Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Last Dance (2999 AD)

January 1st, 2999 AD: The world is dying. What was once a blue planet is no more. It's sometimes a memory, but mostly it's just a dream. We live in domes now. They protect us. And we wait. We wait to live, wait to die.Wait for a change. But mostly, we just wait for an absolution. 


He saw her from the corner of his eye, and instinctively got up. His recklessness caused the little heap of metal on which he was sitting on to topple over. It might have been an air-vehicle once, perhaps a domestic robot. Now it was just a heap of old, rusted metal, gathering dust.
'Sorry I'm late. I was in the lab. Working', she said.
'You still keep track of time. How do you even know the difference. Its always yellow anyways.' he replied, while coughing.
'Shut up. How's the asthma?'
'Same as everyone else's.'
'Adjust the speaker on your mask. It all sounds garbled. '
He started tinkering with the controls on the side of the mask. Loud static filled the air.
'Ouch! What are you doing?' she yelled.
'Sorry, my Breather is a little fucked up. Thought about buying a new one, but I have few Credits, and its either a new Breather, or decent food,' he said smiling.
'I thought you were trying to find a job?'
'I tried. Apparently when all efforts are being put in the terraforming of a new planet, there's very little use for a writer. I'm thinking about taking up cleaning work at ISRO again.'
'You do know the substances we work with right. It could kill you.'
'My asthma is gonna fucking kill me anyways. Its just a matter of time.'
'Stop talking like that! They are in the advanced stages. It's gonna happen soon. I know it.'
'Haa! How would you know? You're working on how to grow frickin potatoes on the new world.'
'I'm working on vegetation. Stop acting this way.'
The roof of the dome suddenly started turning pale. Drops started pouring from the semi-permeable membrane of the dome. They reached the ground and slowly started burning through the ice.
'We should go inside. The canopy in this part of town is down,' she said.
'Yeah lets go to my place.'

They reached the bottom of the stairs. 'Jenny, turn the lights on,' he shouted.
I'M HIBERNATING.
'Jenny, shut the fuck up and turn on all systems, otherwise I promise, I'm replacing you,' he roared angrily.
YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CREDITS TO DO THAT ASSHOLE.
Nevertheless, the computer turned the lights on.
'I'm really sorry. Stupid, worthless piece of shit,' he said to her.
'It's okay. The older the AI, the crankier it is,' she said and smiled.
'Wanna help me reboot the OS next week?'
I HEARD THAT.
'I know, that's why I said it loudly, idiot.'
She took her hand and placed it on his mouth. 'Ssh. It's just a computer. Let's listen to some music?'
He went to the control panel and touched the screen. The room was filled with a soft tones. She took his hands and put them on her waist. She put her own around his neck, and they moved gently. He leaned in for the embrace and held her tight.
'Tell me honestly,' he said in a nervous voice. 'What are our chances on getting on that shuttle? What are you're chances of getting out?'
He felt her cheeks slightly moist. Quivering, she replied 'I don't know. My boss and his family are all getting tickets. I'm not sure about me. I know they're going to hold a lottery, but its a lottery after all....I don't know what's gonna happen.' She started sobbing.
'Sshh. We'll make it. Don't worry okay. Let's just dance for now.'
'I love you.'
'I know. But I'm just dancing with you because you might get tickets.'
'Haha, jerk! I hope you burn in hell,' she laughed.

The music stopped. But they didn't let go.


PS: (So this is basically the follow up to the story written a long time ago. I actually love sci-fi, with human characters, and I'm a sucker for post apocalyptic stories. Also, please tell me if you'd like to read more stories set in this world. Cheers. 

5 comments:

  1. Continue. Now.
    I love futuristic stories too..

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a good story:) Would love some more...Pls do write. And happy to be following you. Thanks for the comment on my blog dude:)Loved that!

    ReplyDelete
  3. very very interesting story, engaging writing. you are very talented.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the comments guys. I'm trying to figure out where to go from here.

    ReplyDelete