By Neev Aradhana Suresh
High-tech machines and robots whirred. Time was measured down to the last microsecond. Flying cars and bikes zoomed everywhere. People jumped off skyscrapers and flew to work. It was the year 2101.
Harlin’s robot and best friend, Raptor-7X, woke him up on the 21st of July by sending safe rays into Harlin’s brain that turned sleep off instantly. From the moment Harlin’s eyes fluttered open, MechRay-344 sputtered to life and took control. Harlin’s ultra-soft bed, which had been floating five feet off the floor, rapidly changed into a quintessential slide that zapped Harlin off to refresh.
Back in the kitchen, Raptor 7X was barking orders to French Toast-141 who was busily chugging along with the breakfast preparations. French Toast-141 simultaneously strained maple syrup, squeezed out fresh orange juice, toasted bread to crispy perfection, and diced strawberries and blueberries. To any viewer this would have been a “photo” moment, but when MechRay-344 had transported Harlin to the breakfast table, he hardly turned his head to look. This was normal life!
The cover was taken off the luncheon plate to reveal a delectable meal. Harlin hastily gulped down the food and nodded his appreciation to his old bud, French Toast-141. Raptor 7X handed Harlin another dish in which a little pill lay, glowing faintly. The pill hopped twice and then leaped directly into Harlin’s open mouth. The pill was designed as the rest of the two meals of the day and instantly provided all the vitamins Harlin needed for the rest of the hours of the day.
A black box made of opaque light descended silently out of the ceiling and over Harlin’s head. In an instant, it was lifted to display Harlin dressed for work in the latest trend, a sock that matched his shirt on his right hand, a sock that matched his shorts on his left, and a single boot over his head. Harlin smiled and winked at Raptor-7X.
“Have an awesome day, sir!” Raptor-7X buzzed.
“You too, pal,” Harlin called over his shoulder, as MechRay-344 drove him over to his balcony.
MechRay fitted a pack onto Harlin’s back, lifted him into the air, and with a, “Bye, boss!” tossed him off the balcony. Harlin gracefully plummeted towards the ground and then AirTurbo whisked him up and up into the air. AirTurbo knew the way to Harlin’s work. It flew straight ahead at 100 thousand miles an hour. Harlin lived in Austin, Texas but worked in Tokyo, Japan. With AirTurbo though, he could reach his office, 6,547 miles away in a matter of minutes.
Harlin had lived like this for 16 years now. In fact, Harlin was 16 himself. He had been able to get a job at a mind-blowing age of 10 days old. You see, people deemed education for 18 years a total waste of time in the year 2101. Life was so fast that you simply couldn’t spend more than a decade on just education. Instead, a new born child could easily be infused with all the knowledge he or she needed in 2 days. This could be done by programming a microchip and installing it into the baby’s head. Then the child could conveniently start applying for jobs at 5 days old and have a stable income at 10 days old. The only downer to this idea was the inconveniences of being terribly short during the first few years of work. But hey, it was 2101; this could easily be solved by a robot.
“AirTurbo, turn on some music, please,” Harlin thought.
Instantly, AirTurbo read his thoughts and activated Harlin’s favourite playlist. Suspended 2,000 feet above the earth, Harlin rocked to his favourite music artist. Slowly, Harlin closed his eyes and AirTurbo gently placed sleeping goggles over them. Harlin drifted into slumber.
Harlin awoke to find himself plummeting towards the ground. A calculator popped up in his mind’s eye and did rapid calculations. At the rate of his descent, he’d be custard by the time he smashed into the earth. Harlin risked a glance below him, hoping to see the sea below. No luck! It was a beautiful island, rapidly increasing in size, as gravity pulled Harlin to his death.
Harlin closed his eyes and desperately tried to activate AirTurbo with his thoughts. Its automatic back-up system was dead.
Harlin was going to die. Harlin fainted just before he would’ve hit the ground.
“Is he fine?”
“Shush!”
“Shush yourself!”
“Why?”
“Look!”
“He’s waking up!”
Harlin awoke to a whispering argument. He groaned, “What am I lying on? This feels like rock.”
Someone smirked. “I bet. You’d be dead if it were not for us.”
Harlin frowned. “Raptor-7X? AirTurbo? MechRay-344? FrenchToast-141?”“What’s he doing?” a female voice questioned.
“I dunno, sis,” a male voice retorted.
“What are you doing?” the female voice addressed Harlin.
Harlin eased his eyes open. He saw two curious faces peering at him from behind a doorway. He appeared to be in a small hut. The sun came in through cracks in the mud walls, causing the interior of the hut to look eerie.
“Huh? Where am I?” he managed to ask.
“You, my friend, are in Hydra! And you owe us some gratitude. You’re in our hut. And we used our powers to save your life,” the boy said.
He stepped around the door and held his hand out to Harlin. Harlin shook it politely. The boy looked startled and raised an eyebrow.
“One weirdo,” the girl blurted out, “Why are you shaking his hand? You’re supposed to slap it to greet him!”
“Oh!” Harlin muttered, “I see. We don’t usually do that in Texas.”
“Texan?! Well, I’m still waiting for that ‘thanks!’ mate,” the boy said.
“You saved me from the fall! How?” Harlin questioned eagerly.
The boy nodded and explained, “Mirielle, my sister, used her power to move objects to bring you slowly to the ground. Since you are quite heavy, --”
“Quite,” Mirielle interrupted, “is an understatement.” She ignored Harlin’s look of protest and continued, “Erwin, my brother, helped me with his power of reversing gravity to gently slow down your descent. Then it was only a matter of lugging you into the tent.”
Harlin grimaced, “That must explain my sore back! Nevertheless, wow, you guys! I’m truly indebted.”
Erwin and Mirielle grinned and bowed comically.
“If you don’t mind me asking, where’s AirTurbo?” Harlin inquired.
“AirTurbo?” Mirielle and Erwin said together, “What’s that?”
“My robot, obvi. It was flying me to work in Tokyo,” Harlin replied, getting up, “I don’t know why he dropped me off here in Hydra. Not like him.”
Mirielle smirked again. “Oh! The flying thing! Good lot it did ya.”
“Hey!” Harlin said indignantly. “Why aren’t there any robots around here anyway? And where is the signal?”
Harlin kept trying to catch the faintest glimmer of the internet or signals from his robots but there was none to be found. The island was cut off from the rest of the world in every way.
Many years later, when Harlin was an old man, his grand-daughter, Floria, asked him if he ever wished that he could go back home. Harlin replied that he needed time to think about it. As Harlin sat in that very same hut that evening, he penned down these words for her:
My dearest Floria,
Yes, I did try to get back home countless times. In fact, I once saw a cruiser which was miles off the coast of Hydra, heading west towards my former home. I wanted to beckon its attention, but I refrained myself. You see, my life back in Texas was never filled with the love I feel everyday right here. Life back there was too fast to really cherish the little time we each are given to love family and enjoy the real good in life. I soon realised that I was stuck in Hydra for good. It was what I always wanted and needed. I learnt to grow corn with Erwin and make mud huts with Mirielle. For the rest of my life, I’ll sleep on a rough mat on the ground. I’ll never forgot my comfortable life back in Austin, Texas. And, yes, there are still days when I miss Raptor-7X but in time, I’ve grown used to the simple life of the Hydrain people. I’ve learnt that sometimes you don’t need to travel the world to find work or purpose. Happiness can be found right where you and I are.
With much love from your grandfather,
Harlin
From then on, Harlin often said that the year 2101 was the best year of his life. All that’s left to say is that Harlin was a happy old man and he lived happily ever after!
By Neev Aradhana Suresh
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