Entry 4, Virtual Immortality
Title: Virtual Immortality
Entry Number: 04
Author: rsn_studios
Rating: PG
Genre: original fiction, based in my Through The Hourglass universe
Spoiler Warnings:none
Word Count: 1208
"You have got to be kidding?" said Carlos Balsam, president of the Republic of Carolina as he realized what the implications of the report that the Surgeon General had just placed before him. Surgeon General Parnassas Humbleton had a fancy nature to add to his fancy name, and he wore his suit as if it were an actual military uniform. The bulky black older gentleman sat in front of his commander in chief waiting for the president to finish reading.
When Balsam finally looked up, Humbleton replied, "It's true. They've found the cure for cancer...and so much more!"
Balsam got up quickly out of his chair, not liking the implications of what he read. He walked over to the window and looked out at the rapidly growing skyline of Rutherfordton. Less than a century ago, this had been the small, humble seat of Rutherford County, nestled in the southern foothills of western North Carolina. Then the war came and it changed everything, and soon the old Tri-Cities became the focus of the rebuilding of a new nation with its capital located here. The Presidential Palace, where this meeting was taking place, was once home to the Rutherford County Jail, and it was a popular joke that members of the administration didn't have far to go if they ran afoul of the law.
"And I thought the rapid growth of this area was a big problem...but now..." Balsam mused, then turned his cinnamon skinned head and looked at the gray haired black man before him, adding, "...you realize the implications of this."
"I do, sir. It means that our lifespans become exponentially extended." Humbleton said calmly, adding, "The initial idea came from a trio of books published a century ago by a writer named Kim Stanley Robinson..."
"Spare me the background...what are we going to do now that humans have the potential to live far longer than a century?" Balsam brusquely butted in, and Humbleton realized that the president was frightened of what this new treatment promised.
"It means we'll have to go back to the Moon and Mars! You know that Senator Gutierrez from Florida has been pushing for it for some time now!" Humbleton said in a tone of a wise grandfather offering counsel to his ambitious grandson.
"I know. But will it be enough? Even if we convert the Moon and Mars to livable surfaces, will it be enough room for the population boom?" Balsam asked.
"About that...there is something else that I need to mention. A...discovery that might aid us." Humbleton said cautiously, knowing that Balsam was a Catholic in an era were that religion, as many religions, were not publically popular after the war.
"What is it?" Balsam asked.
"Scientists at Spindale Tech have found a way to...stop...the biological clock." Humbleton stated.
Balsam looked at the elder black man for several moments in a state of disbelief, unable for that time to comprehend what he meant by that. Then it hit him like a splash of cold water onto his body, and he sat back down heavily in his seat. After a few moments, he said, "What you're saying is...women can turn their ability to conceive on and off...like a switch?"
"Exactly. The tests have all been conclusive. It can even be part of the genetic anti-aging treatment." Humbleton added.
"This...this is too big for me." Balsam said, nervously.
"I know. But with the United Nations extinct..." Humbleton said.
"Uh...about that...there might be movement on that." Balsam said, which caught his old friend and college professor by surprise. "Don't breathe a word of this, but I've been approached by some world leaders about forming a world government."
"You can't be serious!" Humbleton said in a shocked tone. "They had a hard time agreeing to anything in the old United Nations."
"That was pre-war, and times have changed. Remember, we no longer have the Stars and Stripes as our national flag." Balsam said, as he pointed to the Republic of Carolina flag, which looked like the old North Carolina flag but with an empty blue field. "Aztlan encompasses the entirety of South America, Europe is unified now, and the Middle East is a lot different than it was pre-war."
"Amazing anyone lived through the war there!" Humbleton observed. He remembered how hard it was as a kid when the nation was young and new, but the Middle East was hit just as hard, and nearly nine out of ten men were killed in the two year war between 2017 and 2019. Rebuilding had been slow, but the on-going Islamic Renaissance had sped things up, with a little help from nations like Carolina.
"Back to this..." Balsam said as he pointed at the report lying on the desk. "How do we go about announcing it to the public?"
"That's for you to decide, Mr. President, or for you and your staff to decide." Humbleton said. "The Cabinet will need to be made ready for this, as well as Parliament."
Balsam sighed, then said, "I'll need time to go over this with my senior staff. I may need you to come by and explain things..."
"My wife won't like canceling our trip to Myrtle Beach, but she will just have to make do. I'll make myself available, Mr. President." Humbleton politely replied.
Shortly thereafter, the meeting concluded, and Balsam was left alone for a precious few moments to go over the report. It would mean that the human race would repopulate the Earth much quicker than expected. During the war and in the few years afterward in the aftermath, six of the seven billion humans on Earth were killed, and humanity stood on the verge of extinction before the survivors managed to restore civilization. In the nearly eighty years since the end of the war, new nations were formed, and this sprawling city was competing with its two other Tri-Cities in a massive expansion race. People were flocking here in search of new opportunities, shunning old metropolises like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Washington. Rutherfordton, Spindale and Forest City were once small rural towns before the war, but now they were eclipsing those much older and once larger cities in size and scope.
Now, though, they would have to go beyond Earth if humanity were to survive the coming population boom. People would be able to push death off for...what?...decades...centuries...thousands of years, even?
A knock on the door was soon followed by the opening of said door and entrance of his chief of staff, a tall, redheaded woman named Vera Watson, who had been his longtime political assistant and friend to his wife and himself. "Hello, Mr. President! So what did the old doctor say today?" she asked in a cheerful tone.
"You might want to sit down for this." he said, as he handed her the report and waited to see her reaction. All too quickly, her smile faded, and she too now understood what the coming storm would bring.
