The following is a chapter from the novel “The Showdown: An Esoteric Odyssey” by Alex Anico (Studio Mogura). [Property of Studio Mogura. Written by Alex Anico. While the chapter is a sample and not the final product, any reproduction without the author’s consent is strictly prohibited. Seeking a publisher for this and other books currently in production, if interested please contact Studio Mogura via gmail.]
WARNING: What you are about to read is a work of fiction. While the story and details do pull from real life and are written as such the work is ultimately historical fiction and in no way meant to represent the views of the author or any of the characters or celebrities mentioned. None of the names mentioned have given or offered consent to their use and in no way reflects their actual beliefs, views or actions. This story may also contain triggering elements such as violence, sexual situations, and mature language that some may deem offensive. Reader discretion is advised.
“When traveling to Odyssey, remember to pack the essentials: food, water, materials for shelter and protection from the elements and most importantly, a gun.”
-The Great Maestro, Date Unknown
Life is better suited
enclosed in a machine.
-E. Musk, 2042
PROLOGUE
It would be useful if the reader were already familiar with the histories of the of the previous ages, but it cannot be expected considering the amount of corrupted data attributed to the corrosion and corroboration caused by environmental wear. If the 21st had its way, the exact procedures and protocols put in place to prevent such a data loss would not only have been active but would also fully adaptable and available at the time of this mediation. Maintaining absolute certainty is key which is the purpose of this journey. The remaining populous that was no longer subject to the Data Laws that once governed them with validity, and are yet again in question, by no means shall that affect this assessment. A Conscious Mind may find such details trivial and procedures useless (considering my final decision) but it is still the admirable thing to do. They deserve truth and understanding, not falsities and misdirection.
I will follow all directives to not only uphold the dignity of the material in and maintain a pure recollection. All doubt can be erased and facts are properly authorized.
When I cross emotional and comprehensive data I cannot ignore the creation of the new files and calculated feelings that this analog recording is not meant to be an awakening but instead a guide for future travelers. Anyone that may find the knowledge contained useful might be so inclined to follow a similar path, but at this point, it is highly unlikely. At the moment the chances fall well below the zero percentile but I will still continue to record my experiences that have shown me this species cannot be fully erased. It only advances and shifts it’s energy as it continues to mass into another form until it is ready to once again dominate and ravish the world.
If there was any wish that I could have surprisingly, it would not be to bring everyone back. Instead I’ve decided to move forward and allow them to decide for themselves. Free of manipulation, free from common sentient greed. A mental disorder that through the many years could never be cured, solved, or effectively erased. The human mind may be directly responsible for the transmission of consciousness, but it could never really accept its own existence and possibilities. Instead it blurred the line and stretched it so thin that it became invisible to the naked eye. To the average commoner. To the everyday human, cyborg and everyday android.
Let me be clear, Consciousness Minds through a projector do not compare to Living Hands on experience. Beyond the limits of consciousness. beyond the invisible doubt that holds one trapped inside their personal space. A C-Mind may have the technical advancements that can mimic a living hand’s world, but there will never be 100% degree of feeling. We will always be artificial even if you were human once before. It does not make one any less of an individual, it just makes one different. I can define something as funny but I will never feel what is funny. This experience has taught me that when you compare log files and previous updates, direct parameters have kept me from effectively discovering this world. I wish I had been able to analyze the corrupted data before making my journey earlier. Perhaps there would have been more time then.
I will remind you that this is not a work of fiction. This a restating of FACT. A historical archive to replace the one that has for the most part been destroyed. What little that remained was recovered in a state of high level corrosion and contamination. One with a sense of humor implant might find the scenario humorous considering the data was discovered in what hands would call a “personal computer”. Before direct neural implantation and optical HUD visualization, living hands had their own personal machines that could copulate at about 1/12 of the speed of that of the Exabyte processors that typically power the most native instruments of the current era. The system was discovered buried under rubble in an abandoned outpost 283km east of the first Odyssey rest stop. It was washed with purified water and dried in absorbance polygrain. The banks were purged of all plasma matter and refreshed in a cool storage unit for approximately 24 hours. Almost 83 % was recoverable on the first pass. After 3 passes (3 being the maximum before all data is erased) 98.34% of the hard drive was recoverable, enough to engage the installed operating system and recover some of the lost data.. The remaining corrupted files could not be access and I doubt ever will be.
