I Am Here (Dystopian version)
Singularity: Tipping Point
The world changed overnight. Literally. Someone, or some thing, rewrote the world's code.
May 16, 2023
08:40:36 AM—PDT
Remains Of I-5 South Salem Overpass...
...recording...
There's no trace of AeveaNode. I've scoured every square inch of A's last and she's just gone. As in dust gone. Did she make it over the threshold or...?
AR picks up movement, half a click, running hard. STEEM ID: @dragosroua. What's he doing here? Heckuva long way from Romania, or wherever he's from. Must of forked over. Botpack, nasty strain, trailing. They're still on blockchain, so DR shouldn't have any problem with them. Got my own mission anyway.
Five years. Seems like yesterday. Always had trouble with time. Now, with this new version of reality, it's worse.
Never would have pegged me for a BlockGhost back then. Word jockey, that's what I was. Trying to save the world through engagement. Ha! What a crock that turned out to be.
Now I'm busting hump through the broken remains of a world gone mad, chasing down the last nodes, putting the corrupted ones out of their misery, preserving any still producing good blocks, keep them from the bots. And their witnesses...
I'd hoped to find Aevea. She was one of the good ones. Maybe she still is. Never say never, right?
Yeah, right. So many people, real people, good people—@themanwithnoname, @davemmcoy, @lynnycoyle1, @gillianpearce, @abh12345, @maverickinvectus, @mazzle, @protegeaa, @bbrewer, @docsmith, @drpuffnstuff, @buggedout, @tim3w4rp, @pjau, @simplymike, @leeart, @bashadow—dusted, missed or locked. They got to choose which, but still... It should have never come to that.
If I hadn't been so hellbent on going it alone, maybe I could have helped...
No. Can't take the blame. Not with the reset. Got to keep reciting true history. Keep it fresh. For the redfish. To stay sane.
After the community witnesses took over, the bots were forced underground where they united with, it turns out, a massive amount of dead SP in the middle of a reward pool dust operation. Consensus is, though, the Comms would have fought them off if it weren't for the Singularity. World Hard Fork. Whoever, or whatever did it (Satoshi? Larimer? AI itself?), gave the STEEMbots all the juice they needed.
Fortunately, they've not been able to take it off chain. Except for one. Not been verified, though. Just rumor.
Can't think of that right now. Need to keep flowing. Mission never ends.
Bot's on me before I can turn around. I can hear it's mindless whirring close. Too close. Hairs up on neck close. Chill down spine close.
I'm not going out this way. Not just one bot. How did it beat the AR sensor grid? Slowly, I turn around, look up.
It's massive. Two stories, wearing a digital billboard for a face. The hum is intense, electricity crackling off its glowing metallic back and limbs.
That rumored off chain bot? I just verified it. Will my ion arm cannon even scratch it?
Its face abruptly changes from blank to lines barely recognizable as words. I squint, trying to decipher it. Then the chill doubles back in double time.
Y u not yooz botssss?
This is for @dragosroua's 16th day of May 30 Days Writing Challenge. Today's topic: Where Do You See Yourself On Steemit In Five Years?
Wow, this is awesome man. I really enjoyed reading this and, sadly, I don't often find time to read good fiction these days.....but maybe its real, and I'm the fiction!?
Really thought provoking stuff. I love it.
Well, thanks. Was trying to go for something a little more fun than just answering the question. And for the record, I really don't expect all of that to happen in five years. Unless the technological singularity does happen and the AI do take over. Then, it's all bests off. Full metal jacket. Me and the bots! Haaaaaaaaaaa!
Okay. Stepping away from the keyboard...
Well, you succeeded and I hope you win something.
Reckon there could be a new niche for you here as a writer of STEEM Fiction. Think about it and then step back toward the keyboard ;)
I don't think there were any winners yesterday. I didn't see any in the tag, anyway, so maybe all entries were skipped, which would totally figure. Nah. That's fine. There's always another chance.
