False Awakening

(Still A Work in Progress): A 22nd Century Society where technology is trying to play an even larger role.

False Awakening

 

Intro.

Throughout the course of civilization the downfall of any society was due to unsuccessful attempts to control the poor. From slavery to welfare programs, and everything in between, these were all short-term solutions to a long term problem, failing to adapt to a more advanced technological world. To exacerbate the problem, democracies are built to act slowly. The founders of democracy, whether you go all the way back to the Ancient Greeks, or to Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers of this country, all strongly believed a slow moving government would never allow one individual to become judge, jury, and executioner. Yet, they never envisioned a world where automation has replaced people in all facets of life. Automation was the shotgun wound to the stomach. Instead of government playing doctor, they only added salt to the wound.

The 20^th, 21^st, and 22^nd century elected officials in this country allowed automation to replace man, at an unregulated and unprecedented pace. Unemployment soon began to increase from 5% to 20% to 40%, and now 99.99%. With the exception of elected officials and founders of automation, all jobs were replaced by machine. It started with blue collar jobs, which decimated the middle class. By the late 21^st century, technology was finally available to replace white collar jobs. Families of upper middle class, and even the one-percent were now at the same rung of the socio-economic ladder, as people they ignored. Automation did not discriminate, whether you were white, black, Asian, Latino, it was irrelevant and now left to fend for yourself. The politicians and owners had a name for them: inutilis. Latin for “useless” and the word was never to be capitalized because they never deserved the proper respect. Unemployment and poverty reached record levels unseen by mankind; the stakes could not have been higher for the individuals’ in charge. The powerful who believed their life and wealth were endangered reached an agreement and the plan started to take shape.

            The bi-partisan agreement was composed out of two ideas, the first was sleep. Sleep was an equal opportunity predator. No matter how rich or poor, lack of sleep affects everyone differently. Some people become erratic, violent, and maniacal. Others become drowsy, dazed, almost drunk like. These traits varied throughout the human race, but the end result was always the same. Humans eventually went to sleep to recover, returning to their normal selves, and ready to start fresh. The problem was the inutilis had a fresh start, but for no purpose. No job, reliable source of income, nothing to wake up for. As history can be an indicator, when majority of a society has no purpose or opportunity to flourish, that is how trouble starts. The inutilis composed of 99.99% of the population had the potential to overthrow those in power swiftly unless they could be controlled.

            The second idea was more controversial, it was love. Love was something all individuals desired, but not everyone was able to possess. The reason it was so controversial amongst the powerful is because there was no unanimous definition of love. Is love an intimate moment that you share with someone that you could replay in your mind every time and still smile? Is love waking up next to your significant other in the same bed every morning, having no desire to be anywhere else? Is love talking for hours from sun up to sun down sharing the most intimate and personal moments that would make one feel naked if you told anyone else? Is love a kiss that you wish would last forever? Is love a physical attraction, where the sexual chemistry is so natural that two bodies become one? Or is love none of these, something that has yet to be discovered? Although no true definition of love could be agreed upon, the powerful believed love was the way to access control of the intulis.

A small, but loud minority, advocated for drug addiction. There was one major difference: the first experience for any drug user was always the mountain top. No matter how many times you return the high is never as intense or satisfying. In an attempt to repeat the first high, individuals throughout the course of history have stolen, assaulted, raped, murdered, while simultaneously destroying the lives to the ones they are closest too. These side effects could create a rebellion by the intulis that could lead to the downfall of the powerful’s way of life. This way of life took generations to accumulate wealth and power, while destroying millions of lives who stood in their way. Another faction of the powerful argued that one’s actions under love have reached similar consequences, but that problem would not exist. The pursuit of love, or coping with heartbreak from a loved one have made individuals revert to the same actions as drug addicts. Once love is achieved the irrationality disappears. Love will create a sense of happiness, desire, and purpose in the life of an inutilis.

            That is why sleep and love are the perfect combination. When an individual sleeps he or she gains access to their subconscious and access to what one truly craves. Dreams are the door to one’s true passions, desires, and love. Feelings that individuals have trouble expressing, emotionally or physically, when awake. It is an unfiltered version of their true selves. One’s subconscious shows their true love, no matter the definition. The subconscious of the intulis will be able to create their own version of love, without all the potential downfalls of falling in love in reality. Fear of heartbreak, fighting, deceit, lust none of these are possibilities in the dream stage. The dream stage of love will help them escape from their life, and keep them coming back for more. The inutilis will want dreaming to replace reality.

            Once the plan was universally agreed upon by humans, machine took over the execution phase. A complex algorithm virtually tested millions of different trials to determine the best course of action to execute their plan. The hardest part was how to simultaneously begin this process with a country of hundreds of millions of people living in rural, suburban, and urban parts of the country. As technology progressed, no problem was too complicated for machine, but the major distinction amongst the two parties: machine’s ability to learn from the history of mankind. Humans continued to make the same mistakes throughout history, and the powerful realized machine was their best interest to save themselves. After the trials the machine created a plan of action. 