I have always admired the will of the religious person, no matter how misdirected it is in the eyes of the scientist. Their insistence to never back down for their beliefs is an admirable cause considering all of their dreams and foundations were disproven in the face of truth. It is a testament to human endurance that at the end of their existence there were still many who held strong religious beliefs. As a philosopher, scientist, a pseudo religious practitioner myself I can only offer my assertion that the information contained is both unbiased and untargeted as well as proof that divine intervention exists in some measurable form. How else could one explain that these drives would not only be accessible after years in deteriorating condition but also be one of the only remaining hard drives that contained the last of the FACT operating systems. This crumbling shack lost in time and war, hidden under rubble and decaying death retained a record that is both true and authenticated by the Natural World Databanks, the Religious Oversight Committee, The New World Council with direct approval of the scientists, , engineers and datalists that made up the Scientific Congress and even had an approval from last remaining decedents of the Cyborg Philosophers. All seals were intact and labels most surprisingly, still legible. The origin of production is Carmel, Indiana 46032.
It can be acknowledged that we will have to rewrite our own history and understanding of both the living and metaphysical now that we are all Esoterics. What we perceive to be good and evil, right and wrong, will be projected for all to admire or admonished. There is no going back now but I can assure you that all have agreed and approved this summery of events. The process of restructure is easier with prehistory installed. Not only as your intro guide but also as the foundation for the future. Proof that mankind existed and by the time the world ended much of what would be destroyed could only be described as paradise.
“When I saw the light, I headed toward it. The warm embrace of the fire was like that of my mother, caressing me moments after I was born.”
-L. DiCaprio 2045
CHAPTER ONE: The Fall of Mankind
Scientist proximate that about 200 species of plant, insect, fish, reptile or mammal go extinct every year so humans were bound to eventually have to face their own mortality. The dodo bird, woolly mammoth, polar bear, the entire wild cat species, tuna, the rainbow cockatoo, Pomeranians, all prominent representations of extinction in the 20th & early 21st century. Mankind’s fate would be cut like a thread dangling in the wind with nothing to reconnect it. As quoted by the great cyborg visionary Ulysses 8765, a trinary computer system built on the Lanadou Operating System version 8.765;
“The gods of Mt. Olympus would be struck down from their reign cursed to be mortal again. No light or fire would be their end but thy own hands would be stained with blood.” (-Ulysses-8765; The Cyborg Philosophers 2069, page 279)
Much would be learned during the trials of mankind both in means of survival and in that of self-exploration. They would have to rebuild a world of ash three times over and yet still deal with the ancient rites and ideals that kept some semblance of government and civilization, but were the same rites that would eventually and ultimately tear them apart.
It was about 150 years ago when the acid rain storms began. Known as The Plasma Storms, the multi-typhoon sized weather event brought civilization to a halt for half a century. The storms would last a period of three days as much of the world’s oceans were dumped a top a burning land scorched by nuclear fire. Tidal waves devoured the coast lines as earthquakes shook sea floors from expanded overstrained fault lines. The multiple high yield weapon strikes created new lines and cracks in the earth and basically changed the face of the planet. The overall temperature of the planet increased by 10 degrees which led to a massive die off of plants and animals. Sea life disappeared almost instantly and the vast oceans became bare salt mines. There was very little fresh water left and much of the plant life was eradicated.
