Sci-fi short stories Imagining the end of the world of a utopian society in the future world... When Eve didn't want to disappear with the end of the universe. She had to find another way to continue living.

In the middle of a cold November night, a blizzard raged. Inside the basement of the old high-rise building, a long queue of crowded people appeared. Amidst this chaotic situation Everyone was anxious and wanted to reach their destination as quickly as possible, but not a single person stood up to shout or intervene.

This is probably because they were all trained to strictly respect rules and morals. Make it even during the minute of life like this Such an act of disrespect is still unimaginable.

“Please come next,” the young officer called out in a cheerful tone. Even though there were people waiting in line outside, you couldn't even see the end of the line. But he didn't appear to be pressured or annoyed at all.

Eva walked straight into the glass room where the young officer was sitting. After waiting patiently for more than 4 hours, it was finally the woman's turn. Even Eve's body Including everyone standing here, they could all be said to be more than perfect and strong. However, even the slightest hardship was something none of these people had ever experienced.

At least...until a few days ago.

"I'm really tired." The officer invites you to talk with a smile typical of a service provider. as her pupils were scanned with a tiny white circular device.

“Since Mother passed away People flocked to ask to evacuate. Queue until the building is full like this. What's worse is that the original queuing system was controlled by Mother. Without her, we can only manage on our own,” he said in a sad voice, shaking his head.

His words made the girl worry.

“I understand,” she said politely. “But we can still evacuate, right? I mean, since Mother is gone,” the woman continued in a tone that sounded like she was trying to suppress her restlessness.

“Ah, don't worry,” the young man hurriedly said.

“The immigration system is an important and complex high-level program. Therefore, we always backup the system. Even though no one has ever asked to use it before, so even though Mother is no longer here, You can still evacuate,” he firmly confirmed.

heard that The young woman then breathed a sigh of relief.

That's why this officer was still able to sit and talk with her. It must mean that there are other systems that have been copied separately.

“Then I choose the time and place,” she said enthusiastically.

“Yes,” the officer responded.

“You can only go to the past time. The future is currently locked up by the system, heh heh.” He let out a joke and laughed.

Of course, what future will there be in store for humanity? Eva thought to herself while forcing a weak smile.

“Furthermore, importantly...the system only allows migration back to the time of the birth of Homo sapiens. Until the past 400 years ago only,” the official said in a more serious tone.

“Can't we go back to the past 400 years?!” Ava asked in a panicked voice. Of course, before coming here, she had already carefully chosen the desired time. She had planned to migrate 300 years ago, when Mother had already put order in this cruel world.

“It is to prevent humans in this era from going back to the time when Mother was created. This is to ensure that there are no mistakes that may affect the present era,” he clarified.

Ava listened, puzzled. What the officer said was very contrary to common knowledge. The theory is that traveling back in time cannot change the future. Has it not been proven and accepted? Moreover, if it were claimed that traveling back in time could change the present, it would be

Why is immigration still allowed?

Now, the assumption that the girl thinks is most likely to suit him is that After not having mother The backup system would have gone awry, and of course, it wouldn't have been beneficial to sit and ask questions with the officials who were only part of the system.

What she has to decide now is whether to stay or go.

“Then... if we go back to the nearest past, which is 400 years ago, can the officials give us some rough information?” the woman asked darkly. She had not studied much history before Mother's era. Thinking that she had no need to be involved with it.

“Ah, 400 years ago...it's called a time when people were forced to stay at home on a global scale,” he says, turning to a monitor with a virtual reality simulation.

“Suddenly, a highly contagious respiratory epidemic emerged and spread throughout the world. People at that time had not yet been genetically engineered to resist disease, so each country responded differently to the epidemic. Oh...at that time the world was still divided into different countries... Many countries are in crisis.

There are not enough medical facilities and medical personnel. There's a big commotion." The young officer called up the information and told it with great zest.

“But that event also spurred the use of artificial intelligence to replace humans to develop at a faster pace. However, it took 50 years after that for humans to be able to create the most complete artificial intelligence like Mother,” he concluded.

“If you are still not sure whether to evacuate or not? Or if you want to immigrate to any era, you can think slowly while waiting. Anyway, please sit and wait in the room over there first,” he said, gesturing towards the door behind him.

“Please come next,” the young officer called out in a cheerful tone as programmed. Signaling to the woman that her time for questioning was over.

As he led himself to the back room Eva found that her legs were slightly trembling like never before. The thought of having to live in a world without Mother was terrifying. And like this...how will this be different from what it is now?

No, it might be even scarier.

