Spacekat Tommy
Spacekat
Nicholas Klaus was a highly respected man who was on a sort of on a lifetime quest doing get rich quick schemes, and without a doubt they all were paying off. He was loaded. Filthy rich, but he wanted to rule the world...
He invested all of his fortune into several seriously profitable investors, and multiple large banks.
Then he put himself into stasis.
He told the company "Give me 50 years." which cost him 150 million credits, and he was expecting to come out in the end incredibly rich.
Unfortunately for Klaus... shortly after going into stasis, the economies of the world completely collapsed. The concepts of modern currency disappeared. Money became valueless.
**
"Only life is important." The modern slogan of the Earth.
The old-world power struggles amongst the masses are completely irrelevant in current modern society. The wars mute, and the histories of man that are taught in the classes to children are used specifically as lessons to benefit the future of mankind, without promoting the self destruction, or exploitation from within, and rather than herald the terrible histories on pedestals, destroy their very meaning, and deny any value in the place of mankind's history itself... because the wars nearly destroyed civilization itself in WW4..
"Never again shall we herald war. In the end you see nothing but a dead world, you never see a hero. Never. There were none. There never will be. All will die."
--------------
Life had truly developed around the concept of communal support structures. Everyone depended on each other to survive, and the foundations of your fellow mankind's success always relied on your own hard work, dedication, and confidence in each other to provide for you, for them, and for the good of all.
The chancellor spoke loud and clear on that day when the world opened its eyes, and sang together...
"This morning we saw the sun rise, this night we saw the stars move in the same direction through the sky, and it is in this moment, that WE as mankind NEED to act as one.. We are on this Earth together. We need to move like the heavens. We need to be as united, or we fall and disappear like the moon upon the horizon shortly from now. Mankind must yield to its faults and rise above. This Earth is One.
As one we cannot fail."
-----
The space station that contained the stasis pods was in orbit above the Earth, unaffected by the wars, the famine, the single rampant virus during that period that wiped out 1/3 of the planets occupants. It was a crew-less station, self-powered by solar panels, and continued to run without fail thanks to self-sustaining systems and repair A.I.
It became one more piece of space debris, totally forgotten.
When the orbit salvage/clean up team found the small station they released the compliment of confused people from their frozen status, and arranged for their return to Earth.
There wasn't even a welcoming ceremony for them when they arrived on the planet.
A single official walked up to each of the confused individuals, and ran a device across their wrists, branding them in ink. It burned like hell. It would never wash away.
He was NK1001174885.
After the branding he was ushered into a room where a single male, or so he assumed was a male based on his deep voice, but had female characteristics, greeted him and told him to sit down.
After doing so he was shocked to find out that he was in orbit, in stasis, for just over 230 years.
His fortune and all the investment firms and banks were gone. He had nothing. He owned nothing except himself.
"But it's ok, because in this age you now have as much value and equality as everyone else in the world! Aren't we blessed in the modern age?"
Unfortunately for him, this did not fit with his "waking to the future world" concept. He was expecting to be a king!
He raged irrationally at the individual behind the desk who simply waved a hand in a whipping fashion.
The door immediately opened, an explosive electrical sound was heard, and he woke up in a dimly lit concrete walled room unaware of how long he was asleep. He woke with no headache. He was absolutely alert, he saw someone walk out of the room with a small case in their hands.
Did they drug him?
A single point of synthetic light hovered above him in mid air, and pulsed when the sound of voice spoke to him.
"We understand this will be hard to adjust to... but YOU WILL in time.
Use your wrist mark on all scanning devices for access. You currently have full access to the entire C5-1 complex, including access to all amenities including food, entertainment, or travel to another complex if you wish. You currently have minimal credit points on your access point system, use them sparingly, and wisely, they do not last forever. If you run out of points you will be reduced to food and boarding only until you continue in community societal requirements, and daily workload participation. You will regain access to certain systems after acquiring enough points. Sharing points is not an option. Asking others for points is not an option. Going against system guidelines will result in severe punishments. To check your points use your wrist mark at any console and say "inquiry". We demand your cooperation. Our lives are your lives. Your life is ours. We stand strong together. As one we cannot fail. Please comply."
-------
The moment he heard all this combination of how the current world works, and how the technology has changed so much, he began to freak out. He took the simplest educational courses the systems had to offer, and he could barely begin to grasp the basic concepts. The ideas were so complex he was lost in minutes. He couldn't pass a test.
At the same time, he could barely understand the people's language anymore because so many languages have combined into modern Common. Basic slang terms of history, different accents from one language to the next, combination of languages during sentences, everything that used to make speaking such an easy task, was now incredibly difficult.
He sat in a bar during his first days, binge drinking before he ran out of credits... thinking about his messed up situation he actually broke down and cried in a corner.. This is when someone approached, handed him a glass of water, and said "pass the salt". He thought this person was being nice to him. He took the salt shaker off his table, and handed the salt shaker to him, and the person looked confused and left it on his table, then walked away.
