2082 - Chapter One - They Say My Name Is Simon

 The land of Austian is considered one of the most appealing sectors of this new age which was ushered in when the effects of global warming were finished.  It still had a considerable amount of the old earth appearance with so much to see from the amazing golden beaches to the spectacular forest to the south and hot humid zones to the north.  Sector 1, Zone 8, part of the far northern piece, is mainly known as a farming community with its noble Mammoth herds.

 Zone 8 has the latest technology to supply most of the world’s food source. The most fortunate thing is that scientists were able to save most of the valuable plant life and develop a Mammoth herd from cloning the DNA from a perfectly preserved species discovered in the Antarctica prior to the ozone depletion with that of an elephant.  The ironic thing is that now the elephant is extinct and the mammoth lives on.  Sadly, as much as the elephant fascinated humans for centuries, we could not save them from the earth’s changes that drove them into extinction.

The number eight was assigned to this farming community for it represents the number meaning of continuous life or eternity. So the scientist daubed it as so. When a person would visit this zone, you can feel invigorated with all the vegetation and herds of mammoths. Each and every mammoth has its own individual distinctive personality.  These enormous beasts are capable of showing sadness and joy. And as you gaze upon the herds, you will find them playing games with each other.

A lot has changed with the world’s food supply since the year 2010. For one thing, was the ban on using growth hormones to enhance poultry size and speedy development. After numerous studies, scientist discovered that it was one of the main reasons for extreme obesity after the cattle extermination due to Mad Cow disease. Not long after the cow extermination, all types of fowl were dying off accordingly to the excessive heat brought on by the intense UV rays which made their egg shells too thin to support any new life. Alas, unfortunately scientist weren't able to rescue or help the birds from extinction. The only thing they were able to do was store samples of each genus in hope that someday in the future they too could be cloned as it was done with the mammoths. 

Before the complete depletion of the ozone layer, dome covered cities were created in order to protect human kind from over exposure of these ultraviolet rays.  Besides the human race being over exposed, all of the earth was robbed of its natural minerals and resources. Amazingly, the only thing that didn’t seem to be affected by these harmful rays was insects.  After doing series of studies, it was determined that a certain chemical compounds found in their outer shell was what was saving them from the exposure. Scientist soon was incorporating this new chemical into the sector dome’s material.  After the extraction of this chemical from the insect, it was found that the grasshopper had a high protein and mineral content, another convenience for the scientific world. And you guessed it, they were able to use the squashed insects to make a paste and food additive. One of the side benefits to this pastes was with the trace chemical that protected the insect, it was showing to protect humans from the ultra violet light.

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Mary who was a tall thin woman found to be in her mid-thirties, had strong hands and a lean look of the other women found in this farming community.  Her hair was a chestnut brown and her eyes were almond shape with a hazel color. She worked hard every day but enjoyed being around other people. Like any other day after a long twelve hour shift at the food plant, Mary was at home preparing her family’s night supper.  Paul, her husband, a six foot tall rugged looking man, was still at the farming plant working late on this season’s harvest.  And Simon, their son, a boy of twelve years old, was still down at Mammoth barn section of the plant while his father was still at the harvest. Most children had this duty because these beasts craved a lot of attention. Naturally since children no longer had to go to school because of SX Mind Upgrade, it was expected of them to take care of their assigned Mammoth. Even though Simon’s mother told him not to name his Mammoth because it would make it harder for when it came to butcher the beast, Simon called him Brutus. 

While Mary was in the middle of making the family’s favorite steak covered with the grasshopper paste, the mail monitor started to buzz.  Trying to ignore the irritating buzzing she kept working in the food center of their living unit. Finally the constant noise hit her last nerve, so she went over to answer it even though she already knew what the message was going to be.

In bright glaring red letters a stream of words came across the monitor.  YOU HAVE THREE DAYS TO UPGRADE OR SUBJECT WILL BE LOCKED INTO AGE LEVEL 12. 

This was just too much for her and Mary breaks down into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.  Like most things of fickle fate, they wouldn’t have the money for an upgrade until four days from now. Earlier, her family tried to get an extension, but it was denied by the government.  The official who had spoken to her with no emotion, just coldly explained that if they would do it for their family, they would have to do it for all families. Not knowing the secret agenda of The Elite not wanting everyone to be able to upgrade, Mary and Paul just plainly accepted the excuse. Everyone knew that they were in a farming sector and their family was considered one of the poor. 

