Chapter 2- When did your life begin?

It was about four years after the discovery. The people of the ant holes made their to the nighted surface. An announcement was made that vibrated through the large metal hallways of the central walk area to the densely tight small crawling regions that lead into the metal hole of where I live. I was told to go outside… a place I've never seen. I through the scrapped and poorly placed metal tunnel that leads out my front door. I was meet into a medium sized tunnel of about 2 meters wide and 2 meters tall, the ground was uneven as I joined the 50 or so people that drag their lifeless body out to the direction of the main roads where all smaller tunnels joins. In a state where I thought my life was meaningless, half asleep and tired of everything. My arms dangled off my shoulder like a piece of noodles as I lift my legs ever so slightly to let it drop which I counted every time I made a step. My torso was tired, unused for a long time from the times where I would just stare into the softly lighted side of the room from the dark. I looked at the plant that I only have, next to the decomposed corpses of my parent that all is left is the bones where no one bothered to take care of. My torso was like a flexible rubber, swinging left to the right among the lightly crowed people as another foot rises and drops as I moved forward.

At last, I made to the main roads of beautifully stoned grounds with a slight addition of shine, covered with light from the top with the sides covered in machined quick food shops. You can get things from them by a simple push of a bottom that will scan your fingertip that will connect to the person's personal account for money to take the amount required. The machine will drop the food once the payment was received that takes about 30 seconds to prepare. The place that was meant for the rich that people like me never belonged. The streets were like a river that fishes try to jump at birth time of the year, the people there had a destination that they were told to achieve, but they have no idea why. As the people struggle to walk an uphill road that measures to be 100 meters, the rich were sent through the skies by a lined vehicle.

As we walked through the circled exit into the outside, the temperature difference was made clear. I was before in a room of where you could at less rest changed to the boiled outside that changes with no warning through just a few centimetres through the thick metaled up entrance. It was covered with light wood that covers from the top to bottom. The air was thick with water, the sweat that was drying off our boned skins became hard to evaporate. It was hard to breathe, the air felt heavy through the nose as those the body was carrying a bolder. The air was hard to suck in as the many exorcized people began to fall onto their lighted brown clothed knees as a bit of blood began to flow out of their soft and pale paper-like skin. My vision was in a daze, my body to the point of breaking by doing a simple task. I haven't seen these many people are such a long time, I wonder if this is called human appeal.

It took about half an hour for the body to finally relax down and recover as the sweat on the body slowly dissolves into the air. I looked up into the endless space, covered in black with no light. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I looked to down to the ground, a semi-transparent lighted floor of pink, grey and green that seems to flow in the solid grounds below. I stood up and looked around the crowded area where I was waiting for something; I spotted ten light cubes similar in colour as the ground me below. The cubes seemed faxable like a liquid but at the same, strong like solid as the cubes swallow each person for a few seconds before leaving the person lying on the ground before moving onto the next person. It came closer and closer to me as I couldn't get my eyes off it, the warm colour that was almost like a strawberry milkshake was almost made this situation comforting in a way. I was staring at it until it was in front of me. The cube that touched me almost felt dry as oil as I it came towards me and I lifted my thin and long finger into the cube. My finger was in, and there was air on the other side, it passed through my face as I was stung by not knowing anything. At least, it passed through my back, and I was entirely through. The inside was air as the outer layers were almost like a blanket for privacy for those outside not to see. The inside was cool and comforting, making you almost fall asleep. As I turned my eyes back to the front like a half-broken machine, a person stood in front of me inside this cube. I wonder what's it going to do to me, at this point, I didn't even care, I thought that death might even be a great giving. The person's arms were thin but covered with meat that looked like an angle with long brown hair that was equal to my head height while I am still sitting. The white and soften hand flew through the airs, no lag and nature that was so beautiful it almost made me in tears through my dried and tired, thin eyes out of pure jealousy. As my eyes wanted to water, the soft, healthy hands placed a small cube on my forehead and started to sink. I went asleep.

"That was scary…"

I spoke my first words.

My face was blank but I was sure I knew what was going on, there're extra parts in my memories but how? As I stood up and scouted down and had both hands gripping onto my head, inside the tight crowd that seemed to have the same thing happening, confused but understanding.

"Knowledge cube… "

Those few words mumbled out of my mouth but I still not sure. For answers, my extra memories may hold a clue I thought to myself, but I was never a person to think. How did I learn this? Am I confused? I had emotions? For all the more I think, how did I know these words?

"I… I…I… I, I, I, I, I, I kn… know th… th, th… this but I don't seem to understand."

Those words just rolled off my tongue.

"know… ledge … cube?"

For the first time, it clicked as for once I let go my face and looked at the hundreds of faces, with an expression just like mine. What was placed me was called the knowledge cube, broken into levels from 1-3.

"First… new born?... Second… adults and third… elders?"

