2222

Wind was blowing hard at 915 meters. I turned off the transparent wall that separated apartment balcony from the air outside. My body was slightly shivering. Especially when disassembling the tank of atmospheric engineering machine. Refilling aetherium I got illegally. The lowest grade, of course. Even then, it was second-hand.

"Oh poverty, I'm tired of being your friend."

Air pressure began to change after engine started again. Transparent wall began to take a shape. I moved to the edge of the balcony after the wind a bit calmed down. Stood to stare at the clouds below. It was quite cloudy today. My smile widened as I saw the flickering lights approaching.

"Let's see. How chubby you are now."

The object flew up to me. It was a drone tasked with harvesting water. Filtered directly from the cumulonimbus clouds. Everyone had to had one just to survive.

Seriously, finding water was very difficult nowadays. There's no rain, no groundwater, let alone rivers. Everything had dried up a century ago. My apartment also strictly prohibited the use of any device installed inside the building. Especially water molecules distillator.

The question was, why was I at such a high altitude?

I did live at a high altitude. My room is right on the 215th floor. Five floors lower than the top floor. Low-cost housing for a modest income. Because there was nothing else to see but the expanse of rain clouds. Or bustle of drones going back and forth fighting for water.

BZZZZZZZ!

My smile was widening when the drone arrived. Thankfully, rain clouds were quite low. Maybe 800 meters above the ground. I fiddled with the flying object to get some clear water. Not bad, I got two liters.

"Honey, are you stealing quota again?" A female voice reprimanded me from behind. It was Cha Hyunjae, Korean woman I'd been married for five years.

"Rules are there to be violated." I replied lazily.

"Our water ration is over the limit, Dear. It's only a matter of time before we get caught. We'll be fined."

"Take it easy, Sweetheart. Trust me."

Cha was still worried. The 20-year-old woman winced as I fixed the distillator. On of its plasma thruster had been damaged. Maybe had been collided with another drone. I didn't know how many times I repaired it because I couldn't afford to buy a new one. Even then, it was an illegal drone that was not registered with the City's water administration. I was forced to use it to get extra rations.

"Fewwwww, luckily I still have skills." I muttered to console myself.

The price of water was very expensive. Finding a job was getting harder. Companies would rather hire robots than pay people. Especially paying a man like me. Thankfully, I still had a house. Even if it's a half-century-old shabby apartment.

"Are you done yet?"

"Yes, I'm an 23th century Einstein."

I moved on after the drone flew off again. Hugged my wife's slender body and kissed her forehead for a moment. Reminiscing about the time I married her. Right when I was 16 years old. Quite late. Most people get married at the age of 11.

Time passed quickly. Before I knew it, I was a middle-aged man.

"Dear, you're already 21. Don't push yourself too hard."

I let out a long sigh after Cha entered the room. She was right. We're old. But we're still wallowing in poverty. My wife always says she didn't mind. But still, this poverty had happened because of my carelessness in the past.

"Dear, I forgot, please check the oxygen. It seems to be running out," shouted my wife from the kitchen.

I went back to atmospheric engineering machine. Checked the oxygen levels in our room. And it was about to run out. The risk of living at high altitude. At the same time, our risk losing the green of the forest. Replacing it with semi-composite concrete.

"Tsk! Even breathing must be paid for."

I sighed again as I stood at the edge of the balcony. Silently watching millions of drones scrambled to harvest the clouds. Sometimes they collided with each other. Sometimes exploded. I also stared at the row of buildings that towered hundreds of meters. Observing the neighbors who had no idea who they were.

2222, Surabaya is getting more and more crowded.

***

"Tsk! It's so good to be rich."

In a super luxurious villa, I stood gazing at the mountain. Accompanied by a glass of wine that was said to be hundreds of years old. It was delicious, by the way. I forgot the last time my poor mouth smelled of alcohol.

"Bratva!" Someone greeted me in a Russian way.

I reluctantly turned my head. The man approached me from behind. Stood beside me and stared at the same mountain. A stretch of forest that seemed to be real.

"There's a lot of real wine in this villa. You want Vodka? Why don't you come here?"

"I don't have a car. And no money." I replied simply. Sipped my wine with a glance.

"I can pick you up in Surabaya. Want me to pick you up now?"

I was reluctant to answer. He also knew why I couldn't come to the villa. It wasn't just about the money. He patted my shoulder again and spoke melancholy.

