AI-Carus

For a second, all is darkness. Within the muffled black of the classroom all is quiet, save for the slight electrical hum of the tonal field at work- using a high pitched frequency too high for human ears to hear, but which resonates perfectly with human vocal cords; causing them to vibrate slightly- rendering speech impossible. Suddenly, the forced silence is broken by the dusty cough of old world machinery powering up, and then a hum as a 21st century projector whirs to life, projecting the beginning of a government mandated educational video. On the screen is a smiling, animated business man with strawberry blond hair, wearing dark sunglasses which conceal his eyes, a deep navy blue suit with black dress shoes, and a gold tie accent. In his hand he is clutching a brown leather briefcase. Next to him in bold text reads the title: History of the Old World- It’s Collapse and the Rise of AI-Carus. The businessman’s cartoonish smile deepens into a smirk, “Hello Class RA-G3, today we will be covering the causes and effects of the collapse of the Old World- mainly focusing on the core reasons for its’ collapse and the subsequent creation of AI-Carus. Please pay attention, as there will be a quiz following this video. Note taking will be allowed.” The businessman flicks his hand and the title fades away, to be replaced by a slowly rotating planet swathed in azure blue and emerald green. “This is Earth 1,243 years ago.” He flicks his hand again and the planet shifted, filling the blue with gray and expanding it; engulfing much of the green, which has faded to a sickly olive. The smirk on the businessman’s face widens in dark amusement, “And this is Earth 896 years ago, after the start of the Third World War, also known as World War E.” He makes a pinching motion and one of the larger land masses enlarges, showing a live video of two armies clashing; one side is dressed in homespun rags and wielding carefully carved wooden spears- while the other is dressed in a hodgepodge of battered and stained military uniforms and civilian clothes, armed with obviously rusted swords and knives, with the occasional javelin. “It was known as such due the cause of the war. By the year 2163, many large deposits of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil - which were needed to run most Old World machinery - had been depleted. This sparked a desperate search in many first and second world countries for any remaining fossil fuel deposits in existence, no matter how small. For example,” the businessman gestures toward the battle raging beside him, “the battle of Tripoli in Libya was fought over 2,080 liters of oil, which only amounted to ten drums worth. This practice of fighting small wars on multiple fronts continued, until in 2166, the Community of Ira used a toxic nerve gas on civilians during the battle of Alberta in what was then Canada”. The image switched to one of men, women, and children swathed in a purple mist coughing and desperately clawing at their throats before collapsing. “This opened the door for chemical warfare in World War E. Many viruses, gases, and genetically modified plants and animals were used as weapons in this increasingly brutal and deadly war. By 2167, the death count had skyrocketed from 42 million into the billions.” The video panning over corpses smothered by purple fog changed to a line graph of the casualties in World War E per year. “Scientists predicted that, if nothing was done, humanity would be completely extinct by the year 2178. Those not engulfed by the war began desperately searching for some sort of solution.” The line graph faded away, to be replaced by scientists desperately working in a laboratory. “Finally, in 2174, Professor Donell invented the NoThingK^TM- a device which, when implanted within the subject’s brain, powered on the excess electricity within the subjects’s brain would prevent certain key chemicals from attaching to their receptors; allowing for the subject to become impartial towards the conflict, and prevent the subject from experiencing additional emotional trauma- as well as providing added processing power to the subject.“ The frantic scientists were replaced by a picture of a twenty-six year old man, with unruly black hair cut short, silver wire rimmed glasses in front of brown eyes glimmering with amusement at some unknown joke, and a grin which looked more than a little mischievous. Underneath him were the words Professor Johnathon Donell in white lettering. “The human population had dwindled to less than 53 million when the first widespread delivery of NoThingK^TM began, but after the first wave proved successful at preventing combative tendencies, the innovative technology spread across the world like wildfire. In 2177, the first AI-Carus building was opened in what is now the capital city of Kenton, in order to gather the vestiges of humanity with the purpose of creating solutions to the pressing problems of that time.” The picture of Professor Donell rose up to the top of the screen and beneath him an image of a multi-story building built entirely of white stone with AI-Carus painted in block letters above the double doors. “In order to ensure proper use of what little resources they had at their disposal, Professor Donell made a final modification to the NoThingK^TM, which suppressed the subject’s emotional responses in favor of logical thinking- to be removed once humanity could live without fear of wasting resources. Under the guidance of the newly christened President of AI-Carus: Professor Donell, AI-Carus spread across the globe, bringing innovation and hope for the survival of humanity.” Both images vanished and the businessman looks directly at the students, who have been dutifully recording notes, “That was the end of today’s lesson. The quiz will now begin. I hope that you were paying attention- please remember that reviews are coming up at the end of the month and that the lowest scoring child within each grade will be designated as a waste of educational resources and be re-classed as a laborer.” The business man takes off his unrealistically dark sunglasses- revealing piercing green eyes which glint mischievously as he grins, “Good luck.” The whirring of the projector starts to slow, then stop, as the machine begins to shut down and the hum of the tonal field is once again heard. The electric bulbs flick back on as the students hurriedly scan their notes, while the teacher walks down the rows, passing out the quiz. No one wants to be a waste of resources, they may only be in third grade, but they’re old enough to know what happens. The projector gives one last sigh of defeat and dies.