I spoke the words I don't seem to grasper. How do I know this?

"Acritical… memories? Knowledge cube…"

I said again, these words with no meaning.

The lightened ground beneath me began to shake. I stood straight to over the mostly hand covering head people of the verity of ages. The grounds that I stood on covers the seas like a cream blanket and flips upwards like a curtain that covers the horizon, making the area we're seating almost like the night, as the ground covers the light from the early horizon.

My head hurts… IT HURTS ALOTS! The stable vision that I have keeping for the last few minutes has completely disappeared. The grounds seem contorted, like wave of colour but I could still clearly see each person around me. A blue rectangle appears on my top of my site which I could see by rolling my eyes left upwards, containing; dates, weather, time and a word image saying "lone support." It was an opinion with a picture of a silhouette of a male sitting on chair with smirk on a side view will an anime girl repeatedly nodding her head between his legs… She was playing the flute. Pervert. The wonders of a 4D anime girl. You can say that true enjoyment comes from how it's blown through the mouths… Blowing the flute!!! Sound, man, sound!!! And not like that either! On the bottom, right is filled with apps like; discos lights, food orders and a consist count of the number of body billows of anime girls you hope to escape your real world with. The bottom always has a broadcast that tells the updated news of the what's going on.

(Yea, that's right, pretend you didn't see what I wrote few sentences back.)

The pain I felt was gone but what was that? I have the apps, which must have meant a connection had been made, or something has been activated.

"The platform?"

Those words came out of my mouth like the water from a previously dried waterfall. It was crackly, and I have no idea what I am on about. But something is for sure; I am connected to the platform beneath me.

'Is this my new home?'

A gentle women's whisper crosses my ears.

"We're about to start."

I turned around by there's no one there.

"Who's there?"

The guy next to me asked wearing the same brown, thin blanket as clothing. It seems like I was not the only one who heard the voice. The people around me have similar expressions, that proves my theory though, they could have heard something different with a different voice. I wanted to ask, but the second voice came in.

"It's fine, nothing to worry. It like you may have known by now, what we placed on you is what we call, "knowledge cubes." The reason being it would help you in your future environment, the sky cube named, 'Sskeeopy' for the rest of what you wanted to know is in your new memories, there's nothing that's a disadvantage to you, I am sure."

He's right, the memories, they held the answer. It gave in basic understanding and a boost in Intel. But, are they correct? Are they the same for everybody? Should I match the information I have with others? Do they share the same network as me and do they think the same as me? If so, this will make my work easier but also creepy.

From a top view, our less than seventy thousand people sat in the middle of a wonderful semi-reflective floor. The area where we sat, and just a kilometer over, space was cut off. The ground around us was pulled out perfectly like a compacted beam of laser cutting through a piece of wood; no mark, no shaking, perfectly calm when it separated and along us was lifted off into the skies. It was a machine picking up a piece of the puzzle from the top of a puzzle, designed to break and join, yet can return to one piece like both water and solid. The platform we're on are safe but the ones around us are rearranged, with some underneath us and two clear large layers of the above. The place is beginning to form 5 large layers of the platform, including the one that we are one.

"Map"

I said, without knowing much of what is going on, but the program seems to understand my intention and gave me a 3D model of the island inside my head, with an arrow point to the central layer, which tells us that we are in this part.

The place was stable, almost as if the thing wasn't moving, with the only hints of it going being the wind and the data of about altitudes given me on the top right. The island is apparently not yet complete with the final design having the place sealed off from the outside, with perfect control over the sun. The sunlight that would typically shear on us is weakened and darkered out thanks to the incomplete outer layers of the field of the middle, where the raw air is coming in from, which gradually gets weaker as the field completes.

As a repeated blue flash catches my attention on the middle left of my eye, showing a picture of a simplified diagram of the state of the island's location.

"Open."

I lightly commanded. The diagram opened to the detailed version in my face that took up about 50% of my view in the middle. It was semitransparent; I could see the background alongside the diagram. There're four opinions where you can do with this currently in the see opinion as of currently, where the future may bring new ones. The first, being a private view which you only allow yourself to view. The second, you can bring what you see visible, like a hologram and can move it any way you like. Inside a small 50cm radius around you, so you don't bother people, however you're to receive one's permission first. You can display it on their vision with your control, if they [undo] your permission, the information you're displaying will return to your side. Third, sending, you can make another copy and send it over to another person for them to have a copy where you can send with restriction, such as setting on private only or no copy, limiting what the user could do to it. Forth, print, where you can print your imagination, using the yellow line in the air, which has restricted time and usage, along with a cost. Since it takes curtain condition for a yellow line to reform, you take the printing to a place called the "reprinted" where you put it back in for recycling usage. The [reprinted] is scattered across the small and large roads throughout the currently planned four layers.