Even though she is not very interested in studying human history. But there must be some general basic knowledge. Before Mother came to organize the world The chaotic nature is very frightening. forcing living things to harm each other and without freedom

Two-handed humans like you used to raise animals to kill for food. People eat the corpses of other living things as if it were normal. Even worse than that Humans still harm each other, both physically and mentally.

Without the freedom to choose even their own appearance or gender. Different people are born with different physical limitations. But they are all the same. Weak and fragile, sick and old and can die...

You can die when you get old...

This is the most obvious difference between ancient humans and modern humans...

The young woman looked towards the wide hall where young people were all sitting. Of course, most of them came in pairs. Luckily, she saw an empty chair. Next to it sat a young man who appeared to be alone. Eva walked in and sat down in the chair, distraught. She sighed as she downloaded historical information from various eras into her brain to make an informed decision.

“Did you come alone?” After observing the young woman for a while The young man sitting next to him spoke up and invited him to talk.

“Yes,” Ava answered, smiling slightly politely.

“I came alone. My partner chose to leave...with Mother. To this day, I still don't understand him,” he recalled with a sad smile.

“I myself... never thought that this day would come. The day when everyone is ready to leave the world. It's probably us... gathered together in this building that's strange. After all, most people choose to travel to a peaceful destination.” Eva just laughed.

“My partner is an artificial intelligence,” she reveals, as the other person tells a personal story first. So she told her story.

“If I were to guess, you're definitely not a hundred years old, right? A new generation like you... If you are a conservative person who is over 200 years old like my generation. It's rare to choose a partner who is part of your mother.” He idly guessed.

“Huh, a new generation like me. In the end, I have to live alone like this.” Even though she was laughing, her eyes were sad.

“It doesn't matter. My partner's size is human. He still chose that path.

“He said he believed in Mother. Mother already knows all the information in this world. He is a person who has awakened from the world of illusion. When Mother decided to leave the world behind. Humans like us should immediately think about it. What will we continue to live for? This world has reached its peak. All living and non-living things have reached their peak.

There is nothing to develop. There's nothing more to learn. The only thing left is to live comfortably and do whatever you want. As long as it is not against the moral code. And how long will you stay? Do you want this body that doesn't age to last until the world collapses? Choosing to stay No matter how you think, it is not the path to happiness.

Leaving this world with Mother is not a hopeless departure. But it is a journey to true peace...

“I listened to what he said. I feel like there's a reason. But I can't accept it. The idea that our identity will suddenly disappear. I really can't accept it, I've been living here for over 200 years now,” the young man vented to the person sitting next to him. It was probably because he saw that the other person was just like himself...having to live alone. But still...want to continue living.

“Have you chosen yet? What era will you go to? Since we can't go back to the time after Mother was created?” Ava asked, in case she could immigrate with her people.

“Every era is the same, I don't think too much. I think I'll even let the system choose you randomly.”

The girl was stunned by this answer. The young man saw this and quickly explained.

“Don't tell me you don't wonder why we never heard any news about immigration from the future in the past. How far back in time do immigrants go? My body is not sick or old. So why don't they come out and express themselves in this era?”

Eva was silent for a moment while listening to the officer. At that time, she felt complacent. But because of his panic, he still hadn't thought it through carefully.

This was 300 years ago, before the first time travel experiment in human history was completed. There is a lot of academic debate about this. Those who believe in the theory of butterflies moving their wings warn that Time travelers should be careful not to accidentally do anything that could affect the future.

Because just stepping on a single piece of grass can cause the future world to collapse. On the contrary Some groups believe that As soon as there is time travel A parallel universe separate from the main universe will be created, so no matter what the travelers did in the past, There will be no apparent change in the main universe in the future.

But in the end, the theory that was proven true in experiments was the theory that Time travel cannot result in parallel universes. But at the same time, the future cannot be changed. Because of the results of the actions of those traveling through time appeared in the future world in the first place Since before they had traveled back to the past.

In the first experiment The subject intends to travel back to a day in the past where he himself was walking in a pine forest. He remembers that day well. While walking, it suddenly rained heavily, according to the weather forecast. But he forgot to bring a raincoat. Therefore, his current self who had gone back in time secretly sneaked into his past residence. I accidentally picked up a raincoat and put it in my backpack for another person who was running errands in the bathroom.

But the experimenter discovered a surprising truth. His raincoat had been put in his backpack from the beginning.

When I think back, it's similar to that. After looking at the weather forecast that morning He managed to pick up a raincoat and put it in his backpack. So why on that day? So he couldn't find a raincoat? Subject secretly followed his former self for half a day. And because he was genetically engineered to have a special ability to jump.