Entry Number: 04
Author: rsn_studios
Rating: PG
Genre: original fiction, based in my Through The Hourglass universe
Spoiler Warnings:none
Word Count: 1208
"You have got to be kidding?" said Carlos Balsam, president of the Republic of Carolina as he realized what the implications of the report that the Surgeon General had just placed before him. Surgeon General Parnassas Humbleton had a fancy nature to add to his fancy name, and he wore his suit as if it were an actual military uniform. The bulky black older gentleman sat in front of his commander in chief waiting for the president to finish reading.
When Balsam finally looked up, Humbleton replied, "It's true. They've found the cure for cancer...and so much more!"
Balsam got up quickly out of his chair, not liking the implications of what he read. He walked over to the window and looked out at the rapidly growing skyline of Rutherfordton. Less than a century ago, this had been the small, humble seat of Rutherford County, nestled in the southern foothills of western North Carolina. Then the war came and it changed everything, and soon the old Tri-Cities became the focus of the rebuilding of a new nation with its capital located here. The Presidential Palace, where this meeting was taking place, was once home to the Rutherford County Jail, and it was a popular joke that members of the administration didn't have far to go if they ran afoul of the law.
"And I thought the rapid growth of this area was a big problem...but now..." Balsam mused, then turned his cinnamon skinned head and looked at the gray haired black man before him, adding, "...you realize the implications of this."
"I do, sir. It means that our lifespans become exponentially extended." Humbleton said calmly, adding, "The initial idea came from a trio of books published a century ago by a writer named Kim Stanley Robinson..."
"Spare me the background...what are we going to do now that humans have the potential to live far longer than a century?" Balsam brusquely butted in, and Humbleton realized that the president was frightened of what this new treatment promised.
"It means we'll have to go back to the Moon and Mars! You know that Senator Gutierrez from Florida has been pushing for it for some time now!" Humbleton said in a tone of a wise grandfather offering counsel to his ambitious grandson.
"I know. But will it be enough? Even if we convert the Moon and Mars to livable surfaces, will it be enough room for the population boom?" Balsam asked.
"About that...there is something else that I need to mention. A...discovery that might aid us." Humbleton said cautiously, knowing that Balsam was a Catholic in an era were that religion, as many religions, were not publically popular after the war.
"What is it?" Balsam asked.
"Scientists at Spindale Tech have found a way to...stop...the biological clock." Humbleton stated.
Balsam looked at the elder black man for several moments in a state of disbelief, unable for that time to comprehend what he meant by that. Then it hit him like a splash of cold water onto his body, and he sat back down heavily in his seat. After a few moments, he said, "What you're saying is...women can turn their ability to conceive on and off...like a switch?"
"Exactly. The tests have all been conclusive. It can even be part of the genetic anti-aging treatment." Humbleton added.
"This...this is too big for me." Balsam said, nervously.
"I know. But with the United Nations extinct..." Humbleton said.
"Uh...about that...there might be movement on that." Balsam said, which caught his old friend and college professor by surprise. "Don't breathe a word of this, but I've been approached by some world leaders about forming a world government."
"You can't be serious!" Humbleton said in a shocked tone. "They had a hard time agreeing to anything in the old United Nations."
"That was pre-war, and times have changed. Remember, we no longer have the Stars and Stripes as our national flag." Balsam said, as he pointed to the Republic of Carolina flag, which looked like the old North Carolina flag but with an empty blue field. "Aztlan encompasses the entirety of South America, Europe is unified now, and the Middle East is a lot different than it was pre-war."
"Amazing anyone lived through the war there!" Humbleton observed. He remembered how hard it was as a kid when the nation was young and new, but the Middle East was hit just as hard, and nearly nine out of ten men were killed in the two year war between 2017 and 2019. Rebuilding had been slow, but the on-going Islamic Renaissance had sped things up, with a little help from nations like Carolina.
"Back to this..." Balsam said as he pointed at the report lying on the desk. "How do we go about announcing it to the public?"
"That's for you to decide, Mr. President, or for you and your staff to decide." Humbleton said. "The Cabinet will need to be made ready for this, as well as Parliament."
Balsam sighed, then said, "I'll need time to go over this with my senior staff. I may need you to come by and explain things..."
"My wife won't like canceling our trip to Myrtle Beach, but she will just have to make do. I'll make myself available, Mr. President." Humbleton politely replied.
Shortly thereafter, the meeting concluded, and Balsam was left alone for a precious few moments to go over the report. It would mean that the human race would repopulate the Earth much quicker than expected. During the war and in the few years afterward in the aftermath, six of the seven billion humans on Earth were killed, and humanity stood on the verge of extinction before the survivors managed to restore civilization. In the nearly eighty years since the end of the war, new nations were formed, and this sprawling city was competing with its two other Tri-Cities in a massive expansion race. People were flocking here in search of new opportunities, shunning old metropolises like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Washington. Rutherfordton, Spindale and Forest City were once small rural towns before the war, but now they were eclipsing those much older and once larger cities in size and scope.
Now, though, they would have to go beyond Earth if humanity were to survive the coming population boom. People would be able to push death off for...what?...decades...centuries...thousands of years, even?
A knock on the door was soon followed by the opening of said door and entrance of his chief of staff, a tall, redheaded woman named Vera Watson, who had been his longtime political assistant and friend to his wife and himself. "Hello, Mr. President! So what did the old doctor say today?" she asked in a cheerful tone.
"You might want to sit down for this." he said, as he handed her the report and waited to see her reaction. All too quickly, her smile faded, and she too now understood what the coming storm would bring.