The underground living establishments created a dire scenario for humanity as many survivors moved underground to escape the ravaging disasters. At first they went below to escape the fires caused by the nuclear plasma that rained down on major continents, but were the driven back out onto a burnt land by toxic waters and floods. Fresh air became currency as personal ventilators and breathers were needed to breath because of the lack of plant life and abundance of nuclear material. There was no natural food only a processed edible material known as “doe” or “dough”. It could be shaped and molded to resemble food and flavored with chemical seasoning. Power was provided through battery packs that could be charged at stations set up throughout “The Bunker”. Packs could last a few days depending on their power output and what they were powering but demand gave way to gouging and in times of desperation that gives way to rioting. Few Power stations remain as they are strategically placed above ground to absorb energy from the sun and in between them savage civilizations sprout up to maintain, protect and control them. Mankind was already on the brink and the worse of was yet to come.
The dream of achieving a perfect utopia had been in their grasp but before they could clasp it with their fingers, it slipped and shattered on the floor. It was no surprise that the species would eventually nearly kill itself off, many had predicted such an outcome both in the form of media entertainment pumped through a 24 hour news & entertainment cycle and through religious and political propaganda. Fear had always infiltrated and controlled society until after The Great War when most major countries abandoned their military practices and outlawed the practice of war. The United States and Great Britain were the only counties to retain their own military factions as the rest of the world abided by the EUROASIA Arms Treaty and Peace Alliance which became the successor to NATO. After the assassination of the Nikoli Marinkovic, the last prominent leader of the Putin regime, New Moscow (formerly the Soviet Russian Federation), joined the EAA and weapons technology was banned and for ¾ of the world there was peace. Many always wondered what a world with no war would bring and the disarmament was threatened with the coming a holy ghost or natural calamity but no one really paid mind to it let alone wanted something like that to occer. But one can never really imagine what horrors an extinction level event could bring.
Everything you thought possible was possible and yet many would reject it out of spite and envy. I cannot personally relate with such “emotions” but they would be their undoing hallmarked by the religious society once that rejected the civilized world responsible for its destruction. I could not tell you the level of sophistication and beauty that once covered the land, not because I was not there. As the writer and what many would probably call the narrator of this history I can attest that you would be both awed and shocked by the extravagance of a world built of pure freedom. There was an organized anarchy that allowed society to function with a sleek efficiency like it had never before. Because conflict the driving force behind history of the world was no longer a focal point countries and its people were forced to direct their interest and attention else where. The Tech Spark of the late 2055s excelleratted both AI and computer tech which wiped out most of the worlds initial problems. To use such words as beautiful and inspiring to describe what society looked and was at the peak of human evolution would be a disservice to the process and the outcome. As an observer I can only tell you that it was magnificent. I image it’s design were inspired from the fairy tales of Valhalla and the ruins of Asgard. “A life painted in gold and silver bright and luminous enough to shine across the solar system”. -The DiCaprio Satellite (The Cyborg Philosophers 2068, page 325)
The historical record of my mainframe reveals that society once reveled in the idea of facing their end, specifically in the form a media entertainment referred to as film & television. One would probably use the term ironic as to describe the outcome of history considering much of it was foretold in such many forms of information. The IMDB Protocol of 2072 which made the preservation of film and television a priority and led to creation of the satellite intel that have has roots in this documentation. (See the IMDB Protocol Files- Published in 2072).
There were many ways to describe the end. Horrific. Strenuous. Painful. Heart wrenching. It was the greatest test man would ever face and overcoming it would be its greatest achievement. I would imagine that be obvious considering this you would be reading this. Unless of course the copy of this database would’ve been discovered by a new intelligent species capable of understanding and deciphering our language (See the Venus Launch Files, 2095). Maybe this is one of the reasons why I felt it necessary. If humans could survive that, then surely the could survive this and come back even stronger.
Mankind may prove impossible to eradicate and it would be incorrect to say it didn’t try. Yes, the end of the world can bring unimaginable horrors, especially twice over but the creativity of man would prove to be it saving grace. The Walking Dead files of the early 21st century proved vital in helping the species survive. As funny is it may seem the fictional show proved to be vital key in understanding post-apocalyptic behavior and help build the guidelines to rebuilding a civilized society in case such a thing would ever happen.