            In the 20^th century, once tobacco was discovered to be harmful, individuals tried to find ways to quit. One of the most successful methods involved the chemical nicotine. Nicotine was a highly addictive drug in cigarettes, but was also the key to end one’s dependency. Extracting nicotine from tobacco plants, scientists placed the chemical in patches, similar to band aids, and this practice evolved to liquid form when electronic cigarettes or e-cigs became popular in the second decade of the 21^st century. In theory, nicotine patches and e-cigs would slowly reduce nicotine in one’s system until their body is no longer dependent on the chemical. This method became known as Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). But as automation continued to dominate the labor market, leaving hundreds of millions of people unemployed, tobacco became a legal outlet for the inutilis, and all forms of NRT were banned. This was a win-win for the inutilis and the powerful. The inutilis had a legal substance to help cope through their daily life. The win for the powerful was a legal substance that helped shorten an individuals’ life span due to the cancer causing carcinogens in tobacco: A small form of population control. A major side effect of nicotine that took place in humans undergoing NRT occurred while sleeping. Scientists in the 21^st century discovered humans who had nicotine in their system during stages of NRT were able to increase their brain’s memory ability, especially being able to remember dreams more readily. Individuals were able to recite their dream in much more detail compared to individuals who did not have nicotine in their system. In the late 21^st century companies experimented with nicotine as a way to subconsciously advertise their products to consumers, but all experiments regarding nicotine extracted from tobacco plants became illegal, once NRT was banned. With the government ban, experiments involving nicotine ceased.

            Humans saw no use of extracted nicotine, but the machines did. In the second half of the 20^th century indoor plumbing went from a luxury, to a necessity for everyday human life. A little after the 21^st Century, 99.994% of the population had access to running water in their home, and this percentage stayed stagnant throughout the course of time. Water systems were locally controlled. Municipalities, cities, towns, villages, or co-ops worked at the local level of government to regulate the water supply. Due to local control, budget cuts, and smaller tax receipts because of automation this infrastructure deteriorated making it almost impossible to regulate a safe water supply. Access to the water supply was the gateway to start the plan. By adding liquid nicotine to the water supply, the dream stage could commence. Almost 100% of the population will now be prone to their own dream stage, but more importantly being able to distinctly remember their dreams to create a recurring or continuous timeline. In addition water was necessary for survival, like sleep, and the inutilis would always come back for more.

            Local control did have a downside. Tens of thousands of water districts throughout the country would have to be accessed. Automation of machines made this possible, but that meant measuring accurate amounts of liquid nicotine to enter into different water supplies. Population, type of pipe, average age of intulis, age of infrastructure, climate is all factors in the distribution of liquid nicotine in different water districts. Ultimately the process would take months even years for machine. Unlike humans, who were impatient, machine saw this as an opportunity for real life trial runs.

            Before trials were to be conducted more background was necessary. In a country of over four hundred million people, everybody had different preferences, tastes, fetishes, desires. No human was exactly the same. In the digital age this was easy for machine to track and readily available. Since the year 2100, the government removed paper currency as a form of payment. The only form of payment was digital. The government argued digital currency would prevent financial scams, increase accountability, create financial security, and easy accessibility for the poor to receive welfare. From a broad perspective one can see government trying to create accountability, efficiency, and keep the public’s trust. But if you look closer it was another way for the powerful to take control. The government was now able to track all transactions of its citizens. From the shows they streamed, the food they bought, and what they searched on the internet. Every financial transaction was now monitored and stored. Machines were able to analyze this data determining future transactions based off of past history. Internet history was also monitored by machine, if the inutilis were too embarrassed to purchase a product or couldn’t afford it; this was also monitored and stored by machine. A combination of transactional and internet history allowed machine to create a marketing pitch for each individual intulis. This could be done directly or indirectly. Let me explain. Say an inutilis has purchased consecutive videos from a streaming service starring the same actor. The machine and powerful can still capitalize on this. The next time an inutilis goes on their tablet, ads will feature posters of that actor, other movies the actor has starred in, clothes he wears, and his favorite cologne. That is an example of direct marketing, pretty straight forward.

Indirect is much more discreet because it primarily relies on internet history. As a second example, let’s say I have a white male inutilis, thirty years old. His family has been unemployed for three generations, never had a job, and relies on his welfare every month. Unable to barely support himself, he can’t afford anything lavish besides the basics. Too keep himself occupied throughout the day, he looks at pornography. Knowing he will never have the opportunity to experience any of the actions on screen he becomes enamored with it. Obsesses over this every day, imagining how lucky that man must be, waking up every morning looking forward to searching for more porn. This is where the machine and indirect marketing come into play. The wallpaper, bedsheets, clock, clothing, outdoor scenery, food, drinks on the set, even the dialogue are all stored by the machine to be used as indirect messaging. At night when he is watching a commercial, where a male ordering a pizza from his home says, “I’ll take two,” referring to two pizzas. This quote which doesn’t look like much, is actually a subconscious trigger created by the machine from a threesome scene that this inutilis watched over four months ago. As a result, this male is now hungry and orders pizza for dinner. The machine is able to control the inutilis without even knowing it. Machine has the power to create individual advertisements, directly and indirectly, for all inutilis. Machine could not only control marketing from a screen, they could also control nature at several aspects for each individual. For example, the way a cloud appears for one inutilis one might appear differently to another. The way an object is placed outside might have no significance for somebody, might mean something for another. Direct and Indirect marketing will be a key to initiate the dream stage of love.

