The Business of Time Travel Tourism

Chapter 35: 2792(part 2)

On the outskirts of Core City, stood a giant citadel where the most mysterious man of the time resided. Four sky-reaching towers stood firm at the corners of a sunlight reflecting glass pyramid, the diagonal of which was at least a half of kilometer. Because no common man had ever met the man living inside or had solid information on him, only rumors were spoken on the streets. The one thing everyone knew was that the second name of the man was Kerr and the company, Moonrise Enterprises, to which now belonged the world, belonged to his family.

The company was established the mid two thousand two hundred by a little-known group of people. For years, it belonged to everyone and the board members were elected by voting from all around the world. Yet fifty years ago something happened in the shadows and the company went into the firm clasps of Kerr family. And as it happened, people mysteriously lost their vote rights.

In the time of their rule, the world in the eyes of the common folk had gone for the worse. Many hazardous and powerful power plants were closed. That action severely interfered with peoples' freedom to enjoy things such as fly cars or levitation elevators everywhere. A system of traveling permits was introduced. Now, to travel long distances with the high-speed plane or a ship one needed to go through a line of bureaucracy. Travels to solar colonies had become almost impossible. More and more constraints were introduced and almost no new freedoms provided since Kerr took the full control.

Everything to prevent the global warming, Moonrise Enterprises said. But if there had ever been the global warming, why was the world still fine? The smog got thicker and thicker every day, yet everyone was living as they had been. During winter, the temperature was positive in all places of the world, summers became unbearable without conditioning, but there was food to eat, there was a job to go to and entertainment to see or attend after a hard day at work.

"Food and games, that's what the people need," someone in the past had said. But now it was different. It was the small things people needed and cared about. Just you try to tell them that they will not be able to do what they were entitled with and they will step forward in mass to fight for their rights. They would not fight for the planet they lived in, yet they would fight for the lack of biscuits in the shops or closing of quazilopath.

Because there were no more countries, there was no need for armies and the only form of control Moonrise Enterprises had on the inhabitants of the smoky planet was that of the mutual understanding. And people did not understand when their privileges were taken away. They did not understand why the magnetic traveling systems were shut down in their cities. Why there were limits on the electricity consumption per household being introduced all over the world? Why the selection of food products has become less diverse and in the local shops only products from local regions were sold? Why were the nights in the greatest cities getting darker day by day? Fifty billion people, little by little got fewer clues on what was Moonrise Enterprises doing with this world. Everything for the sake of saving our planet, the Enterprises said. But was it the truth, or only a hoax, as the global warming has always been in the eyes of a common man?

Now that the colony on the Moon was in shambles and the supply of Helium-Three was gone, many power plants were rendered useless escalating the hate people had towards the Enterprises. But this and many other changes had only been a tip of an iceberg.

"Dude, why don't you believe what I tell you for the n-th time?" asked the potato sitting in his chair. "There is only one way out of this."

"To destroy everything we created, that is your solution?" replied Alfonso, standing on the other side of the table, his posture tired, eyes exhausted.

"To reshape the world from the roots, man. Look at it, how crappy it has become."

Alfonso shook his head, slightly shivering as he did. Pain and suffering covered his face. He did no longer look the same man he was back on the Moon, nor did he feel the same the same inside.