He felt like a fool later when they explained to him that pass the salt meant you don't cry in public, sober up, and move on.
----------
Without being granted the power and fortune he originally lusted for, he now found himself struggling to figure out who he is as a person, and what life means to him... What would he do here? Where could he go?
Who knew that suddenly being free enough to choose to... be... in a world with impossible to reach demands could destroy a man so easily??
The depression he was feeling baffled the modern psychotherapists because the concepts of greed have faded from every day life. No one deals with language barriers any more, so even the therapists lose faith in communication with someone that can't fluently speak to.
In all the classes he takes, the teachers demand he focuses with children's A.I. courses for education, as his mind seems so much like an undeveloped child's.
"O how a world can change in 200 years", he wrote in a journal.
As time progresses, he slowly loses his mind. He finds his life to have little meaning. Yielding nearly no substance. Yet everyone here, living identical lives, is stone cold satisfied.
Eventually he finds himself on the observation deck of an open air sky tower, looking off into the distance. The skies are filled with jets and copters. The streets forever below, clear as day, though vehicles are everywhere, there is zero pollution. The air is clean. He feels the breeze on his face and looks towards it, and sees a skyscraper in the distance rotating with the breeze. At first he thought it was a moving building...
But no!
It was a monument to mankind's connection and harmony with the world it existed on. A power plant of massive proportion! It was as if the power of very Earth itself was looking back at him. The entire world profited from such power. No more men were the power holders.
There were no more kings on this world.
While he struggled with these thoughts for weeks... His failed ability to contest with his new world responsibilities, and absolute lack of function or position in its society. His own failure to suppress his ego. To have the same as all other men are given.. To work as hard for yourself or others as needed.. To never rise above the minimum of minimum... Because that's what you get.
"I was supposed to be a king!", He screamed.
There was no barriers for security, no one committed suicide anymore. Well, no one of this world anyway. 1,2,3,4,5,6 steps and a grunt... and he was free from it all.
There was no longer fear he was going to be nothing. There was no longer the pain of pushing through the day to get the short entertainment at the end of the night leaving unfulfilled. There was no more shame for having the mind of a child, or mistaking someone asking you to pass the salt...
Pass the salt...
In that last moment He finds a moment of satisfaction in the belief that he was the bravest man in the world at that time for actually jumping...
How far did he drop by now?
A mile... two miles..
He's not even sure. He just sees the world getting bigger than ever. As if coming to him.
"The world is mine", he whispers.
And he smiles for just a second... Right before the world hears the crunch of his bones.
No one knows his story but him, his therapist, and the crew that de-iced him. No one else needed to know. Nobody cared. Everyone was already in their place.
He was the one out of place.
He invested all of his fortune into several seriously profitable investors, and multiple large banks.
Then he put himself into stasis.
He told the company "Give me 50 years." which cost him 150 million credits, and he was expecting to come out in the end incredibly rich.
Unfortunately for Klaus... shortly after going into stasis, the economies of the world completely collapsed. The concepts of modern currency disappeared. Money became valueless.
**
"Only life is important." The modern slogan of the Earth.
The old-world power struggles amongst the masses are completely irrelevant in current modern society. The wars mute, and the histories of man that are taught in the classes to children are used specifically as lessons to benefit the future of mankind, without promoting the self destruction, or exploitation from within, and rather than herald the terrible histories on pedestals, destroy their very meaning, and deny any value in the place of mankind's history itself... because the wars nearly destroyed civilization itself in WW4..
"Never again shall we herald war. In the end you see nothing but a dead world, you never see a hero. Never. There were none. There never will be. All will die."
--------------
Life had truly developed around the concept of communal support structures. Everyone depended on each other to survive, and the foundations of your fellow mankind's success always relied on your own hard work, dedication, and confidence in each other to provide for you, for them, and for the good of all.
The chancellor spoke loud and clear on that day when the world opened its eyes, and sang together...
"This morning we saw the sun rise, this night we saw the stars move in the same direction through the sky, and it is in this moment, that WE as mankind NEED to act as one.. We are on this Earth together. We need to move like the heavens. We need to be as united, or we fall and disappear like the moon upon the horizon shortly from now. Mankind must yield to its faults and rise above. This Earth is One.
As one we cannot fail."
-----
The space station that contained the stasis pods was in orbit above the Earth, unaffected by the wars, the famine, the single rampant virus during that period that wiped out 1/3 of the planets occupants. It was a crew-less station, self-powered by solar panels, and continued to run without fail thanks to self-sustaining systems and repair A.I.
It became one more piece of space debris, totally forgotten.
When the orbit salvage/clean up team found the small station they released the compliment of confused people from their frozen status, and arranged for their return to Earth.
There wasn't even a welcoming ceremony for them when they arrived on the planet.
A single official walked up to each of the confused individuals, and ran a device across their wrists, branding them in ink. It burned like hell. It would never wash away.
He was NK1001174885.
After the branding he was ushered into a room where a single male, or so he assumed was a male based on his deep voice, but had female characteristics, greeted him and told him to sit down.
