The Year 2020

Its 6am on a Sunday morning, the mandatory electronic sensors in your nervous system fire up and agitate your muscles into getting out of the standard-issue one inch thick synthetic eco-mattress. You vaguely remember the long, luxurious lie-ins of your youth but you daren't dwell on them as this will create warning flags back at The Source. It's been 4 years since all the cellphone masts were upgraded to scan for errant thought processes and you're not taking any chances.

You make your way to the bathroom and get your designated 50cc blast of steam in the E-Shower before checking what Facebook wants you to do today on the integral monitor. Oh, it appears Fred didnt turn up to work today and You have been mandated to replace him for the day. Failure to do so will result in the loss of a week's wages, demotion and being ordered to take an Attitudal Reassignment Course at one of the Source Subcentres.

Breakfast consists of 2 pills (Carbolyte and Proteus +) washed down with an AquaCap Watershot (you drink 2 even though you know you'll have to explain why in the End of Week audit).

After making an appointment to speak to your Building Supervisor, you finally get the clearance to leave and make your way to work. Realising you're going to be 20 minutes late, you whip out your I-Monitor and apply to TimeDirect for additional travel minutes - only to be told you arent eligible this month. No reason, just 'Sorry'.

Standing at Sector 4T/A waiting for the train, you are approached by 6 Uniformed Peace Officers who demand to know why you keep looking at the pretty blonde across the platform. Scanners have registered that you looked at her 4 times in the previous minute without approach and as this constitutes an act of Social Terrorism (Code 23448:W), you are now required to provide a DNA sample, coupled with a 200 New Dollar fine. This is deducted from your account instantaneously and without question. Simultaneously, your wife back at home receives a welcome pack from the 'Abused Spouses Group' and an appointment has been made in advance for her to attend self-assertion classes.

Your mind drifts back to when you were 20, before the Source made it illegal to approach or interact with strangers in public. It was all so easy then, flirt, smile, chat and take a coffee, get to know each other in an unhurried way. A far cry from the world now, where we are forced to buy Social Credits from the FBI-P (Facebook Interactivity Program) in order to try to get to know people.

The transit into work isnt too bad today, You idly watch a bit of Principal Austin Bullhorn's daily sermon on the big screens, feel the fresh breeze on your scalp. The aerial drones look so pretty weaving in and out of the signs and billboards, the sun dancing on their metallic hulls like crystalline flashes of gunfire - but it's been 5 years since you saw muzzle flash so you're not quite sure.

In an instant, a high-pitched noise explodes in your inner ear and the automated voice of a Controller tells you that you have just committed an act of Destructive Thought and will now be locked down for investigation. The same musculo-skeletal sensors that forced you out of bed now rigidly stick you to the spot.

More peace officers surround you, switching to Public Order Defence mode and their canines go wild, begging to be given the green light to rip you to pieces. You try to ask what it is you are supposed to have done but by now your speech is rapidly deteriorating, and all you can manage is gibbberish. You are detained and taken to Source, where you will be thoroughly assessed and all memories will be scrutinised before being sanitised.

A doctor tells you he is authorising non-descriptive detainment while Source Agents re-map your neurons.

Meanwhile, back at home, your wife has just received several compatible profiles from the 'New Life, New Husband or Wife' team over at Fort Zuckerberg.


Please, continue...