Negative

Hello. My name is 100, well I guess most people wouldnt consider it a name but

that's what I was labled at birth. Today is the first day of school. I lay in bed, staring out

of the window. Outside, I see only shades of brown. The land, the sky, and everything in

between is ugly. To the left I see construction equipment. They are charged with

installing trees, which promise to bring color to our landscape. I’m not sure what to

expect. I’ve only ever seen pictures of the old Earth. It was beautiful. That was before

the nuclear apocalypse 100 years ago. They say it’s not so beautiful anymore. And I

couldnt agree more. Here, on Planet #663, we are told we are safe. It is our job to make

something out of nothing.

I look in the mirror at my pale uneven skin. I imagine my face is made of clay.And

how I could mold new features. On the old Earth, a factory was created, illegally, where

people would check in, choose their attributes like how they look, how smart they are,

their willpower, etc. DNA was modified, and with every purposeful change, unexpected

changes occurred as well. Disease increased. Lifespan was affected. Still, I’m jealous.

I’d give anything to change my appearance, even my life. Eventually, the factory was

shut down by the government, which ultimately led to the apocalypse.

I get dressed, put makeup on, and go out to the kitchen. Our robot is making

breakfast: eggs, bacon, pancakes, and orange juice. My brother is already digging in,

and my mother is watching the news.

 The first Earth's demise was caused by the use of phones and social media.The

effect was awful on humans. In school we've learned that in that lifetime mental health

issues got progressively worse as the use of technology increased. Powerlines also

weren't capable of receiving and sending messages as fast as people wanted. It was an

addiction, an awful one, that slowly caused people to wither away depressed and

unsocialized. And because there were around 10 billion people and each person owned

at least 2 electronics, the internet wasn't able to handle all the power. Now no one is

able to own an electronic except for the smart tv, which is closely monitored and offers

limited screen time in order to maintain the power of the city.

As I head to school, I run into my childhood best friend, 6. She is always so

happy and kind, like she's constantly thinking about puppies and rainbows. But she's

also a pick pocketer. She uses her pretty face and charm to manipulate people and take

their wallets and jewelry without them noticing. She's had to resort to things like this to

help with her sister's medical needs.

We grab our schedules and head to class. Period 1-2: old Earth. Period 3:

Decision Making. Period 4: Mathematics. Period 5, 6 and 7: Unknown.

I'm sitting in a blue, squeaky chair, in a hot classroom. I’m so sweaty and my

thighs feel like they are glued to the chair. I just know it's gonna hurt to stand up. It

smells like a hospital, in the air lingers the omnipresent smell of antiseptics. I’m listening

to a robot talk about the major events that caused the demise of Earth.
I Zoned out, I watching the clock tick: 8:30, 8:31 and so on.

Off to period 3, Decision Making. On Earth people would have to figure out big

decisions on their own, which didn’t turn out very well. Now, we learn a consistent

strategy, so we can all think similarly. We learn targeted steps to make impactful

decisions. We learn how to think, and we learn how there is really only one right way.

The bell rings, thank god, time for lunch. But oh god, the line for food is so long,

by the time I get my School Prison Mush, as we call it, there are only five minutes left.

Great.

Finally the day is over and I head home. Our house is lit with warm lights, it feels

so peaceful. When I walk through the door I feel a wave of calmness. I’m home and

safe. All of the sudden the power shuts off. I scream for my mom and brother. They are

in the kitchen. We huddle together around a candle, it smells of apple and spice.

There's a knock on the door. A robot, coming to tell us about a power surge?

Time passes and still no news. I decided to investigate myself. I walk down a

vaguely beaten path, the forest surrounding me like a tunnel. I meet 6 at our spot, the

one we use to get away from the city. Our plan: break into City Hall, where all the media

is monitored. It's not easy to get in but 6’s father works there and she's scoped out the

place enough to figure it out. Then get into the Mayor's office. In class we learned that

all secret documents about the past and the future are kept in a safe located right under

the mayor's desk. It's a challenge getting into the office alone due to high security. We

also need to locate a key to unlock the safe underneath the desk. Then, well, I guess

we figure it out from there.