Mary and Paul sacrificed so much in order to get Simon the best education so to move to a better zone.  They even only had just one child so to pay for these upgrades since birth. These upgrades were necessary only for the fact that the UV rays had affected parts of the brain with the people of Austian. It was essential that they received these upgrades.

At one time, everyone was entitled to upgrades, but the government soon found that nobody wanted to do the trivial things in life. Their best solution was to limit upgrades by charging for them.  In a way, society reverted back to the days when the poor only ended up with a sixth grade education.  This was the ideal way to ensure there were still laborers.

Just a few seconds after the flashing red letters vanished off the screen, the monitor became snowy and a man’s face appeared who looked as if he was more Arabic than anything else. When the figure spoke, all Mary could hear was weird squawking noises. When the humans evolved into other races, it became harder to communicate to each other species.

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Holding back her tears, Mary suddenly realized that this person must be part of one of the richer sectors.  Maybe he was of the Euridean Sector. It hit her that this guy way trying to speak with her live.  “But, why?”she thought to herself. “Turn on the interpreter Dummy!” Mary pushes the translator button and immediately she can understand everything this man wants to convey to her.

“Mary. My name is Omar.  I am here to represent a client of a name I cannot mention.  He has been looking through your biological profile and found it quite favorable.  Your parents did well when designing you.  They must have paid well to pick out your best DNA features. He is asking if you will be willing to, so to speak, to give a piece of yourself.  Your family would be able to live a life of ease for the next five generations. I will give you a few days to think about it.”

Just as fast as the figure on the monitor appeared, it was gone, leaving Mary in total shock what had just transpired. Never before in her life has she been approached about her DNA. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up along with a chill running down her back.

Omar, after his brief introduction, was considerably pleased with himself. For this was real gem he found in the biological archives.  He knows all too well that the longer she holds out, the better of a price he will get from his clients.  She already has over a dozen rich slobbering over her profile.  If he plays his cards right, he may even get the Illuminator’s attention.  Her DNA is certainly top notched. The “rich” mainly consisted of three groups, The Elite, The Privilege, and The Masterminds.  Omar wasn’t just yet in one of these clicks, but next thing to it. 

Around one hundred years ago, in the 1980’s, scientist referred to this era as the Era of Disease.

One of the most deadly was HIV which soon wiped the whole continent of Africa out.  That was just the beginning of the shift of world powers. Soon after that came the deadly flu viruses, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, SARS, and West Nile Virus while the Mad Cow Virus ran rampant in Europe turning people’s minds into mush. Many had speculated whether germ warfare was to blame for all of these events. Others surmised it was genetic engineering gone badly. Along with HIV, other sexually transmitted viruses mutated in the early 2000’s that almost wiped out the age groups from twenty to thirty year olds. Scientist had to scamper to create a way to procreate without sexual contact. This was the beginning of Designer Babies of which Mary’s parents used to select her best DNA qualities from their gene pool.

Most people aren’t permitted to have real physical sexual contact, but only through cyber and holograms. When it is time to reproduce, a couple would go down to their local Designer Babies clinic. Depending on how much they are able to pay, lets them choose certain physical attributes.  If they have good quality DNA, the couple can actually sell some their DNA to less fortunate couples and in turn help pay for their baby’s characteristics and strengthen their own gene pool.  The industry really exploded after the AIDS crisis was over.

Only the rich are able to have direct physical sex, but it can only be done through agencies like the one that Omar owns.  His clients put their interests on a profile so that he can go through the

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biological archives to find a match. Another way for Omar to find woman who may be tempted to profit from his agency is to go through SX Mind Upgrade System for people who might not be able to afford the upgrade for their loved ones. He hopes that in desperation, women will give into the temptation for his unquestionably spectacular offer.  If he is able to strike a deal with these certain women, the SX Mind Upgrade System still gets a cut of the profit. It is a no lose situation for SX Mind Upgrade System.

In reality, The Illuminators and SX Mind Upgrade System don’t need Omar for only the simple reason is that with the chip implant they could easily cohort anyone into doing their deeds.  But, even with all this technology, they still can’t control a person’s will power.  The rich are after the game of control over one or another.  The more a person resists the offers, the higher that person is worth.  More or less the chase is on! Since Omar’s last contact with Mary, her profile worth increased 130%

                                                                                                                                               

The Illuminators have been here long before humans ever existed.  In fact, The Illuminator race created a well-known figure in human legends, the angel Lucifer. They have been tampering with our DNA since the day we were all were apes.  At first there were five separate species of these hybrid apes, but like all things of survival of the fittest, one species took over and endured.  It was the homosapiens.

