DARK HEART: FUTURE IMPERFECT

I walk down your streets with my acid-proof trench-coat, gloves and broad-brimmed hat; the only protection against the burning rain that falls from the skies. No matter how many times anyone told you to do something about the state of this city, you decided to do nothing but hide away in your safe little homes.

I’m out here doing my bit – where are you?

There were many others before me – all wanting to change the future that you built for us… or more to the point – destroyed for us.

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‘MORE BODIES FOUND ON THE STREET’

“… Six overdosed bodies were found dead in the city’s streets after the Techno-tech Ball… police seized twenty kilograms of Death-Dancer pills and seventeen kilograms of SHM22… a street value of about $60,000… brings the death-by-drug toll to fifty-two people this week…”

Many years ago, you could have ended this with harsher penalties for anyone involved in the drug trade, but your courts let them off because of loop-holes in the system that your government was too lazy to fix.

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‘SOLAR STILL POLLUTED’

“… Even after the banning of all fossil fuels, pollution is still choking the city… citizens are angered at the no-refund ruling on solar panelled cars and a class action is being taken, as solar-car owners have no sunlight to power their vehicles… scientists believe they have made a breakthrough in creating artificial sunlight for cities…”

Many years ago, you could have done something about this polluted city, but your money-hungry corporations felt it was unnecessary to bring out environmentally-friendly alternatives when there were still so many resources to dig out of the ground.

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‘OUR CITY OF CRIME’

“… Another turf war has sparked up between the city’s notorious crime gangs… “We are so used to hearing the guns that we just drop to the floor at the first sound of it”… this comes as the overcrowded prison system is about to release six more gang members back onto the streets…”

Crime… fifty years ago, the threat the underworld presented was not squashed, because your justice system was too inept to deal with them properly. Fifty years ago, your children were being led astray; involving themselves in violent clashes about frivolous things or just for the thrill. Fifty years ago, you were looking for someone to blame – maybe now you’ll look at yourselves!

Your inability to take responsibility and fix the problem has left us with this sorry excuse for a city. Studies show that an average of two-hundred and thirty-two people commit suicide in this city every three months, because they can’t cope with the conditions that you have created and by their own lack of resilience. Your technology evolves too quickly and very few of you are able to keep it at arms-length, so you drown in it instead. That’s when terms like cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking and cyber-rape come about. I guess you believe you should always have the latest things so you’re not left behind – well give yourselves a clap; you’re achieving everything you deserve.

For those of you who are alive to read this post, I guess you want to know why I’ve been out on the streets doing what I do. I once worked for your media, but was retrenched when the new Mediabot VII took over. Apparently this new bot is a lot better than its predecessors; it writes the cold hard facts, without any human emotion added to an article. I guess the media has to follow society’s lead. You are all so involved in your screens that you have no time for real emotions anymore. Society’s values have changed – we’ve moved away from villages to towns to cities to metropolises to megatropolises with boundaries that span hundreds of kilometres in all directions. It’s no wonder that we cannot find any peace and tranquillity to calm us anymore!

I create my peace by reading low-tech books. Yes, I collect ancient texts that have been housed in rundown crypts called ‘libraries’. Most of these places have been burnt to the ground, but I managed to visit several of them and gather any low-tech books that survived. I know you think me mad because I have moved backwards from traditional forms of entertainment that use technology to wipe you from society; but if you read some of the things I’ve read, you would know that the media-led government has restricted access to various publications, which has resulted in you playing the game by their rules.

Among my most prized books are several diaries that go into detail about the lives of people who have wanted to make a difference in the city – turn it into a paradise, if you will. They sacrificed their lives to make the city a better place. I’ve been looking to make a small difference myself. I don’t tolerate the gang mentality that thrives within the city. I don’t tolerate your police-troopers turning a blind eye on various crimes, just because they fear the repercussions.

I’ve already lost everything that matters. My job was my final lifeline. I went into journalism because I needed people to hear the truth about what was happening around us. I needed people to know the truth about how my parents were beaten to death by overzealous Cyber-minds, who turn their onscreen gaming experiences into real-life horror stories. I needed people to know the truth about my sister’s death to brain mega-cancer due the government ignoring alerts about radiation levels in our technological environment. I needed people to know the truth about how my wife was raped and murdered by a known SHM22 criminal, when a police-trooper ignored her cries for help because he was having an affair with the woman next-door. I needed people to know the truth about how cyber-bulling killed my daughter and how the school forced her to return to her desk-pod even though she explained the problem. She is nothing but a husk of the person she used to be, stuck inside an institution that houses many victims of cyber-related crimes. That’s right – they lock up the victims, while the perpetrators are still out there. All that remains is this heart-shaped locket which houses the photos of my wife and daughter – my reason for being out on these streets… my reason for helping you cleanse the streets!