We sneak into her house, grab a bag and pack it with some things we think we might

need:headlamps, and a lockpick.Now we continue on our journey. We walk through a

tight alleyway, neon light signs reflecting on the wet ground. It smells like trash and

weed. A few homeless people come and ask for money and drugs, we ignore them and

keep walking, finally arriving at the Hall within 30 minutes. 6 tells me that there is a vent

up the wall. If we climb through, she’s pretty sure that it will lead us to the serf quarters.

She knows these guys, and thinks they might help us. The vents are about 30 feet from

the ground. We make a plan to tower some nearby tires on top of a dumpster, which

may get us high enough to scale the wall the rest of the way. The dumpster is heavier

than expected, it takes us around 15 minutes to push it 3 feet. Ugh. 20 minutes later

and the dumpster is under the vent. We grab tires and stack them. Time to climb. 6 hold

the tires down while I climb. The tires wiggle and my heart drops. But I made it, and

helped 6 up. My jeans already have a hole in the knee, I'm bleeding. The vent is smaller

than expected, the place smells just like school. We have to whisper because the echo

in here is ridiculous.

“Where do we go from here 6?” , she replies “ I'm trying to think, right now we are above

the entrance of the building, let's go left and slide down the vent, that should get us into

the basement where the serfs are.” I go first, it's fast and scary. Luckily we have

headlamps or else this would be very dark. I crash into the vent at the bottom and crawl

right to get out of the way. 6 comes rushing down and I put my backpack up to block her

from crashing. We need to limit how much noise we make. 6 leads the way. We can

hear the serfs arguing, so we walk closer and then all of the sudden the vent falls out
from under us and we crash on top of their dining table. Awkward silence.. Then one of

the serfs said

“Hey 6! What are you doing here? An interesting entrance for sure..” 6 answers,

“ Oh hey! This is my friend 100, we were actually looking for you. As you know there's a

power surge and it's been awhile since any news, so tonight we would check it out, but

we need your help.” We exchange greetings with the other serfs and they help us off the

table.

We start our journey the next day, the serfs give us some bread and tea.

Everyone in this building wears the same thing, except serfs. We decide to borrow

some serf uniforms , as it would be too obvious that we didn't belong if we were in other

employee uniforms. 6 grabs a cleaning cart, and we’re off. One of 6s friends is -56

(serfs and other people below the poverty line are negative numbers). She told us that

today is the weekly office clean during which 4 serfs help to clean the office. -56 has

arranged for that crew to include the two of us, along with her and her friend, -4. They

have agreed to help us if we lend them some money from time to time.

As we head to the office 6 bumps into a manger. He is tall and intimidating, with

dark skin and piercing green eyes.

“Excuse me? What are you doing so close to the office, serfs?” -56 answer , “Sir,

today is cleaning day for the mayor's office” The man lets out a sigh, and yells at us to

get moving. We jump at his low voice and trek on.

Finally we are here. A red carpet leads us to two large golden doors, rocketing up

to the ceiling. These doors are a good 10 ft tall. -4 knocks on the door, no reply. We are

good to go. Four guards are positioned in the corners of the room. We didn't plan to
have any company. This might be harder than expected. One if the guards speak, “You

have 4 hours to clean this place head to toe, once 4 hours is up, you will be shown back

to your quarters.”

-56 whispers,

“100, and 6, your names now start with a negative. Listen to me. you two take the

cleaning spray and wood polish over to the desk. From there investigate how to get into

the safe, -4 and I will distract the guards.” I grab both things and 6 grabs the rags. We

go to the desk which smells heavily of cigars and whiskey. I brab the disinfectant and

start wiping the desk, slowly getting lower on my knees. I see the keyhole. But no key.

