ED3N- on the Brink of Extinction

by J P Whitney

  The bot led them to a platform where a small train car waited for them. They boarded and the car was moving before they were even seated. The train accelerated hard, but smoothly, the solar panels flashed by, reflections of the sun momentarily blinding them, then they were gone.

  Bryce marveled at what he saw out the front window, “The tracks look like a sidewalk. The two dark parallel lines must be superconducting elements. This is a nexus generation Maglev train! I read about them once but thought they only existed as prototypes. How fast do you think we’re going?”

  “According to these fancy bracelets, close to 200 miles per hour,” Tucker said.

  “Where are we going,” Bryce asked directing the question to the security bot.

  “The Central IT building. Ruth is waiting for you there. We should arrive within one minute.”

  At that rate of travel, the Olsen’s were taken aback as the world outside morphed from one habitat to the next. Tucker glanced at his armband and noted the location updated along with their velocity. They passed through an 8-foot-tall concrete wall which was curved slightly and marked the first transition as the green fields gave way to an area labeled Ring 4: Recycling and Manufacturing Zone. Rectangular, industrial building complexes were interconnected by another set of tracks that crossed their own path. A driverless forklift waited near the tracks with its load. Their personal transport had probably interrupted the cycle of distributing the crates to other parts of the city.

  A few seconds later the readout updated again. Ring 3: Residential and Parks Zone. A line of modern looking four-story residential buildings stretched in either direction.

  The next area sped by. Ring 2: Dining and Sports Zone

  Then Ring 1: Medical/Edu/Arts Zone

  The train rapidly decelerated as they approached a central building at the end of the tracks. The single-story building was huge, easily covering four square blocks. It appeared to be low slung due to its width to height ratio and the top was covered in a grassy park setting. The IT Center apparently served a dual purpose with the town commons area on its roof.

  A large section of the IT Center wall retracted to one side and the electric train entered silently. The wall slid shut behind them blocking out the sunlight just as overhead lights blinked on. The doors of the car opened and they were directed to a set of hoverboards lined up on the receiving platform. They stepped onto the boards and were whisked off through a maze of corridors that housed servers and advanced technology beyond recognition behind glass walls.

  The boards came to a stop and Tucker realized the security bot had been correct. Their journey had only lasted about a minute but it seemed a lot longer. Not unlike an amusement park ride. The combination of traveling at high velocity and the awe-inspiring and ever-changing scenery played tricks with the time scale as the brain tried to comprehend all it was seeing for the first time.

  They were intercepted almost immediately by another escort bot that ushered them into a large conference room dominated by a long glass-topped table. On the opposite side, sat Ruth Atkins.

  She looked tired. And sad. No, not sad. Worried, like a mother that had been up all night wondering if her child that had snuck out was going to return safely.

  As Ruth saw them enter the room, her knitted brows relaxed and a slight smile crossed her face.

  “I’ve been waiting a long time to meet the … uh … two of you. So glad you arrived safely. I’m Ruth,” the woman said in a warm tone as she shook hands with the boys. “Please, have a seat. You must be weary from your travels, not to mention the hurried way you were brought to the IT Center.”

  Tucker couldn’t keep his emotions bottled up any longer and decided to forgo pleasantries and blurted out, “Outside the wall, we saw a vehicle with Oregon license plates, did Alyssa arrive? How is she, and her family, doing? What about Eli, is he here?”

  “I’m sure you have a million questions but they’ll have to wait. I’ll tell you everything I know when the time is right, but right now we have more urgent matters.” She turned and pointed to the crystal clear image now being displayed on one of the glass walls.

  “The attack has begun.”

  AFTERWORD

  Thank you for joining me on this journey, albeit a wordy one! :)

  A little backstory on the inspiration behind ED3N. While on a road trip with the family, the topic of my parent’s impending retirement surfaced. I was ecstatic for them but also lamented how it was a shame we had to toil away for more than forty prime years of our lives before earning the right to properly pursue our passions.

  My lovely wife, the practical one in the family, reminded me that if we retired in our 20’s or 30’s without the perspective born of a full life of experiences, we would take the time for granted and waste it. In short, we’d all become couch potatoes.

