H-1 UMAN-1

Chapter 15

Year: 2096

Subject: Electra Stehlen

Subject No. A-2384519

"Doctor, are we ready for activation?"

"Yes, Doctor. Switching on. Playing message."

Outside Monitor: Feed Beginning.

Subject is in frame. Begin voice recording [Y/N]

Choice Selected: [Y]

"Officer Pietro?"

"Yes, Vincent?"

"I'm scared."

Recording: \\You had better be...\\

"Oh, fuck..."

---

Year: 2101

Subject: Electra Stehlen

Subject No. A-2384519

Voice Diary of Doctor [Censored], 1/01/01

"Well, shit, I didn't mean to so that. We need her alive! I just have to hope that if anyone comes in, I'll be able to pretend that I didn't do anything. Whether or not that would be true... well, that remains to be seen."

[End Transcript]

--

Year: 2101

Subject: Lighthouse Keeper {Name As Of Yet Unknown}

Speaking: Electra Stehlen

**

"Whoa, whoa, waaugh!" Mrs. Scialdone shouts as she stumbles down the gangplank of the sailboat onto the rocks we've crash-landed on. I hope that there aren't any holes in the boat's fiberglass keel now, that would suck beyond all belief.

Well, that's just about the understatement of the century.

No, scratch that. It would just about have to be the understatement of the milennium. Everything that all these people here thought could never happen, yours truly included amongst them, all of our worst ideas of what the apocalypse could be, they're coming true.

Well, what the fuck are we supposed to do now?

Again, like is proving to be a trend- and a seriously damn annoying one at that, too, I have not a single damn clue.

"You alright there, Mrs. S.?," I ask. Over the last few years, this woman has become the sole force keeping me sane over these last few years. Without her, who knows what would have happened? Not I, that's for sure, and in all honesty, I really don't want to think about that very distinct possibility, not when the few of us have had such a hard time just trying to survive. That act, which should have been so simple, became so much harder so fast that we didn't realize that the trouble had already started and that our world would be coming down around us fast. I hope I never have to talk about that again, but if I do, so be it, right?

But really, I don't want to. If someone pushes me, I'll probably yield and tell them everything that they're asking for, but if no one ever asks (which I'd be ever so grateful for), I'll keep it inside.

--

"Officer Pietro?"

"Yes, Electra?"

"You still haven't answered my question- what do you think is causing all of this mess?"

"Can you wait until I get back with my geek squad?"

"Who're they?"

"White-hat hackers. They'll try to crack into your TV and tell us what's going on with it. Then we can go from there, okay?"

"Okay," I said, my voice trembling slightly, "just hurry, okay?"

"Okay, Electra, you'll be safe, I promise. Nothing is going to hurt you."

Yeah, I thought, and what happened the last time you left me alone?

I had a sinking feeling in my gut as Officer Pietro stepped towards the door, and I tried to quell the uneasiness that I was feeling, but to no avail. Shit.

Yeah, like that's a good idea, leaving a person all by their lonesome when they know that some alien force is out to get them.

Oh, well, it's not really like I can fault Officer Pietro, he's been doing his best to help me, and if he doesn't know what to do, well, then, the world's in serious shit, because then what in holy hell is a seventeen year-old girl from Chicago supposed to do? That is the question, indeed. Well, the best I can do is lock the door now, then be on guard. For all I know, that damn thing's still watching me.

You know, when I first heard that scientists were working on developing technology that had the potential to be sentient, I, along with most of the rest of the developed world, treated it as something amazing- technology was always a work-saver, and now, with those devices, we don't have anything to do.

I'm not a Catholic, or even a Christian, I don't know what sort of god would allow such destruction, but I remember hearing something years upon years ago- there once was this religion known as Roman Catholicism, and they held these things known as 'cardinal sins' in contempt, and I'm not talking about the red birds. No, what it meant was that of all the things you could do wrong, these few were the worst of the worst.

Anyways, the only one of them that I actually remember was called 'sloth.' Again, not the animal, no, what it means is that laziness- extreme laziness- is something that every single person should avoid, religious or atheistic.

Case in point (and I'm not quite sure that I'm using that particular expression correctly), what do you think most people do all day? They don't have 'real' jobs, no, ever leaving your house for anything became obsolete about fifty-something years ago, once artificial intelligence surpassed our own. Instead of having those aforementioned 'real' jobs, they lounge around all day on their holoscreens, living out their lives and doing their jobs with their fat asses firmly planted on leather.

I'd like to say that I'm different, but not entirely. I exercise, so at least I'm thin- well, thin-ish, not one person on this planet, I'll bet, is actually thin. But I'm getting off point. I have to lock the door and hide.

Hiding's something I'm really pretty good at, actually. When I lived in Chicago seven years ago, the Cubs had just won another World Series. When you're from a city that has as rotten luck in sports as Chicago, every little win is a cause for celebration. When World War Three started, the NFL went under- we needed our soldiers good and healthy, not concussed, so there went that sport. The Fire went under when, in a bit of a horrible twist, an arsonist burnt their stadium to the ground, and by that point, we were devoting all of our nation's extra funds to the war effort. Eventually, with temperatures rising, the Blackhawks melted away, leaving only the baseball teams.

After the nuke blasts that blew away half the West Coast, there wasn't much left in terms of teams- the Diamondbacks merged with Houston in 2058, Los Angeles moved back to Brooklyn, and the Mariners, by that time playing as the Point Barrow Barons, went bankrupt. Other teams soon followed suit. By the 2060s, there were only twelve teams left, and by the time of the 2094 World Series, the White Sox, Cubs, and Blue Jays were the only teams left.

Yeah, not so much of a challenge, but all the other teams' players all went to what was left, and like usual, the two Chicago teams got the short end of the stick, which made it even more impressive when the Cubs finally won again. 2094 World Series- another seven-game war, Blue Jays forcing the Cubs to a 3-0 deficit only for the Cubs to fight back, winning the next four games, albeit narrowly.

How narrowly? Here's the series:

7-2, 6-4 in ten, 5-3 in thirteen, 9-8, 5-3, 3-1, and then to top it all off, 8-7 in ten for a Game 7 that fell two minutes shy of a four-and-a-half hour game.

Yikes.

Oh, geez, what does my empassioned rant about about baseball have anything to do with hiding? I'm honestly not quite sure, except that I think I was trying to say that I know times are tough, and I'll face them with all my might.

You had better.