“-6, I see a keyhole, but no key . Any ideas where it could be?” 6 replies,

“Yea! Remember that manager we bumped into? I saw he had a set of keys, and

my intuition told me we might need them. So when I bumped into him, I grabbed the

keys.” Thank god we have her. I grab the keys. And then we hear a voice. It's one of the

guards. I frantically try all the key. The 1st one does not work, the second one doesn't

either.

“Ladies, what's going on? You've been hunched under the desk for quite some

time?” I shove the last key in and it fits. I hear 4 thumps. I look up to see that all 4 body

guards are on the ground and disarmed.The girls are standing over them with guns in

their hands.

“ Um. I didn't know you guys were capable of such damage.” I say, in shock.

“Anyways, I found the key that fits. Let's open the safe!”
 Since the safe is located underground we have to climb a ladder to reach it. The

hole to the safe is around 7ft deep. A white iridescent light shines through the hole. I

jump down from the last notch of the ladder and fall on my knees. “Careful guys! It's

quite a drop!” The others fall down. -56 tells us she's gonna stay up there to keep an

eye out.

The space is a perfect square, I'd guess 6ft x6ft. It smells like nothing. The air is

cool, and I feel some type of pit in my stomach. This room does not feel safe, the vibe is

just off. There's a file cabinet in the middle of the room. 6 speaks softly in a nervous

voice,

“Hey guys, look at this.” We all walk towards the file cabinet. 6 pulls on one of

the draws. It’s locked. “Maybe we can try one of the keys on that ring, -56 can you throw

us the keys?” I add. -56 throws the keys and we start trying each one. Finally we get it

open. There's a single file in the drawer. The cover reads, “Past, Present, Future.”

I opened the book, the others huddled over my shoulders. I read aloud.

2022

The fear is real for future humans. Our society is no longer living. There are no human

connections anymore. There is a rise in mental health issues, and our society should

fear the worst. People may never learn the ways of life, they won't be able to socialize.

3045

Tis current time on Planet #663. Our past has guided us to control people. Screen

intake is closely monitored, not in just the electronics but in our humans. The chips put

into them seem to be having a great effect on them. A boost of serotonin had been

added to the chemicals in their blood streams. We have yet to release this information
to the public, due to some sudden deaths from the microchips. This simulation is

working great. The humans in this place seem to be great at interactions and the pop

up multi questionnaire for big decisions is also seeming to benefit how the people

function through their lifespans. Brain scans have shown a greater intelligence level in

these humans compared to the others in other simulations.

“So we.. are in.. a ,simulation?” 6 says in a nervous tone. “That means that everything

we've ever learned is fake, that our friends, our lives, our feelings are even fake?!” she

yells. “What about the nuclear apocalypse! Did that even happen! What the hell is going

on!” I think we are all in shock, I can't even speak. A tear rolls down my cheek, and my

nose stings. I keep reading.

The future hasn't been decided, we hope after trying many simulations, that we

will find the one for a clear path forward, to a world and life that best suits human

needs. It must benefit each human's needs and must show an increase in positive brain

functions.

“I can't believe this. Does this mean that we aren't real?” I ask. -56 ask “did you

find anything guys?” I answer, “I think you should hop down here. I want you to read

this.” I point her to the paragraph on the present. I can see her eyes fill with tears and

her brows start to furrow. “ So you're telling me that we are living in a simulation and

there are people out there controlling it, pumping random stuff into our blood without us

knowing?” “How the hell is this real?”

My throat is tight and I scratch at my arm from the anxiety pooling in my stomach.

“Let's get out of here guys. I don't think I can be in this room for much longer.”
 We have made it home safe and in shock. -56 and -4 are here with us. 6 and I

are explaining to our familys what is going on, and each person is either crying or has

too many emotions they can't process it. “I know this information is hard to process, and

believe me, this wasn't what we expected,” I say. My mom yells, “First of all, 100, what

were you doing sneaking into the Mayor's office? Do you know how horrible the

punishment would be if someone caught you?” “I'm sorry mom, 6 and I just wanted to

figure out why the power went out, I'm glad it's back on at least.” She rolls her eyes and

hugs my brother. What an unexpected ending.