I strode out of my apartment with big steps, greeting everyone as I walked by, a stark contrast to how I would usually act. Almost everyone knew each other in this little town with a population of 50 thousand, and people who were my acquaintances were without a doubt shocked the moment I took the initiative and greeted them with a smile. I walked with a confident stride down to the bus stop where several people were waiting.
I have a car but I just feel like taking the bus today, to get some new experiences or to deviate from my usual routine I guess.
Our town was a small one but you certainly couldn't underestimate it, since it's one of the most technologically advanced places one can live in the present day. The government of the country decided to go small and completely rework the infrastructure of a small town instead of a city, just in case something went wrong. But since everything worked splendidly and the people living in the town have had their living standards and efficiency doubled since the upgrade. They decided to move onto spending their efforts on other cities and towns, and since then our town has been used as an "experimental" place to test if technologies work as planned on big scales. That's why people are not shocked if they'll see cars moving with magnets in the next ten years or if holograms will become commonplace in mere years. Technologies that the general populace certainly think they are working on.
The city sure looks splendid from this view, the futuristic high-rise buildings in specific convey a lot of the ambitions behind the human race. The reason this town exists is to show the problem with people, It's to show that we, no matter what, will never stop being greedy and wanting to rise even higher until we can reach the deepest secrets of the universe. My facial expressions hardened somewhat when this thought reached my mind, reminding me of that accident years ago. I want to forget about this memory but, do I truly have to forget? If I forget this pain, will I also forget all my other memories together with her? My memories are intertwined and all my memories of my little sister share a connection with that painful memory because I allowed it to; it defined the person I became today and reinforced the joyful memories I spent with her. I shook my head to get rid of the thought and buried the memory once again deep inside my mind.
I shouldn't be having those thoughts now after finding out what my dad was working on for years. This should've been a cheerful day but I just had to go bring that up. I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't realize that the bus had stopped in front of me. I only realized until the people around me started entering. Ah. Can't miss the bus now. I quickly stepped onto the steps of the bus and sat on a seat close to the exit. Using a card wasn't necessary because the camera automatically scans my face and charges my account via the wide-area network that only this town uses. The wide-area network uses quantum encryption to keep our connections secure and whenever we want to connect to the internet outside we have to switch back to AES-256, but that connection to the outside world is not only encrypted, the firewall we use is also one of the most advanced in the world which ensures that our connection stays secure at all times.
It's nice to switch views once in a while. See things from a different perspective. We moved fast in the AI-controlled vehicle, blurring past any cars we exchanged paths with.
AI-controlled cars were normalized in this town which eliminated the need for traffic lights since the cars can communicate via the lightning-fast WAN. The car I own is also controlled via AI but I have some degree of control over the vehicle, like if I want to turn on the lights or not, which doesn't matter to the AI since it uses different sensors, GPS, and accelerometers to see and compute the best possible action to take in the case of an accident. But, the technology is not perfect and there have been accidents, but it's much lower compared to letting humans take the wheel. Besides the technology has interwoven machine learning into it so the AI-driven cars will have fewer incidents over time.
The scenery changed in a matter of minutes, switching from residential buildings to factories and finally to commercial buildings. After traveling for 5 minutes I pressed the stop button and got off at my destination.
Alright, back to work. The small building I was standing in front of was inconspicuous, and nobody would think that there was an elevator inside that could bring you down 8 floors in an underground reinforced concrete building. The concrete used in the bunker is mixed with hydrated lime and sand from a volcanic lava which makes it stronger than ordinary concrete, also the rebar in the concrete is of the highest standard and is prestressed to strengthen it even further against tensile forces. The underground building could withstand an atomic nuke. At least, that's what the military stated.
The building that was hiding the underground bunker looked like a post office with a plain exterior, anyone who looked at it would think that without a doubt, that it was just a normal post office. But, they would be wrong because this is a disguise the military employs, to hide their activity from any prying eyes since they don't want their technology to leak to other countries. And because I was part of the military when I was 18 to 24, had a clean slate, and had an electrical engineering degree I was allowed to work here. All the employees have also had extensive background checks and are monitored closely in the city.
I don't mind the surveillance since I have nothing to hide, but it does feel a bit intrusive though. On a separate note, at least privacy online has been severely improved since the year 2024. I looked up at the big sign, the words "Post Office" were written in bold letters
Okay, let's go check-in. I walked in without haste. The sliding doors opened and I was presented with a plain room with a counter and some chairs to wait for the reception.
