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The Twenty-Year Reset
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Category:
Action/Thriller
Publisher: Alan Sickler
Pages: 318
Copyright: April 9, 2014
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
In a near future America where people only communicate through technology, humans live agoraphobically in a kind of technological womb. They never meet face to face and stepping outside is as unappealing as it is impractical. The Twenty-Year Reset challenges our embrace of the modern, social networked world overflowing with acquaintances masquerading as friends, where you can have dinner with a loved one and never take your eyes off of your cell phone. Where does humanity head when we become intrinsically interconnected by technology but our relationships become less substantial?
The protagonist, Churchill, is a product of a technological age. He lives—and believes himself to be thriving—in a future America where people interact with one another only through technology. Face-to-face human comuincation rarely occure. People take refuge inside technologically enhanced and controlled homes, safe and secure against environmental conditions considered too harsh to tolerate in the aftermath of global warming. Churchill relies exclusively on an advanced version of the Internet to meet his every need. He lives his entire life in an agoraphobic state, receiving food, clothing, and medicine through pneumatic tubes. All his work is done by telecommuting and his human relationships are of the superficial, cyberspace variety.
Churchill is pulled out of his comfortable existence when he meets one of the outside dwellers, called Morloks. These beings lived outside exclusivly, are unknown and because of that uncertainty mostly feared. When Churchill tries to introduce her to his technology-sustained lifestyle, his world starts to unravel, and he and Amy must flee for their lives when they oppose the status quo. Churchill finds himself forced to interact with another human being on a personal level, a skill he never had an opportunity to master. Together, he and Amy discover the secrets that Churchill's technological cocoon has hidden from him, and they must make decisions for themselves and others neither of them could have imagined.
The Twenty-Year Reset uses science fiction and adventure (with a bit of romance) to explore modern themes: the overuse of technology (including social media and computers), the erosion of social interdependence, and the decline of economies and governments. It is a cautionary tale, one that provides a strong counterpoint to the alluring digital world many of us navigate daily.
Excerpt
All Churchill could think about was the horrible buzzing coming from the wall screen.
It didn't matter that he had changed the sound from the standard high-pitched beep to a more melodious and subtle tone. It was the interruption that bothered him most.
Churchill's onscreen character sat pressed against a rock trying to avoid getting blasted by the other players in his game of Invasion. The second he tilted his head to find out who was trying to contact him, someone in the game discovered his hiding spot and smashed him with a giant axe. Churchill saw the blow coming, but even with his practiced gaming skills, he was too late to salvage the situation.
A flash of bright light followed by the pronouncement of "game over" popped on the screen, and Churchill slammed down his cup of water in anger. The cup shattered, and when he saw the shards on the floor, he cursed loudly. It wasn't every day you could get a new one through the pneumatube. Such things were rationed, and Churchill would be lucky if he saw another one pass through the tube before next year.
"Answer," he growled at the screen. Glass covered one entire wall. Like nearly everyone else, Churchill spent most of his time in front of it. All communication, the Neonet, entertainment options, and other means of interacting with the outside world ran through the massive device. No wires or metal were visible, only a solid piece of glass that displayed whatever was required.
The image of his friend October spread across the middle of the screen, and he didn't look exactly happy. The picture showed a good-looking, dark-skinned fellow with short hair and a chiseled chin, but image enhancers were so prevalent no one knew what anyone else looked like anymore.
Churchill was no exception. His own digital image shaved at least twenty pounds off his body, and he had set his eye color to blue although his real eyes were hazel. Most people accepted that the images of others on the screen were never accurate. In modern society people lived in a state of dual consciousness when dealing with others. Since human-to-human interactions were rarely done in person anymore, online representations of people were all the reality that existed. People knew they saw fabricated or augmented versions, but what others were available to them? One's actual appearance no longer mattered. What one thought one should look like was key.
Churchill sighed. He knew what was coming from his friend. The irony of the impending chastisement was that Churchill originally met October in one of his Neonet games at three in the morning. At that hour most reasonable people weren't awake, which meant October was just as much a technoaddict as Churchill. October was hardly all that different from Churchill in many ways. When they discovered they both worked for Pietro Technologies, they became immediate friends. A normal day would see at least twenty to thirty email messages pass between them, with the topics ranging from the obscure to the risqué. October was probably the closest thing Churchill had to a real friend.
"Damn it, Churchill, what are you doing? It's ten o'clock in the morning! On a workday!" October said, looking worried. "Scratch that. I know what you're doing. I also see you 'working' right now. Man, they’re really cracking down on people using artificial intelligence to work for them. You're not just going to get fired. They’re going to take away your tube privileges."
"How did you know I'm using an AI?" Churchill wondered aloud. He didn't deny the accusation. Why should he? "And why the hell do you sound like you're my mom or something? I've been using that AI for years now. I've got the thing tuned to perfection. Not a hitch so far. It even makes mistakes sometimes on purpose." He actually did wonder how October knew his artificial intelligence program worked for him. He started sweating a little. If October can find out. . .
"I know because you're playing and working simultaneously. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you can't do both at the same time. Anyway, your supervisors are doing the same thing. Or at least they were. Until they all got busted and fired."
"Ah crap," muttered Churchill. "When did that happen?"
October scratched his head. "Last week. I'm surprised you didn't hear. I figured you'd be right there, top of the distribution list for the rumor mill. It's the Feds. They came through and did a sweep on all the people in a managerial position or higher. I heard even the CEO was caught. Imagine that guy, rich as a Pharaoh, but no longer able to get anything from the tubes."
"Consider me lucky that I have zero ambition for career advancement," Churchill said with a laugh. "That really sucks though. I still can't believe the Anti-Computer-Generated Worker Bill passed. What's it been? Two years now? I'll vote for any politician who campaigns on repealing that bloody thing."
October waved his hand around the screen and tapped the air a few times. "Never going to happen, buddy," he said. "Too many AI mistakes made. Mostly by arrogant pricks like you who think they, what, 'tuned their AI to perfection'? Besides, if AIs do everything, what's the point of us humans?"
"Invasion," Churchill replied. "I have no greater plan than leveling up my character. The AIs can have the rest of the world so long as they keep those servers up."
"You're such an idiot, Church," October said, growing visibly frustrated. "Listen, I need to focus. You should too. It won't be that long before the Feds scan the next level of employees. I'm just looking out for ya buddy. Consider yourself warned." With that his image clicked off.
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