Prologue
Everyone sees our world through a kaleidoscope and from a different angle. And as for our future. To whom it seems wildly interesting, filled with all sorts of technology where cars fly, people move in time, etc. As in about time machines. Well, or someone sees him as wildly boring. Robots do everything for everything, people have nothing to do anymore. There are cars everywhere on the streets and that's it. And for some, the future is a continuous chaos, where the planet is overpopulated, lack of food, hunger and devastation.
Well, for someone it is full of harmony and peace. All people are happy with their loved ones. There is no habitual management of people. Everyone is equal and free from stereotypes. Where the word poverty is completely absent.
Well, what category do you belong to? I hope this work will make you think about the future and the actions taken in the present.
Have fun reading!

Winter.
There was a thick fog and unshakable silence on the streets of Bishkek. Three hours ago, these streets were as loud and lively as ever. Because today the whole world celebrated the new year. The onset of 2023.
The continuing silence was suddenly broken by a frolicking company of five friends. It was us. After a fun friendly get-together, we were going home. But suddenly we came up with the idea of walking around the city at night and, in addition, to see it from a high. We climbed to the roof of a high-rise building.
From a distance, they saw the top of a decorated Christmas tree standing on the main square of the city. And the city itself. It's so beautiful at night. Despite the cold, we sat and just admired. What a wonderful place we live in.
At some point it became impossibly cold, and we decided to go down. When we went back to the attic, and headed towards the stairs, suddenly sounds of vibration were heard from the darkness. These sounds didn't exist before. Shining a flashlight, we came closer and saw a phone of a very old version. These were used 10 years ago. When we picked up the phone, we saw that someone was calling. It was a rush for us to pick up the phone.
While we were deciding, someone on the other side of the phone was calling back at full volume. The sound didn't stop. And suddenly it's seriously something very important. When we received the call, we realized that it was a video call. It is very strange that the phone of such an old version still supports such a function.
A strange girl suddenly popped up on the screen. She didn't look the best, it seemed as if she had escaped from a mental hospital. All disheveled, in some white rags. From the surrounding environment, it was possible to understand that she was in some kind of laboratory stuffed with all sorts of incomprehensible equipment. Monitor screens were lit everywhere.
For the first three minutes she kept trying to tell us something. We didn't hear anything. Suddenly she pressed a button and finally we managed to hear something.
When she uttered the first words, we realized that she was speaking Chinese. Accordingly, none of us knew Chinese. Of the guys, I more or less knew English. So she decided, but maybe she knows.
- Hello! Sorry, but we do not understand you. None of us unfortunately owns Chinese. Are you talking about English?
- Oh, finally I can hear you! Yes, I speak English. Are you in full control of it? If not, in what language can you understand me and will it be more convenient for you to express yourself? - he asked.
- Well, it would be nice if you know Russian. I replied.
- Great! Just super. Can you hear me? Can you see me normally?
We replied that it seemed normal.
Despite the interference and extraneous sounds, we were able to make out her words. It was very bright in the room where she was. And apparently it was cold there. Because when she spoke, steam came out of her mouth. An electronic timer glowed on the wall behind her. It was a reverse report. It showed that there was 1 hour 55 minutes 45 seconds left until the end of something.
There was also an electronic calendar next to the timer.
The date that was there confused us terribly. They showed the first day of the first month of the year 2101.
I think I'll need to introduce myself first.- she started. Hello everyone, my name is Agatha Skywalker. I'm getting in touch from New York, and yes, as you might have guessed, I'm 2101 years old now. I live in a megalopolis.
In the beginning, we did not understand whether everything that was happening was true or someone decided to play a joke on us so not seriously. But while she was telling us her story, we realized that this was far from a joke.
- Immediately I want to disappoint fans of the apocalypse – now we are far from devastation. But also fans of some unthinkable movements in time or the transmigration of souls - so far we have not gone so far ahead.
But not the point. The main thing is that you should listen to me carefully now. This is vital for you, for me and for our future in general.
And so at the beginning I will introduce you to what level of development we are at now. In general, I want to surprise you – our cities are not much different from yours. Yes, we have enough unimaginable and interesting skyscrapers. However, they also give our towns an unusual look. We have luxury buildings. For example, a large entertainment center. Its scale is impressive–do you know the stadium on the First of May in Pyongyang? Here their sizes are relatively the same. The main part is built in the form of a cylinder with the sides concave inwards. There are probably thousands of rooms and ten floors inside. To be honest, when I was there, I didn't even get around half of it – I didn't have enough strength or money for the rest. The cylinder itself is held by four large pillars, inside of which there are comfortable elevators.
I completely forgot to mention another feature of this center – it is on the water. We have a lot of buildings on the water, the same scale. Probably your first thought is "wow, that's so cool!". No. Not cool.
By 2100, there will be a big leap in urbanization. Not even big, but gigantic. The conclusions are self-evident: more construction for the normal life of people. When even a huge number of skyscrapers could not cope, then the decision was born to build on the water. We have a new neighborhood in New York that is completely on the water - including municipal buildings and ordinary, residential buildings. It is called, by the way, appropriately – Waterhill. However, such areas with similar names around the world are now a dime a dozen. Yes, that's right.
