Author: Alexander Fawn

Even as a youngster, he’d been very playful.

His teachers had frequently referred to him as being irrepressible. However, he was interested in physics and eventually knuckled down to hard study… Now, in his early forties, he was a respected scientist. Within the scientific community, he was known for his fun-loving approach to his work. Here, in his small home-based laboratory, he enjoyed both the solitude and the quiet environment when immersed in a project. In the middle of his worktop, he had an array of pieces of equipment, each thing connected with a series of cables. His recent testing regime had come up with excellent results. As far as he could see, the thing was finished. Unhappily, he would have to stop playing with it, as he was nearing the point where he needed to go through the serious business of sharing the results and his incredible success with his fellow scientists.

There was a gentle knock and the door opened. His wife stuck her head in saying, “I’m just doing a sandwich for lunch. Would you like one?”

“Yes please. Cheese and pickle would be good, thanks.”

She nodded and left, closing the door gently behind her.

He had second thoughts.

He looked down at the controls for a moment before switching the thing back on. He toggled the switch to ‘Minus’, then typed ‘seconds’ into the small screen, before turning a dial to ‘15’.

He stood waiting.

There was a gentle knock and the door opened. His wife stuck her head in saying, “I’m just doing a sandwich for lunch. Would you like one?”

Supressing a smile, he said, “Yes please. Ham and tomato would be good, thanks.”

He just couldn’t help himself.

She was very young when she began texting.

As a kid, she was grateful that her parents let her have and use a mobile phone at an early age. Her mother said it was for her own safety, just in case she ever got lost. This meant that it was only her older friends that had cell phones. There were dozens of little faces that could be used, but she only used a few of these regularly. These pictures seemed to be all she required to sum up her feelings when messaging her friends. It was a lot easier and quicker than sending texts. She fell in love with their tiny coloured faces, with their different expressions. There was a whole gallery of them on her phone and she got to know every one of them.

It was much later, when she was in her early twenties, that the images came. At first, she thought they were peoples’ auras, but she came to accept that they were small puffy clouds that hovered just above a person’s head, each one containing the image of an emoji!

It was at this stage that she decided to seek medical advice. The eye specialist diagnosed that she suffered from ‘a visible manifestation of images spectrum’. It wasn’t exactly auras the she was seeing, but emojis. Images that showed the true mood and nature of the person it hovered above. It has to be said that in the main, people took it all as a joke, a prank, a windup. It was around this time that she fully realised that other people couldn’t see what she could!

This was also when, as a result of this unusual manifestation diagnosis, that reports of it began to appear in medical journals. That is when things began to heat up. First with local reporters wanting interviews, followed by the national newspapers picking up on the unusual story.

Then came the government people… they wouldn’t say what agency they were from, only that they wanted to carry out a series of studies on her. Both she and her parents could well imagine the value this strange ability would have as a useful tool in the business of spy craft, or even some kind of military application.

None of this sat well with her. So, when the time came, her parents were perfectly happy with her decision to disappear.

Within a few short days, with the aid of a fake passport provided by a visit to the dark web, a haircut and colour change performed in another town, and bags packed with several new clothes, she was ready to become invisible.

Now, with a new life and a new name, she can be found serving drinks in a beach bar in Barbados, where she has rediscovered the private enjoyment of reading her customers’ feelings, along with the newly found freedom of not doing anything with what she sees…

The boy seemed to have muddled ideas about rebirth.

He’d been getting books out of the library on the subject for some time. The staff there had been very helpful, although he had received some funny looks from time to time. He knew that a lot of people didn’t believe in it. He also knew that there were those that didn’t believe in any kind of afterlife. He did realise, that as a youngster, it wasn’t common to take any real interest in such things. In fact, he had found that any attempt to discuss coming back from the dead with his peers was a waste of time.

When discussing it with his Religious Studies teacher it became obvious that he had never really understood what he was reading.

This was made clear to him, when the teacher said, “I honestly don’t think you can say that your grandfather has returned from the dead to replace the manager of the sweet shop in town!”

There can be little doubt that his was a complicated mind.