             Internet and financial transactions were not the only areas the powerful tracked the inutilis. Movement outside of one’s home was as well. The War on Terror eventually ceased in the last decade of the 21^st Century because of several factors. One factor was the country’s drastic change on foreign policy, removing all troops and military equipment, from foreign lands back to the United States. The second factor was the machine’s ability to track and prevent all terrorist attempts on their home soil. This was only feasible because of the amount of money invested by the government in surveillance. One drone had the ability to create 360 degree surveillance for fifty square miles no matter the population. These drones could track all facial actions, blood pressure, and heartbeat, to notice anything out of the ordinary. This information would be streamed instantly to machine to interpret the data and create an algorithm for how to prevent a potential terrorist attack. However, after the President declared victory for the War on Terror in 2096, the government surveillance program was still left intact. To ensure the safety and well-being for all members of this country, but as you can already assume it was for another reason: to have more personal access to the inutilis. To see their daily interactions, habits, everything is documented. In the case of the dream stage surveillance would be to see who the inutilis were emotionally attracted too. The way one looks at their crush, their eyes soften, the surroundings become blurred, every detail becomes amplified, then when the moment passes they crash back, their pulse is racing and a feeling of nervousness enters their upper abdomen. For the inutilis, he or she privately prays nobody noticed, but the drone records this information and streams it to the machine.

            The inutilis, who will now bathe, cook their food, and drink water poisoned with liquid nicotine will experience life like dreams, where every detail can be remembered. Government surveillance, financial transactions, internet history allow machine to assort through this data instantly and send dozens of conscious and subconscious triggers to every inutilis throughout the day, individually specialized for them. These parasites will invade the host’s subconscious to create a dream stage of love that is so fantastic, addicting, emotionally pleasing the inutilis will only crave to have that same experience the next night. No purpose or meaning in life has now been replaced a purpose to live for sleep. The dream stage of love creates a reality for the inutilis to escape for 8-10 hours a day, without being a threat to the powerful.

 

Ch. 1

            The alarm went off, “Welcome back to the AARR: American Alternate Rock Radio, we are going to throw it back over two hundred years and go with Crooked Teeth by Death Cab for Cutie. Enjoy.”

            It was 100 degrees as we sat beneath a willow tree whose tears didn’t care. They just hung in the air and refused to fall. And now I knew I made a horrible call…

            Ian got out of bed with Crooked Teeth playing in the background. He is a second generation inutilis, but fortunately not as poor as the others. His grandpa was a CEO at a bank, but the central banking system collapsed once paper currency was deemed ancient and digital currency took over. Fortunately for his family, his grandfather had money saved up for future generations. However, after two generations money was running thin. For the past ten years downsizing has become a common theme amongst his family. They moved from the suburbs to a rural area. Compared to up north, less population density, lower cost of living, welfare goes a little farther. The fresh air was a major plus as well. Ian gets out of bed, ready for another day.

            I braved treacherous streets kids strung out on homemade speed. And we shared a bed in which I could not sleep at all. ‘Cause at night the sun in retreat made the skyline look like crooked teeth in the mouth of a man who was devouring us both.

            After showering, eating breakfast Ian begins this day a little different than any other. Today is the first Friday of the month, welfare. Every unemployed inutilis over the age of 18 receives a monthly stipend of $3,500. Originally every family who had a child would receive an additional $300 a month, but that backfired. For an extra $3,600 a year the inutilis had children at a record pace, creating a huge population surge. Now it is a flat rate of $3,000 across the board, and the population increase has returned back to normal levels. Ian has been receiving welfare for nine years, saving most of the money, thanks to his grandfather’s inheritance. Ian’s goal is to build up a nest egg big enough to leave. He’s searched all over the world, of where he would like to go: Europe and South America seemed to be his preference. Ian doesn’t know anybody personally who was able to leave, but he has heard stories from his parents. His parents had enough money to leave, but decided to stay; thinking their wealth with smart investments would still allow them to live a lavish life. Ian’s parents were products of old money, never having to work a day in their life, money was like oxygen, something that was and would always be there. Fast forward to present day after poor money management and investments Ian’s dad is a drunk and his mother won’t leave the house too embarrassed to show her face in case anybody recognizes her. Ian smirks at the thought, fat chance after moving 500 miles south away from the suburbs.