One World Order, once was a secretive elite power, was able to prove that religion was just a myth, but never was able to stomp it out completely being that a certain mind set needs something to believe in. Like most myths, it starts out with real facts and somehow the facts get twisted into something else. Probably due to early humans had limited mental capacity, religion was created to help those to comprehend their origins?  

It was the Catholic Church that knew about the true beginning of mankind and how The Illuminators was involved which they had buried for thousands of years in Vatican City. The only ones who had true access to this privileged information were the reigning popes. They kept this deep secret hidden in order to use religion as a way to control the masses.

The rest of the evening, Mary was still puzzled over what had transpired today between Omar and her. What kind of offer was he going to give her?  Being in the farming sector, she really didn’t hear too much from the other sectors. She was curious, yet scared. As she went to retire for the night, she thought to herself, “I will wait till he calls back again.” Wearily, she falls into a troubled sleep.

After what seemed like hours of tossing and turning, around three a.m. Mary was woken from what was finally a deep sleep, by this soft pale light blue glow that was in the corner of her bedroom. She was in that half asleep and half-awake state when she heard her name. It almost felt that the voice was traveling up from inside her chest to her brain. The voice seemed intensely peacefully calm and that of a man.  She felt warmth and love radiating all through her and the room. It felt so wonderful to her that she didn’t want the experience to stop.

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“Mary. I am here to give you a message. Someone will visit you tomorrow. Don’t be afraid of this man.  His name is John. He will help you.”

“Who are you? Are you a hologram? How did you get in here? What do you want?”

“I am a messenger of The White Illuminators.  We felt your distress.  We are here to help.”

As soon as the figure appeared, it was gone.  Mary wondered, what had just happened?  With all the events that happened today, her head was spinning. Should she tell Paul about any of this?  She decided it was best not to.  All he needed now was to think his wife was going crazy on him. On top of feeling weary, now she also felt bewildered.

Later the next day, Mary was making her way back to her living unit when she saw this young man who appeared out of nowhere and was wearing a cloak with a hood on it. It had a little bit of an ancient look to it, but the man seemed to only be in his early twenties.  She tried not to appear to be staring at him and she felt a little uneasy as he drew nearer to her.  The next thing with a blink of an eye he was standing right next to her. “How did he do that?” she wondered.  

“Hello Mary. My name is John.  I know you were waiting for me.  I am not of this sector, so I will make this short.  We know of your dilemma with Simon and having no money for his upgrade.  I am here to help you.  We have been helping people of your nature for centuries.  All we require is that your son will be a member to our society. We are The Truths Seekers.”

“Truth Seekers?”  I thought that they were a myth along with religion.  Why should I believe you?  What proof do you have? Why haven’t you contacted my husband too?”

“Mary.  The Truth Seekers are the only thing left from religion. I am able to contact you because you still possess ancient mind powers of clairvoyance. We heard your plea for help.”  With that John raised his cloak and instantly the two were in a room that she never has seen before.  It looked more like the old fashion operating rooms she had read about as a child. 

“Am I here for real or all of this just an illusion?” Mary demanded.

“You are here through teleportation.” John answered.  “It is an ancient way the saints use to move around.  This is where Simon will get his mind upgrade.”

“Will get his mind upgrade?  You sound so sure!” Now Mary was getting agitated. How could he make such assumptions!

“Mary, we know that a dangerous man called Omar has contacted you.  I know that you are not of that nature to sell yourself no matter what the cost is. He will do everything to convince you to trade yourself in order to pay for Simon’s upgrade. We may have to hide your family from this man.” Suddenly, it is crystal clear what Omar meant when he said he wanted a piece of her. How

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could she have been so naive!  Her head was spinning again as all these events were getting to be overwhelming for her.  What was she supposed to do?

Two more days and counting, that was the thought that ran through Paul's head.  How were they ever going to be able to pay for Simon's upgrade in two days!  All these hours he worked was for what?  He was just a poor farmer trying to make an honest way to live.  Mary and Simon deserved something much better than this Paul was thinking.  Maybe he should just go and join the military like his father wanted to do in the first place.  At least Simon would keep getting his mind upgrades for free for the rest of his life.  The thought of being separated from him family just ripped him apart.  It saddens him to think that he couldn't provide for his family like he wanted to.  

He sat quietly munching on his breakfast that consisted of toast with grasshopper paste on it.  

