A few of the students around Ethan took notes as the Kindly Professor spoke. He had fallen too far behind to catch up on today’s lecture, so he just listened and watched the holograms transition. He wouldn’t need to be in school for much longer, anyway.
“Thanks to a super-powerful artificial intelligence — or A.I. — the cleanup effort was a success, however,” the digital instructor continued. “Where humans were unable to work because the radiation would kill them in less than an hour, A.I.-operated machines were able to function indefinitely.”
The projection transitioned to a similar scene within the nuclear ruins, but there was movement now. Ethan saw large red and orange machines roving through the rubble, shoveling up mounds of contaminated soil and concrete. They resembled old construction equipment Ethan had seen in other history programs.
“They made it possible for the environmental damage to be controlled — even reversed — for the most part. Since then, humanity has made enormous strides toward negating the damage, both physically and culturally, that World War III left behind.”
The dark and bleak forms of the ruined city vanished and were replaced with stark and pristine buildings. Autocars zoomed around between them and happy people could be seen walking the sidewalks. It transitioned again to the image of a rocket launch.
“In fact, in the short hundred and fifty years since the Third World War, people started to colonize the planets around them and eradicate terrible diseases that used to kill millions,” the Kindly Professor continued. “Scientific colonies on Mars turned into civilian settlements, with more than three billion people estimated to be living on the red planet to this day. Even portions of the Earth’s moon were able to be terraformed and domed under protective shields. The war was a terrible tragedy to be mourned for eternity, but it was also the catalyst for the golden age we live in.”
While the Kindly Professor spoke, the hologram showed the various colonies as they were referenced. The images swirled around so much that Ethan thought he might be sick, but he was still able to make out the faces of some of the colonists. They were all smiling and laughing, likely the result of some staged photoshoot. Among the settlers, however, was a man who seemed out of place. He was a young man with short red hair, a thick beard to match, and large glasses. To Ethan, it looked like he was making eye contact with him. Like the man could see out of the hologram and into the classroom.
The image shifted to another scene before Ethan was able to get a good look, but the man’s face left him unsettled.
Everything around Ethan changed to the image of some old-world hospital, where a group of surgeons were leading a guy on a gurney down the hallway.
“Cancer became as treatable as many minor illnesses, and genetic diseases like Alzheimer’s became a distant memory. All of this laid out the foundations of the world you will be entering soon.”
The hologram became an awe-inspiring scene of a space station, taken from outside. A couple of astronauts could be seen working on the side of the structure in their environmental suits. For a brief moment, Ethan thought he saw the face again.
That face, he thought, transfixed.
It was gone before he knew it. He wasn’t even sure if he’d really seen it; it could have just been his eyes playing tricks.
The lecture continued on for another hour, but Ethan could barely focus. He already knew all this post-WWIII stuff, anyway. With the graduation coming up, his anxiety kept distracting him. He just wanted to curl up and nap, and he had no idea why. When the time finally ran out on his lecture, he packed up his things into his digital inventory and loaded into the downtown map, where Sharpe lived.
There was a bit of a walk from where the map loaded him in to where Sharpe kept his home base, but Ethan found the stroll relaxing. With his mind all aswirl with his upcoming graduation, he didn’t mind a little moment to clear his thoughts.
“Hey,” a voice came from one of the alleys between the digital mom-and-pop stores.
Ethan jumped a little, startled. Looking over at the source of the voice, he was even more surprised.
It was the redheaded man from the education projections. There was no doubt in Ethan’s mind.
The teenager opened his mouth to speak, but the words didn’t come. The strange man took the moment to introduce himself.
“My name is Gauge,” he said. “I’m from the outside world.”
“The outside world?” Ethan said. He could feel his pulse, or something resembling his pulse, jolt to a runner’s pace. “How?”
“I used a back door,” the man calling himself Gauge replied. “Someplace the architects of the simulation didn’t want anyone to find.”
Ethan looked around to see if there were any people nearby. He could see no one for at least a block, neither humans nor computer-controlled characters. It was just the two of them.
Ethan felt uncomfortable.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“You’ve been lied to, Ethan,” the redheaded man replied. “I want to show you the truth.”
“What truth?” Ethan said. He felt like he was going crazy or something. Like Gauge was just a figment of his imagination. “What are you talking about?”
“The world outside the simulation,” Gauge answered. “It’s not like they’ve been telling you. Not at all.”
Ethan just stared at him with a furrowed brow and wide eyes. He didn’t know where to begin with his questions, so he didn’t.
Gauge looked from side to side. There were a few pedestrians that started making their way toward them. He watched the people with a nervous expression.
“I can’t say more just yet,” he told Ethan. “I have to keep hidden so the system doesn’t detect me. Just know that we are working on getting you out of here safely. I’ll find you again.”
Someone in the alley tripped
