2043

Written for https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2023/01/19/reenas-xploration-challenge-264/ and has a new year countdown theme.

‘Five, four, three, two, one, happy new year!’

It was 2043, and life was going to be different, the first virtual game launch. Different to virtual reality headsets, you had to download your personality on to a grid, via your fingerprint on a mobile device.

He wasn’t sure, turning forty this year, it was his daughter’s idea to give it a try. You loved playing video games, she said, when he told her about being worried. Mobile phones have always had an element to that, haven’t they.

She was right, mobile phones, algorithms, watching what you were buying and asking you to buy more. Although, you could always turn them off. Now, the government, or the leader supreme, made that illegal. It was a great place to live, no hunger, or money, for that matter.

You just went out to work, and everything got paid. If you wanted extra money, gaming was the way to do it. Playing D and D, he earnt enough to give him the relaxation he needed. Part of him wished, his daughter could understand what it was like before all the lights went out.

Freedom of speech, being able to say whatever you wanted to say.

He smiled at his daughter, maybe he could persuade her to go out of bounds, to see what it was like beyond the border, where you could do live without technology. A quiet life, carefree almost, where humanity was allowed to thrive by making their own decisions.

It wasn’t always perfect, but you could build your own life without fear.