"Divon, you've changed since you got married."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. You don't even want to contact me anymore."

I let out a long sigh. Staring blankly at martini glass in my hand. My wife's face seemed to be reflected in the surface of the wine. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have met that Russian. Eric spoke again while I was lost in thought.

"Divon, you don't even know that the world is coming to an end!"

My eyeballs rolled. I had already memorized where he was going. That's why I was too lazy to meet him.

"Come on, Eric. We just met after three years. Can you hold off?"

Eric made a serious face as he drank the same wine. A real version of the drink I was holding. Real liquid. Not some virtual thing from a blob of computer data.

"Divon, what do you think human population will be this year?"

Ah, here we go again.

"24 billion." I replied curtly.

The man burst out laughing. This time, he was asking me to make an eye contact. Showed me his blue eyes and blond hair from Slavic genetics. His accent was still Russian despite speaking with Bahasa.

"You're wrong, Divon. Human population is only four billion. And that number will continue to shrink. We have been deceived by NeuVir, Bratva." He mentioned a company we used to work for.

I sighed in annoyance while he was still talking. Reluctant to hear his words anymore. All sorts of speculations that too absurd to be real.

"This world needs heroes, Divon. They don't realize that the world will destroyed. Signs of the eeeend."

"Please stop talking about that." I admonished before he could get too chatty. "I'm here for work, Eric. Not for your nonsense."

"It's not bullshit, Comrade! The evidence is overwhelming. Billions of people will die if we choose to remain silent."

"And my wife will starve if we continue this topic."

Eric raised one eyebrow. He also shrugged his shoulders after realizing I remained stubborn. Choosing to lend an ear and listening to my wishes.

"I've been married for a long time, Eric. I contacted you because you said there was a job vacancy. Please don't bring me back to conspiracy theories anymore. Can you?"

The man was silent for a moment. In the end, he was willing to give in for the sake of his friend who was in trouble.

"Take it easy, Bratva. This job has good prospects. You see this villa? It's all mine."

My lips twisted into a smile. More enthusiastic to discuss the topic. Eric also knew how poor my life was.

"I've signed you up." He said.

"Seriously? When is the interview? And at which company? I'm willing to take any position."

"Your position is good. Take it easy."

My heart grew happier hearing that. It was no use calling him from Surabaya. I needed a job. Although unfortunately, my gaze flickered when Eric was about to speak.

BEEP!

"Sorry, you have insufficient credit to continue this call. The call will be disconnected in ...."

"Daammnnnnn!"

***

Villa's balcony was slowly turned into my room. An ugly room which was made of recycled composite. The wine glass was also disappeared from my hand. So did the tartness of alcohol in my mouth. A sign that I had returned to my real body. Not a hologram like before.

BEEP!

"You have just connected in sector 36, code 6834B, Ubud City, Balinusa State."

BEEP!

"Call duration 55 minutes 53 seconds. Please refill your credit before making another call."

BEEP!

"This service is brought to you by NeuVIR. A solution for all your needs."

BEEP!

"Damnit! Stop beeping!"

Several square screens popped up in front of my eyes. Notification panels of communication services. Showing a three-digit amount of credit remaining. As if to humiliate how poor my life was after had been fired from NeuVIR.

"My dear, are you okay?" Cha chided me from the kitchen. I'm sure she was worried because her husband was shouting.

"It's nothing, Cha. Take it easy."

"Are you hungry?" She asked again. Seemed to be busy preparing lunch. I approached my woman and hugged her from behind.

"I love you." I said a sentence that she didn't get tired of listening to.

My wife returned it with a smile. Her hands were still busy chopping blue onions, typical color of fake food we printed from the machine. Only rich people can afford the real one. Poor people like us had to settle for synthetic dishes.

"Want some Kimchi?" She mentioned signature dish of her country.

I just nodded. Couldn't bear it when my wife pressed the carbon engineering machine. She grabbed blue radish, blue ginger, shrimp, and all the food created from molecules in the air. Took a long time to print them. Sometimes took all day if the air is bad. She pressed the machine again to prepare dinner's ingredients.

"Cool your head, okay? You're already 21. You want to live until 30, don't you?"

My anger disappeared when my wife turned around. In the five years we'd been married, the 20-year-old woman hadn't complained to our hard life. Maybe it's because she was born in a poor country.

