Ravi was suddenly wide awake. His alarm enabled bed had toppled over as soon as the clock struck 6:00 AM. He was thrown violently on the floor and found himself being targeted by the water hose, yet another device that ensured he got up in time for school. His mother’s patience had finally run out and she had ordered this contraption to make her son get up on time. Like all mothers, she was concerned about 14-year old Ravi’s grades, education and future. “This is the 24th century”, she would begin,
“There is a lot of competition and you need to be the best to succeed. Do you not wish to afford one of those huge houses on that new planet they have discovered? Do you not wish that you could one day book a NASA flight to Pluto, like the Mehtas next door? Let your wife and children decide whether Pluto is a moon or planet, while you play golf on its silky smooth surface.”
Ravi would have to listen to this speech almost everyday. His robotic teacher, Robot Robert 3.0, had categorized him to be a “B” grade student. This meant that he got extra tutoring hours, more homework & more assignments as compared to his neighbour, Arvind Mehta, who was an” A+” grade student. Robot Robert 3.0 had apparently spotted more of a spark in Arvind’s brain with his brain scanning UV- enabled eyes. Ravi sighed deeply and went into the bathroom.
The constant nagging of his mother simply infuriated him. He knew he wasn’t as stupid as the robot teacher made him out to be:- he had somehow managed to modify the dishwasher to be a tooth brusher as well. This saved him a crucial five minutes every morning, just enough to propel his flying car-cubicle into the schoolship before it locked its gates. Just before leaving for school, he swallowed his vitamin pill which ensured that he got his balanced diet of carbs, proteins, calcium, vitamins etc. for the day. Cooked food was passé and eaten only to please the taste buds.
Schools had been replaced by schoolships in 2255, when the government decided that the robot teacher to student ratio should be 1:1. This was done to “personalize, synchronize & customize” the education process. However, in truth, it was being described as a system which turned the children into gloomy, drab social misfits of adults. After all, Robot Robert 1.0 & 2.0 had only been able to cultivate the minds of students like how a machine implants intelligence into a computer chip. All the educated lot looked like standard factory products. But Robot Robert 3.0, the latest evolution of the robot teacher series, was vastly improved & guess what- it even had a sense of humour! Although, Ravi didn’t mind school, he missed having other students in his class.
While cruising in his Mercedes Z-Class flying car-cubicle, he had to ensure that he was flying 300 feet over sea level, below which the air was largely polluted. This was largely due to the reckless behaviour of his ancestors in the 20th & 21st century. Home windows below the 25th floor could not be opened due to the toxicity of the air outside. The air at ground level was acrid, pungent, and a deep, misty, pathetic grey. Playing sports like cricket on a normal outfield and football on lush green grass was no longer possible anywhere on the planet. But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. All major sporting events now took place on Mars. Everything remained the same- except one thing ofcourse: no team enjoyed “home advantage.”
Ravi could not fathom how the Earth had accommodated 8 billion people at one point in time. Earth population reduction had been an important aim for all:- scientists, governments as well as the common man. Due to tremendous scientific progress, more than 5 billion people now resided in space or in little colonies on Mars. Life was more comfortable, peaceful & luxurious.
But in this mechanical world of lightning fast scientific progress, there was an understated tinge of sadness, a tinge of melancholy which was unexplained. This world of the future was unnatural, the results of man’s attempts at playing God and creating a world. Defying the laws of nature, man had taken everything into his hands.
Now, there was little to differentiate man from his creations of technology: the robots which controlled everything from the climate on Mars to the car-cubicles people traveled in. Man was edging closer and closer to disaster. But what would ultimately finish him off? Pollutants? Revolts from (suddenly independent thinking) robots? A stray meteorite? Or just plain old war? Man had always been a lover of destruction. But now he might just get a dose of his own medicine.
