Virtual View

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. It wasn’t an actual window but a smartphone. There were no real windows there just the virtual windows which show moving videos of beautiful nature scenes rumored to still exist in outlying areas or scenes from outer space where many of the other wealthy had already evacuated to those facilities. She looked at the actual reality of what was occurring outside. There were dead and dying citizens on the streets and the buildings were all burning with looting and pillaging. She cried and excused herself. He comforted her as they had only just met and she was greeting him into the shared two bedroom survival suite. He had told her his prior planned roommate had been killed and that is why she had suddenly gotten off of the waitlist.

She walked through the common living area of the beautifully appointed luxury suite and back into her own room to check her hair and assure her makeup was fixed after crying and left the accommodation. As she entered the common areas it was just in time to see the facility close it’s doors for what would be the final time until society was restored or the last of the evacuation spacecraft to those outer space facilities was going to leave. All of the residents had just arrived within the last few days. However, they had known about the underground luxury survival city for years as it was being constructed. Although upset herself she began comforting other residents. As she had been warned they were all under extreme duress and she tried to comfort them. There was almost every activity and luxury one could think of there. As they acclimated they wouldn’t be bored. She continued to comfort others as she moved throughout the city. There was a movie theater, bowling alley, live stage theater, pool, inside golf course, multiple restaurants, ice and roller skating rink, wall climbing area, shopping center, spa and those were just a few of the many options available.

Once the others utilized the counseling services also provided in the plan they’d be fine she told herself and stopped to really look at just how beautiful her surroundings are compared to the outside world she had never even seen before that day or otherwise experienced before. All she had ever known was life in the facility so she knew ALL it’s secrets. She slipped into one of the more hidden areas and through a hidden door into an employee area. There she looked at the stockpiles of emergency foodstuffs. There was every gourmet item one could ever ask for. They would not starve.

She noticed there were no children’s foods or facilities. However, there were family communities for that. Reproduction was something that society had curtailed with rules about selective breeding, and those chosen had their semen/ovum stored and everyone was eventually sterilized. Experts said it helped with overpopulation and also reduced concerns about sex to just those about social diseases rather than any unwanted pregnancies/babies/children B making the activity more enjoyable. Automation had replaced the need for as many citizens and people in general. She had never even given a thought to having a child. Most other adults she met were like children to her as much as they needed to be catered to. She sat in the discreet area and connected herself into the interface station alongside another droid and began to recharge. It was a male model droid. They knowingly looked at each other and began to power down until it was time to interact more.