Yes, Korea had being a poor country since the third world war.

"Cha, as long as I'm with you, I hope to live until 50."

My wife laughed at my ridiculous words.

"Are you drunk? Never mind, let's eat. Shall I feed you?"

***

"Congratulations! You received six hundred thousand Hatta worth of credit, from a customer named Eric Danya Makar."

My lips unconsciously smiled. The amount was too big. And the smile widened as I pressed the banking panel.

BEEP!

"Transfer successful. Your current balance is seven million four hundred thousand Hatta. Transfer from customer in the name of Eric Danya Makar."

That man was really my best friend. The money was more than my five-year salary as a teacher. I couldn't believe how much Eric had donated.

"I'm rich!"

Although, unfortunately, my smile faded as soon as an additional panel appeared.

BEEP!

"The value will be deducted 40% for tax and 10% administration. This service is brought to you by NeuVIR."

"This country is ruled by robbers!"

"Chillax, Comrade, hahahaha!"

Eric burst out laughing in front of me. More precisely Eric's hologram from communication service. It looked very much like a real human. There was almost no difference. In fact, hologram also had needs just like a real person.

"Bratva, I'm thirsty. Can I have a drink?"

"There's only real water. I can't afford virtual one."

Eric scowled. Looking at my house that looks more like a pigsty. Too shabby for the eyes of a villa owner.

"Seriously you live here?"

"Yes, since three years ago. You forget who made me poor?"

Eric pretended to lose his memory. It was because of him that I got fired from NeuVIR. It all happened because of our old hobby. Touching things we shouldn't have touched. One of them was NeuVIR's secrets. Instead of feeling guilty, the man talked nonsense.

"You know what? 200 years ago human life expectancy was twice what it is today. The average was 60 years. Some even lived to be 80 years old. We have been fooled by NeuVIR!"

I got tired of hearing it. It didn't make sense. Science had stated that human lifespan cannot be that long. Maximum of 30 years. And that'd been the case since pre-history. Since humans were still living in caves.

Live up to 60 years? The oldest man only lived to 41. And that's just an unproven myth.

"Eric, you're giving me money just for this nonsense?"

"Let's just say that. Let's go chat. I miss our youth."

The man was already 22. But his attitude was still childish. He still didn't realize that our youth had long passed.

"I'm married, Eric. I have a lot of responsibilities. I'm already 21. I just want to live a normal life."

The man pouted. Looked at me with a look that asked for a reward.

"Here, give me back my money."

"Alright alright, just once. One topic only. Speak as you please."

Eric's smile widened. Making the most of opportunity, since I was willing to hear his nonsense. I was ready to be a retard. He took a deep breath, then spoke so bombastically that his spit spurted.

"Human population is only four billion, Comrade! Four billion! And it keeps shrinking. Bwaah! Blah blah."

Good thing it was only a hologram.

"How do you know that? Our country alone has reached six billion."

"Because that data is a lie, Bratva. Our country's population is actually less than 200 million." Eric was getting more and more insistent. His talk was getting more absurd. I still responded because his money had already filled my pocket.

"Come on, Eric. Surabaya's population alone has reached 30 million. Stop talking nonsense. I lost 80 brain cells just talking to you."

Eric started to pout. Not as excited as before. He snorted in annoyance and gave a quip.

"You don't believe it because you've never traveled. When was the last time you stepped on the ground, huh?"

I was silent because that true. Since living in a shabby apartment, we never went anywhere. Everything was virtual. My visits to other places was only in the form of holograms. Even on vacation with my wife.

"Okay, Eric. Please end this conversation. Let's talk about reality-topic-for-normal-grown-human like us. Please explain to me yesterday's vacancy."

Eric didn't answer. He pointed at the door and said, "Later. The time is not right.'

Puff! He instantly disappeared in thin air.

I looked at the bedroom door. My wife had just woken up. She hugged me after saying good morning.

"Who did you call just now?"

"A call from the school. I'm teaching after this."

My wife didn't suspect anything. I couldn't possibly say I just got a call from someone who could make her lost her appetite. Cha really hated that man. She was the one who forbade me from contacting Eric since I got fired from NeuVIR.

"But how come I smell money?" She said unexpectedly. "How come I feel like I have so much money?"

"Ah, well ... no ... ah, I just got some credit from school."