After doing so he was shocked to find out that he was in orbit, in stasis, for just over 230 years.
His fortune and all the investment firms and banks were gone. He had nothing. He owned nothing except himself.
"But it's ok, because in this age you now have as much value and equality as everyone else in the world! Aren't we blessed in the modern age?"
Unfortunately for him, this did not fit with his "waking to the future world" concept. He was expecting to be a king!
He raged irrationally at the individual behind the desk who simply waved a hand in a whipping fashion.
The door immediately opened, an explosive electrical sound was heard, and he woke up in a dimly lit concrete walled room unaware of how long he was asleep. He woke with no headache. He was absolutely alert, he saw someone walk out of the room with a small case in their hands.
Did they drug him?
A single point of synthetic light hovered above him in mid air, and pulsed when the sound of voice spoke to him.
"We understand this will be hard to adjust to... but YOU WILL in time.
Use your wrist mark on all scanning devices for access. You currently have full access to the entire C5-1 complex, including access to all amenities including food, entertainment, or travel to another complex if you wish. You currently have minimal credit points on your access point system, use them sparingly, and wisely, they do not last forever. If you run out of points you will be reduced to food and boarding only until you continue in community societal requirements, and daily workload participation. You will regain access to certain systems after acquiring enough points. Sharing points is not an option. Asking others for points is not an option. Going against system guidelines will result in severe punishments. To check your points use your wrist mark at any console and say "inquiry". We demand your cooperation. Our lives are your lives. Your life is ours. We stand strong together. As one we cannot fail. Please comply."
-------
The moment he heard all this combination of how the current world works, and how the technology has changed so much, he began to freak out. He took the simplest educational courses the systems had to offer, and he could barely begin to grasp the basic concepts. The ideas were so complex he was lost in minutes. He couldn't pass a test.
At the same time, he could barely understand the people's language anymore because so many languages have combined into modern Common. Basic slang terms of history, different accents from one language to the next, combination of languages during sentences, everything that used to make speaking such an easy task, was now incredibly difficult.
He sat in a bar during his first days, binge drinking before he ran out of credits... thinking about his messed up situation he actually broke down and cried in a corner.. This is when someone approached, handed him a glass of water, and said "pass the salt". He thought this person was being nice to him. He took the salt shaker off his table, and handed the salt shaker to him, and the person looked confused and left it on his table, then walked away.
He felt like a fool later when they explained to him that pass the salt meant you don't cry in public, sober up, and move on.
----------
Without being granted the power and fortune he originally lusted for, he now found himself struggling to figure out who he is as a person, and what life means to him... What would he do here? Where could he go?
Who knew that suddenly being free enough to choose to... be... in a world with impossible to reach demands could destroy a man so easily??
The depression he was feeling baffled the modern psychotherapists because the concepts of greed have faded from every day life. No one deals with language barriers any more, so even the therapists lose faith in communication with someone that can't fluently speak to.
In all the classes he takes, the teachers demand he focuses with children's A.I. courses for education, as his mind seems so much like an undeveloped child's.
"O how a world can change in 200 years", he wrote in a journal.
As time progresses, he slowly loses his mind. He finds his life to have little meaning. Yielding nearly no substance. Yet everyone here, living identical lives, is stone cold satisfied.
Eventually he finds himself on the observation deck of an open air sky tower, looking off into the distance. The skies are filled with jets and copters. The streets forever below, clear as day, though vehicles are everywhere, there is zero pollution. The air is clean. He feels the breeze on his face and looks towards it, and sees a skyscraper in the distance rotating with the breeze. At first he thought it was a moving building...
But no!
It was a monument to mankind's connection and harmony with the world it existed on. A power plant of massive proportion! It was as if the power of very Earth itself was looking back at him. The entire world profited from such power. No more men were the power holders.
There were no more kings on this world.
While he struggled with these thoughts for weeks... His failed ability to contest with his new world responsibilities, and absolute lack of function or position in its society. His own failure to suppress his ego. To have the same as all other men are given.. To work as hard for yourself or others as needed.. To never rise above the minimum of minimum... Because that's what you get.
"I was supposed to be a king!", He screamed.
There was no barriers for security, no one committed suicide anymore. Well, no one of this world anyway. 1,2,3,4,5,6 steps and a grunt... and he was free from it all.
There was no longer fear he was going to be nothing. There was no longer the pain of pushing through the day to get the short entertainment at the end of the night leaving unfulfilled. There was no more shame for having the mind of a child, or mistaking someone asking you to pass the salt...
Pass the salt...
In that last moment He finds a moment of satisfaction in the belief that he was the bravest man in the world at that time for actually jumping...
How far did he drop by now?
A mile... two miles..
He's not even sure. He just sees the world getting bigger than ever. As if coming to him.
"The world is mine", he whispers.
And he smiles for just a second... Right before the world hears the crunch of his bones.
No one knows his story but him, his therapist, and the crew that de-iced him. No one else needed to know. Nobody cared. Everyone was already in their place.
He was the one out of place.
