Enter Command

When every function of society was connected to a single unifying grid, there could be only one outcome. The government unwittingly made sure of that. The power to immediately shut everything down in case of threat or emergency, whatever that may be. It was for the best of intentions, like any high ideal. Until something wrested control. Their computer scientists proposed innumerable theories, some more outlandish than the last, but for all the combined knowledge that still existed in a quieter world, no answers could be found.

The power had been out for nearly 23 years. After that, everything soon followed. The water men make a decent living now, carting barrels on horse drawn carriages from the nearest streams and lakes to the population centers that have not yet migrated closer to the source. Blacksmiths who were once hobbyists now ply a much-needed trade as old tools wither and break and replacements can only be hand made. And so it goes for the farmers and the beekeepers, the candlemakers and woodworkers. Doctors do what they can, but only for those with the most basic needs. Bad genetics and family histories now cull the population with efficiency. The libraries still hold sufficient knowledge, but without the power of industry, such tomes are no more than decoration.

Babbage was 4 years old when his father died. He had distant memories of going to work with him. He couldn’t go in most of the rooms there. All the men in the labyrinthine hallways always watched to make sure. Sitting in the hallway, always waiting, he watched important looking men and women coming and going. They always seemed busy, and stern, and never talked much to him. When his father would emerge from the same room he always worked in, he’d take him to the cafeteria for an ice cream soda, back when you could still get one.

They said it was a heart attack from stress. He didn’t understand at first. His mother eventually found a way to explain the finality. It wasn’t until his teenage years that he found out what his father truly did. Nobody knew, or nobody mentioned it, until an old co-worker showed up one day to check on his mother. He only stayed for a few hours that day, but he left her a heart shaped locket, something from the old government office that was meant to be hers. After she passed away, Babbage would keep it close, the last gift from a husband to a wife. Through the years, Babbage read his father’s notes and journals. He learned about the new world he grew up in and the mechanisms which made it so. And he learned what his father helped to enable. One day, by accident, he learned he had the key to change it all.

After finding his way through a myriad of corridors, Babbage was mentally exhausted. A red light flicked on and off with a steady rhythm. He stared at it in the darkness of the room, his stomach in knots. One last door to go. He knew that there were merely seconds to open it once the security light ceased. On, off, on, off…he tried not to blink lest he miss his opportunity. Off. His hand raced to the handle and he rushed open the door. A room awash in small lights pricking the shadows and cold awaited him. His left hand clutched at something below his shirt. A terminal sat open. The screen was on and was covered by a fine layer of dust. He sat down and stared at the blinking cursor. Babbage pulled at the chain around his neck, inching the locket over his collar. Pressing three fingers symmetrically around the sides of the case, it opened. He carefully pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. His father’s printing was fine and perfect. Slowly and with care, he typed each character onto the keyboard, the password long and unconventional. He swallowed hard, and then hit Enter.

A.I. override terminated…..

Ecological reset terminated…..

Status: Normal…..

ENTER COMMAND: