Progress for the sake of who?
Ticket number 42, please proceed to window 5. James got up and walked towards the glass window. The room that he was in smelled of the crush of humans that inhabited it constantly. Good afternoon Sir. Please look into the retinal scanner. He moved to the side of the window where the scanner was located and placed his left eye in front of it. A laser shone and then turned off. Thank you… Dr James Surrey. That correct? Yes that’s correct. He waited hoping that today would be the day. He had been coming back hoping to get a flight for the past five years. But nothing. He had been living in government housing getting food with coupons. He had long ago given up on having a family. What was the point when you lived in a world where there was no decent jobs for anyone. For G-d’s sake he had been a medical doctor until 2030. His profession had been one of the last that AI and machines had finally taken over. He tried to compete. He got the latest neural implants. Read all the latest articles and dabbled in some R&D for medical companies. Ultimately he had still been made redundant in the end. It wasn’t a surprise. A machine that doesn’t sleep or eat and sure as hell does not belong to a union is going to be much more employable than a human, no matter how smart he was.
The teller was busy on her keyboard for a while, she typed some things and mumbled to herself. After a few minutes her face lit up. I am happy to confirm, Doctor, that you will be on flight 694 leaving next Wednesday. James was in shock. Part of him had been expecting a “not yet” and anything else, no matter how amazing it made him felt left him speechless. And had the teller just said next Wednesday. He managed to get out “sorry what did you say”. Dr you are booked on the flight next Wednesday. Her lips changed to form a frown. That won’t be a problem I hope. Any cancellation now will result in at least another 10 year wait. James got a hold on his emotions and his tongue and responded: “no, that’s fine, I’ve been waiting way too long for this already. Please tell me what to do.” The teller explained. The process wasn’t difficult. James had to show up at the terminal of flight 694 and a retinal scanner would let him through the doors and onto the inter-galactic spaceship. He would be allowed to bring one suitcase. Nothing more. The flight would be headed for the newly colonised planet of Verte. Of course no tech with AI on it would be allowed and would be confiscated before boarding. Thank you, James said and turned to leave.
…
James stepped out of the inter-planatary relocation centre. He turned around and looked up at the ginormous building. It was pure glass with solar-power generating schemes built in. Most buildings looked like this now. It was illegal to build something with bricks and cement like they used too. It was the last time he would look at that edifice. He turned around and walked down the street. His government housing building was 4km’s away and he could just hop on an autonomous bus to take him there. But he wanted to, no.. perhaps he needed to. One day on Verte he would want to tell his children where he had grown up. He wanted to remember as much as possible. He would tell them not only of the bad but also of the good. He had grown up on this wonderful planet. How could humans have known that they would cause their own redundancy. Okay, maybe they could of, but who was he going to blame? It took him an hour to get home. It rained along the way. He didn’t mind. Who knew what rain would feel like on Verte. He activated his omnipute. It was a link-up in his brain that gave him access to the internet and all that came with it. He looked up Verte and what rain would feel like. He saw comments from people already staying there that it felt lighter, some said it was probably because it was cleaner. He smiled to himself. Well, in a few months he would see for himself.
…
That night at his building they celebrated. Diane was crying in a corner. They had a casual relationship that had been going on for a few years. He felt sorry that he would have to leave her but he knew he couldn’t stay on earth. There was no meaning in staying. He had once read somewhere that work was fundamental to being human. It gave you a purpose. You did your job and earned a living of course. That wasn’t all of it though. Through your job you also made friends and found meaning knowing that you were a cog in a bigger machine that moved humanity forward. Without a job he felt lost, a part of him wanted to work, wanted to feel part of something greater. Machines and AI had robbed him and billions of other humans of that. Complain and kvetch about it as much as he could, nothing would turn the clock back. The earth belonged to the AI. Verte would be new, they could prevent such a tipping point from ever occurring and find meaning in a purely human society. Verte would allow machines and robots. However any form of AI was completely forbidden.
…
Wednesday morning. James arrived outside the plane 2 hours early. This was one flight he wasn’t going to miss. He had a satchel with him. It contained some food and a toothbrush. Everything else he needed was already part of him because of his implants. He spent those hours talking to the other passengers that would be joining him on this journey. They were also professionals that had lost their jobs because of technological progress. Eventually the time came to board. James started walking along the gangway. He stopped and turned around. He was suddenly sobbing. For the only planet that he had known. For the only home that he had known. He ran down the gangway and knelt down. He kissed the floor and said goodbye to this magnificent planet that had allowed him to grow up on it. He promised himself that he would never forgot it. He got up, walked on to the plane and sat in his predesignated seat.
…
Just before the aircraft launched a small drone, no bigger than a bee circled the plane. As the plane took off it quickly made its way into the landing gear. There it would wait until the plane reached Verte. Within a few months it would have infected most of the machinery with a super-advanced AI from earth. Such were the days of mankind.
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