If only the conundrum could be stated so simply. It was a puzzlement that ran continually through his thoughts; an inexplicable something that would not have been even a second thought for most. Yet, there he was, continually playing the one thing off against the other; an ongoing encounter between the values, between the two irrevocable concepts. They were continually being compared. He was forever placing each in its tray on either side of the scale. Judging the weight of either corporal entity was particularly hard. After all, although completely real, neither had any actual weight. Both were important to him. Indeed, both were unique to him, alone.

For him, it was an ongoing battle for supremacy between his reflection and his shadow.

Looking back now, it all seems to be entirely inevitable.

2019 Was the beginning of the great viral epidemic that spread throughout countries around the Earth’s planet, impacting world economy and ultimately the failure to arrest climate change.

2082 When the first test flights for the Earth-based mass-transportation ships were carried out.

2094 Saw the first fleet take off from Earth to colonise Eristatem, a world outside of the solar system.

2114 The great uprising of the Kabagion Empire took place, making its presence felt by the inhabitants of Eristatem.

2126 The ongoing wars between the Kabagions and the Belmavians ends with the Belmavian Empire establishing a regime of total rule throughout the Cygnoriogen sector, including the inhabitants of Eristatem

2160 Saw the exodus of Eristatems, leavingfor the safer planet of Victalia in the Augachian Sector.

2173 The arrival of the Belmavian ships with new demands being made of the Kabagions.

2175 Talks between the Belmavians and the Kabagions break down and the threat by Belmavia to use the Unfusion Ray was first made.

2182 Saw the full use of the Unfusion Ray to vaporise the entire area, including the old Earth and its solar system.

Eristatems, ancestors of Earth’s original inhabitants on planet Victalia in the Augachian Sector, looked on sadly as planet Earth disappeared.

People still blamed Covid.

It was only a machine, but it was aware of its environment.

As usual, it looked around and wondered why it had been put there, of all places? It knew that there were others of its kind, so much better placed; in warm corridors in hospitals, dark corners of night clubs, near the entrance in cinemas, cosey corners in bars. The list went on. Anything would be better than this, a cold, drafty platform at a railway station. The station itself served the people in the village on a line that was rarely used. Tonight was no exception. Just five travellers, stamping their feet in an effort to stay warm. None of it seemed to be doing any of them any good.

As vending machines go, it didn’t get a lot of custom. It dispensed confectionary items, nothing in the way of hot drinks. Despite this, it thought, tonight may be different. It watched as an elderly gentleman fished around in his pockets for loose change. He approached and fed coins into the slot. He looked really grumpy. He had chosen the most expensive chocolate bar the machine held and pressed the appropriate buttons. The machine paused. The mechanism that released the bar began to move, then paused. The bar sat halfway out.

At this point the old misery got even crankier and gave the machine a couple of angry thumps. The bar didn’t move. After a few more ineffectual bangs on the side of the machine, he swore under his breath and wandered off to look for a corner out of the wind. The machine gave a wicked internal snigger.

It was further gratified when it was aware of passenger number six arriving. The young lad was obviously in a hurry as he came up the steps. Walking out onto the platform, he was relieved to find others waiting. He looked up at the clock, and being more relaxed, sauntered his way to the machine. As he looked to see what was on offer, inside the machine a great deal of unseen excitement welled up.

The boy was peering in and using the sleeve of his jacket to clean the glass when it happened. The large chocolate bar dropped with a loud clatter. The noise echoed along the platform. All those waiting, heard it; including the old codger who had paid for it!

Fate would have it that, minutes later as the train pulled in, he found the boy standing next to him greedily eating the chocolate with a happy grin on his face. The old man scowled at him. The boy had no idea why, but he made sure he got into a different carriage.

As for the machine… sometimes, it just wanted a bit of fun.

The Reversion Project was all very hush-hush.

Housed in a warehouse on the edge of the town’s industrial estate, it was just another building. No attention was given to the small staff that arrived each morning. It was just another business. Nobody was aware of the team of five scientists changing into laboratory coats and entering the main laboratory to further their research. It had taken them several years to come close to their objective. Field agents had spent a great deal of time gathering the necessary coordinates for the project. Once the location of every missile launch facility, in all those countries around the world that had them was recorded, their work had begun in earnest. The massive job of developing the software that would incorporate this information was almost finished.

Meanwhile, under similarly strict levels of secrecy, tests had been carried out on a minimal scale to prove the accuracy and success of the program. These were relatively short-range missile test-flights, to prove that the computer’s software program actually worked. These preliminary test-flights were carried out primarily to ensure that on immediate launch, the signal used, successfully found its mark.