  Yet, I was hooked on the concept of early retirement and even pleaded my case that we had all the technology and AI required to automate more than 90% of all jobs. Of course, there is that one tiny hurdle of our economy being based on jobs that generate the wages that consumers use to buy all the products and services. Therefore, no country was going to invest in displacing its own workforce.

  BUT, if the right circumstances did arise, has the human race evolved to the point that technology could provide for us? And if so, who would we become without the need for money and what would we do with all that free time? I like to think we would become the best versions of ourselves. Healthy, vibrant, introspective, and creative.

  But the further I pursued this line of thinking, I also questioned what would become of society if this circumstance arose from chaos and suffering … which it inevitably would have to.

  From there, ED3N found a life of her own as the book consumed my free time when life and work permitted.

  While a lot is still left unanswered, I felt we all deserved to take a breath and reflect on what just happened and why.

  I’m sure many of you have established theories about the origins of the Blue flu and what connects Eli to Ruth to the Olsens and to ED3N. Or maybe the details are irrelevant when the story is contemplated from a more philosophical angle. History is replete with catastrophes and the downfall of countless civilizations. And humans always manage to climb out of the rubble, reinvent themselves, their surroundings, and find a way to thrive. But we’re ever caught in the vicious cycle of building and creation followed by conflict and destruction. We can’t help ourselves, it seems to be embedded in our DNA.

  But if esoteric philosophical debate isn't your bag baby and you just have to know why the Blue flu was unleashed and the origins behind all that technology … I kindly ask you to stay tuned for Last of Their Kind. There’s a lot more in store for Eli, Ruth, the Olsen boys, and even ED3N herself.

  I will tell you this, the next turn in the road is not a gentle one. It’s a hairpin curve, the pedal is to the metal, the tires screeching in protest as we four-wheel drift over the center line, hell-bent for a head-on collision with the search for the truth!

  But first, we’ll have to throw it into reverse. For there’s another layer to this story.

  Here’s a taste of what’s to come …

  Until we meet again,

  J.P.

  LAST OF THEIR KIND

  J.P. WHITNEY

  (SUMMER-ISH 2020)

  CHAPTER 1 - ARRIVAL

  Tomas woke with a start to a loud bang. It was accompanied by a low reverberation that threatened to shake the teeth right out of his skull. The unfamiliar surroundings, what he could see of them, appeared to vibrate and wavered in and out of focus. The sound of rattling metal came from overhead while a low grating emitted from the ground and multi-colored dust motes danced in the light that streamed into the room through grimy floor to ceiling windows.

  Tomas was still paralyzed from the ritual. He knew it would take several minutes, maybe as long as an hour, for the paralysis to wear off. The vibrations that threatened to shake his bones apart and made the surroundings osc
illate were new. The Omega Ritual usually left him buzzing but he’d never experienced anything of this magnitude before. Maybe that was the answer. Magnitude. Was it possible an earthquake took place at the same time as the ceremony? That would be an improbable coincidence but would also explain the extreme circumstances he was experiencing.

  He sensed he wasn’t alone and strained his neck to just make out the form of bodies lying to his right. Another exhausting attempt to the left and he confirmed others in this direction as well. Good. The Omega Ritual had worked! And rest of The Thirteen were still with him. It was still a bit cloudy but he and the twelve others should be on their backs in a perfect circle. Each man equally spaced from the next, feet pointed to the center while their heads formed the outer ring. All naked. At least that’s what his confused brain told him he’d see if he could just sit up.

  The other possibility ... it was all an illusion. The Order had warned him the side effects would intensify with each ritual. Maybe he’d already reached his limit as this was his third such attempt. Maybe this time had scrambled his brains and left him unfit to lead his people on their mission. Crazy or not, nothing could be done about it other than to move forward at this point.

  Where the hell were they anyway? Instinctually, he knew ‘where’ didn’t matter. The mission was clear. Help usher in the creation of the promised land for his people. Finish what was started. Cleanse the unworthy from the face of the planet.