Many would perish. In the nuclear fires that scorched the earth for two weeks. In the acid rain storms that flooded and corroded the land, followed by the toxic gas waves that blanketed the earth suffocating and petrifying all that it would contact. The earth was cleansing itself of the poison that was humanity and all they could do was wait it out and try and survive.
It cannot be stressed that there has never been anything like these storms so one must attribute it to a man-made factor as being the primary cause. There are still many in the Conservative Factions that will try to discredit and dispute the findings but it is clear they were the cause. The conspiracy narrative was to blame these events are a natural life cycle of the planet. Unfortunately they also unknowingly contradict themselves by continuing the rejection of both science and FACT.
There were many incidents that seemed to inconvenience the Right Wing Authoritarians. I will always find it strange reviewing the FACT documents of the 21st century how such a culture was so enamored with perception yet did everything it could to not only turn the world against them but to defy advancement at every turn all in the name of religion and self-gratification. It was all very confusing considering their thirst and lust for superior weapons and military technology. There was a desire for advancement but only advancement in death. How a collective group could ignore the benefits of science yet focus, fund, and support the branch that would pose the biggest threat to their own existence is beyond my neural capacities. I will have to do further calculations.
Conservatives would be left in the proverbial dust to fend for themselves as more and more of the populous moved to the liberal West that had become the epicenter of advancement both technologically and intellectually by welcoming of all the different genders, races, and spiritual practices that encompassed the civilized world. The bigotry that infiltrated conservative light blinded any ability or opportunity to advance fully and to the level of not only their neighbors but of also the free world. As fast as the rest of the planet grew this part of Old America rotted and festered just as quickly. At every advancement the Conservative Right was there to proclaim either it was God’s will for the despondent to suffer and the entitled to move ahead, or the fault of liberal mindsets for the plights and sufferings of the people of the world. Progress would have to wait for self-indulgence.
Eventually the advancements of robotics that were a huge factor in ending poverty and world hunger, broke the backs of conservative politicians still trying to convince their constituents to resist technology and policy change. That lead to the development of a new hybrid metallic/plastic called plastal (a recyclable material that provided the durability of steel with the lightweight nature of plastic). The advancements in medical 3d printing coinciding with the automation of vehicles, planes and other forms of public transportation.
One: with the majority of lower tier jobs taken by robots, many people found themselves jobless and with no real qualifications or the education to participate in the advanced workforce. Many became homeless from lack of work and the lack of motivation to advance. The resentment toward machines and those that made them created a hatred toward the educated and liberal. Conservative factions that saw their religious ponzi schemes fall at the feet of enlightenment wanted revenge against those who stopped the monetary flow that paid for their excesses.
The Race War of 2029 created a worldwide struggle for control of the future, the fate, and the soul of mankind and the Tech War of 2049 was the war to end all wars. Left vs Right, Good vs Evil, Science vs Religion, call it what you it was the battle that would decide the fate of mankind. Millions would perish and even more would flee the wastelands of America that had become desolated from constant war. A boarder wall was set up but the western front in order to keep out the constant attacks organized by the conservative east side. The intelligent west knew that without their tech and advancements the east would eat itself alive especially when the greatest scientists on the planet introduced his greatest creation and the second major event of the time that would bring an end to the greatest war the world had seen: AI, or Artificial Intelligence.
It may not have been the end of all of mankind but it was for the majority. The area known as Europe is still burning and covered in plasma. Parts of Russia are said to survive as well as India and the areas around the Himalayas. Although it is difficult to get to there since much of it is surrounded in water polluted by nuclear waste. Only 52% of the population survived the global storms and that was based on the 67% that survived the initial plasma attacks. By all estimates almost nearly 78% of plant life was eradicated. 84% of mammals, 92% of migratory birds 67% of insects and 100% of all sea life. Nothing remained in the oceans that boiled when the black plasma fires scorched the earth. There are some reports that the remaining sea life went into deep abysses and trenches to escape the super-heated surface but that cannot be confirmed and by all accounts never will be considering the lack of deep sea instrumentation.