It’s another normal day–you wake up and the sun is shining warm and bright in the sky above.
But it’s not the sun, and that’s not really the sky.
It’s a screen that surrounds the planet.
But it’s not really a planet anymore, is it?
It’s more machine than anything.
No longer human.
When was the last time you saw the sky?
You can’t recall.
You get ready for the day, and go out to head to work.
But wait–you don’t have a job anymore.
It was taken from you.
A computer works your job for you.
“For the sake of money,” your employers explained.
“Everything’s a little tight right now, and everyone’s suffering,” they say, filled with false sympathy for you.
Sometimes you wonder if your employers are even human.
Sure, they look the part, but they lack the soul.
They’re richer than you, so they don’t understand the struggle of trying to make a living, or worrying about not having a job.
Do they even have feelings?
Or are they like the computers that took your job?
You think to yourself that you’ll read a book to pass the time and get your mind off things.
You pick up one of your favorite books that you know almost completely by heart, and begin to read.
As you progress further through the story, you frown.
No, these can’t possibly be the words.
You’ve read this book too many times not to remember this.
Something is wrong here.
The words are wrong, and the plot is slowly delving into madness, straying into something else entirely.
You forgot–your last copy got taken, and used to train these computers.
They rewrote it.
This is not the same story you loved before.
You go about your day, trying to stay sane.
The day grows hotter and hotter, the sun screen glowing brighter, becoming almost blinding.
It’s summer, you think.
But you can’t remember the last time you had true seasons in your lifetime.
When was the last time you felt snow fall and melt upon your skin?
As the day winds down, the screen sky fades to night, and the stars cameras begin to twinkle, like there’s a little hope left.
But you lay awake in bed, knowing that this has been your life for as long as you can remember, and no one will change anything.
In the end, you will be forced to find companionship in everything artificial, as the last humans die out, just as you will.