Grasshopper paste had become one of the staples because of its high nutrient value. There are different flavors too.  The one he liked with his breakfast had a hint of mint in it. 

Mary came out to the food center and sat down beside him.  "Paul, we need to sit down to talk."

"Not now, Mary.  I have a lot on my mind," Paul said in a monotone voice.

"Why do you always avoid issues?  Can't you see we have a crisis on our hands?  Why do you always clam up like this?  It is tearing me apart right now and you don't even seem to care!"  Mary could feel all her emotions welling up in her and she knew she needed to get them back in control before she said something that she might regret.  She always wished that she could keep her composure like Paul, but today she didn't think that was possible.

Paul quietly got up from the table and walked out the door without even saying a word. Mary thought to herself, "This is so typical of him, just let me here alone to handle things!"

Meanwhile, Simon could hear his parents at it again.  He was confused over what they meant by a crisis.  He really didn't care; he just wished they'd stop fighting. He better get a move on because his Mammoth, Brutus, needed to be fed. Because Simon didn't have any siblings, Brutus kind of took their place.  He was with Brutus ever since he could remember. With his closeness for Brutus, Simon really hoped that they would be able to keep him for breeding purposes.

Simon hurriedly put on his boots, grabbed some toast with grasshopper paste and ran out the door with his mother yelling after him, "Do you call that a breakfast?"He just loved it down at the Mammoth farm!  His friends were down there and when their morning chores were done, they would hang out for hours. 

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Simon was like any other twelve year old boy who was emerging into puberty.  Lately he found himself more and more attracted to a young girl his age named Sarah. She was different looking then most of the girls in Austian for she was fair colored skin, pale blue crystal clear eyes and dark blonde hair.  Now he found himself more and more torn between hanging out with his buddies down at the Mammoth barn any chance he could or being with Sarah.

Most of his time today was spent with Tim his best friend.  The two were like any other twelve year old young men always looking for a new adventure.  Tim was excessively happy today because he just had his new upgrade chip installed yesterday and now he was good to go for another year. He did notice that Simon had trouble understanding some of the stuff he was telling him. This is one of the side effects of an upgrade.  Because of a leap in knowledge comes so quickly, one had to adjust to their surroundings until the others could catch up.

It was almost like Simon never heard of some of the words that he was saying. This was really starting to annoy him. He was getting tired of repeating himself to Simon every few minutes.  

But at any rate, he knew that he and his parents were happy that his upgrade went through and so was he.

Today Simon and his best friend, Tim, were planning to take their Mammoths for a ride and do some exploring off of the farm. He brought his handheld map guide that sort of looked like the old GPS from the twenty first century days in his backpack so that they would be able to find safe drinking water for their Mammoths.  It will be a real treat for Brutus to have real grass today instead of pellets made up partially of grasshopper paste.

As usual, Brutus was happy to see Simon.  He affectionately nuzzled his trunk across Simon's face as Simon was filling his feeding trough.  Suddenly, Brutus pulled back and acted disturbed. 

"What's the matter boy", Simon asked as he tried to stoke him.  All of a sudden the worst headache Simon ever experienced hit him hard. The buzzing in his head was getting louder with

each second. He heard a voice in the back of his skull echoing, "Twenty four hour count down has just begun."  With that, that was Simon's last waking thought. He fell to the ground, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body went into convulsions.

                                                                                                                                   

 

It was mid-morning when Mary was down at the food processing plant doing her daily routine of packaging the food from this year’s harvest. Her assembly line consisted of ten robots which she had to monitor at all times especially after the gruesome accident last spring when one of her co-workers by mistake entered the assembly line to do maintenance on the conveyer belts.  

Someone turned the line on and he was ripped to shreds.  It took days to sanitize and sterilize the whole assembly line. 

 Without any warning, a figure was standing beside her.  It was The Truth Seeker John.  "I wish you wouldn't sneak up on me like that!" Mary blared at him.

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"Mary, you need to get down to the Mammoth quarters now!  Simon needs you! 

Let me transport you immediately!"  And with a blink of an eye, the two were standing before the ash grey body of Simon lying on the floor of the Mammoth barn.  He almost looked dead with foam coming out of his mouth and his pants soaked with urine.  Mary let out a milk curdling scream and fell to her son's side hysterically crying.

"Mary, we need to act quickly."  "Let me take you and Simon to get his chip upgrade. It is emanate the he will die without it.  His body is rejecting the countdown.  It may be a flaw in this chip.  Thank God he has a strong heart!" John whisks Simon into his arms and teleports all three of them to the operating room hidden deep into the caves of Euridean.