            The first couple months Ian was seen as an outsider, but that has begun to slowly change. He has been able to blend in quite well, making several friends, and enjoying the slower pace of life down here. The problem with the first Friday of every month, at 9:01 AM, when the money is now in every inutilis’s digital account, everyone is in their home trying to order food, and any other necessities for the next month. This has never been a problem for Ian, because of the money he has saved. He usually waits until the last week of the month to order, when the price is lower due to less demand. A monthly pilgrimage, the first Friday of every month, Ian gets in his car and drives. No destination in mind, just to enjoy the scenery, and get away from everything. Nobody on the open road, and the rural scenery was truly extraordinary, especially this time of year. It was October and fall foliage has finally arrived, and it is nothing compared to what he experienced in the suburbs. He has seen photos and streaming videos where hundreds of trees line the road, changing their clothing from green to a riot of red, orange, yellow and all shades in between, but seeing it in person was truly breathtaking. As a red leaf landed down on the car’s windshield, it brought him back to reality and just in time. A machine was doing work on a bridge, estimated time of completion: ten minutes.

Ian was already thirty miles from home and was about to turn around, when he noticed a woman running across the bridge in his direction. She had long brown hair, wearing a white t-shirt, tucked into her tight black shorts. But this description didn’t do her justice. With the fall trees in the background, her outfit clashing with the trees, every detail stood out. She had a sculpted figure for a runner, and a complexion that showed a summer tan slowly fading away. A pair of arched eyebrows looked down upon glacial blue eyes, almost as a shield to protect her. As she moved closer to Ian’s parked car, they finally made eye contact. After several seconds Ian looked away, embarrassed, realizing he has been starting at her this whole time. As she’s about to pass, she flashes a smile towards Ian. When she passes him, Ian looks in his rearview mirror, until she is finally out of sight. Whoever that was, Ian wanted to know everything about her. Where was she from? He hasn’t seen any houses for miles, was she going back home or still on the first half of her run? Ian’s minds began to rush with dozens of thoughts, should he turn around and try to talk to her or would that be too weird? Maybe he will see her on his way back home. After Ian snapped out of his internal dilemma he realized the bridge was open and the machine was gone. He decided to turn around hoping to see her on his way back.

            No such luck, Ian left the way he came back in. He even retraced his steps, and took a different route home just in case he saw her, nothing. By this time, a couple other cars were on the road, and finally decided to head back into town. Next week he will go back to the same place around the same time and see if he has any luck. As he pulled into his driveway, his Dad was outside accepting his latest shipment of alcohol for the month. From the size of the shipment Ian guesses he probably spent all of his welfare check on alcohol. To Ian that means his dad is using his inheritance to survive, hence hemorrhaging cash. Refusing to drink only fine liquor is going to haunt him in the end. The shipment of liquor every month was the only nostalgia his father had of his previous life. The fine liquor was a symbol that his family was once part of the powerful, and ruled over the inutilis. On his way through the door, Ian snagged a bottle and went to his room.

            Ian lays on his bed turns on his screen, streams music, and opens the bottle. He has a paper cup half filled with water. He tops it off with Crown and continues to think about that woman. Another alternative rock song is halfway done playing as the music streaming service is turned on. Ian searched the internet for ideas of how to connect to her digitally, but without a name or town, he was lost. Searching even a thirty mile radius would pull up hundreds of hits and take hours to sort through. After his third cup of crown he reverted back to searching the Internet about Europe. What he loved about that continent was the ability to go on a train and be transported to a totally different culture in a couple hours. He imagined breakfast in London. A train ride under the English Channel to France for lunch in Paris, and lastly a late dinner in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. Several hours and still drinking, extremely buzzed, Ian is now imagining this trip with the woman he saw on the bridge. He decides to stream a movie, but before, he comes across an ad, offering cheap European liquor: Stoli Vodka from Russia, Jägermeister from Germany, and Hendricks’s Gin from England. Ian picks the Jägermeister and begins his movie. He passes out fifteen minutes later.

 

Ch. 2

The next morning Ian wakes up extremely hungover, with the final movie credits frozen on his wall screen. A three-quarter empty bottle of Crown sits on his bed stand, and grabs his phone. He spent $53 on a bottle of Jäger and had several messages from his friend. Grabbing his phone he heads to the bathroom, washing his face and chugging water. He hops in for a quick shower and plays the messages from his friend. “Ian, plans tonight? We are thinking of going to the base to party, you in? Bring a bottle of your dad’s liquor so we know what it’s like to be a rich powerful a*****e, what do ya say?” Ian laughs as the second message plays, “Ian we are rolling out where are you? Call me.” The base was an old air force military base built during World War II and used until the Cold War ended. Once the Cold War concluded, the Department of Defense had to do some serious downsizing, and this base was one of the dozens that got the axe. Vacant and deteriorating the building received new life once the War on Terror began. The Department of Homeland Security Building took control of the building from the Department of Defense. Present day, it has been closed a little over 100 years ago once victory was declared against terrorists and this crumbling concrete fortress has been a little paradise for young adults. Sex, drugs, bonfires, a place to get away and vent, Ian has been there only twice, but both times he has had a great time. After the shower and in the process of brushing his teeth Ian says, “In an hour text Shane and ask to meet for breakfast.” His phone pings and begins to draft the message to Shane.