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‘CYBER-CHALLENGE ENDS IN FOUR DEAD’

“… A cyber-stalking cartel has hunted down four WebNet Technicians and killed them to pay homage to the release of Technogeddon III… police are calling for witnesses…”

That was two months ago, but tonight at 12a.m. Technogeddon IV will be ready to download for all of those people addicted to gaming.

I guess it wasn’t hard to see that gaming would become a registered addiction by the medical board. Fifty years ago you would queue up for hours outside your gaming outlet, waiting until 12a.m., so that you could be the first to purchase any new game or piece of tech. Why anyone would you need anything so badly at that time of night, I don’t know! Anyone could see that you would become the foetus for ‘Gaming Addiction’, but nothing was done to stop you then – so it has escalated.

‘Cyber-minds’ are what the media affectionately call people who have a Class 5 Gaming Addiction; the highest class of addiction that medical practitioners have registered at this time. It means that they live in a virtual world, where their brains reclassify anything that is real into one of their gaming realities. As it is classed as a sickness, governmental ruling dictates that they cannot be incarcerated in the prison system (due to overcrowding). They also cannot be placed into the highly-populated mental disorder institutions, due to the fact that the institutions are for people who cannot distinguish ‘a reality’. Your laws deem them to be living in ‘a reality’ – even if it is only virtual – so they’re free to live amongst you!

It’s only been reported in the past few years that these Cyber-minds have been gathering in syndicates and ‘multi-playing’ game scenarios in the real world – even though it’s been a lot longer. The city has hosted several of them, especially with the emergence of Technogeddon. For those who are unfamiliar with the game, it is basically a kill or be killed plot, where gamers gather friends and battle against techno-wizards in order to restore peace in the world. The Cyber-minds have taken this into the real world, preying on people with links to technological occupations; so with the release of Technogeddon IV, Cyber-minds will be out on the prowl tonight and I’ll give them a dose of actual reality, whether they want to believe it or not.

The acid rain has stopped falling – you never know how much time you have between downpours. I put on my tech gear, comprising of a pair of Cyber-Eye 3000 goggles, Home-pute Gauntlet and the latest Audi-pod to look the part. I’m also holding my Collapse-A-Bat 360, which I can conceal in my hand until the time comes that I need to eject the density baton. Most are sold with two densities; LIGHT or MEDIUM. Mine was bought on the black-market; it’s a police-trooper baton that comes with two more settings; HARD, to break minor bones; or LETHAL, to go in for the kill. I never adjust my setting from LETHAL.

“Hey, tech-wiz!” I hear a shout from the other side of the street.

Turning, my Cyber-Eye 3000 registers five people; two with planks of pseudo-pine, two with iron pipes and one carries an antiquated cricket bat, from the 2029AD Universal Test series.

I turn on the Audi-pod and find a sixth member of the syndicate talking on a Communicade out of human earshot. They’re alerting other members, so I’ll have to make quick work of this lot.

The first Cyber-head charges with an iron pipe, only to feel the head imploding crunch of my Collapse-A-Bat across his skull. This stops the others in their tracks.

“Do we log out or continue?” a face-tattooed, female Cyber-head questions.

The second Cyber-head with an iron pipe growls and charges, “No guts, no glory!”

I show him his guts by pounding the lethal baton into his stomach. The Cyber-head screams in agonising pain.

“Who’s next?” I ask menacingly.

“Shock! Who set up this game play, dudes?” a long-haired Cyber-head asks, while beginning to take a few steps back.

While they hesitate, I attack, bringing my baton down on a pseudo-pine handler, and then smashing the pine of the other, as she swings to defend her crew. I finish her off before turning to the oldie with the cricket bat.

“You can’t hurt me… I’m very sick… I’ve got G-Addiction!” He backs away.

“Your syndicate sets up these murders with each new edition of Technogeddon. This is going to be your last celebration, oldie.” I indicate, before being interrupted by the sixth syndicate member.

“Come on, man, this is my Pa. He’s 85 next week and he’s teched-up with artificial lungs, liver and cybernetic limbs. He’s been through enough.” The kid couldn’t be more than sixteen, yet he’s part of the city’s problem.

“If he’s well enough to get involved in cyber-stalking, then he’s well enough to die like the coward he is!”

The kid smiles, “Just log out, Pa. We’ll get this guy later when back-up arrives.”

The oldie’s mood changes as he turns to walk off. He really is living in another reality if he believes that he can turn his back on his prey and not get himself hurt.

“Hey, oldie,” I get the Cyber-head’s attention. “It’s time for you to donate some of these parts of yours!” I slam the baton across his neck and his body slumps to the ground.

I hear the kid scream.

I storm towards him. A helpless cry brings on another bout of acid-rain. Sirens signal your emergency services arrival. You’re safe for now. I disappear into the night.