SOS was the winner of the GLF Short Story Competition for students aged 12 to 16, held in November. The winning story was chosen by celebrated author and conservationist Ishan Shanavas. Set in a dystopian future, SOS is narrated by a member of an evolved, novel species of technology-dependent humans. The story explores the gravity of the present when knowledge fails to translate into action.
‘What would happen if time stopped? Scientists have debated and used terabytes of storage to prove their theories about this topic…’
The voice of the MindProjector droned on, not knowing how ill-prepared we were for the future, or actually, the past.
March 25, 3025. It was the day when Black Hole 2136HC exploded into existence in Earth’s orbit. It stopped time, and then reversed it.
That fateful day, I was sitting in my UrbanPod, trying to gaze out at the jungle of glass and iron that grew around in building 1325. It was difficult, for the noxious nitrogen dioxide vapours and dust clouds obstructed my view. Day by day, the monstrous buildings grew taller and taller in a bid to accommodate the burgeoning population. I popped the Indian Multi-Meal Food and Longevity tablet into my mouth as I did every day at 1 p.m. Life seemed too artificial. Every day felt like living in a terrarium – we were alive, but only just.
If there is any being called God, it decided to quench my curiosity by showing me the past, not on a MindProjector or a hologram, but in reality. I noticed the sky first. A dark entity seemed to swallow the sky as the dust clouds were sucked out from our atmosphere aggressively, and along with it went the gases present. The air pressure dropped to zero and the reinforced glass of my pod began cracking.
I trembled as I crossed my hands to activate my virtual superintelligent model, Don’t Think, or DT for short. Shakily, I asked, “What’s going on?” It replied in its usual pompous tone. “Oh, that? There is no specific information available on black holes jumping across galaxies through wormholes. But let me make a guess. Mind you, my guesses are usually, up till now, as seen in my testing data archive of 299,792,456 trials, 100% accurate. I guess that this black hole will cause you and the other living beings (by that, I mean other humans of the Homo nova species, since you guys are the only remaining living beings) to be whipped back to some extent in time. Other than that, you shouldn’t face any problems.”
Horrified, I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound emerged. I didn’t know how to react. I felt a warmth engulf me. Was it the warmth of the Sun, a beautiful source of pure energy and luminescence? I was admiring its beauty when the 230-feet-high barrier separating the land and sea collapsed. The murky yellow seawater rushed in – and then froze. DT decided to comment again, “Ah! Perhaps I forgot to mention that the black hole will follow the conventional laws of physics for a while. What you saw now was the effect of its extremely strong gravity.”
What happened next was unfathomable. The water flew back up to a height of 230 feet. The barrier reconstructed itself and then the atmosphere returned. Time flew, quite literally, not forwards, but backwards. I saw myself exercising an hour ago, and in the next few seconds, I saw myself celebrating my first research paper published five years ago.
Decades and centuries sped by in a matter of minutes, as I watched in shock and awe. We un-developed whatever we had built. Our pod settlements became shorter, closer to the ground. The concept of neighbours, companions and friends emerged. I spotted humans who were Homo sapiens. They lacked our hunch, thick eyelids and round skulls. I almost collapsed with shock when I saw World War IV and soon after, World War III. The Fissio-Fusion Nuclear Bomb destroyed everything and wiped out billions of people.
Just as I convinced myself that this time loop would never stop, and that this would be the fate of all humans, it did. Just as abruptly as it had started. My legs wobbled and I realised I was not in control of myself. “DT!” I called out, “Are you there?” I looked around to figure out where I was, when I felt something on my face. I jumped, but it was still there on my face. I turned. I felt it on the back of my skull. When I ran, it tickled me! I screamed and at that moment, I felt more helpless than I had ever felt before. Then I heard DT’s annoying yet comforting voice in my brain. “Wait! Don’t worry, there’s nothing on your head. The mechanoreceptors on your skin are getting excited due to the movement of air molecules across your face. This phenomenon is called ‘breeze’.”
I stopped flailing my arms around in the air and waited for the sensation to start again. This time, I observed how it interacted with different parts of my face. I felt the cool force again, this time pushing my hair away from my eyes, as I heard a soft whooshing sound. I took in a deep breath of air and couldn’t believe it! The air was oxygenated and mostly clean! I exhaled and quickly took in another breath, then another, and another. This ‘breeze’ could never have been accurately described in those humongous tomes about the past I had read.
I looked around to regain my bearings. I was on an old metalled road with, wait, what? I rubbed my eyes to confirm what I had seen. So it was true. Living bodies called ‘trees’ existed. The road was lined with lush green trees on both sides! Their branches gently swayed in the breeze and I heard the peaceful sound of their leaves rustling. It appeared like they were dancing to a common tune, perfectly synchronised. I reached out to touch the bark of a tree, and noticed its rough, yet tender texture.
“DT, could you tell me when I am?” I asked, completely mesmerised. “When? Now that is an interesting question,” it replied. “Going by the conditions and my previous calculations, which are, as I mentioned, 100% accurate, you must have travelled exactly 1000 years and 1 day back in time, so you are in the year 2025. Also, the people of your time got off the time track in the years 2987, 2945, 2863, 2859… .” “Stop, stop!” I interrupted it. “Alright. But what I mean to say is that you are the only one from the Homo nova species in this century,” it said.
My legs felt wobbly all over again as I digested the fact that I was all alone, in a world that had existed a thousand years ago. The technology built by the Homo nova was highly advanced, but not advanced enough to transport me a thousand years ahead to 3025 where I belonged. Would I ever get back? Did I want to?
A distinct fragrance hit me. It was most unlike any of the chemicals I used to apply in my pod to make it smell clean. I turned to DT once more, “What is this scent that is soothing my olfactory nerves?” “From my research and olfactory sensor, it is apparent that this scent is from the Plumeria alba, which was commonly known as ‘White Champa’ in the 21st century. Smells amazing, doesn’t it? Look, you can spot the flower right above you!” it replied.
That was when I saw the first living flower of my life! 3025 was the age of artificial photosynthesis; one did not require plants anymore. It was expensive enough to buy oxygen and 70% pure water to drink. The rich invested in dried, preserved flowers in the 31st century. Their value would obviously increase with time.
“This is the point where it all began,” said DT. “Global warming was mostly under control till 2025. Then our dear ancestors…never mind. By the way, I see on my map that there is a beach with clean water around the corner. Would you like to go there?” “What happened next?” I quickly asked, keen to know what changed our environment so drastically. “Let’s go to the beach first, and enjoy the waves there,” it replied. The thought of experiencing waves was enough to make me activate my motorised shoe-skates to drive me to the beach. But I soon fell over as the skates could not skate over the rough, muddy terrain. I abandoned them and simply began running towards the beach.
I saw the waves, yet another first for me. I felt the wet sand and my feet leaving footprints on it. The waves were only a few feet away and I couldn’t wait for them to brush my feet. I took a giant leap towards them. Then the inevitable happened. Time froze. I was mid-leap. I went numb. There was nothing I could do to bring back that beautiful wave. That beautiful past. Nothing.
The nature of the black hole was not predictable, but the condition of 3025 was.
You knew how our future would be. You did nothing about it.
Krishang Udasi, currently based in Nashik, enjoys reading newspapers, dreaming about design and chess, and listening to Alan Walker and Arijit Singh. He is the 2022 National Winner of FEE’s (Foundation for Environment Education) Young Reporters for the Environment competition and a passionate advocate of sustainable practices. It is his dream to impact education in our country by integrating design thinking, financial literacy, and environmental empathy. He believes that education for knowledge, not only for marks, is the best way to bring about environmental awareness and a positive change.
