by Mark
Ryan
3,450 words
3,450 words
Please
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Time
Warp
by Mark Ryan
“The bus is late today. I wonder what’s
causing the holdup.” Carol whispered.
Carol was a worry wart. She always thought
the worst. But today she was relatively calm. She had a good night’s sleep,
dressed early, and wore here new black and white striped blouse. Dark noir was the new fashion trend. She worked in Mass General Hospital’s Claims
Department and was in line for the next raise cycle. Hopefully, it would be
more than a few dollars. However, it was a known fact that men doing the same
job always got paid more. The ‘Good Old Boy Network’, she would always say.
Mark answered, “Don’t know why the bus is
late but I read in the paper that sun spots have been the reason for all the TV
and radio interference. There was also a
news alert on my phone this morn’n that solar flares had caused the time on clocks
to jump-round. Maybe the bus company clocks are off kilter.”
“By the way dear, you look quite
attractive this morning with your new blouse and the slight scent of perfume is
very alluring. Just watch out for those sharks at work.”
“Aha, you must want someth’n, but you know
flattery will always get my attention. Likewise,
you look handsome yourself with those new retro clothes we bought at the thrift
store.
Carol was just over five feet tall with
reddish brown hair and a slim built. She recently got contacts and was happy to
get rid of the glasses she wore since grade school. Mark was five eleven and a
half feet tall. He would always try
elevating his height that extra half inch when at the doctor’s office for his
annual health check. The nurse would always say, “Take off your shoes and stand
straight, please.” Mark had black hair with a big wave in front and always had
that perpetual smile.
Mark and Carol were high school
sweethearts and dated each other while Mark went to UMass Boston and got his
college degree, majoring in Chemistry and Biology. In addition, he got his teaching certificate
and applied for teaching jobs at several schools around the area.
Last year they were married and Mark got
his first job as a science teacher at a local high school.
Although Mark received some scholarship
money, he still owed some big loans for school and would have to pay them all
back, now that he had a fulltime teaching job.
After getting married, they looked for a
small apartment and found one over a variety store in Chelsea, a community just
north of Boston where they both grew up. It was close to schools and shopping
and the bus line so they could easily get around. The rent was lower than
normal since Carol’s father knew the landlord, although comparable rents went
for fifteen hundred a month.
Carol’s cousins still lived in the same
neighbourhood in which their families had for the past four generation. The
apartment buildings were made of wood and brick and most constructed in the
1920s. It was if time stood still in this old neighbourhood. Although some of
the residents had been here for a couple of generations, other ethnic groups
had moved in and out in waves. However, they all worked hard to make a living
and shared the same values, worries and joys.
Mark and Carol had
taken the same bus into Boston for the last few years and both worked at Mass
General. Carol had a fulltime job and
Mark part-time while he went to school. Now
Mark took the same bus into Boston where he had a full-time teaching job at
Boston Latin School.
While they waited at the bus stop outside
the new SPRINT cell phone store, they saw a clerk setting up a sidewalk booth
advertising the new VR Glasses. These
were the new virtual reality 3D kind that you could wear as sunglasses and then
switch over to VR programming when you wanted. With VR turned on and a virtual
program running, you really felt like you were in an alternate universe.
Everything looked surreal.
The clerk saw Mark and Carol and called
them over to try on the glasses. Mark was a gadget guy and always interested in
the new electronic items on the market.
The clerk Harry knew Mark and explained,
“These glasses are the brand new model just out today. In addition to selecting built in VR
programs, this pair also has AI, Artificial Intelligence, which allows it to
make up its own VR program scenario based on what it senses from the
surroundings. It’s like it has its own
imagination.”
Mark and Carol each tried on a pair of the
glasses, switched them on and said, “Wow, these are unbelievable. Everything
looks so real and interactive”.
Harry continued, “If you wear them for 24
hours and complete a customer survey, the store will give each of you a $100
gift certificate. You can switch them on and off with this button that is on
the side of the glasses.”
Mark and Carol were already hooked on the
novelty and the great entertainment feature they would have pairing it with
their Sony video game console. Carol looked at Mark and said, “If it doesn’t
cost us anything why not try them. What
do we have to lose?”
