Vibing with the death worms

Selena piloted the sand scooter while Irina and I sat in the back. It really was just like that vehicle from that one sci-fi movie. Though as we picked up speed, a troublesome question tormented my mind; what happens if you fall off?

There's no roof and barely any walls, so what happens if you accidentally lean over too far-

"What ya panicking about?" Irina smirked.

"Oh nothing, just what would happen if you leaned over too-"

"Oh right, you're from THAT era. Welp, watch n' see."

To my horror, Irina suddenly leapt towards the edge... only to be stopped by a force field!? What's more, the impact didn't even effect the rest of the scooter.

"See, these puppies are outfitted with invisible force fields that keep you or your stuff from falling out. What's more, gravity-aid helps keeps these suckers running smoothly so even if a giant mud ball pelted the side of it, it wouldn't budge an inch."

"Not to mention autopilot, manual control, and numerous other safety features," Selena chimed.

To be honest, it was almost as if we were cheating, but I guess 500 years was all it took to crack the earth's code, and once your crack the code for something, sky's the limit.

A few minutes later, Irina swapped with Selena giving her the chance to sit and chat with me.

"Irina certainly is a handful, yes?"

"Got that right, though she does remind me of some folks from my time."

"Friends?"

"Both friends and people I watched online. Though what exactly did she mean when she said I was from 'THAT' era?"

Selena giggled as she explained Irina was most likely referring to how a good chunk of people from my era did stupid things. You know like, ignoring the "don't touch this" signs, standing atop a moving car, having a lobster pinch your nose...

"Are there seriously not any people like that in this era?"

"Not born in this era. From other eras though, different story. Though I think we've generally evolved enough so that the world is able to stop the stupidity on it's own. For example, signs that prohibit things actually prohibit things, for example, a not pets allowed zone would erect a force field that prevents pets from passing through, directing them to a waiting area while their owners do business inside. It is worth mentioning that these signs must first be authorized by the safety commission so just putting up a "No Irina's allowed" sign anywhere wouldn't stop Irina from entering."

This naturally got me curious about the so-called safety commission, but it was essentially similar to the ones back in my era. That did snowball into a larger question of what the government was like in this world.

"The government? This might come as a surprise, but it's more like a computer code."

"Huh?"

Apparently, the government was a combination of both AI and humans. Basically, the humans at the government were more like technicians rather than politicians, with their main priorities being making sure the AI was running smoothly. The AI in question though was not the absolute authority, rather it was more so an enforcer of the rules.

Just like in my time, people all voted on propositions they wished to become law, though unlike in my era, the practice was far more common or rather not as high-stakes per say?

I honestly couldn't wrap my head around how nonchalantly Selena was explaining it to me. I'd say the best comparison would be a simple internet poll, like which is better; vanilla or chocolate? Except those polls decide policy. Irina chimed in adding that the AI only approved humane and lawful policy ideas to be submitted to the population where they would then vote to decide if it became law.

"Selena's exaggerating a bit in terms of how frequently people get policy suggestions. Since we live in a Jantar city, we get policy changes far more frequently than most, save for maybe the big cities. But to go back to the policy-making process, think of it this way. In your time, while you did have the option to vote on propositions, you primarily elected a politician to represent you and vote and lobby for certain things. One thing they did when they were doing that was form committees which screened bills to decide if they should pass and proceed to the full chamber for a vote to decide if it truly passes. Well in our time, the AI is essentially the committee, while the entire population is both the chamber and the ones sending in the proposed policy changes. And the technicians, they make sure the AI is adhering to the preestablished laws, like a judiciary in a sense."

To be honest, I was a little surprised politicians no longer existed in this era, but not saddened by the fact in the slightest. Though the talk about government did remind me of something important I should have asked much sooner.

"What's the deal with currency in this world?"

Both Selina and Irina happily smiled and informed me that the currency of this world was known as Eurolyens.

"You ever play that game where you live in a town and sell fish and critters to a fox? Well think of that game as how the economy works in a sense. In your case, if you upload a video, you get a base reward of about 10 Eurolyens which would be about the same value as 1 US dollar from your era. And that's ANY size video. Could be 1 second or 1 hour. But naturally, the more views you get, the more moolah you get as royalties. Likes help too and best of all, money's unlimited so no need to worry about things of the past like inflation, recessions, etc," Irina grinned.

"Now that sounds way too good to be true. I'll definitely think this is some kind of dream if you keep telling me everything's perfect like that."

"Depends on your definition of perfect. But I guess to you, this world would seem like a utopia, but to me... it's just... normal."

Irina's words caused confusion to overtake my face, but before I could ponder the matter further, Irina started shouting ecstatically.

"Look! The worms are about to pop out!"

Wait! WORMS! As in Mongolian death worms!? No, no, no! I thought this world was perfect!

Sure enough, two giant worms sprung out of the sand in front of us. They were illuminated with neon lights, or perhaps bioluminescence making them aesthetically pleasing to view... BUT THEY WERE STILL TWO GIANT WORMS!"

"No need to worry. These Mongolian death worms are actually just 4D holograms. Now sit back and relax. they're about to perform. Oh, and you'll want to record this," Selena smiled.

To my surprise, some rock music suddenly began playing out of nowhere and the worms began throat singing and vibing to it. Irina began clapping along as Selena began to headbang, and slowly but surely, my fear melted away, and I too was vibing with them and the worms. It brought back good memories to all those times I visited concerts in various countries to hear the music of the locale. Most if not all the time, I didn't understand the language the song was being sung in, but that didn't matter. I was smiling, vibing, and having a good time.

I apologize to these worms, they're singing is amazing, and I'm vibing. I quickly found myself dancing, and doing a one-handed air guitar as I filmed all with my phone and new selfiestick. This was amazing! I almost forgot about the original mission, but even when I did, I didn't want to leave. This was a damn concert, and I was vibing!

...

Seeing Hana vibing like that, made waiting until dark worth it. These worms are one of the biggest attractions out here. I'll have to thank old man Jantar for pushing for this back in his era. These worms have been here since I was born, so I always considered it normal to see them, but never have I seen anyone vibing this much to them. The vibing's so infectious, that I myself am vibing harder to these worms than I ever did before.

Even Selena's getting into it with the head banging. I mean, she's got the perfect hair for it, but seeing someone like her rocking out to this is amazing. Hana really is something special. Guess the best truly is always last as they say.