be quiet by bribing her.
“Yes, pudding,” said Laney. Chocolate, please” said Laney.
“Chocolate pudding coming right up!”, said the nurse. “You stay here and have a nice calm quiet visit with your granddaughter.” The nurse walked away.
Magdalena leaned down close to Laney and whispered, “Mom, did you say you needed to time jump to dad? You can time jump too?”
“I’m getting chocolate pudding.” said Laney.
Magdalena sighed, “Mom how do I time jump to Martin? I need to make sure he’s okay? He’s lost right now. How do I find him?”
“You can
’t have my pudding. My pudding.” said Laney.
Magdalena buried her face in her hands. This was not going well.
“Mom, I need you to really focus here. I need to find Martin. Your son Martin. My brother. He’s missing. I need to find him.”
“You’re jumping in the wrong time zone.” said Laney.
“Time zone? How do I switch time zones? How do I jump to the right time zone?” asked Magdalena. She was glad to finally have some helpful answers.
Laney said nothing. She just stared.
“Mom, can you help me? How do I time jump to the right time and place? I can’t exactly control it? How do I do that?” pleaded Magdalena.
“My pudding will be here soon. You have to go,” said Laney.
Magdalena didn’t know what to do. Why did she need to leave so urgently? She wasn’t exactly getting straight forward answers from her mom. Maybe she did need to try again to time jump somewhere else.
This was too scary. Seeing her mom in a nursing home was too much. Magdalena wanted to get out. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on jumping somewhere that wasn’t this far in the future. She tried to focus on the past and let thoughts of time jumping back to the past enter her stream of consciousness. She shut her eyes tight and told herself to focus, focus, focus.
Chapter 10: Time Jump Past:
FLASH!!
All of the sudden Magdalena found herself in some Victorian era train station. She was dressed in Victorian garb in a long dress and hat. From the looks of those around her it appeared to be the early twentieth century. Oh no, she thought. She had tried to go back to 2040 and see where her brother was and now she was stuck in an era long before her brother was born. Long before her parents and grandparents were born.
She saw the trains coming and going, and wondered what city this was. Then she saw the sign. “Indianapolis Union Station. Over 200 trains a day serviced.” Okay, she was in Indianapolis. What now? Why was she here?