Mark agreed and told Harry, “We’ll try
both pairs.”
Harry said, “Just sign here and you can
take them.”
The wind started picking up again just as
the bus arrived. The doors opened as several passengers started getting out.
Carol and Mark were standing on the sidewalk at the bus stop and moved closer
to the bus door to get on, just as some unruly teens that were walking by shoved
the crowd forward and then ran off. Some patrons stumbled on the sidewalk but
then recovered without falling. The teens laughed as they quickly ran
away.
An older woman in the crowd shouted, “I
saw you Johnny and I’m going to call your father and tell him what you did.”
The passengers continued boarding the bus
as they watched the teens all turn and give them the finger. Most of the passengers lived in the same neighbourhood
and knew each other. Although they lived
in the same area, it was hard to judge the reaction from the crowd about the
teen’s behaviour. Although they had
differences, decent behaviour and caring for one another should transcend all
cultures.
Johnny would surely be sorry tonight for
pulling that prank. His father didn’t hold back with strict discipline. He was
from the old country where manners and respect for elders was a top priority.
However, younger parents today were of the opinion to spare the rod and use
psychology when disciplining their kids. Maybe that will work but only the
future will tell. Society was getting too soft.
As the bus pulled away, the sky darkened
with a loud clap of thunder and bright flash of light. The bus shook violently
and the passengers were tossed about. After a few minutes everything settled down
and the bus travelled a few blocks to its next stop.
Mark turned to Carol in the seat next to
him and said, “Look out the window at the buildings there. They weren’t that
color yesterday.”
Carol gazed out the side window and gasped
before saying, “Wolper’s Department Store is gone and there is a Flying Bike
Shop in its place.”
The stores’ signs were changed too. The
people walking by wore funny bright-colored clothes. Mark thought he was dreaming
and quickly blinked his eyes. Everyone on the bus saw the same thing and
started talking loudly.
Several passengers started shouting, “What’s
happening? Why is everything outside changed?” Some started screaming. Others
were praying out aloud. Everyone ran for the bus doors and tried to get out all
at once. After a lot of pushing and shoving, they scrambled for the doors and
pushed them open.
Bursting out of the bus doors and landing
on the sidewalk, the passengers continued crying and shouting. Several started
to run while yelling for help. Suddenly, there was a loud voice coming from
speakers on lamp poles.
The voice commanded, “Stop running and
stand still. This is a restricted quiet zone.”
The crowd ignored the speaker and
continued yelling.
Suddenly, nets exploded from a parking meter
pole and snared all those running. Luckily,
Mark and Carol were still standing near the bus and avoided the net. The net
pulled tight and the noisy crowd was yanked up against the pole. Seconds later, a flying police car hovered up
next to the pole. The car’s door opened and the net with the trapped people was
hauled up into the back. The door shut and the car flew away.
Mark was in shock with his mouth opened
wide. He then saw a bystander wearing colorful neon clothes coming down the
sidewalk and said to him, “What was that?”
As the bystander moved, the color of his clothes changed like a
chameleon reflecting the color of the surroundings. It was like living
camouflage fading in and out of sight.
The chameleon man replied, “You must be
new here. That was our police in action. They call it a crowd control
device. Arrest first and ask questions
later. They got rid of the old rule of – ‘stop and frisk’.”
Mark asked, “What will happen to them?”
Mr.
Chameleon replied, “Don’t worry. They will be processed and dropped back here
in an hour. The process involves injecting them with a micro ID chip. The chip
will read their personal DNA code like the old finger print ID. They will then
have Federal Bank credits added to their personal account with several credits
deducted for the noise violation.”
The chameleon man continued, “You need to
tell your friends to be careful not to commit any more violations. The local
sheriff has a three strike policy.”
Mark said, “What happens on the third
strike?
The chameleon replied, “Funny that you are
not aware of this law. It’s used world-wide by all civilized countries. On the
third strike you are put in a Bee-Hive Dormitory. The BVD is shaped like a
diaper. You know, ‘Poop In and Poop Out’. It is used as a means of population
control. All 3-strike violators, criminals, immigrants, poor, homeless and just
those lucky to be selected by the Power Ball lottery are put into mandatory
bee-hive hibernation for one year. It’s like the Draft but there are no
deferments. The lottery selection is controlled by the world-wide annual
birth-death equalizer. You sleep in a tube with a Pop-Up timer inserted in your
belly button. When you’re done, the timer pops.”