            As he walks out of the bathroom, downstairs into the living room his dad is passed out with an empty bottle of Crown and half empty bottle of Jäger. Still hungover, Ian’s pissed his dad went outside to get the bottle outside last night, but more upset at himself for wasting money on a bottle of liquor. He grabs an apple, cleans it off in the sink, and heads outside to the car, ready to drive back to the bridge.

            Two hours later, Ian is over at Shane’s house watching him eat breakfast and hearing about last night. Ian is half listening, thinking about that woman. He went back this morning, with no luck. He even waited ten minutes just to be safe, and drove very slow on the way back. Shane interrupts his thought. “Nay was there last night.” Nay was short for Naomi, one of Shane’s good friends who has gauged some interest in Ian. Ian who hasn’t been laid since he moved down here wouldn’t mind having physical contact with a significant other, but thinking his chances were slim to none in this small town he has since focused his priorities on saving enough money to be able to leave this place and travel. “She was wondering if you were coming last night, I couldn’t get a hold of you, so I told her no.”

            “Sorry again about that, I ended up day drinking and called it an early night.”

            “Well, let’s change that, I think we are going back tonight.”

            “I’m in.”

            The rest of the morning and afternoon, Ian is at Shane’s as they stream TV, videos, smoke cigarettes, and assemble a group for the night. A small group of them are going back to the base, but that could easily change. As Ian has noticed only the two times he has been there, a wide variety of people randomly show up on any given night. Nothing bad has happened, but the base is really the only place in this small town to get away and escape from everything. Night has finally approached and Shane and Ian are on their way to pick up alcohol and tobacco. Ian is driving and stops at the gas station. He swipes his phone on the scanner ordering gas, several packs of cigarettes, and three cases of beer. Ian picks up the tab, although he would rather save the money, he really does like Shane, and appreciates him bringing him under his wing into his social group. With a full tank, three cases of beer, cigarettes, and a half bottle of Jager, Ian and Shane make their way out to the base. The base is about a fifteen minute car ride from town.

            “Shane, West of here, what is the closest town?”

            “S**t Ian, besides this town there isn’t really much anything around here. A couple homes, that theoretically sit in the town’s jurisdiction, but that’s about it?”

            “What about by the bridge on the county highway, anything over the river?”

            “Yes, about a couple miles further west, I used to go to school with several people from there, but that’s gotta be thirty-five miles out. Why?”

            “I was driving around yesterday morning and saw somebody running. I was wondering where she was from. I didn’t see any homes for miles?”

            “If I had to guess, she’s probably from there, the town is Bradenburg, very small town not much there. No reason to visit, every reason to leave.”

            They finally arrive and Ian, parks his car next to a couple others. The best way to describe the base is a concrete jungle. Built at a time when humans built structures, you could see the faults and short sightedness in the architecture, but nonetheless it was a sight to see, a time when humans built things, and worked. The base was about a full square block with a concrete wall surrounding the perimeter. Inside there is one massive building three stories tall composed of concrete just like the walls. It is by far one of the tallest buildings in the area for miles. Since the building closed, these concrete walls have become open canvasses for art. Graffiti covers the outside walls and the building. There aren’t many blank canvases left on the walls or the building, but Ian always enjoys searching the graffiti. From declarations of love in tag, to posters, and a few masterpieces, Ian always enjoyed looking for something the few times he was here. As they walk through an empty drain pipe to the other side, they can slowly see a bonfire already built and about eight people have already arrived, including Naomi. Ian would be lying if he said Naomi, wasn’t attractive. She had blonde hair down to her shoulder blades that let loose to a figure that would make one glance back again. What caught Ian’s eye tonight was her red lipstick. In his opinion, not many girls could pull it off, and too many girls tried and failed. Naomi passed with flying colors, her brown eyes and lipstick were a great match along with her blue jeans and plaid blouse. Ian and Shane arrived with the alcohol and the party began.

            After several hours of drinking, and peer pressure from Shane and a few others, Ian and Naomi took that half-filled bottle of Jager and walked around the base. The conversation originally started about the building and graffiti, but slowly evolved into a deeper conversation. Taking pulls of Jager, they talk about their past relationships, and their family. Naomi was a third generation intulis, she like Ian, is an only child, but has lived in this town her whole life. She’s never been to the city or suburbs. In fact, the farthest she’s ever been outside of this town was fifty miles when she and her family needed to upgrade their new phones. After they walked around for about twenty minutes they approach the building. “Have you ever been inside?”

            “Nope, only my third time here at the base actually.”           

            “Well you actually haven’t been at the base, until you come inside and see the rooftop, follow me.”