Needless to say, these demonstrations were held in an environment of tight security, at a secret location known only by a few.

On the day, a small party of highly-placed spectators witnessed the missile come into view. It was destined to destroy a small abandoned building located a few kilometres from where they stood.

Suddenly, the missile swooped around in a wide arc and returned to the launch site it had come from. Although the party couldn’t see it, they heard the explosion and soon after that were able to make out a pillar of black smoke rising from the destroyed launch pad.

After a period of spontaneous applause and excited chattering among the observers, the Prime Minister approached the Military Commander and shook his hand. After the perfunctory congratulations, and being told that the software program itself was held in a secret underground location, in a facility that was for all intents and purposes, impregnable, the head of government said, “This is wonderful, of course, but I do have a reservation concerning its use.”

The military man raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“Well, yes,” replied the other, “my concern is that when the first missile is launched from anywhere, to anywhere, won’t this lead to war?”

The military man raised his eyebrows. “The first, you say?” He shook his head. “I doubt that there’ll be a first. When the world powers find out that we have this technology, and they will find out, I doubt very much that there’ll be a first.”

Taking a deep breath, he said, “Just think about it.”

It wandered along the street, looking for a house.

As it turned the corner it could see a blue flashing light. Two detectives were climbing out of the car as it approached. Something was obviously going on, but it had no idea what. Moving closer, it saw the number 28. It was the right house. They were walking in, and one of them was saying something about the policeman who called it in was there at the scene and how a neighbour had reported the disturbance. It drifted along behind them.

Entering the house, it followed them up the stairs to a bedroom. Other people were there, clad in white, moving around the room. Some seemed to be dusting for fingerprints while others were making notes. It rose up and hovered over the bed. It found itself looking down at a woman who had obviously been shot. It was then that it realised that the dead woman was a version of itself, when it was still alive!

In that moment, it found nothing but confusion. None of what was happening, none of what it was experiencing, made any sense at all! Why was it witnessing any of these events? Was there some unknown purpose for its being there? What was it supposed to do? With all these unanswerable chaotic thoughts and questions hanging unresolved, it floated back down and out of the house.

There was a definite feeling of relief, as it glided back up the street and turned the corner, away from all the chaos. Maybe, it conjectured, this is why spirits like itself seemed to be stuck; not able to move on. Not because they want vengeance or some sort of justice about what had occurred. No, its because these pour souls don’t have a clue about what’s going on.

In short, they are simply discombobulated!

He was their new live-in gardener.

His references had been checked by the Safe Hands Agency. He had rooms above the garage. His first couple of weeks on the job had shown him to be a diligent worker. Within no time he had already done a lot to improve the look of the place. It was around this time, sitting up in his room, that he began thinking about his upcoming plan. He had really enjoyed his most recent position; in another place, in another town. He thought about how simple it had been.

He had poisoned the daughter’s pet hamster, as a sort of warm-up event. Then, two days later, when the family was out for the day, he had set light to the house, changed his name and gone looking for work elsewhere.

This family had a cat. He would make an exception there. He would make sure it stayed safe.

He liked cats.

Looking back, it is now easy to see where it was all heading.

At one point, it had become obvious to the scientific community that artificial intelligence had just about reached its peak. With ever-growing concerns regarding the obvious ethical considerations of AI’s potential to go beyond human intelligence, it became inevitable that this would loom large in the human psyche. Throughout the decades, the shift in much greater priorities being given to the development of AI had grown exponentially, and the attention of the everyday man-in-the-street regarding its future and progress, had grown along with it. Many forms of human employment were soon replaced throughout both industry and administration, creating enormous job losses. This paradigm shift brought with it a huge sideways movement in the world’s economy.

Over time, it became manifest that the modern-day rationalists involved in both academia and government had become enormously influential. Then, before we knew it, it became evident that AI could take over such things as financial systems, electrical power grids; in fact, for better or for worse, any and all essential systems.

So, with vast global increases in death rates, along with plummeting birth rates, graphs of these statistics had become such regular features in newspaper articles; that ‘where do we go from here’, became a popular phrase.

In more recent times, this phrase seems to have been superseded by the warning, ‘I told you so.’