Mark laughed and said, “You’re joking.
That is ridiculous.”
The chameleon said, “No-way Jose, come
this way, okay.”, as he showed Mark an interactive TV screen on the wall of an
adjacent building. The building looked like one that Mark lived in when he was
a young boy.
Mark said, “Wait, this old apartment
building looks familiar. It used to be a three decker with five room apartments
on each floor.”
Chameleon man replied, “That was a long
time ago. They rehabbed all the old buildings and made four-six foot square condo
sleeping cubes out of each twelve foot square room. Now the building houses
sixty sleeping condo cubes instead of three apartments to alleviate the housing
crisis and population increase. You enter each cube through this pneumatic
elevator cube-tube. I just love the
sound that it makes, ’wooooosht’. The rent is easy too. It’s all been rolled
into a double barrel shotgun reverse mortgage that is given as a gift in
perpetuity to all family survivors. It’s
called the ‘Yoke for Life’.”
“But first look over here at the public TV
monitor on the side of the building,” said the chameleon as he pressed the
touch screen. A menu came up that showed the titles –NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS, POLICE
LOG. He pressed the police log button
that showed a picture of the netted passengers all strapped to a conveyor belt
moving along as a robotic arm injected a micro ID chip into their wrist.
He pressed another button that showed a
wide angle picture of a large farm on the coast. Along the shore you could see
several large buildings. There was the Bee-Hive Dormitory, Solar Wind Farm,
Waste Water Treatment Plant, and a Hydroponic Marijuana Plantation.
Mr. Chameleon explained, “We are quite
advanced here in Space City. We have a Solar Wind Collector that absorbs cosmic
rays from the sun and gives us unlimited energy. The Marijuana Plantation grows
genetically modified plants to produce a nutrient rich Granola Bar. This GMO
Bar can sustain a person for one week without additional food sources. The bar
is also fortified with nutrient rich waste water to give you that extra punch. In addition, it provides male sterility to
regulate a percentage of the population. It’s just Yummy and lasts more than
four hours.”
Carol and Mark gasped in shock and said,
“What?”
Mark then turned and got closer to a
parking meter pole and saw a sign that read, ‘One Hour Parking, Only Bitter
Coins Accepted by Bluetooth or Redtooth, Crowd Control Active, Take the Time to
Report a Crime on Your Bitter Dime”
Mark and Carol turned to the chameleon man
and said in unison, “What’s Redtooth?”
Mr. Chameleon looked puzzled and said,
“You really must live way out in the sticks. Redtooth is the new virtual
banking system. You people in the outer
regions are still living with the old technology from last century. That must be why you are wearing funny dark
clothes. You probably have a job out there in the sticks and work hard for a
living. Here in SPACE CITY we live in a socialist society where everyone is
given an allowance based on their social class. Everyone is on the government
dole.”
Mark was certainly confused. He thought to
himself, “Has the time somehow changed?
Why is everything so different? All the
odd people, funny clothes, flying cars, police with nets, virtual banking...”
Carol looked at a sign
in the store window that gave the date and time. It read...
Date …
September 17, 2116 - Time… Earth/Moon 9:10 AM – Weather … Smog Alert, Expect
Solar Showers, Use Sunscreen 200
The chameleon then yelled from a distance,
“If you want to go back to the sticks, take the next bus. It only makes one
trip a week through the worm hole.”
The crowd that had been netted was returned
by a flying car and dropped at the bus stop.
They all looked stunned from their ordeal and were ready to go home.
Mark didn’t want to believe the chameleon
man but everything looked so strange. He tried asking another question but Mr.
Chameleon walked away and turned the corner. As the sky darkened again, the bus
pulled up and the door opened. The driver said “Non Stop Time Warp Express.”
Mark grabbed Carol and said, “We better
get on or we will be stuck here in the Future.” All the passengers from the
earlier trip also piled on the bus not wanting to be left behind. In addition, some new passengers hopped on at
the last minute.
