The roots of evil (are not money)
I was giddy to try out my new time machine, and for good
reason – I was working on it since I was 9 back in 1997, just day-dreaming
about time-machines, when my mind clicked, and I knew what I had to do. The
process of making the time machine became much more complicated than I had
thought, but I eventually finished.
I was then thinking of when I wanted to go (yes, when, not
where). I knew you were only meant to go a few seconds ahead the first time,
but after all my hard work I just couldn’t resist it, I felt I deserved it. So
I plugged 8th September 2933 into the time machine and away I went.
*
Sorry for rudely interrupting Hade’s action-packed narrative
but as the time machine I think I have a right to, and I think he’s making a
very big mistake. Even though he made me, a time machine, by some considered a
staple of futuristic worlds, the truth is Hade Phillips isn’t a very futuristic
man. For starters he made me from salvaged scrap metal. Who’d use scrap metal
when we all know the and future is in carbon nanotubes. Then he used a
combination of a black and white command-line-style OS and some dials, when
you’ve got an abundance of touch screen and voice control powered interfaces.
Back to the point. As a good time machine would, I took him
to his destination. I landed on a mountain observation point and the view was a
billion dollars. And that’s in 2013 money, let alone 2933 money. The mountain
was covered in lush green grass, shrubs and bushes, but at the bottom of the
mountain was a large metropolis with sky-high towers that nearly eclipsed our
height. Lots of happy residents, I’d bet. The other sides of the mountain were
covered in dense forest, to ensure keep
nature happy too.
*
My time machine took me to a mountain observation point
which was covered in plants. Ugh, I hate nature. And then I looked ahead and I
nearly had a cardiac arrest. I saw a city full of towers. Who’d want to live in
those crowded slums, with no space to move a nanometer. And I looked around for
a nice suburban respite but no, even more nature. It was a dense, dark forest
that even in broad daylight sent chills up my spine. I couldn’t take it any more.
I fainted.
*
He fell onto a ledge and I tried to get the attention of the
locals. They were very helpful in getting him back to the observation point. 21st
century humans could learn a thing or two from them. Anyway, they took Dr
Phillips to a large hospital. Apparently these were only ‘secondary’ hospitals,
of which there were 144 around the city. Oh, and did I tell you that this
society counts in twelves, using a dozenal number system. Back to the point. He
was let out after two days, and he seemed better than normal. Once again, we
could learn a thing or two from them. Naturally, Hade wouldn’t accept that in
the future we’d have far superior healthcare, so he started plotting.
