The Peaceful Future

…And then I woke up.

I sat bolt-upright, looking around frantically; where am I? Where’s my rifle? What happened? Did we win? Did I- My eyes landed on the open book sitting on the table in front of me, with a dark wet spot on one of the pages that looked suspicious like someone had been… drooling on it…

I groaned, folding my arms on top of the book and burying my face in them. It was just one of those dreams again. I had them all the time, but they were rarely so vivid and detailed. Then again, I’d been pulling a lot of all-nighters the past week or so, so I was probably sleeping pretty deeply. I lay there for a moment or two, hoping that maybe this was one of those dreams within a dream where if I just closed my eyes, I’d suddenly find myself in an even more fantastic place, but all I found was darkness.

Slowly, I lifted my head, peering over my arms. I was still at my table outside Café Futura, an outdoor umbrella over my head and an unfinished drink in front of me. Quickly glancing around, it seemed like I was the only one out here, as usual, and no one inside looked like they noticed my little attack. I let out the breath I had been holding; my secret was safe. Really it was embarrassing, falling asleep in public like this, but at the same time…

I wanted to see how my fight with Non was going to go! I whined internally. Was I actually going to hit him and end the war singlehandedly? Or was he going to somehow deflect my shot and come down to fight me himself? Maybe the smoke was going to clear and I’d see my comrades standing there, worse for wear but ready to fight one last battle together for the fate of the planet!

I sighed, shaking my head. There was no point in dwelling on it now, I could make up any ending I liked, but in the end I only would have been able to see the natural ending in my dream, and now that chance was long gone. Returning to thoughts of reality, I looked down to see what page I had been drooling on… I was still on the chapter about subconscious desires. That was topical. I dabbed at the spot of drool with my sleeve, drying it as best I could, then carefully closed the book and looked at the cover: “The Theory of Being Needed”, it said. I saw it in a shop on my way here one day and bought it out of curiosity. It turned out to be an old self-help book, but it did have some interesting theories about fulfillment.

Turning my attention to the cup sitting a few inches behind it, I tentatively reached over and touched it; lukewarm. With a shrug, I picked it up and downed the rest, shuddering at the taste as all the flavors and sweeteners, which had congealed at the bottom into a sort of sludge, slid down my throat. Modern technology had long since solved the problem of mixing drinks, using a high-speed blending mechanism that bound liquids together for long periods of time, without additives. Unfortunately, despite its name, Café Futura was inspired by twenty-first century coffee shops, even using the same old ingredients and preparation methods to appeal to hipsters who were fans of the era, and coffee shops back then hadn’t figured out how to mix drinks and keep them that way.

Still swiping my tongue around the inside of my mouth to try and get rid of the lingering syrupy sweetness, I stood up, tucking my book into my bag and picking up my empty cup before heading inside the café. The electronic bell rang as I entered, and I saw the round-faced old woman who owned the place, Mirai Maraia-san, bustle out to see who had come in. When she saw me, she smiled and waved, which she returned in kind; I had been a regular here for a while, so I made sure to be as polite and unobtrusive as possible.

Carefully slipping past the tables near the window, I made my way over to the return area and carefully placed my cup on top of the scanner, tilting it just slightly so that the older model could read it properly; most shops like this used an Item Link System, which could link a customer to an item to determine things like when they returned a cup… or when they tried to run off with it. Sure enough, after a short scan, there was an affirmative beep and the cup was accepted, sliding back to a conveyor where it would be returned to the back. The small screen above blinked on, reading: “Thank you for visiting, Kanahei Shuuya-san. Five hundred yen has been automatically deducted from your recreation account. Would you like to leave a tip? Please note that all employees are paid fair recreation wages per-”

I snorted and tapped “yes”, then entered a hundred yen tip, earning me a little electronic thumbs-up and a “thank you, have a nice day!” Then, with an affirmative nod, I turned and walked away, waving again at Mirai-san as I headed out the door and down the street, back to my apartment. And as I walked, I thought back to my dreams. It was true, there really had been a global war once, the final war even, but it wasn’t a conflict caused by some obvious villain with an eyepatch and a disintegration cannon…

Famine, greed, a rapidly decaying environment. At the end of the twenty-first century, these were the things that led the world to the brink of extinction.

In the wake of disaster brought about by their own shortsightedness, the nations of the world had begun to wither and die. Desperate for survival, they began tearing each other apart, swallowing up smaller countries and taking their resources, while leaving their people completely destitute. Eventually there was nothing left to steal, and then all that was left was war. But before a single nuclear missile could be launched and begin Armageddon, a gleaming white ship descended from the sky.