I looked up at the camera sitting in an inconspicuous corner and stood there looking at it. I did so for a good second or two to let it scan my face and put it in the checklist over who has checked in so far. There was nobody in this part of the building so I walked through some corridors. The post office wasn't all empty, just an empty post office with people going in and out of it occasionally would seem suspicious. That's why they hired people to work in the post office to work as normal postal carriers.
I turned to a door locked with an eye scanner and fingerprint lock, this was unusual as all the other doors were normal electronic locks opened with a keycard. The other doors to offices were made out of aluminum with a wood finish applied, but if one knocked on this door they would feel that it was much sturdier than the rest, most likely made out of steel. Plus this room didn't have glass walls like the rest of the rooms around, just wood reinforced with steel.
The military really doesn't want anyone to break in here, not that I think it would be possible to break in due to the several sensors they employ here. Like the vibration sensors, infrared sensors, echolocation sensors, magnetic field sensors, and piezoelectric sensors. In addition to this horrifying list of sensors, the area is also heavily guarded with hidden cameras and the post office building is surrounded by military bases disguised as commercial buildings. I certainly wouldn't want to test my chances, but, anyway, let's scan my eye and fingerprint to get into the room. The door opened when I scanned and I walked in unperturbed.
What I found inside was a plain room surrounded with thick steel walls. No furniture, no decorations, only steel walls, and an elevator with a face scanner. I walked to the elevator, scanned my face, and pressed the down button.
*PLING* The elevator came up in an instant. I took a step forward,
"Hey! Wait for me!" The sudden shout echoed in the steel room.
I flinched at the voice, the sound getting louder by each time the sound waves hit the steel walls and collided together, but the sound energy quickly dissipated by the heat generated by the air particles vibrating, and some of the vibrations were absorbed by the steel walls but most reflected.
I turned around to find that it was my co-worker that I have spent some time working with. My smile twitched as I thought about his unnecessary shout that brought my ears much pain.
It's Brian. He scared the shit out of me, why does he have to shout? He knows that any loud sound is horrible inside a steel room like this, with fantastic sound reflection. He said to wait for him, but I kind of want to press the button down now. I looked at Brian.
"Of course I'll wait for a friend," I say with a friendly countenance, the exact opposite of what I was thinking.
Brian stood there, with a shocked expression.
"Is that really you Kevin? What happened while you were on vacation?! Did you win the lottery or something? Why didn't you scold me for shouting?!"
What's with his stunned expression? Is it that astonishing that I didn't scold him? Normally I would have done so, but today is a good day, so.
I walked into the elevator.
"Of course it's me, have you already forgotten about your friend?" I said jokingly.
"No, well. You are just so different today, I almost couldn't believe my eyes. I mean, you always have that cold look in your eyes, so I was just surprised that you had such a friendly expression now, and responded with kind words." He explained as he walked into the elevator beside me.
"Oh, I guess I do seem kind of cold." I contemplated for a second. "There's not much of a reason why I appear that way, it's just that I look serious when I delve into my thoughts, which I do a lot of."
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To be honest. That's not the only reason I seem cold and logical, there's also the fact that I heavily depend on rationality and don't show much emotion. But it's not like I don't have emotions, it's just that I show them to my close friends and family rather than strangers I've just met. I can tell him that as well, but it'll no doubt lead up to talking about that accident with my sister which I don't like talking about.
"Look, there you go again with your serious expression. Man, at this rate you'll never get a girlfriend!" Brian joked as he got a little physical and bumped his shoulder onto mine.
"Come on. You already know why I haven't gotten one yet. I've told you a million times. I want to focus on my research and education." I looked down at my bracelet "Especially now." I blurted out without thinking.
"Especially now? Did you achieve a breakthrough in your research or something?" He questioned as he followed my eyes to look at the bracelet. A curious look on his face formed.
*PLING*
Both of our eyes looked at the elevator doors as it opened.
"Look, we've reached our floor." I ignored his question and got off at the 4th floor.