            Naomi leads the way turning the light on her phone and Ian follows behind. Once they pass the entry-way where a door used to be, they become swallowed by the darkness. “There is a stairway to the rooftop somewhere.” As they go through a hallway they see the staircase and head up to the top floor. Ian who is mildly scared, not sure where he is headed, but too embarrassed to confess to Naomi anything of that sort, follows closely behind. Naomi grabs Ian’s hand noticing the sweat and laughs. “Don’t be worried, I’ve been up here plenty of times.” Ian embarrassed jokes back, “Oh and I thought I was the only guy.” Naomi looks back and can see Ian is joking, “You know what I mean, come on we are almost there.” As they finally get to the rooftop and open the door Ian is taken back by the view. Thousands of stars dotted the skyline, with a half-moon showering enough light to see for miles. Somewhere out there he thought was that woman he saw yesterday. Underneath them they could see the light from the bonfire and a muffled conversation going on.

“So, I bet you haven’t seen anything like this in the suburbs.”

“You are right about that, this is something.”

Ian takes a pull of Jager and Naomi follows suit. The bottle is finally empty and she puts it on the floor, “I love coming up here at night, one of the few places where you can escape just for a little bit, and forget who you are.” Ian walking around agrees, “The only place where I feel I could escape was the internet, looking at places around the world, where I would love to visit. This is a great substitute though.”

            Ian and Naomi continue to talk and he opens up to her how he’s trying to save enough money to leave here and travel the world, never planning to come back. Ian who realizes he’s doing a lot more of the talking, tries to switch the conversation so he can listen, “What are your plans?”

            “I really don’t know Ian, my family has lived in this town forever. My family never has and probably never will come into money, I really take it one day at a time, until it’s the first Friday of the month. I have dreams, wants, and desires, but I never let myself get too carried away because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get out.”

            “If you could though, what would you want? There’s got to be something that gets you up every morning, something you think about during the day to pass the time, something you have seen on the Internet that interests you-“

            “Too leave? Ian I know I will never be able to and you probably won’t be able to either. We both live with our parents, Shane lives with his parents, we all do. This is how it works. I do have a few outlets to escape, and this is one of them. Would I want to live on my own? Would I want to see the city, cast a map on my wall point my finger and decide I’m going there? Would I want to travel with somebody, and grow old sharing the same experience? You bet I want all of these things, I’m just being realistic realizing that these things probably won’t happen.”

Realizing he struck a chord Ian apologizes and an awkward silence develops as Ian and Naomi try to find ways to change the subject. Naomi picks up the empty Jager bottle and throws it off the building. Seconds later you can hear it shattering down below. Ian breaks the silence, “What was that for?”

“That, to break the silence.”

They both smile as they slowly approach each other and kiss. Minutes later their clothes are off scattered throughout the rooftop.  

 

Ch. 3.

            Ian wakes up on the floor of Shane’s bedroom, hungover and smelling like bonfire. Shane is moaning in his bed about his hangover, while Ian stretches on the floor and finally gets up,      “Come on let’s grab something to eat.”

“Hell no, I didn’t get laid last night, let me lay in misery a little longer, while you are at it, give me that flask.”

Ian grabs the flask tossing it to Shane, and he opens up and takes a swig. “Vodka, the only way to get over a hangover is to keep drinking, come join me.”

            “Let’s grab some food first.”

            “No first you are telling me about what went down last night with Nay.”

Ian shares some, but not all of the details last night. Saying it was nice to get laid, but not sure in the end if it was a one-time thing, or will lead to more.

            “Want me to find out for ya? I have no problem doing that.”

            “No don’t I have no problem seeing where this goes.”

            “Alright well now that we have that settled, and I’m caught up on your personal life. What you want to today?”

            “Breakfast.”

            “Alright.” Shane gets out bed and yells, “Mom, Ian wants breakfast!” laughing he gets out of bed, in his boxers, out of his bedroom, and into the kitchen. Ian follows Shane into the kitchen where his mom is already in the kitchen putting a paper plates on the table. “God d****t Shane, I already told you guys this morning when you got home I would make you something.”

            “Sorry mom, I don’t recall that conversation,” As he grins and looks at Ian.

            “Sure as hell you don’t, good morning Ian.”

            “Good morning Ms. Degeaux”

            “I have eggs and fruit dig in.”

 Just like Naomi, Shane is a third generation inutilis. His father died several years ago due to cancer. Because Mr. and Ms. Degeaux were married for so long, thirty years, she was able to get 30% of his welfare check transferred over to him. Since Ian has known Shane, Ms. Degeaux has been very generous with her extra stipend, and he can see he is one of the beneficiaries this morning. As they create small talk talking about last night with Ms. Degeaux, they finally finish their breakfast. After they shower and change they head outside to Ian’s car to figure out what to do with the rest of the day.

            As Ian and Shane walk out the front door, Shane begins to laugh. Ian’s car is parked diagonally across his drive way, with several tire marks on the grass and curb.