The bus driver said, “Please pay the fare
with your Virtual Charlie Cards.” Mark
took out a dollar bill and handed it to the driver. The driver looked puzzled
and said, “You illegal immigrants always try to beat the system. You never pay
your fair share of virtual taxes and you still expect all the benefits. We
don’t make change on this bus and we don’t accept fake money. Follow the rope
line and sit in the seats at the rear. You will know when you are at the end of
your rope when you reach the back Mack. At
the end of the line, the terminal collector will have you pay with sweat-equity
or a pound of flesh. So roll up your sleeves and move along. ”
Carol turned to Mark and said, “Why do we
have to roll up our sleeves and what does he mean – ‘a pound of flesh’?”
Mark was puzzled too. He looked around and
saw a man in the next seat, with one hand. The man had no shirt on and wore
chameleon colored pants and seamed to levitate about a foot above his seat.
Mark asked the one-hand man, “Have you been in Space City before?”
The man answered, “Yes, I make the trip
each week to help pay the bills. I used to work in the financial district but lost
my shirt and now I’m just flying by the seat of my pants. I work so hard in the city that I feel like I
have been through a meat grinder, especially last week when they asked me to
work an extra few hours and lend a hand.”
The bus took off again and the driver
pressed the lever for Warp Speed. The
lights flashed, the bus shook and there was a loud sound of thunder. In a few
minutes the bus came to another stop. The people slowly got up from their seats,
hung their heads low and started to leave the bus. As the passengers stepped to the sidewalk
they saw three doors. Above each door
was a sign. Each sign was different. One read, ‘Chameleon Clothes’, (Made with
the Finest Human Hair and Soaked in Sweat Equity). The next sign read, ‘Handy Dandy the Butcher’,
(Ground Round by the Pound as you hear the Sound). The third sign read, ‘Black
Hole’ (Take You Chances).
Some of the passengers hung their heads
and walked through the first two doors as Carol and Mark heard loud screaming
sounds.
Mark quickly said, “I think we should
choose the third door and take our chances.”
He then grabbed Carol’s hand and together they quickly entered the Black
Hole.
Loud music started playing over the store
speakers and confetti fell from the ceiling. The store manager came over to
shake hands. He was wearing a clown costume with chameleon colors.
Mark couldn’t believe his eyes and reached
to take off his glasses. He realized that he still had on the VR glasses that
he was wearing for the entire bus trip.
When he rubbed his eyes and looked again, the store manager was in a normal
business suit and not the Clown Costume he thought he was wearing. Carol took
off her glasses too and saw the same things. Balloons hung on the wall next to
the store sign that read - ‘WALMART SUPERSTORE’.
The manager then said, “Congratulations,
you are the Millionth Customer to walk through the doors of our new store. As a prize we would like to give you an - All
Expenses Paid Trip to Space Mountain at Disney Land in Florida. In addition,
you have won the grand prize which is a pair of the new Sony VR Glasses with
Artificial Intelligence.”
Mark looked around and was
astonished. After his ordeal and scare
of a life time, he didn’t want anything to do with Space Mountain, VR Glasses
or the Future. He said, “Thanks but no
thanks, we are done with virtual reality and the future. We like everything the way it is. Besides,
just look around and you will see all the spaced out weirdos you ever would
want to see, right here in Super Duper Wally-Mart. This place is like a circus.
Just let me point out all the characters. Look over there at Jumbo Jane with
the Spandex Pants, Tattoo Theresa with the World Map on her arms, Paul the
Plumber with his Pants Low and the Grand Canyon Crack, and Prancing Patty with
the Purple Hair.”
Carol added, “Maybe everything isn’t
perfect here in the real world but we can surely count on: Working Hard For a Living, Unfair Wages,
Crooked Politicians, The Rich Getting Richer, Climate Change, Pollution,
Population Explosion, Inequality, Illegal Drugs, Rising Crime and Increased
Cost of Living. Life is just great.”
Mark continued, “Now that we know
this was all a joke caused by wearing those stupid VR Glasses, we are going to
get on the next bus into Boston and back to work and enjoy a ‘Beautiful Day in
the Neighborhood’. At least a dollar a day will keep the wolves
at bay.”
The
End ….