The Truth Seekers knew of Simon's condition due to the fact that they had hacked into the chip itself.  John was not sure if the chips monitoring system detected them or not, but whatever happened, set off the countdown sooner than planned.  The only chip that they have that is ready for use was out of a twenty three old college student who was studying aerospace engineering.  

With this big of an upgrade, it could either drive the kid insane or he may lose some short term memory.  

The Truth Seekers weighed the risks of the upgrade and it was determined that they needed Simon and the chance was well worth to take.  The war against The Dark Illuminators has been more intensified these past few weeks.  It was believed that The Dark Illuminators were to activate their bloodline soon in order to take over the Earth.  Once the metamorphous begins, mankind will no longer exist, just the mutated Illuminator race. Since, it is known that Omar sniffed out Mary, The Dark Illuminators will definitely be after her DNA to enhance their dying race.

"Mary, I need you to wait in this room while we do the upgrade now. Don't worry. We have the most advanced medical team here," John reassured her. 

And on that note, a glowing being entered the room.  He reminded Mary of The White Illuminators who she saw the other night in her room.  Instead of glowing pale blue, this creature was emitting a pale green.  Both creatures were strikingly handsome and tall.

"Mary, my name is Raphael.  You may recognize my name from ancient folk lore from a time when our race was able to communicate freely to your race.  I am the healer.  Don't worry about Simon, he will survive."  In a flash, Raphael was gone.

"What am I to do?  I can't believe all of this is happening.  I can't lose my one and only son. I have to tell Paul about what is happening!" 

Mary was starting to get hysterical now and the only choice John had was to tranquilize her.  She would wake when Simon had his knew chip put in.  Meanwhile at the food plant he activated a hologram of Mary so her co-workers wouldn't miss her. The chip extraction was the easy

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part.  The hard part will be implanting the upgrade.  Not so much of the operation itself, but the activation of the chip.

  

Simon wasn't under very long.  The chip upgrade is a fairly simple operation.  Now for the real test; Raphael held a device over Simon's head that gave out a high pitch signal that only animals could hear.  It was a sequence of sound that did a test patterned prior to bringing Simon around.  It was vital that they didn't lose any information stored on that chip.  The chip had some of the latest technology from Dr. Dixon's experiments involving the Amerian race.

The implant was a success and no data was lost.  The next hurdle was to see if Simon's body will accept this big of an amount of an upgrade?  So far Simon's vital signs are good and holding their own.  Now it is time to bring Simon around.  

"Simon, it is time to wake up. Do you hear me? Everything will be all right.  Can you nod you head if you hear me?"

Meanwhile, Simon hears someone talking. He is tired, but he is thinking to himself, "Who is this Simon that they are talking to? Are they talking to me? Why am I seeing all these pictures flashing before my eyes? Am I dreaming? They must be talking to me.  I better move my head."

                       

"Good Simon. Now tell me how many fingers I am holding up."

Simon opens his eyes, but the glare makes it hard to focus.  After a few more seconds, his eyes begin to focus on the hand in front of him.  The pictures that were flashing quickly stopped as soon as he opened his eyes.  "Two", he mumbled.

"Good. Now tell me what day is today."

"It is September first, 2082."

"Very good. Can you tell me what your name is?"

Simon's mind started to race. All of a sudden he became aware that he couldn't remember his name.  He knows he has a name, but just couldn't remember it.  A look of panic started to run across his face.

"Calm down, Simon.  This is not unusual after a chip upgrade.  You will remember your name in a few hours. Your mother is here with you.  You will be going home soon."

Simon thought to himself, "I understand about the chip, but I don't know why they keep calling me Simon when I am Alex. Why do they keep referring me as Simon?"

"My name is Alex.  Why do you call me Simon?"

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"You are Simon.  It will take the chip a few more hours to send out signals to craw your memory to activate the chip.  Just stay calm an things will go more smoothly, son."

Mary hears her name and wakes up to instantly wanting to see Simon.  Raphael and John meet her at the door.  "Mary, I want to prepare you a little for what you will see.  The implant was a success.  Normally the chip would have crawled the brains memory by now, but once in a while it takes a little longer.  What we are trying to say is, Simon may not know you at first or even his own name.  So be patient and calm until this transition is complete.  It will go faster if Simon stays calm."

Mary walks into the room and sees Simon just sitting there emotionless.  He looks up at his mother and says, "They say my name is Simon."