Shattered Utopia

“While Gate was a genius piece of technology, what came after would blow everyone’s minds. They called it Dive and it was in many ways similar to its predecessor which it was based on. It however had two features that changed everything. The first was Implement. It worked this way: they found out exactly how the set of numbers in the brain activity bracket worked. This allowed them to run an algorithm that would take the physical data of an object and transfer it to dream script. They were now able to build dreams, but they were still limited to physical data only, they for example couldn’t put your dog into your dream. This however changed once they realized that they just needed to write a sort of script that would show the object and how it changed over time simply put like in a cartoon where every frame is hand drawn. This however only worked because of what they called DF8, short for Dream Fate. It simply means that every dream is like a movie, it plays out exactly the same, every time. For this to be possible one thing had to happen, and that was the loss of will and control. Every human would act the same inside a dream like they were actors filling in a role. There was only one thing that could influence the dream and that was the Escape Button which was also present inside Dive. The second feature was called Create, it worked like this: The device would clear the set of numbers like always, but it wouldn’t implement new numbers. The User could then set up tools similar to how the button worked and build their own dreams from the inside.”

“So why do I need to know all this then, I still don’t see why this is relevant.”

“Well, I have one word for you, Day-0. What do you think everyone did when the world was ending, they abandoned reality. Of the four billion humans that were still alive almost 70% were sleeping at all times. Thousands froze to death or starved during dreams but that didn’t bother anybody anymore. There were no media to scream about Gazation and if there were they wouldn’t be listened to. Everybody knew about these deaths, they were frequent, but it was too much like a drug. People willingly took the risk to not live in the hell that was our planet. This disgusted Gazation and they began to buy people. They gave them money so that they could survive. The only condition was that they would not use or buy products from other companies for the rest of their lifes. After only 5 years they already owned a bit over 30% of the earth’s population. They also started buying huge amounts of lands like the other companies a few years prior and now owned the entirety of South, middle and North America as well as Russia, Japan, and around 20 other small countries around the earth.”

“But, one question, you said that the economy was not hurt because every job had been automated and you say that everything was owned by the companies. So how are the people able to buy stuff from them, how did they make money?”

“Let’s put it this way, there was one job that they could do, one role that they could fulfil. They could exist. Gazation didn’t want a world without people so they decided to give the people they owned a monthly paycheck which they could then spend however they wanted with the last human workers being in the Policy and legal department. They were responsible for keeping crime rates as low as possible, though Gazation already had a way to bring peace to the streets. They added a feature to their Gate and Dive devices that would note your ID. Whenever someone committed a crime, they would be blocked from using their devices. This proved to be very effective mostly because everyone used the devices and couldn’t live without them anymore. At that time the construction of Project Tokyo began. Gazation found themselves in a situation they never wanted, they were at the top, but there was nothing to look down on. They wanted a world, a world they could be proud of. So, they created New Tokyo. It was a giant project that took two decades to complete, but it was worth it. A giant city now set 100 meters above the old Tokyo, the metropolis they always wanted, hugely inspired by sci-fi films from before 2000 like Star Trek, Ghost in the shell and strangely even Bladerunner. At around that time the Blacklist was created and the first thing that was added to its list was Code Geass, a show that was made around the 2000s and included themes like terrorism and revolutionary ideas.”

“Yeah, that’s surely why, it probably isn’t because they started seeing similarities between their creation and the Tokyo in Code Geass. Well, at least they didn’t call it Area 11.”

“Again, if that was a reference I couldn’t watch-“

“Yeah, I know, because of censorship I get it. So how did they put 30% of the earth’s population in a single city?”

“Well, they didn’t. The people that lived in the city were employees of Gazation and their families. But they weren’t nearly enough to fill it, so they added a new feature to their devices. They called it Stat. It would scan your entire code and would run a copy of you inside a virtual space that would show how you would act and live inside a city like New Tokyo. The people then got a score based on how good their copies performed and would be allowed to live in New Tokyo if they were among the best 25 million. That may seem rather easy, but you have to remember that over 1.2 billion people were able to participate.”

“Wait… That’s still one in 48, that isn’t even that bad.”

“See I told you that Gazation weren’t the bad guys, this isn’t some hunger games bullshit!”

“You are allowed to watch The Hunger Games?”

“Nope.”

“Well, that was expected but I still have one question, what did they do with the scans after they went through the test?”

“Isn’t that obvious, they deleted them.”

“They killed the exact copies of 1.2 billion people and that isn’t supposed to be a bad thing?”

“They weren’t really people, they were just copies, a few lines of code.”

She stopped, she noticed that she was contradicting what she was saying the whole time.

“Anyway, to get back on topic, Tokyo was from that point onward known under two names, the last city, and Neon City. The streets of Tokyo to this day are filled with built boards to give the impression of old Shibuya. They tried their hardest to keep this Utopia whole but people from the outside tried to get in non-stop, they were carrying radiation and diseases into the city. A rebellious group was born in the broken streets that lay 100 meters below New Tokyo, the old and long destroyed Tokyo. They first called themselves Black Knights both as a protest against the censorship and to draw a connection between Gazation and Britain.”

“You just walked into your own trap. You said that you weren’t allowed to know anything about Code Geass and despite that know who the antagonist is.”

“No, that is just was a part of their propaganda. But they changed their names a few years later after they noticed that nobody understood the reference and that it just made them look nerdy. Their new name was Oblivion. I believe that it doesn’t have a meaning and is just meant to sound cool much like them who don’t have any reason to do what they do and are just evil, so it is quite fitting. Everybody hated them, they were terrorists and Gazation in their kindness ensured all their citizens’ safety. Gazation like always tried to solve every problem as good as they could, they try to put an end to the evil experiments of Inditaid and want that the people responsible for Day-0 finally get their deserved punishment.”

“But do they actually do something?”

“Like I said they want that Inditaid and Europe finally get-“

“No, I want to know if they actually did anything to solve those problems?”

“They can’t, they would probably start a war if they tried that.”

“Ok, but they could try to fix problems like people starving outside of New Tokyo.”

“They already give them a monthly pay-check for doing absolutely nothing.”

“ But firstly, can’t they do more and secondly aren’t they also doing absolutely nothing? Didn’t you say that only the Policy and Legal department worked with the exception of programmers?”

“Yes, but where should they get the resources for that?”

“They are the largest company in the world and own like 30% of everything, they should be able to find a way.”

“Oh, do you have any idea how hard stuff like that is? Because you don’t look like you do, go ahead, tell me what you would do?”

“Well, I wouldn’t stop after building one City, I would expend it.”

“They are doing exactly that, just last year they finished a giant new industrial sector.”

“No, I’m talking about housing! That seems to be your biggest problem! Build houses, houses for everyone, that should be your main concern right now, but the rich just sit around after they build a single City and say, “Well we tried, that’s all we could do.” I’m not asking for them to make Utopia, but they should at least try.”

“They not only tried but gave it their best, you just don’t know how much they did.”

“Well, I definitely know less about what they did than you but I’m just saying that we are speaking about the largest company in the world that controls all information that you receive and your entire life, that made 90% of the human population incapable of existing without their devices that directly affect the brain. And you are talking to me with 100% certainty that they never did anything wrong, that they only want to help and do their best and are in fact the good guys.”

“Dude, I thought we already had that whole trust thing done, you can trust me!”

“Like I already said, I don’t think your lying, I’m just not believing that they showed you everything.”