            “Oh S**t.”

            “Don’t worry about it. My mom won’t care, what you want to do today?”

            “I want to go to Bradenburg.”

            “Why the hell are we going to spend all morning and afternoon going to Bradenburg?”

            “Remember that woman I saw Friday morning, I want to try and find her.”

Shane looks at him stunned, “God damn Ian, you get laid for the first time in who knows how long and you already are looking for somebody else.”

            “I know, I know, it’s f*****g crazy, but what else you want to do all day. We get drunk almost every day anyway, what’s the point in delaying it several more hours. I’ll owe you.”

            “We don’t need to drive there, I’ll help you search. We can look through the towns west of here up to Bradenburg, with some vodka it wouldn’t take too long.”

Finding this as a reasonable compromise, Ian agrees and they head back to Shane’s room. There they cast their phones on separate walls and begin to search. Across all social media platforms they search for a female within a fifty mile radius outside of town age between 18-30, a wide range, but Ian wanted to be on the safe side. 1,237 hits came up, or a little over 600 for both of them. Shane sighs, takes a shot of vodka and they begin to scan through profile pictures for a girl with brown hair, tan complexion and distinct blue eyes. Too help pass the time they judge the girls whose profile appear on their casted screens. Shane requests social access to several he finds attractive, and Ian looks closely at every profile picture to make sure he doesn’t miss one. In the end, Ian ends up searching for 800 and Shane 400 and change, but nothing. Not a trace. Ian was shocked, how can somebody have no social media trace. Was the radius not big enough, wrong age group? He thinks to himself both scenarios are unlikely, she didn’t look older than 25, and Bradenburg is about thirty-five miles from town. That meant at the time Ian saw her at the bridge she would have had to of been running for approximately twenty miles from the direction she came in. Physically it is feasible, but highly unlikely. Shane pours another cup of vodka, “Well after two hours of wasting our time stuck in my room, I need to get fucked up, and you should probably talk to Naomi.”

            “It might not be a waste of time for you, I saw several requests for social access on your wall. You might be thanking me later.”

            “Not getting my hopes, but if that day comes, I’ll buy you a drink.”

Ian pulls up Naomi’s social media account on her wall and messages her. Shane shuts down his screen cast from his wall and goes, “Atta boy Ian, now we are talking, let’s go.” They leave the room, and head outside to meet up with Naomi and her friends. 

 

            Ch. 4

Ian is surrounded by thousands of people staring at a concrete wall. All these people are thrilled in jubilation, fireworks are being lit, and sparklers are being held in the air. It is a crisp fall evening, cold enough to see one’s breath, but no snow has fallen yet. Ian turns around to see buildings and rooftops covered with people. People with their legs over the ledge, windows packed with children and families smiling as they look outside at the wall. Ian begins to wonder where he is at, but can’t make out anything recognizable. Is he back north, who did he come with? As Ian adapts to his surroundings he begins to see people climbing the wall, celebrating at the top, before they jump over to the other side. Others have chosen a different option to dig right through. Over a dozen people are banging at the wall, as cracks begin to appear splintering in different directions. Soon enough chunks are falling off, and are being moved to make an entrance. As more people take notice, they begin to scream in excitement and help move the rubble to speed up the process. Eventually an assembly line is constructed that involves Ian, grabbing a piece of concrete from his right and handing it to his left. After enough rubble is removed to create an entryway people begin to storm to the other side. Due to the bottleneck of the small entryway, Ian is pushed into others in front of him, almost as if he’s sucked in. As he slowly approaches the entryway he is beginning to have trouble breathing because of the sheer amount of force being pushed on him. Now, at the point of no return, he is just trying to get to the other side before he passes out. He finally gets through to the other side. Gasping for breath he gets out of the way to make way for more people coming through. Fortunately the other side has a blockade five feet from the wall to give those coming over breathing room. But the atmosphere is more of the same. Strangers are hugging and kissing one another, handing out food, candy, alcohol, cigars. Children are on top of their parent’s shoulders waving sparklers. Ian is trying to figure out what the hell is going on, and is offered a bottle of liquor and cigarettes by a couple on the other side of the blockade. He accepts both, a pull of alcohol, something he has never tasted before, and chases the fruit flavor out of his mouth with a cigarette. As much as he would love to take part in this celebration, he wants to find out what is going on. He tries to talk to people, but it’s too loud to understand what is going on. He walks along the blockade trying to look for recognizable faces as more people come climbing across from the other side. Ian notices several vacant guard towers along the wall, but wonders why. Soon he walks by a guard tower with a man in uniform and an ordinary man sharing a bottle of alcohol, smoking cigars taking in the scene of the night from an elevated view. What the f**k is going on? At that moment he hears somebody yell his name. He turns around and instantly recognizes who it is, the woman from the bridge. She goes under the blockade and goes running towards him, dodging several people along the way. She’s wearing a black winter coat, with a white sweater underneath, jeans and black high-top sneakers. Her brown hair covers part of her face as it falls a little lower than her shoulder blades, but the shortest strands cover parts of her collarbone and her cheek. As she gets closer Ian can see her blue eyes, but something was different about them. Those blue eyes were no longer filled with mystery, but happiness. Along with her skin, which is paler, everything else about her is identical. Even through several layers of clothing, Ian can still see the outline of her fit body. As she finally approaches him, she grabs and kisses him. Ian in shock for about five seconds finally realizes what is going on and kisses back. With his eyes closed, his other senses kick in: the crowd in front of the blockade next to him erupts cheering; alcohol serenades the air as only some of it lands on the intended target of Ian and the woman. As alcohol slowly drips down their face, they stop kissing, Ian opens his eyes and sees she is staring right back at him, with those same glacial blue eyes and smile on the bridge.