The first 2 floors are lodgings where the employees can sleep. The reason why the employees sleep in the underground building is to minimize suspicious activity on our part. Usually, the employees would leave and enter through an underground tunnel and appear in a different building. But that's not the case when it comes to me and Brian and some other employees, as we're the only ones allowed to leave through the elevator and go through the post office. Floor 3-4 was littered with offices, we did all sorts of paperwork on these floors. The rest of the floors was where we researched and built different devices for the military to use.
We walked through the white corridor. The flooring was linoleum and the walls were steel sheets reinforcing the concrete hidden behind the white paint.
The military of our country probably spent an exorbitant amount to get the bunker outfitted with all of that high-quality concrete and steel. I can say without a doubt that this research facility is important for the military. I've seen myself what they've been researching here after all. I observed as my feet landed on the linoleum flooring, it made the squeaky sound that linoleum likes making.
"By the way Kevin. Umm, I was told to tell you this by our boss. Apparently, you have to fix a generator on the 8th floor." He said with an apologetic tone.
Those damn generators. I swear to god, someone must be pouring sunflower oil into the thing since it breaks down every year without fail.
"Haaa. What's up with those generators? Why can't we get new ones if they keep breaking?" I questioned with visible dejection at the prospect of having to repair the generator again.
"Your guess is as good as mine." He shrugs his shoulders. "I honestly don't know why they just don't replace them since they're as old as my grandfather." He said sympathetically.
We looked ahead and noticed that we've reached the end of the corridor. We walk over to our respective offices.
"I have a lot to do today so I'll see you in the evening," I say as I open the door.
"Sure thing man," Brian says as he walks into his office.
I stepped into my office, the employees are allowed to decorate their offices as seen fit, so that's exactly what I've done. My place was littered with electronics, everything from supercapacitors to tesla coils, all of which I've built. Most of these items were displayed on the shelves but some sat on a drawer that was situated to the right of the door, and the most recent items that I've built sat on the side of my desk in the middle of the room.
Ah, it feels like I've come back home. I looked at the electrical devices proudly.
I sat down at the chair hidden behind my office desk and turned on the computer to look at the screen. Scrolling through several files.
Okay, I only have paperwork for today so let's just get this boring shit done. And then there was that damn generator I had to fix after work hours. I sighed and got working.
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18:00 - After work hours
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Aaaah! Finally! Finally done with all the paperwork looming behind me. Now, the only annoying task I have to tackle this month is that troublesome generator. I quickly got up from my chair.
Oh well, I won't complain since I'll get paid exorbitantly for going through the trouble of looking after that generator time after time. I got out of my office, through the long corridor, and down the elevator to the 8th floor.
Here we are. Let's see, which generator broke down this time? I walked toward the 3 generators.
I inspected the 3 giant generators and saw a note stuck on one of them. "Broken one." Was all it said.
This is the generator that uses the power line for its controls. And that means I have to walk to the breaker room, ah, what a chore, this place is so god damn big and there's so much machinery here that it almost takes 2 minutes to walk to the breaker room.
With that knowledge in mind, I walked to the breaker room for this floor. I zig-zagged through several types of machinery and reached the breaker room, I flipped down the breaker for generator #1.
To my knowledge, no one was supposed to be down here at this time so, in my act of carelessness, I didn't bother putting up a note or lock on the breaker. With that finished, I walked back to my task and did my best to try to fix the generator.
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Janitor
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Alright, I'm almost finished cleaning the breaker room. Working overtime sure as hell drains you, I almost feel like going to sleep after I'm finished here. I thought as I noticed one of the circuit breakers were shining green whilst the rest were red.
It's supposed to be red, right? Maybe this one tripped? I looked around at the other circuit breakers. Scratching my head I looked at the lone green breaker amongst all the red ones.
It's not part of my job but, I've always wanted to try flipping up a breaker. Plus it might even help save someone's time. I didn't know much about electricity but I had some basic knowledge of circuit breakers and knew they were switches for electrical devices.
I reached out my hand under the switch and whipped it up. Unaware that one person needed that to be off.
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Kevin
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Ah! Here you are you little rascal. I looked at a wire that was burnt through by the heat from the generator.
I knew from the start that these generators were designed badly. A wire isn't supposed to be burnt through like this. I held the wire up and touched the metal frame of the generator.
I guess I have to replace the damn wire and position it further from the motor. I was about to put the wire away, but before I could, I felt my muscles contract.
