2059: Thepopulation of the Earth is 4 Billion people world Wide.
Today (2008), the population of the earth is about 6.5 Billion. In 2020, you are the leading scientist in (whatever feild you choose) and the UN has asked you to make a plan that would make sure population growth would be stiffled and earth will only support 4 B people in the next 100 years. You have 1.5 to 2 generations to implement.
What's you plan? How will you control population growth?
Be creative! I asked people in Mangaholix but most answers were: I wouldn't live by them, the world would end by then, natural disaster that would kill everyone. We're Talecrafters. We should be creative!
Posed with this challenge, I decided to think of an answer.
And ended up with a story.
Hope you enjoy reading it!
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Who would have thought we would one day live in this perfect world we live in?
We are all numbers. I am 14-28-30. My wife, 00-11-32-44 once was dating someone from the primes, and to be honest, I found that tremendously intimidating. Some used to believe the primes were the ones behind the Protocol. Some say they are the only ones who were still around from the time when people still used names.
I always found it strange, how things were supposed to be back then.
Records say it was a time when people still used both letters, symbols and numbers to name themselves.
For some reason, even with a larger number of symbols to combine and use and create names, supposedly there were still too many people named John, Sam, Tom and Cutie. It boggles the mind. Now, ever since the Protocol, we live the orderly life of knowing our names are unique. Just as I am the only one who is 14-28-30, there is only one 99-22-10-44. There is only one 22-48. And there is only one 40-00-00-00-00.
Some people believe some people are more unique than others.
There are those who think 88-88-88-88 is extremely lucky. He did survive four transplanetary highway accidents already. He was even the sole survivor of a teleportation mishap when he decided to revisit Restored Great Wall of ChinoMongo.
Then there's 16-80-00 who owns the most popular chain of extronet cafes off-world. There are as many as 168,000 members online at one given time playing his MMORPG every hour.
There's 4,000,000,000 who nobody dates. For some reason everyone thinks she's too old.
They say 6-66, the mnemoprophet who spamessages his preachings to those who forget to activate their junk dream guards before going to bed, will someday lead us to the end of the world.
And there are the primes.
Everyone knows the primes. Because they have always been the most popular, most successful, most attractive and most envied in any place at any given time. Some say that's just how the world works; some people are really just better than others.
Some say, it is all because of one of them.
It is all because of 23.
I used to wonder what happens when someone dies. When I die. But one of the primes found me and spoke with me and told me that everything has been prepared. "It is all in the numbers, 14-28-30. As you know, the Protocol ensures us that no coupling can produce a child less somewhere out there, someone else passes away. Upon the termination of someone's natural life, the chonologically closest coupling then successfully fertilizes and accomplishes conception. That child automatically becomes self-aware of his number by his first birthday."
"But how," I remember asking him, "How does the Protocol work?"
The prime merely smiled knowingly and patted me on the back.
* * *
Fireworks.
The world is in celebration.
A new child was born today.
All over the world, in the many cities across the planets linked by the transplanetary highways, there are balloons, lights, music and parties. The world celebrates the birth of 40-00-00-00-01.
Save for me.
In my house.
00-11-32-44 passed away in her sleep last night. I never even noticed it until I woke up to what I thought was the sound of rain and music then felt how cold her body was pressed against mine . It took me five seconds to realize the celebration that was underway.
And the rest of the day to accept the fact that I alone am mourning a death.
The world is perfect.
Tomorrow, I'll make sure it will be doubly so.
Tomorrow, for the first time ever, the world will celebrate two days in succession.
My name is 14-28-30.
This is my last extronet blog entry.
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you have received a spamessage from 6-66, mnemoprophet:extronet celebrity
add to your block list? y/n
2059:40-00-00-00-00
written by Tobie Abad
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