CONTINUUM

Five years ago, on a downcast afternoon in my home town if Meridan, I felt lost. I had been searching for meaning in my life and was grasping at straws. I felt like I was falling into a deep inescapable hopelessness. My wife, Rachel, kept telling me I needed to see a psychiatrist, but I felt like the type of help I needed was far beyond external repair, after several attempts. I had been working twelve- sixteen hour days in a construction job. I felt like I was making good money when I started, but now with the kids, it feels like my Bank is just a placeholder for bills to come. I love all three of them: Ron, Mike, and Sarah; but it feels like it all happened so fast.

I look up to the ceiling, wondering how things got this way, where I dread Mondays and love the weekends. I can’t wait to get home most days, but even when I’m home I want to hang with the guys. Rachel keeps trying to therapize me and the kids keep getting nastier by the day, but my hands are tied. My dad would’ve beaten the shit out of me for the things they do that I consider relatively good behavior. Rachel hates my friends. She says I never spend enough time with her, but it really isn’t my fault. She’s gone half the time at city (grid) council meetings. She’s doing great and wants to become mayor. She knows her passion but I don’t. I work day in day out and sometimes I feel envious because I have a life, but it feels unfulfilling. I feel like I breathe the air but don’t change it’s flow.

That deep yearning that makes you want to change everything, but you can’t because you always remember what life was like growing up alone without a father. You wanted to find him and make him acknowledge you but there was no lead to grasp on. I feel like I’ve been lost for so long I don’t know what it means to be found.

But, I may have another chance to find myself. My bud, Otis told me about this new company that gives people a go at living their dreams and finding their passions. I think I’m going to try it. I feel like the scum of the earth trying to restart after starting a family, but he says they’ll never know the difference.

We’re on the verge of another summer anyway. You know what that means? Death… So much death, it’s a miracle we’re still alive. The heat waves thrash any freedom outside. Commuting, shopping and all activity is only possible in 30 ton vehicles, up to the nines with flame retardant and the most advanced cooling systems. Humanity is only about 20% remaining and the only reason we’re alive now is because both I and Rachel’s parents were millionaires, and able to pay for the Neo-Tundra project. And at any moment in the summer, if a person’s living unit is breached they’re toast. On a good day, the temperatures are about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, but at summers peak 550 is not the worst we’ve hit. People stopped talking about records after we broke to 200 and walking outside without a suit was how we started executing criminals. Our winters last for 3 months so it makes life a bit bearable to get back to work.

I can’t survive another summer in the hopelessness, but I don’t want to burn either because if I left in the heat…they’d all die. I’m trash but I still love them. Plus in the hell-hole were in right now I really don’t want to test out what could be waiting on the other side.

It’s been past 1:00 am for a bit now. I should really head to sleep.

THE NEXT MORNING

“Hey baby, wake up.” Rachel said. I tussle, Irritated having to wake up to another Monday. It’s been projected this will be a longer summer coming in the next week or so. Our construction days have been teetering on twenty hours somedays cause of our new asshole of a boss. I hate the guy, but we’re trying to repopulate. Too many living units have been failing in the past few years due to minor defects, and there has been talk of having to “contribute” to the repopulation effort. They want “genetic diversity”, but it’s fucking bullshit. We’ve lost so much semblance of humanity and now they want us whore off ourselves and our wives if were sterile? I’m not but I don’t want to bring more kids into this hell. More than 95% of us are sterile and being one of the few guys that can get someone pregnant. I’m being pushed to “contribute”. I wish I could just pull a couple off and call it a day, but because of the heat and the affecting sperm. The collection centers became too much of a risk if a breach were to occur and due to the power needs of the living units, we’re forced to both give samples and to manually inseminate to reduce that risk. So I have to say I lied, when I said I had three children. I really don’t know how many I have now. I haven’t controlled my diet for very long either, because they need me in pristine condition. And what’s worse is, this’ll be my last week in construction because we’re done building the breeding facilities. I’ve been lost because this feels like the end of my life.

I look Rachel in the eyes, and I’m both tired and sad. She kept pushing for therapy because by now she noticed that I have no passion anymore. If I resist the calls to contribute I’m not sure what they’ll do, but Ricky and Mac (my two buds who were taken off our squad to “contribute”) have been gone for two years. “Baby, come on. Are you gonna get up? I have a meeting coming up in an hour. I want to spend some time with you before our week is up” She says. “I’m up, but I ain’t going Rach”, I say. “Fuck your committee assholes… No they’re coming for me? I knew It was bad, but this shit is crazy’ I say. “Babe, I’ve tried to fight this for so long but our populations are thinning out so bad. I hate that youre going to be with those other women, but I don’t want us to get extinct, although I hate you’re one of the few fertile men left” she said with a dejected look on her face. “I don’t want them to take you… You know they’re beyond the powers of the committee..ee” she sobbed.