 

            Ch. 5

Ian wakes up gasping for air, beads of sweat dripped down his face trying to figure out where he’s at. He soon discovers he’s in his bedroom and Naomi is next to him, laying naked with the only form of warmth being his comforter as she is fast asleep, but breathing heavily. Ian can see her eyes moving rapidly back and forth and her left hand is twitching as her thumb and pinkie keep tapping each other. Ian is about to wake her to see if she is ok, but suddenly she rolls over smiles and he decides against. He rolls over on the opposite side of the bed to figure out his dream. He has no idea where he was at, but he remembers everything, the concrete wall, celebration, the kiss, even the alcohol as it ran down his face when he was kissing that woman. Ian quickly puts his finger against a bead of sweat to see if it is in fact alcohol, but is not. Feeling like an idiot, he lays in bed thinking about how to find that woman.

            Naomi eventually wakes up, Ian rolls back over, “You must have had some crazy dream, you should of have seen yourself.” Naomi still not completely aware of her surroundings, smiles half embarrassed, and blames it on another heavy night of drinking, and the weed they smoked last night, but then tells Ian about her dream. She was a spectator re-watching random events that have gone on in her life, good and bad. From her first kiss when she was in elementary school, her mom and dad’s divorce, the day she first traveled outside the town with her brother and mom, her first welfare check, her first relationship and breakup, and two nights ago on top of the base. I even saw how I how I got that hickey on my shoulder. It was a bite mark from you.” Ian who is now the one embarrassed grabs a pillow and fake hits her with it, “What can I say I’m a lover and a biter.” Naomi laughs and agrees, “That night was a lot of fun, but I must have been to drunk and nervous to truly appreciate it, this dream was a good reminder.” Ian and Naomi look at each other and Ian can see that Naomi eyes just like the woman’s in the dream have changed. She has let her guard down, showing Ian who she really is, unafraid of his reaction.

            “So Ian how did you sleep?” Not wanting to share any details about his dream, he says he it was fine, just happy he made it back to his bed tonight and didn’t have to sleep on Shane’s floor like yesterday. After a little more small talk, Ian and Naomi get out of bed, Ian showers, and he drives her back home. Naomi realizes she only lives five blocks away, which is a nice surprise for both of them, and they agree to talk soon. Naomi goes in and kisses Ian and after says, “I don’t know where this is headed, but I like the direction, I’ll see you see soon Ian.” As Ian pulls back into his driveway he sits in his car once again thinking about that dream and the woman. He turns back on the ignition pulls out of the driveway and heads to Bradenburg.

            The scene is as beautiful as it was three days ago, but Ian is too distracted, thinking about the dream. He still had no idea where the dream took place, but now was frustrated how he didn’t enjoy it much as he should have. Everything was so real, the feel of the black leather jacket, the touch of her lips, those eyes, her smile, he had to see her again. He can’t get her off his mind. As Ian cross the bridge he gets a nervous lump in his stomach, thinking about how stupid and unlikely this venture is. If he couldn’t find her digitally, how could he possibly find her, this might not even be the right town. As he pulls in on the main drag, he isn’t reassured. Shane was right, Bradenburg was a town with nothing besides the inutilis. Not even a gas station, that means not even one resident of Bradenburg has a car. Thinking to himself this town must be third if not all fourth generation inutilis, if there was anybody even left in this town. As Ian drove down a block of houses, there were no signs of life. No foot traffic outside homes, no lights, or screens active through the windows. Ian checked his watch it was 9:32 AM on a Monday morning, three days after welfare. Some of the houses where the front yard were overgrown and dilapidated, but a machine just pulled up and begin fixing up the yard on the corner. Ian thought this was odd, in the suburbs they had machines, but the town he moved into didn’t have one, he didn’t know how Bradenburg was able to possess one. Ian realizing how hungry he is turns around back to town, wondering if he missed his opportunity.

            

Author's Note

Ignore Grammar, more concerned about dialogue and plot. Am I giving too much away in my plot? Does anybody know what the dream is? Are my subtle hints in the plot too obvious? I truly appreciate your time reading this, love all feeback good and bad