Dark Age (13 page)

Carefully I stowed the picture into my pouch. By the mere movement of putting it away, one last hope was sparked within me. My hands touched the sides of the skeleton’s armor. On the right side I found a pouch similar to mine. Opening it quickly, I searched within it blindly until my fingertips got hold of something solid. With curious ecstasy I pulled out a hand-sized book.

The hard cover was colored in blood red and barely aged compared to its owner. I flipped back the cover and read the big black calligraphic letters
“Winston Smith, Diary,”
and a few lines beneath,
“2025-2095”
. In awe I brushed my fingers over the page. My hands were holding the key to the past and with that maybe the answers to the many questions that plagued my mind. I felt as if it could slip away at any moment; vanish like all the rest of history, turn to ashes in between my fingers. The urge within me to know what really happened grew stronger and stronger, until I flipped to the next page and began to read what would change my world forever.

Chapter 15

“February 14th 2049,

My name is Winston Smith, born on January 11th 2025. This journal is part of my doctoral political science dissertation, to track the societal, cultural, and personal changes that current medical breakthroughs will bring onto the country. Today, scientific magazines across the world released that the ‘immortality revolution’, which had been talked about for years is finally beginning. Various companies are peaking in their endeavors and have stated that their products would finally be available in the coming week. Much excitement, both positive and negative, is present in all communities. While medical experts celebrate it, many critics fear the consequences of widespread immortality. Religious groups believe it to be a satanic tool aimed at entrapping mankind on earth and keep them from
heaven.”

“February 19th 2049,

Everything everyone is talking about now is immortality. Various companies have offered different solutions. Some go by replacing organs with more effective machinery, while others strive to modify genetic coding. Conservatives wish to illegalize immortalization, while liberals see it as the ultimate freedom and right to
life.”

“February 22nd 2049,

Upon the media release that the genetic modification would have a multi-million dollar price tag, radical groups rioted and bombed local government and pharmaceutical buildings. The tensions are growing as our current staggering income inequality is transcending into a right to life debate… Is it murder if a person is denied
immortality?”

“April 2nd 2049,

Things have been getting worse. Over a thousand individuals have undergone genetic modifications that supposedly ended aging and natural deaths. The masses are now on the streets, violently protesting for equality. Death tolls vary. Conservative estimates count over a thousand dead. The war has
begun.”

“May 4th 2049,

Classes have been canceled, and the restaurant my wife Amber waits at is closed as well. My baby daughter Lizzy seems unaffected, unable to understand what is happening. The government is evacuating civilians, while driving the rebels into combat zones. They seem willing and ready to use all means necessary to bring the riots to a stop.

It does not seem like I will get my PhD anytime soon, but I will maintain this journal for future’s
sake.”

“June 4th 2049,

A month has passed since the evacuation. Every few days care packages drop in our neighborhoods, while every few seconds bombs fall in the city square. The government is splintering. It has already lost many of its lower tier supporters and is now down to the hard core of powerful rich men and women that benefit from the recent breakthrough. This core has now united with the rest of the upper class and formed a coalition known as the
Aristocrats.”

“July 15th 2049,

The former competing company that planned to release mechanical organs for the common man was bought by the Aristocrats, and now supplies them with android soldiers. This rescued the Aristocrats, as over 99% of the army had been reported to have deserted the government. The fight for the resistance is futile once again, as the Aristocrats can buy any man with their leverage of immortality and riches.”

“August 3rd, 2049,

The care packages have stopped, and the Aristocrats have no more interest in appeasing the ones that had not yet joined the resistance. I want to leave this city as soon as possible, but Amber wants us to wait another month, and hope for the
best.”

“August 15th, 2049,

The Aristocrats made one mistake. They had power, but they used us, the common men, as a conduit to receive that power. Now with almost everyone against them, much of their authority is fading. The only reason they have not collapsed is because their android armies make up for their low numbers.”

“September 9th, 2049,

The resistance took down the entire energy grid of the country. With all the engineers, electricians, and reactor workers on our end, we have been able to put to halt their domination. In a few days their robot armies will be
useless.”

“September 10th, 2049,

Taking out the energy grid was a two sided sword. It gave us military advantages, but life is no longer the same. Communication, knowledge, and comfort disappeared at the blink of an eye. Until it’s gone you don’t realize how dependent you
are.”

“September 21st, 2049,

The last batteries are empty and all gas and electricity stations have been drained for generators and cars. We now live by candle light and the little food we can loot from the
stores.”

“October 1st, 2049,

We were able to build a kinetic energy driven satellite radio. It turned out that similar events were happening all around the world. In several countries the Aristocrats had already obliterated the resistance or enslaved them. These countries promised to send nuclear missiles to destroy us before we could win the fight. The resistance’s warfare generals consider a pre-emptive
strike.”

“October 3rd, 2049,

I just don’t know what to do. It has not been a year yet I cannot recognize my life. What has happened? Today I was at the resistance headquarters to pick up goods. That’s when the bombs struck. I ran home as fast as I could, but all I found was a pile of rubble with the remains of my loved ones. Rest in Peace Amber and Lizzy, I will love you forever, and will join you very
soon.”