I don’t have much time. If I’m going to do it, and restart this may be my last chance.

LATER THAT DAY

“Otis, How do I get in-touch with the company? You said they can get me a new start on life right?” I said. “Yo, keep your voice down”, his deep voice bellowed. “I have no idea how they do it man. But they give me the creeps. It all doesn’t seem right.” Otis whispered. “Dude, I’m running out of options. Soon I’m going to have to ‘contribute’, and I don’t know when I’ll be back.“ I press. “Here’s their card. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you” Otis said shaking his head. He’s always been a downer. I don’t know how he didn’t jump on this ages ago.

“*rrrrring..riiing* Hello, who is this?” a voice snapped. “Hello, I’m a friend of Otis’, my name is Carter. He said you’re able to fulfil people’s dreams and help them restart?” I ask curiously. “Sure, come to unit 53.0000759. You will be taken to a secure location. It will be $350,000. No refunds. Don’t come with anyone or we will find you, Carter Faulkner”. “Wait, hold on. How do you know my full name…” I say. “…*click*…”the phone drops. Confused, I try to call Otis, but none of my calls are getting through. I and Rachel have less than $500,000 of the $250 Million Inheritance from our parents. We’ve been sucked dry by bills. They died in breaches from the first Neo-Tundra settlements that were made for the rich, but couldn’t weather 300+ degrees of smoldering heat.

I want to call Rachel, but what do I say? As my mind races, *beep…beep...beep* my phone rings. “who’s this?” I ask. “Are you on your way Mr.Faulkner?” a voice asks. “What the fuck is going on?” I ask. “Don’t worry about coming…” the voice says, as I feel a dull pain in the right side of my neck. My breath raggedy, and sight blurry, ”Why.” I gasp, as I fall to my knees. “Mr.Faulkner, it’s a pleasure to meet you” a raspy voice says over my shoulder with hands holding me up, as my consciousness fades.

As I slowly wake up disheveled. My ears are ringing, I can’t feel my legs and my spine is tingling. “Hey baby” I hear from a muffled but familiar voice. “Who is that” I mumble, feeling drool slip from my mouth. She’s wearing a mask, but I can see her locket. It was an iridescent locket with an old picture of her mother. It’s Rachel! “Rachel, Why am I in this white room, restrained? Are you okay? Did they get you too?” I panicked. “Baby, everything is alright. Just relax, and It’ll all be over in a few minutes” Rachel said. I see my body is half-submerged in a weird light. “Rachel?! What the hell’s going on?” I shout, then cough uncontrollably. “Just relax yourself. In no time, you’ll get to fulfill your dreams and restart” She said with a tear tolling down her cheek. “You see, to continue humanity, we can’t rely on fertility anymore. I couldn’t break it to you that you were the last one from the fertility test that passed and I couldn’t risk the kids finding out.” She said. “Slow down Rachel, what do you mean?!” I retort, as she follows coldly with “He needs to relax, I can’t deal with talking to him like this…” I feel another dull ache, in my arm this time. I’m trying to respond, but I can’t say anything. “So, as I was saying Car [short for Carter], we’re going to have you cloned. Otis knew about it because he was assigned to monitor your mental health. That was the reason for all the therapy. So you wouldn’t kill yourself because we realized all the eggs and sperm started dying from food chemicals from donors last month. The clones will be genetically altered to look slightly different, but this is our last shot before the summer. Your contacting the dream fulfilment was the trigger to restrain you before you became a risk to yourself, since you were willing to leave your family. Unfortunately to make fertile clones, we are going to have to dissolve this body to prep the clones. I swear I love you Car! It’s been bothering me for so long, knowing this is the end for you... but this locket’s a memory download module, the only one of its kind. I’m actually Rachel’s’ mother in her body… This was my parting gift to humanity after I died. My work had to be finished. We’ve already downloaded yours. It’ll go to the only clone that’ll look like you for the kids, Car.2.0.” she says. “It’s ready” says a voice behind me. “Finish It… I can’t do this anymore.” Rachel says. The mechanical whirring intensified as the white light engulfs me.

EVERYTHING FADES TO BLACK.

My eyes open with a tinge of pain. I slowly get up, as Sarah stands over me, panicking says “Daddy you got knocked out when you fell on the wet floor!.” I look down and see a locket on my neck, what the fuck did I just remember.