Closer to Cozy
The 2026 World Cup is about to end, and North Korea is still unhappy that they were ruled out of the tournament because FIFA claimed DPRK cheated. With sufficient hostility around, all the North Korean supreme leader needed was the last straw. North Korea declares war on America. With all the nuclear weapons standby, the USA was ready to retaliate. They were just about to declare the ultimatum when China interfered as the USA’s Intercontinental Ballistic Weapons were extremely powerful and would obstruct China’s oceans and coastlines. Russia climbs up to support China’s claims while the USA gathers support from its allies.
Just like the old days, the world was divided into two portions. Out of nowhere, the alarm goes, “All citizens are requested to stay inside their house and seek a cellar immediately. This is not a drill. We repeat…”
14th March 2051 AD
Prapti, a girl in her mid-twenties, somewhere in the Indian subcontinent, is getting ready for her job. She decides to cycle her way throughout on this pleasant day. On her way, she bids her boss a delightful morning who’s stuck in traffic in the electric lane. In the euphoria, she goes too fast not realizing the junction ahead and pulls the brake vigorously as the tires screeched just ahead of the white line.
“Damn it, not again!”
A message in her watch read:
“TRAFFIC ALERT!
Undisciplined riding.
37 points deducted on your insurance account.
Ride Safe!
© City Traffic Surveillance 2051”
She reaches the office alongside her boss who gave her a befuddled look.
A notification beeps in her watch “50 Paytm points gained. 4.5 kilometers traveled on the bike”.
She has been recently promoted to Project Manager of the waste management company she works for. As soon as she gets inside her office, the google assistant speaks up, “Everything good in the northern end of Ganges. Waste levels below 4500 tons. Active decomposing Bacteria 65%” to which she gives a tired sigh, “Ah, the millennials.”
After a three-hour workload, there arrives her 3D-printed calorie-controlled lunch. After lunch, she checks out of the office to find a new cubicle to live in. She remembers her father saying, “People used to have private lands.” The land wasn’t enough to support the growing residents, so it had to expand in a direction. Vertical was the way; it seems. As she strolls down the road in the 12th patch, 79th Sector her watch rings, a note from her assistant, “Would you like to try the cubicles in Oceanic sectors?” Ocean’s quite a busy place these days, so she nods down the notification.
5 PM and still no findings after coming a long way.
An alarm goes off the watch, “Water content low. Stay hydrated.”
Upon reaching home, her mother asks, “How was your day? Any hurdles on the way home?” Prapti doesn’t know why her mother asks the same question every day, particularly, the second one. She replies, “Fine, mom” to which her mother displays a smile. But little did Prapti know about the truth behind that smile. It is the happiness her mother has when her daughter arrives home safe and her mother knows it wasn’t always the same.
Sitting on the couch, she turns the Hologram and up comes her father, virtually. Her father’s one of the many people who were enlisted on the Mars colony mission and is now a colonel in the United Space Forces (UFS).
“Hey daddy, how’s work going?”
“Works a bit hectic, there was a sandstorm today, pretty much as every normal day.”
“Any luck on natural water?”
“Well, it’s hard to say, the search is still going on. So far, the water’s still artificially synthesized.”
“Anything new?”
“Well, the word’s around that some signals are being sent back from Voyager-1. Nobody’s sure how it happened, we’re digging into the extraterrestrial theory for now.”
“Didn’t you say the same for Voyager-2? It turned out to be a fault in the system.”
“Ah, yes. Need some rest sweetie, we’re being sent on a patrol, for three MSDs (Mars Solar Days). Good night to you all!”
“Take care.”
As soon as the Hologram goes down a scream comes from the other room, “Someone set me the dining table! I’m hungry.”
People and perspectives changed but not Prapti’s 103-year-old grandfather who lives his life ‘the old way’.
(Pointing at the hologram)
“Turn this box on, it’s India vs Pakistan, the second ODI.”
Prapti always heard about cricket from her grandfather. But she never liked that game. Not a single day goes by without stubborn grandpa singing the greatness of Sachin Tendulkar.
Some things never change, do they?
“Okay Google, close the door.”
She takes out her VR equipment and puts it on as she rests on her bed. The room lighting changes, the temperature turns down a little as she starts where she left off the previous day. The yelping goes, “…We repeat this is not a drill. This is the state of emergency…”