“October 5th, 2049,

Through the radio we received news that the Aristocrats designed a new genetic modification that makes man resistant to radiation. Upon this news we fired our first score of uranium rockets. It has to end. Now.”

“October 6th, 2049,

Surprisingly they haven’t fired back, but they will any day now. And when they do, there will be nowhere to run. A few of us have decided to leave the continent and head east across the Atlantic to destabilize the headquarters of the European Aristocrats. We packed all we could, but history, knowledge and most of the progress mankind had made was bound to get lost with this endeavor. The ships were ready the same day. Boarding, I knew that I would never see those that stayed behind ever
again.”

“October 15th, 2049,

In any other circumstance being in the middle of nowhere surrounded by miles of water would have been terrifying, but right now it was the most peaceful place I have been at in almost a year. Every day I see rockets in the sky, like shooting stars filled with the hatred of spiteful wishes. The fact that they were still flying meant that neither side had won, but it also meant that more of us had been turned to ashes along with our history and the monuments we have kept alive for thousands of
years.”

“November 1st, 2049,

Our ship arrived at the coast of what once had been Portugal. The great port cities are beyond recognition. Among the rubble and rotten corpses, memories of a civilization lie like dirt, soon to be consumed by the earth. We got off the boats and started traveling by foot. Our goal is to make it to central Europe, and find refuge in the countryside of Germany or
France.”

“November 3rd, 2049,

Our radiation indicators reveal that our journey will be harder than we thought. Avoiding all formerly populated landscapes we have to travel through woods and mountains to escape extended
exposure.”

“December 10th, 2049,

We made it. On our way to Central Europe, our group grew. Along the way we picked up thousands of men and women that wanted to join the resistance. We now call ourselves the Global Resistance. In all the countries we traveled through, we destroyed the power grid taking away the Aristocrats means of surveillance and control. Now it was time to set up a new headquarters in a small town. Maybe we could finally establish a new life
again.”

“December 24th, 2049,

It was Christmas time, and despite what has happened many have not lost their faith. I enjoyed the food and the company, but there is no god for me in this lost
world.”

“December 30th, 2049,

Tonight we infiltrated the Aristocrats European headquarters and destroyed their power supply. Now they had lost everything. Their money had no worth in a world of survival, their positions of power had lost their roots, and their technological superiority had vanished into oblivion. Now they were nothing but common men, with indefinite lives, long enough to repent their
mistakes.”

“December 31st, 2049,

We achieved what we wanted but our generals want more. For New Year’s they are planning to annihilate all that is left of the Aristocrats and anyone else, so that once 2050 begins we could live in peace. They talk about ‘cleansing’ the world, but all I see is madness. Men that rebelled against oppression are becoming the oppressors. For every god there is a Satan, and because God made all of us godly, there is a Satan in us all. Give a leader some power and he will do what is best for people. Give a leader absolute power and he will still do what is best for
his people. Power does not corrupt; it merely elevates the degree in which something is done that has already been
pursued.

While the generals prepared the nuclear warheads they had collected from across the world, two brothers of mere eighteen years spoke to the people, urging to follow them into a new life separate from violence. Charles and Alexander had disempowered the Global Resistance by over a million that now followed their lead. I was among them. Together we headed east into the countryside of Central Europe.”

“January 1st, 2050 or 0,

It was a new beginning. In a small valley hidden from the rest of the world we found an old castle dating back to the Middle Ages. The walls are thick and tall, and the land beyond is vast and fertile. The valley is remote enough from any nuclear blast of the past year, avoiding radiation, and is locked in by the mountains, allowing no telecommunication or tracking signals to go in or out. Charles fell in love with the castle, and claimed it for himself the moment we arrived. Alexander however thought it too limited and small, seeking greater possibilities for expansion in something nobody had thought off: The Underground Empire. It was on this first day that the deserters of the Global Resistance had split. Charles’ followers became known as the Traditionalists, following old doctrines and living a sedentary life in the castle away from any modern technologies, the root to all the evil that had arisen over the past year. They swore to not speak of it again, to ensure that man would never repeat the same mistakes. Alexander’s followers became known as the Escapists, trying to escape into their old lives by creating a vast Underground Empire. With their many engineers they aimed to recreate the technologies of the past, while living far enough underneath the earth to avoid the
radiation.

It was this day the men entered the castle, and it was this day the first pickaxe hit the ground. In the center of the valley with their followers behind them, they stood and shook hands creating the Treaty of Nusquam, swearing that the two states would stay out of contact unless for diplomatic or trade relations. And even such contact will be indirect. All of it is to be conducted through intermediaries, called ‘the Gate Watchers’, an elite group of men that belonged to both, and yet neither state, overlooking the various gates in the mountains that separated the two states. I was chosen to be one of these
men.”

“January 11th, 2050 or 0,

Today was my twenty-fifth birthday. But no one knew. None of my friends from last year lived. Every night, no every second, I miss Amber and Lizzy. My life seems like one horrid nightmare. Just last year at this time some of my political science classmates and I went to Central Park and celebrated my birthday with a few beers. Now they were all dead, the city was nothing but rubble and corpses, and I was in some fucked up fantasy world where I am trained to use a sword to become a ‘Gate Watcher’ between a medieval city and an Underground Empire. I want to leave this world but I don’t think I have the strength to do
it.”