To The Future (2012)

A Short story inspired by the never released game 0x10c

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Jacob absentmindedly polished his horn-rimmed glasses as he squinted hard in an attempt to steady his vision. Old age was unkind at best but Jacob firmly believed that it had taken a personal dislike to him. He put on his glasses, scratched the white stubble on his cheek as he braced himself for the monumental task of standing up.

It promised to be a long day. According to the display blinking at him from across the room all tours were booked out today. Thankfully age never dampened his booming orator’s voice. People still stood enthralled as he walked down the aisles and read what history had to offer about each of those frozen relics of a time long past. With one swift motion he wrenched himself upwards and fought off the urge to groan. Waving his hand across the sensors; the door to his modest apartment opened and the lights began to dim behind him in a cascade, as he walked out into the hall.

By the time he arrived at the lobby to the pod-room the first tour group had already been assembled, after nine years of this he could easily suss out a crowd. He wouldn’t be getting any great tips this morning but at least It appeared to be an interested audience, bar the two children tugging at their father's legs in the general direction of the gift shop. As he approached he cleared his throat and began the perfunctory introduction “Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the Historical Appreciatio…” but the distraction of his boss waving at him frantically from across the room cut him short. “Excuse me” he said curtly as he shuffled over towards him. “Just a quick heads up Jacob” the boss said as he played with his cufflinks and straightened the collar on his tuxedo. “We have been having some energy fluctuations with some of the pods, last time this happened one of the pods opened. Granted that was about Thirty years ago but it is a possibility” with that the boss gave him an earnest nod and returned to his desk to greet the new arrivals. Jacob was quite pleased by the news, he had spent the last nine years regaling countless numbers of groups of the histories of these people, it would be nice to have the honour to meet one of them in person.

Once again he launched into his welcome speech, and then he guided the group over to the first row of pods. One by one he told the stories of their inhabitants. On the Left, The Dulin Sisters who, at the age of 76 when their last son died leaving no heirs, decided they had no real reason to stick around pooled their money for a trip to the future. Across from them stood George Hurley a twenty something engineer fearing technology had grown to the point of stagnation decided to take a 50 year hiatus. He continued on through thirty other pods answering questions from the bemused tourists about the state of technology and the importance of space travel in their time. It had now hit lunchtime. He gestured towards the toilets and the restaurant, reminded them when to return and then when they had all dispersed found a comfortable seat and let out a long satisfying sigh. The morning tour was always the hardest. Knowing there were four more left to do before days end. It did help that numbers tended to drop in the evenings and sometimes there mightn’t even be enough people to justify the full tour. No such luck this time though. He knew today was fully booked, no choice but to grin and bear it.

Like usual, It wasn’t until about ten minutes after the designated time that everyone finally managed to regroup and like usual it took another ten to regain attentions. Once everyone was focused again the tour continued. Yet again he went from pod to pod, giving the brief descriptions and moving on. That is until he got to his favourite pod. Or rather pods. Like the others either side they were stood vertically so you could clearly see their inhabitants. In all the other pods it was clear the people inside were given anaesthesia before stasis was activated. They all wore a standard green hospital gown; arms crossed and had an air of tranquillity about them as they slept soundly. Not these two though. The men in these pods wore impeccably tailored suits with a white rose in the breast pocket; they each stood to the side clearly awake. Their pose was such that, as both pods were placed beside each other they appeared to be staring at each other.

“Meet Alvin Talon and Dean Rose...” said Jacob unable to hide his mirth. This was the one part of the tour that broke the monotony of the others and it was no coincidence they were his favourite of the museums guests. ”Their history is a long and interesting one. Both were classified as child prodigies and attended the same prestigious school. Reports of their childhood vary greatly, some say they started as the best of friends, respecting each other’s genius from first meetings and others paint them as bitter rivals. Each one vying for the teachers attentions over the other. Regardless of the beginnings the story ends the same. Keen business acumen, similar hobbies and interests threw them into the roles of business rivals. What they both relished above all was competition and challenge. They had succeeded with everything they had turned their hands to thus-far each with a company worth millions by the age of 25. When Alvin decided to go into stasis for 100 years, Dean instantly stated that he would do the same. This level of competition made them even more infamous than they already were. They sold off all their assets, giving everything away to charity. Leaving themselves an agreed upon sum of 10,000 to begin afresh the day the pods opened. The Idea was they would both attempt to build a business empire once again. I guess only time will tell.” Jacob concluded and with that he knelt down, looked the kids in the eyes and finished with a long rehearsed line “and who knows, maybe It will happen in your lifetime.” It was about now the audience usually applauded and nodded enthusiastically but to his surprise the room was deadly silent. They all stared at him intently. It was then he heard the low coughing behind him. “Close enough, you forgot to mention how dean was always the more charming of the two” said the man behind him, carefully straightening the rose in his pocket.

“You will have to excuse me” Dean said as he stepped off the pedestal and stood beside Jacob. “My deductive powers are bound to be a little hampered; after all I have just emerged from stasis and obviously a lot later than I should have.” He looked around at the crowd and awaited some kind of acknowledgement of this theory but nobody moved so he continued. “Initial thoughts was that the technology around me; such as that charming little holographic watch of yours young lady, seems far more advanced than predictions suggested” Dean said as he gently picked up the hand of the blonde woman in the low-cut top. Her bottom lip was moving as she was struggling for something to say. Just as she seemed to have found a response he cut her off.
“But that is not a definitive indicator, after all if we (or rather you) had a golden age of some kind, technology would have flourished beyond estimation but what really sold me on the error was this gorgeous view” with a wave of his hand he indicated upwards to the see through ceiling. “None of these stars (as beautiful as they are) come from any constellation have ever seen.” once more he turned to the girl picked up her hand and said “though they still don’t compare to you.” Once again throwing her bottom lip into a fit of confusion.
Now he finally turned his attention to Jacob, still holding the girl's hand. ”It seems you are the man to talk to here, I would ask what year It is but that would seem a bit redundant as you would only have to explain it once more when my friend here comes out of his stasis module.” and with a well-practiced flourish he gestured to the other pod, as if on cue it opened and Alvin stepped out. “Just in time Alvin, I was inquiring as to what year we are in and why the machines failed.” With that Alvin frowned, looked around the room, stared at the ceiling and nodded awaiting the answer. About ten seconds passed until Jacob realised that everyone was waiting for him to speak.

“Yes, well by the Gregorian calendar the date stands at 281 474 976 712 644 AD. As for the reason I am unsure. You would have to talk to a Histologist for specifics on dated technology such as these. Or failing that one of the designers. ” With that Alvin took to the floor. “I guess that’s where I come in. No doubt in the time Dean has been here before me he has dazzled you with intellect and hit on someone” the girl whose hand dean was still holding turned bright red and sheepishly pulled it away and put it in her pocket. Alvin smiled at her and continued. “I invented these machines, or rather to avoid interruptions Co-invented these machines” dean gave a not so humble bow. “Although evidently that may not be something to be too proud of.” As the audience chuckled Alvin stole a glance over to Dean who patted his watch discretely.
“All that being said as you can imagine my friend and I could do with some catching up on events and so I hope you will excuse us for stealing your tour guide.” He punctuated his request with a soulfully apologetic look. The crowd nodded sympathetically and began to disperse. With the crowd gone Alvin smirked at Dean and half whispered “It seems stasis hasn’t dampened your pickup abilities.” Dean gave him a mild nudge in the shoulder “you’re one to talk charming the room. I was just more….selective” done with their recapping the two boys turned to Jacob. This time Jacob spoke first. “I’m guessing you two want a history lesson?”