Beyond The Network

What was life like without The Network?

This question plagued John52fe's mind as he walked home from school. He had never thought of it like this before. After all, there had been a time before The Network was in existence, before everyone could access all of these tools by will alone.

In school, he had been taught that, and only that. No tools, nothing. Nothing but each human being, all alone, unable to communicate except through a primitive audio-only portal. Thus, the Age of Knowledge did not begin until humans could communicate on a higher level than simply audio...

He decided to take a detour to the Library. Library #8913 to be exact. Although one could access vast amounts of information from any location, it took skill and effort, and often involved lengthy load times. No technology was perfect. At the Library, on the other hand, one could simply talk to a Librarian and obtain the information almost instantly.

The smiling Librarian greeted him, and he returned the greeting, knowing full well that she was not a real human being – as could easily be seen by the name displayed above her head, "library-daemon-ff03". If it weren't for the name, one could easily mistake her for being alive.

"Welcome to Library #8913, John52fe. Please enter your request."

"Get me information about The Network. Life before The Network came into existence."

A small spinning globe appeared above the librarian's head. Data was being streamed through The Network from the central repository in an unknown location.

"56,703,244 results found. Would you like to view as a composite?"

"Yeah. Sure."

The walls of the Library faded away. John52fe felt slightly queasy, even though he had done this plenty of times before. Images appeared at the fringes of his vision, and thoughts began to flow through his head.

The world before The Network was a dreary place, where nobody could communicate. Humans built cities, civilizations... but due to lack of communication and understanding, other humans would destroy each others' creations. The only language used was auditory, hence the misunderstanding.

For an instant, John52fe caught a glimpse of a beautiful Landscape – for that was what it was, a Landscape, similar to the one his mother had in the kitchen. Only this one was more... more real than real was the only way he could explain it. It stirred something deep inside of him. Then it was gone, replaced by more gruesome imagery of wars, famine, and disorder. Almost as if... as if the system didn't want him to see it...

"Exit composite."

"Thank you. Your session has cost 67 UCU^[2] and has been deducted from your account. Have a nice day."

He was outside. A wind was blowing from the south, and the sky was cloudy and gray.

His mother was calling him over the OmniLink, asking where he was.

"I was at the Library."

"Well, get home now, it's almost curfew."

"Invoke: clock". The time was 8:53:09, almost curfew indeed. Law stated that all persons aged under 21 could not be out on public property, without a valid permit, after 9 o'clock. At precisely 9:00:00, all who were outdoors would be checked and, if found to be under age 21, would be immobilized and sent to the Public Safety Authority (PSA).

He had to hurry. It was a 10-minute walk home, so he had to run, being careful to avoid breaking the speed limit. He wished he could run free over the lawns and fences, thus saving up to five minutes of precious time. But he knew that he couldn't. As soon as he put as much as one foot on a private lawn, he would be found to not have a permit to be on that property, and be almost instantly immobilized and sent to the PSA. He did not want to try.

Almost there. He could see his house in the distance, with its windows lighted. With a burst of speed, he ran towards the open door. His mother was waiting for him.

Suddenly, he tripped and sprawled face-down on the sidewalk. The time was 8:59:42 and the only thing he could think of was missing curfew – and like all others of his age, he had heard the many horror stories of what the PSA did to those who stayed out past curfew.

Not noticing what had tripped him, he got up, dazed, and ran towards the house.

8:59:56.

8:59:57.

John52fe ran as fast as he could, ignoring the speed limit, and ran through front gate of his house.

8:59:59. He had made it.