If we are to find the most furthest story into the future of this genre, then try and name the most present-time sci-fi story line. Of course that would be the one written exactly right now, now.

But one which brings together "us" in a nutshell as if we are the future and there is only us.

I read this one in sci-fi budle package and loved it.

I post it here for fun.

iCity

Drifting through space...

That's life in an iCity...

I am a citizen of iCity 'D', currently drifting in space somewhere in sector I-3079AE of an insignificant solar system in an insignificant galaxy, somewhere. No-one knows where. Everything is relative, so no-one knows where anything really is.

My city is just another iCity... mundane as the rest... dazzling as the rest. If an iCity is not dazzling who would want to live there? 'Dazzling' has become the mundane standard of acceptability.

Quality control assurance...

An uninhabited iCity... what a thought! But who does live in such places if not the mundane, the uninspired, the mediocre, the everyday and the ordinary? That's what standards create. That's the irony. Not that anyone who ever lived in an iCity, US style, would understand irony. Mind you they probably would if it was iRony... they understand what is on-line, after-all, and an iCity is nothing if not plugged-in and on-line.

Plugged in...

Jargon. There are no plugs... no direct connections between one point and another... it's all invisible... wireless. But the technology of these cities is what is truly dazzling and the irony is that this is only ever fully appreciated and understood by a few scientists. No ordinary inhabitant of any iCity has the faintest idea of how their city functions. The level of ignorance is appalling. It's like, "Who cares? What's on channel ZAP?"

This is of concern to some of us...

iCities are taken entirely for granted by ninety-nine percent of the virtual know-nothings that inhabit them, yet they are works of pure genius. Not only is their design breath-taking, but they work brilliantly, efficiently and reliably, until they get old, of course. They have a life-time like everything else, the old 'three score years and ten' as they say, or should I say, 'how' they used to say, because that saying has aged somewhat. No-one now living in an iCity would have a clue what that meant, nor would they care. In regards to time, the past is repressed. It is passe... history is about what's dead... it's over...

By contrast, the future is constantly evoked with 'dazzling' promises. The know-nothings fall for it every time.

The senses are paramount! Inhabitants of iCities spend most of their time, resources, and energy stimulating their nerve-endings in selected optimal ways. The Government supports this - it keeps the population satisfied. Bored inhabitants could be dangerous.

Boredom...

They are all bored but don't realize it. Most iCities are profoundly boring. So much so, that the inhabitants are addicted to entertainments of every kind, constantly holidaying, constantly seeking distraction... coping mechanisms for avoiding reality.

iCities are boring despite their unbelievably complexity. These amazing places have up to a hundred billion interconnecting roads, not that these are roads actually, but more like channels along which transport passes at astounding speeds without incident. Yet, despite their vast complexity, the sameness of most iCities is grindingly banal and the problem of boredom is so immense that depression has become endemic.

Very few citizens are the least bit interested in interesting iCities, though. Strange, you might think? Not really! Interesting iCities, of which there are a select few, are not subject to quality control provisions and are thus unpredictable places. Not being mundane they are not considered safe to visit. The government advises on tourism and routinely publishes lists of recommended tourist destinations all of which, you may be assured, as so similar to our own iCity as to be iDentical.

You see, only the mundane is considered 'dazzling', because 'dazzling' has to meet all health and safely requirements. This is one of the many paradoxes of iCities. They really should be called iParadoxes. I could say something about Pandora's boxes here, but I won't, because that notion belongs to history, and the most dangerous kind of history of all, the history of imagination. The government has clamped down severely on all outbreaks of imagination, so it is far too dangerous for me to mention.

Did I mention that depression had become endemic? I shouldn't have! It's not wise to say things like that either. 'Depression' is a banned word. The Government is well aware of the power of words and the Word Police rigorously enforce the laws relating to forms and uses of language. Legislation provides only for 'cheerfulness' and a particular state of mind called 'optimism', which is the main subject taught in schools. Pessimism is a banned state of mind. One is required by law to face every moment with cheerfulness and optimism...madness...

Again, some of us are concerned...

Subversives, like myself, who have come to understand the dangers of denying realities, have become subject to Government repression. So I must be careful. If this became known, then alarms would sound, you can be sure of that! The threat response is almost instantaneous in iCities. When the alarms begin to sound in an iCity, they are pervasive and deafening, lights flashing jarringly at every intersection! You simply cannot ignore them!

Are you getting the picture?

iCities drift through space, often within perceptual distance of one another. By means of sensors, they observe each other carefully, each having two immensely powerful computers linked together. Certain cues allow them to predict likely behavioral change in the other. Although they are virtually iDentical, the level of trust between the governments of iCities is very low. Respect is only accorded in relation to perceptions of power and threat potential.

Threat can usually be perceived by subtle changes on an iCity's surface as well as shifts in the state and manner of its communications. The technology around threat is highly developed, as is the technology around deceit. So a frantic 'arm's race' continually exists between iCities.

If one iCity government considers it can gain a decisive advantage over another by either force or trickery, then it is likely to act without warning. Uneasy peace or open warfare between iCities is the norm. Some combine in alliances, but treachery is commonplace. The survival of their iCity is the sole concern of its government.

There is no-where else to live unfortunately...

The essence of an iCity's survival is to ensure that its life and culture are ongoing. To this end, population expansion is encouraged. However, being essentially discrete bodies, space is finite. So virtually all iCities spend vasts amounts of time and energy on producing satellite iCities and thus making clusters in space. There is a survival advantage inherent in this as large clusters in close alliance with one another have more chance of survival than smaller ones. Lone iCities are essentially doomed. When the infrastructure wears out, as it eventually must, the population is bound to perish.

At this point, it is necessary to explain something. I actually own and govern this iCity. Now this is not an easy thing to explain. I expect you will reply with some irritation, saying something like, "What you just said is inconsistent with what you said before. It's as if someone different is suddenly speaking."

Imagine a microphone. Different people come to speak into it, yet the voice appears from the same place! I am in reality multiple entities - I am both the government and the citizens of my iCity. Yet I am one.

I am one, yet I am not a single consciousness, but many. The number is unknown - no population census has ever been done. Thus even subversive elements may speak. My voice can be one of many different entities, most of which are unknown to me, but all of which are part of me.

Do you know everyone in your iCity?

So that when I say I own and govern my iCity, this is shared in an often conflicted way and insurrection could occur to overthrow rule at any time and another voice emerge.

I have certain executive powers. I can direct my city in space. I can engage with other cities. I can decide to create alliances with other iCities, such as yours, or engage in warfare against yours.

I am rational - others are not. However, I have no control whatever over the essential functioning processes that lie deep below the surface of my iCity. I cannot control its heartbeat, all I can do is make certain external decisions and adjustments. Others, who remain unknown to me, have other responsibilities, such as look-outs whose fingers are poised to activate alarm buttons or defense shields.

Their voices might speak at any time...

It has just come to our notice that your iCity has acquired documents detailing some of our iCity's specifications. Obviously there must have been some security leak despite the defense shield. Subversive elements will be hunted down.

This is sufficient threat to cause alarms to begin sounding as our iCity drifts through space. We are now in a state of full alert and attack readiness! If our iCity should meet yours on the street, or in the super-market, beware!

Do you understand me?


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