UOH!?! AAH! WH- NO! DoNt TeLL ME SoMeONE tuRnED ThE bREaKeR ON?! Everything happened in a couple of seconds, so this was my last thought as my heart started to beat irregularly and nobody was around to help. And then, my heart pumped blood one last time and it stopped, the residual current device acting a little too late to save me.
.......
.....
..
"AHHHHH!" I woke up with a bang and sat up straight in reflex.
hmmm?! what?! I stared blankly ahead.
ah!? I'm- I'm alive?! I touched all over my body. How? I observed my surroundings.
Trees surrounded me, for as long as I could see there were only trees and vegetation in every direction.
I'm not in the hospital?! Where am I? I stood up with wobbly legs and looked around in a daze.
Wh- what the hell is going on? Did I not die? So why am I here? And where is this?! Panic flared up in my mind.
Okay, okay. Calm down. Deep breaths. Assess your situation first. I looked down. I am still wearing clothes, okay, good. I rolled up my long sleeve shirt. My bracelet is also still here, does it still work after surviving that electrocution somehow? I pressed my finger against the fingerprint reader.
ERROR! Fingerprint does not match Matching with the original host's fingerprint... 99.6% Match. Margin of error is 0.3% Fingerprint accepted. Please wait...
Why doesn't the fingerprint match? I questioned, still shocked from the situation.
Status Stats Body condition Name: Kevin Strength: 1.20 Health: No issues Race: Human Constitution: 1.03 Toxins: No issues Age: 20 Dexterity: 1.07 Food and water: No action needed Settings Library Notes
"Wh-What??" I stared at the new screen pop-up in disbelief.
"Age 20?!" I took my eyes off the hologram and looked around and then back at the hologram.
Is this. Am I experiencing what I think I'm experiencing?! Am I... Have I been reincarnated? I looked around with wide eyes.
That explains why I woke up in a forest and how I survived the electrocution. Does that mean reincarnation, the thing Buddhists believe in is actually real?! With no other alternatives to explain how I suddenly turned 20 and woke up without a scratch, I pinned it on reincarnation as the cause, for now at least.
No matter what I just experienced, it's bound to be mindboggling! Think about all of the research we can achieve with my knowledge! Wait... I am on Earth, right? I assumed all along that I was on earth, but, if reincarnation is normal wouldn't we already have evidence of seeing people be reincarnated on Earth?
I fervently looked around, trying to glean any information that might bring me to the conclusion that this is in fact Earth. But it was all for naught. The trees were of a variety I've never seen before and I didn't have any knowledge of the vegetation on Earth anyway so that's useless to look at.
Wait! I'll look around and find a city. There's bound to be a city close by! as long as I can get out of this forest and take a look at the sky I'm bound to see highrise buildings. I closed the hologram and started walking in a random direction.
I was walking through the forest at the fastest walking speed I could manage until I heard a ferocious roar in the distance. I quickly found cover and crouched down.
What was that roar?! Oh god, don't tell me there are dangerous animals in this forest?! Fear ran down my spine as I intently observed the direction of where the sound came from.
In the distance, between several trees, I saw a big figure almost half the size of the nearby trees, it roamed around with its four legs. Surprisingly, it was a bear, but as I looked closer I saw that it had horns and red eyes, plus it was much bigger than a bear.
What is that thing?! Am I really in another world?! My fear and worries grew tenfold as I looked at the creature and waited several hours for it to pass, almost pissing my pants when it seemed to come closer. But it finally left after sniffing around and seemingly finding prey.
Oh god, this is really a different world?! Please tell me there are humans on this planet! Cold sweat ran down my forehead after seeing that creature, so I began running, wanting to escape this forest as quickly as possible.
Fueled by pure instinctual fear I ran for 20 whole minutes, the forest seemed to never end, no matter how much I ran. After calming down a bit I could put my fear away and stop for a break, I was covered in sweat and panting like a dog after running that marathon, my throat was dried up and my legs felt weak. I put my hands to my knees, resting my tired body for a couple of minutes.
Please don't tell me there are other animals like that bear up here. I looked up, scanning the environment like a hyena, scared that another bear or similar animal might pop up.
I have to move! I pushed my body beyond the limits as I ran further.
Suddenly a twig snapped behind me, I deaccelerated and turned as fast as possible, but before I could, I was assaulted by a terrible pain in the back of my head and I quickly fell unconscious.
...