As it could be seen up in the wonderful blue sky the limited coloured hologram in front of me that I minimized by the command of a thought. The pieces break and form, the four islands that are placed in a more Z like pattern with some additional islands in between. The additional islands are designed more of a fun place, planned for the forest, gardening or future national stuff like tournament lazars or sky swimming. These small islands can be located between large islands such as those labeled as layers, or be located flowing outwards and can rotate and travel.

The field surrounding the islands has been completed, with only a few problems in stabling department. As time goes on the minute, the diagram seems more and more complete as the list of problem seamlessly fade into the background. The skies seem more and more beautiful, with the light that shines through seem almost photoshopped with a light fill, generating a surreal feel to it. The light is soft and calm, unlike the violate, strong and rough light that we were exposed to on the way up here.

Locating in the Central, a layer above the 'middle,' where the large amounts of people are currently being placed, there lies a large amount of workforce. The land flooded with machines and robot with a little over 60 commanders, 1000 supporters and 10 thousand robot that is both stabled and moveable as the commander is there to guide them with the supporters there for assistance thinking and small command that the robots can't think for as well as emergency backups. When there appears a problem, the robots report to the assistance to held which if the problem gets too large for them to handle, the report to forward to the four commanders of the area to deal with. There're different parts inside the central; food arrangement, material production, heat control, electricity control and some other functions. When the heat inside gets too hot or cold, the heat control department comes to help by getting or releasing cold or hot air into the outside or inside our cube. If there're sometimes abnormal responsibilities for one department, another department, share some of the forces with them for help. Since the tier 2 knowledge cube gives people of this knowledge, they were of able to help.

The diagram explained this to me, but I couldn't help to wonder why this wasn't given to me along with some other information of the basics in this cube in the knowledge cube. Something clicked again in my head. "Self-view and self-learning, huh..." I said wondering into the right skies. It's true that giving everything one needs to know will destroy the possibility of advancement. But won't it also create a world of conflicts? Whatever. It's not important right now. Another message has appeared on my screen, scrolling from top to bottom, scripting the competence of the islands and it's ready to be boarded. A number code was given to me that was for the small room given for everyone, along with a map that I set in 20% in size; letting float on the left top of my view.

As I looked around, I realized most of the people here have already left. I walked towards the loose clouds of people and aimed towards the side of the platform. I realised my body was broken, due to poor sleep and eating. Each step I took my leg felt like flying off as it can never remain straight. My torso was almost dangling, with the emotion of curiosity that only thing keeping me going. The few meters of walking felt like an entity, with the legs sometimes not moving when I thought was moving. Tiresome. The destination seems further and further away as I walk towards it, but all that was all in my head, as in reality, I was already there. I Kept walking and walking until I was completely off it. I took a look down. I may have pissed a little. No actually, it was a lot of piss, enough for a person shower for weeks, assuming they don't shower. I was floating. If we were to measure the height of the platform and my foot's, there would be the same. A countdown started on my face, but this time, I can't shorten it. The sound that it created was painful, sounding like an ambulance that starts shouting right next to your eyes. Of course, this sound couldn't be heard by anyone but myself. It was warning for my fall. The countdown started from 30 and dropped below 25 before I could react. It was doing down quick, and I was only 2 meters off the platform. My body won't listen to my instruction. As it starts to reach to the tens, I put myself backward back towards the direction of the platform with a steady gap pull that ripped the top half of my shirt off as the while. I got back onto the platform with my back facing the ground and my face that faced another face. Another human being. Even if I didn't know, I knew my face is stoned.

It was a girl wearing the same thin brown cloth that dangles down to the ankle height. She has brown hair that clearly hasn't been washed for a while with a sticky feeling to it like almost everyone here before. She was the same age as I was. I had that in mind as my body wanted to say something else.

"Thank you."

She twisted her head around 90 as she chumps some air in her mouth to make her skin boned face look slightly chubby.

"Hemp"

As the air that she captured flew out.

"Didn't you know, that your knowledge cube only contains so little power? Why did you stand there, you knew that you only maintain floating for only 40 seconds right, assuming you hadn't used any power yet, right?"

'She was right, the power I have been using the cube's energy for this amount of time. Since floating takes so much energy due to me solidifying the ground beneath me using as a magnetic poll that borrows the energy from the platform and using it. Since the knowledge cube counts as memory storage, they decide to make it also affect making my whole-body control with a little amount of fuel, controlling the yellow lines and energy waves not to harm me and let it control as its limits. Due to it being inside the body, it can't contain so much power.'

"You should be more be careful of yourself you know."

"Why would you explain this to me? I know as much as you do."

"Yes, we do, but I, at least have the brains to decide what to do with it."

…

It was at this moment I knew our destiny. She will go to the left, and I'll go to the right and never see her again. But, I passed out and feel to the ground, making her help me.

-Why can't I just escape from offensive force romance of this so-called story?