So he kept jumping and hiding among the pine branches. But alas, on his last leap, He stepped on a branch that the squirrel was climbing. It then fell onto his former self's backpack. Scrambling to take out the raincoat that was in the side compartment, it fell off onto the side of the road without the owner even realizing it. After a few moments The rain was pouring down in large amounts.

It turned out that in the past It was the future subject who caused the raincoat to fall from his backpack. After that experiment, the results were summarized. Yet similar experiments have been repeated many times. All of which give different results. No matter how many times I go back to the past

As Eva thought about the historical records of the past nearly 300 years, she realized: The time travelers were all from experimental frameworks.

Why has there never been a record of accepting immigrants from the end of the world in Mother's era? Even if there were indeed immigrants returning in the past? Even if we go back more than a thousand years Shouldn't those people still be alive until Mother's time?

If it were a previous society Of course, immigrants must conceal their identities. Because declaring that he had traveled back in time would only lead to being considered insane. Or they would have been captured by barbarians in that era and extorted information for personal gain. But when they continued to live in Mother's era These immigrants would have no way to conceal themselves. And there's no reason to want to conceal yourself.

“Are you saying that all the immigrants died before Mother was created?” Ava blurted out.

“It seems the most likely, doesn't it? And if Mother has information about these immigrants Of course, announcements must be made to make people aware of the news in accordance with the principles of transparency. On this point, we cannot doubt his principles at all. Therefore, there is only one reason why this matter has never been announced.

Not a single immigrant has survived in more than 300 years.

“Before talking to the officials I think that those of us who have bodies and brains that are so superior to previous humans, what era or place do we live in? It wouldn't be a problem. My hope of continuing to live without end is still there. But when I came to find this truth....

“Maybe it is because people in our generation cannot adapt to the cruelty of the lawless nature of the past, or they may not be happy to have to do the same kind of work that people in the past did. Until he fell into a mental state and committed suicide. or worst case The immigration system itself may have problems. It is possible that when Mother is no longer there,

The compressive force sent back to the past may be unstable. causing the refugees to die along the way

“However, we have no way of knowing. Because this is a one-way ticket,” the young man muttered as he looked up at the ceiling.

Ava gulped.

“Knowing this, should we still evacuate?” the woman muttered.

“Just a few more days. An artificial black hole that Mother had prepared. It will absorb everything in the universe. Make the end return to the beginning. I don't plan on staying and watching. Aren't you the same? Let's at least evacuate and then let's struggle forward.”

The two people sat together for a long time. Everyone thinks about their own things.

These past several months There were times when Eve thought in confusion. Why couldn't she simply give up on living like most people? What's wrong with her thinking system? Or because she was just born recently? Not yet a hundred years old Makes you still not feel the monotony of life But many others in her generation did not struggle to immigrate to continue their lives like she did.

No matter what I think, I don't get the answer. So I can only conclude that Each person's thoughts and life stages are probably different. She still wants to open her eyes and wake up in the morning. I still feel full of energy every time I walk in the breeze and sunlight. I still want to say hello to all the plants. and sing greetings to the little bird every day

When you still have the feeling that you want to stay We have to try and struggle together....until the day that she is truly ready to walk the path to peace like those people.

Today, you will try to determine your own destiny.

Her thoughts wandered for a long moment. Before he knew it, the young man sitting next to him stood up as he was called. He turned and smiled faintly and said goodbye to her. Each wished the other good luck.

After sitting and reviewing the historical information that had been downloaded into my brain for a while, So Eva's number was called. She followed a young female officer into a high-ceilinged room. A glass tube nearly twice the size of a human stood in the center of the room. The female officer explained and showed her how to use it.

Of course there is nothing difficult. Every type of equipment in this era is well designed to be easy to use. When the demonstration ends The official then wished her good luck. Ready to give her a wide smile in the style of a service provider.

Eva walked into the glass tube. Then....she selected the time and place with her own hands.

Although still unsure of what will be faced ahead Even if you press the button with trembling fingers But...she had no better choice than this...

The girl's eyes were filled with determination.

Hope to continue breathing There is only this way left...

I'll post the short story I wrote as promised. This story is our first short story. (Not counting the stories I wrote in notebooks for fun when I was a child) written in late 2021, when I started writing them. "Coco and the Lost Phoenix" only got two chapters in and it got stuck. So I tried to change to writing short stories.

This is the first short story. I don't know if you'll be confused after reading this. Anyway, please leave comments and opinions.