Nearly a century before this catastrophe, a group of Earth’s greatest minds had fled the planet in a flying spacecraft, claiming that they would find answers to our plight amongst the stars, and would return one day to restore peace to the world. Their people laughed at them and encouraged them to leave, claiming that they would solve their own problems. But when the world was near death, they returned, and they brought with them technology the likes of which humanity had never seen. With a single pulse they cleared pollution from the skies above, rendering the once-toxic air breathable again. They healed the people who were injured by war, and cured those suffering from disease. They restored the beauty of nature and the bounty of farmland to areas razed in fits of rage. They did all this and more in mere days, and then declared that this would be a time of peace, now and forevermore.

And it was, as for the next hundred years these scientists, the children and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren of the original group who left all those years ago, spent their time sharing their technology with the world. They introduced limitless clean energy for the entire world through cold fusion reactors. Poverty was eliminated through the application of an economic system called Necessism. Construction was revolutionized with adaptive materials that could form any shape, the need to farm animals for food was eliminated, and advanced medical care was made free and readily available for everyone.

In order to preserve this harmonious future, the world’s governing bodies were re-formed into an organization dedicated to one thing: P.E.A.C.E., Protecting Earth from Aggression and Conflict through Equality. Under P.E.A.C.E.’s government, conflict itself had been all but eliminated, and continued to be eliminated every single day. The world was undeniably a better place for their efforts. I knew all of this, but…

When I was a child, my mother used to tell me stories of heroes. Soldiers, gunslingers, costumed crimefighters, people who would rise to the occasion when the world needed them and save others, pushing past their limits to achieve the impossible. I didn’t know at the time that we lived in a world that didn’t need those things anymore, so from then on, all I wanted to be was a hero.

The world did not take kindly to my dream. When I tried to defend my friends from bullying with my fists, I was reprimanded for resorting to violence while a counselor resolved their conflict peacefully. Whenever I played sports I was accused of being too aggressive, or trying too hard to win. When I tried climbing a tree to save a cat, the local volunteer department lowered both of us with an anti-gravity system and told me not to waste their time. Finally, when I turned eighteen, I joined the P.E.A.C.E. training program, honing my mind and body for an entire year in order to defend the world from conflict, only to learn that at best I would be joining a stationary peacekeeping unit; at worst, a neighborhood watch. I was foiled at every turn, and even though I had no real need for a job, food and housing being a guaranteed right under P.E.A.C.E.’s constitution, I felt myself sinking deeper and deeper into unfulfillment, while my parents watched…

Over the next year or so I saw numerous experts, doctors and psychologists who claimed they could help me with these feelings, but they all left stumped. Finally, it was a local therapist who suggested my problem was that I craved a purpose, something that was hard to come by in a peaceful world. I could follow the usual advice of finding a purpose for myself, creating meaning in life through self-expression or public service, but never again would there be a time when anyone was ever truly needed. Still, the theory interested me, and so I started studying psychology, trying to understand myself and my need to be needed.

That was three years ago. I’m twenty-four now, and in perfect health, as everyone is, though I’ve kept a few bad habits by choice; there was a rights movement before I was born that allowed people to make limited unhealthy choices, such as eating fast food or, in my case, drinking stimulants. I live in a normal apartment complex with quiet neighbors and plenty of space. I drink plenty of water and try to go outside at least once a day. I live a perfect life, I should be content, like everyone else. I am content.

…But that’s not what I wanted. What I wanted, what I really, truly still wanted… was to be a hero. I sighed, shaking my head. This peaceful future is too damn boring, I thought. Maybe I should just-

My thoughts were interrupted as a figure suddenly leaped down from above. I ducked instinctively as they soared over my head, landing in a careful crouch on the street next to me. As they slowly rose, I could see that they were wrapped in a purple cloak and hood, and that they appeared to be wearing some sort of twenty-first century military uniform underneath. Completely ignoring me, they walked forward with long and purposeful strides, causing people nearby to slow down and stare. Once they were in the middle of the street, they stopped, and took a deep breath.

“I am an agent of S.K.U.L.L., the most powerful evil organization on Earth!” they announced in a deep, heavily modulated voice. As they did so, they turned around to face me, revealing a white skull mask with glowing green eyes projected in its sockets. “And I am here to advance their goal…”

“…of world domination!”

NEXT: The Agent of S.K.U.L.L.!