Log Entry 56
Introduction
Log Entry 56 was a journal entry supposed to be written thirty thousand years from now. It was about a student’s trip to a museum with exhibits about the 21st century. It was based mainly on various science fiction movies but also follows both scientific and social theories of the current time.
The environment around the speaker was far different from today’s natural environment. The sun expanded to a red giant star as it consumed all its hydrogen from its innermost core, thus following the life cycle of a star. The red light gives way to the crimson sky of the earth. The expanded size of the sun made it extremely close to the Earth (destroying Mercury and Venus on the process). The distance of the sun from the Earth gave way to extremely high temperature environment during the day, but like mercury today the night’s temperature will be also extremely cold.
The waters in the world of the log entry are all polluted following the non-stop disposal of human waste into the water, thus following the destruction of the oceans and sees, turning them acidic (as pointed out in the log entry).
Continued air pollution opened the way for the destruction of the sky (a little less intense than the sky in the world of the Matrix Trilogy). Smog was this world’s version of clouds and rain (like any other water not purified) was acidic.
In this world, the law of adaptation was shown. Human beings adapted to the environment with protective clothing against the harsh sun and polluted environment. Bionic modifications were made to make people a little less fragile than their biological bodies (such in the world of IRobot where Will Smith’s arm was substituted by a robotic counterpart).
Following the trend of “the smaller the better”, gadgets in this world were integrated with the bodily functions of an individual. A hand can be used as a phone or a computer (the given example in the entry). Other modified functions maybe a time telling eye (“watch”) or a coffee maker thigh. It may sound crazy but we must admit that even people of the present day hardly carry with them things more than the size of their palms.
It was also possible in this world of the log to purchase a robotic counterpart of a person’s body. This would limit the possible fatality of that individual. It may be done by transferring to the central processing unit of the robotic body the memories, personalities, habits, etc. of the individual. This could be vied as a modern version of spirit possession. The person literally possesses another body in this process.
Also following the evolution of words (shortcuts and using numbers in place of syllables or words), this world obtained a new system of language that depends mostly on numbers in place of letters. Such as the word “boy” spells “boy” in this world. The signified is the same, but the signifier would be different. Still, language being arbitrary, the two different signifiers still means the same sign.
Thus the world in the log entry could be said possible to happen. And they would view the world of today as primitive with the things this world is using. But it is also important to point out the environmental difference of that world with the world today.
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Booting…
Initializing Memory Recall…
Starting Log Entry 56
September 27, 30007
We had a fieldtrip today in one of those “historical” museums. The building was designed to look like those 21st century buildings. It looked… weird. It has this extension called stairs that you must step on for you get to the portal (they called it door) used to get inside. Did the inhabitants of that age always did their daily existence the hard way? I was about to use my antigravity pod to carry me to the door, the portal, but my instructor said that at least for a day I must try for myself our “history”. If it was not for my parents’ wish that I would upgrade my academic standings I would not go through that primitive living.
In that building, an individual MUST do things manually. That portal-door, what ever they call it, must be opened using this huge knob the size of my fist. Then it needed to be swung to make a way to the interior of the building. Imagine that hard work? We did not create a portal through it because the material used for the building called cement would crumble to pieces it we alter its molecular structure to create a portal.
It was hard to move around that tiled floor (this material is far weaker than alloy, though I would say it looked shiny). I mean, the floors do not take you directly to where you wanted to go. I needed to use my feet for more than an hour, it really hurts. I think if I was not able to inject my muscle enhancers, I suffered severe muscle pain like three of my classmates.
Our first stop inside was the exhibit dedicated to clothing. At least they had clothes back then. But how the hell did they survived with those thin textiles. Some designs barely cover the skin. Did they have thick fur to protect them from the -50 degrees Celsius of the night? Or the hundred degrees heat of the red sun? I did not even see breathing apparatus that filters the air they breathe. Well, I did see an oxygen tank but my instructor said the people of those times used them to breath under water. That was another weird thing, why would they want to go under water with all those toxic waste in it. A steel bar melts the second its dip in the water, from the rivers to the oceans, all toxic. Oh those people also had shoes. But their shoes were made with a material called rubber. It felt soft when I touched it (did all their things back then…soft?).
The next exhibit was all about the 21st century gadgets. I thought that I would enjoy this part of the trip. Hey, I’m a tech maniac. I always do part time jobs of dusting off industrial ash from the joints of bionic pets just to purchase upgrades for my right hand. I’m proud to say, my hand does not only make voice calls but also has a portable hologram projector for my 3d calls. My right middle finger, if inserted in a computer, could download to my hand’s disk all the current info I might use. Anyway, the museum has this display of what they call N93 cellular phone. I was disappointed. Hearing the term “cellular” gave me the idea of a cell size phone inserted at the side of a finger nail to make calls (just like the obsolete model T3 micro phone). But the N93 was the size of my fist (just like that knob on that door-portal). It could be used as a camera and that’s about it, very primitive. Oh and about micro phones, they had this sign saying “MagicSing, microphone model” (take note of the spelling). Well, it’s another disappointment. That MagicSing thing, it looked like (but a little smaller) one of those metallic penis upgrades. My instructor said people back then used that gadget to sing. How does it feel to use a metallic dick for singing?
The museum also had this exhibit about vehicles. Their cars did not fly. They had these round things covered with rubber called wheels in place of today’s hover pods. Imagine driving from the bottom of your apartment building to your room in the 1,500th floor, now that would take some time. And they also travel on (and in) water using metallic transports called boats and submarines. Again this water issue, what’s with their water anyway? They had this shuttle like transport called aircrafts that merely fly around the sky. Well they also have shuttles for outer space travels but the engines could only take them as far as the moons.
But what really caught my attention was the next exhibit. It was a collection of images. These “Photos”, if we use their terms, showed what was it like back then. Their day sky was colored blue. I would say it has far more appeal than the crimson sky I always see today. Their sky also had these white things called clouds, fairly similar with the smog we have. And their moon looks like a giant sphere (imagine our two half circled moon put together). The sun, it’s yellow, and people bathe under its heat, naked, while lying on white sand beaches with blue colored seas in sight. Try doing that on our black sand beach and murky seas, surely the ultraviolet rays will roast you under a minute.
I’m getting tired; I still need to repair my broken cells because of all that walking. It is really hard to repair the biological part of the body. Multiple hours under healing rays are necessary. I wish I could save enough money to buy for myself a robotic body, with that body I could just put grease on my joints whenever they gut stuck. Or buy spare parts if the original parts got broken. Yes, I would save for that body; I could order one from the home shopping network just like my parents did.
Ending Log Entry 56…
Saving to secondary storage…
Shutting Down…