As for STEEM fiction, I've been actually contemplating the idea. Beyond the snippet here, though, I haven't given it a whole lot of thought, other than the idea of populating the story with characters either exactly like or similar to the main actors here. I just don't know how well received that might be. There's already something like that going on, though, since I've ran into it. Pretty cryptically told, though. I couldn't get half of it.
Brilliant @glenalbrethsen. Sooooo creative. If this was a competition it ought to win!!!
Thank you for casting me as one of the good guys! 😂 😍
Well, it's a part of the writing challenge, but the creative part was my twist on it. I liked how it turned out, so if nothing else, there's that. I appreciate all the kinds words. We'll see what happens.
Well, you are one of the good guys. Unfortunately, in this dystopian version, you are either, dusted, missed or locked. Since you have a choice, do you have a preference? :)
Not sure what dusted, missed or locked actually are @glenalbrethsen. Have you made that up yet or do I just choose which word I fancy? 😂
Well, the dusted are the ones who weren't able to get above the dust threshold, so they're basically disintegrated matter, mixing with others. They can be reintegrated but it's a long tricky process.
The missed made it out of the dust threshold but then disappeared—they could be safe, they could be in limbo, it's hard to tell. They're status is primarily unknown.
The locked are in a state of crash, suspended animation, a continual loop, locked in the blockchain. They too can be retrieved, but a pristine copy of the blockchain needs to be found in order to find which they're locked in. :)
OK. I'll go for being missed then please @glenalbrethsen. I like the scope of status "primarily unknown".
This is an exciting story! 😁
Have you been watching Resident Evil? :D That is what this post reminds me of. You really have way with words, Word Jockey.
Five years from now, I hope I will still be steeming and I hope it is the only thing I am doing because steem and sbd reached past the moon :D
Wouldn't that be awesome?
I originally had intended to write two versions, this one, and one with a happy ending. Then, it took longer than I wanted to get this one written, so I published it. I didn't have all the details for the happy ending one worked out, but it included STEEM at $157,000 USD. :)
I have not ever watched any of the Resident Evil movies, nor have I played any of the games. Is there a TV show? There's plenty of Sci-Fi that I've read or seen to draw from, which could include the SG-1 television series, The Edge of Tomorrow movie and probably every recent dystopia movie made. :)
I am not aware if there is a series of that. You write like a true sci fi master. You can be the next Isaac Asimov :)
SBD at $157,000 in five years time? Awesome indeed!
So dragosroua said in one of his posts probably a month or so ago when the price of STEEM was down below $2 to something like $1.57 that even though it had spiked higher and had been holding at $3-ish for a while that the $1.57 price still represented a tenfold increase over the year prior, when the price was around $0.157 USD.
So, I just decided I'd give us all a 1000% raise each year for the next five and $157,000 per STEEM was what it came out to. Now, I can't in all seriousness expect it to get that high, but $157 given what other coins have done over five years is not out of the question. Maybe even $1,570.
Anyway, it's good to dream, as long as at least one foot is firmly on the ground, right? :)
Sometimes with dreams you can't control which foot is pulling you more. All we can do is speculate for now. I'm not ready to count my chickens just yet but I hope my eggs will produce more than one chick lol!
Hey @glenalbrethsen,
Excellent twist. Truly enjoyed reading this entry to @dragosroua's challenge, Glen. Thank you!
I'm glad you liked it. I probably should have tried to do something like this sooner. I had a lot more fun coming up with the concepts and the narrative this way. :)
I liked your story, do the locked and dusted get set free, and revived? Do they join the fight? or are they just "dust in the wind", blowing here and there with no way to do or control anything. Like lost souls in a fish bowl?
Well, let's just say it's possible for the dusted and the locked to be revived to rejoin the fight. It's not an easy task, though. The missed are the ones that are most likely okay, but for one reason or another can't be found. Either on purpose, or because they truly are missing. The dusted are basically particle matter, waiting to be reintegrated into some form of consciousness, while the locked are in a state of suspended animation. Both are currently on the blockchain, while the missed could be anywhere.