Along with the surge in urbanization, another problem arose – roads. I will please the fans of Dr. Emmett Brown – we have flying cars. Finally, they got off the airfields, without which they could not fly freely. They even have a special air "highway" made for them – with the help of holograms. In general, our holography has gone very far, but more on that a little later. Let's go back to the highway – powerful lasers, placed in certain places, completely recreate the image of a ground road with the same markings in the air. By the way, traffic lights and signs have also been created with the help of hologram lasers.
As a rule, this "air" highway is located just below the monorail, in order to avoid emergency situations. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford flying cars now. We have the same situation with them as you have now with electric vehicles. They are there, but not yet in everyday use.
By the way, sooner or later your children, grandchildren or great–grandchildren will be able to afford an electric car - we do not have cars powered by gasoline or gas. The only place where you can find such transport now is at exhibitions for retro lovers.
The second type of transport is underwater. A large pipe with four lanes is laid under the water – two for ordinary cars, and two more for public transport. At the starting point, it is located at a depth of 30 meters from the surface, but along the route they can go much deeper. The principle of the structure is the same as that of ordinary bridges and our buildings on the water – on powerful beams that go to the very bottom.
We also have an underwater subway. You could drive and see what was under the water. Just don't think that there are schools of fish swimming there – nothing is floating there. Just muddy water, through which you can't even see the neighboring underwater road, which can be literally a couple of meters away from you. Then, apparently, the authorities realized how it alarmed people, and decided to place holograms with swimming fish.
One conclusion can be drawn from all this – the fauna and flora in our oceans and seas have long died. More than half of the fish died out in conditions of permanent construction. And waste emissions, too. I am pleased with the fact that more than half of the states do not throw out waste, but recycle it. But still there are those who continue to do it. But in any case, we have already lost a lot in terms of nature. The fish that live near the surface and in the middle layers of the water have been gone for a long time. I have heard so often about such a concept as "fishing". That people used to take fishing rods with bait and fish sitting on the shore for five hours in a row. Now there is no such thing at all. Fish for food are bred on special farms.
By the way, since we have moved so smoothly to nature, then, as you have already understood, I can tell you one thing – everything is bad. Forests continue to be cut down for the construction of cities, airfields, stadiums and other things. Oceans and seas continue to litter. I have already described the situation with the fish. The same thing happens with forest dwellers.
I was about five years old when my parents took me to the zoo center – these are huge territories equipped with spacious and comfortable enclosures that completely repeat the living conditions in which the animal was in the wild. That is, these are not just empty cells that you might think of. Each aviary was very large, with vegetation in which the animals could freely hide. I remember my dad trying so hard to wait for the raccoons to come out of their holes and show themselves into the light of day. I stood there against the glass for at least thirty minutes, but they never got out.

Small hologram articles were near each aviary. Everything was fine until I got to the line that there are only a few left in nature now, who are very likely to leave this world for good soon. Then something broke in me. That day I reread all these articles. I felt like I was in a cemetery, because all these animals that were there – squirrels, deer, bears, tigers, various kinds of birds and small rodents – either did not exist in nature at all, or there were an insignificant number of them. I could not believe at all that raccoons or possums could come to our city from the forest earlier, and squirrels were jumping joyfully in ordinary parks. The only animals I saw then in the five years of my life were only cats and dogs. In general, as you understand, my parents dragged me out of the zoo center in a wild tantrum.
There were enough zoos of this kind. There are also more reserves. People began to treat animals with great trepidation, even though it should have been done before.
I know that there were a lot of stray animals in your time. We have almost none. I myself work as a veterinarian in one of these centers. More precisely, it worked...
Probably, you are all very interested in what is happening with the Internet right now. We have a very developed 6G. I think you can guess that we don't know what a sudden suspension of a website or an online game is. Everything is instant and every second. And he catches absolutely everywhere, even in those underwater tunnels, where, in fact, the connection should be cut off. Yes, I admit, it's cool – you can call someone in an emergency anyway. 7G is already on the way.
And now the most interesting part is the gadgets that surround us. Instead of the smartphones you are used to, we use either tablets that display holograms, or special lenses or glasses. For the most part, the latter, because they are more convenient and mobile. Literally everything you need is in front of your eyes. Personally, I have glasses, I don't really like lenses, despite how everyone praises them. Both glasses and lenses are controlled by a small bracelet on your arm or by the eyes themselves due to their specific movements. The need for smartphones has basically disappeared – everything is there. Moreover, there was no need for a passport and other documents. The entire database about you was in these smart devices. Coming, for example, to the same doctor, he had only to look at you to find out information about you and what you were ill with. Payment is now only by non–cash means - you just touched a small scan in stores with a bracelet, and the money was debited from your account. In this regard, one thing is convenient – there are not a lot of mind-blowing pieces of paper and cards that you carry with you everywhere. However, the minus was also significant – there was no anonymity.
By the way, with the advent of smart lenses and glasses, all kinds of medical preparations have gone out of use. Before using these devices, you enter the necessary information about your visual state. If you have deviations, the mechanism adjusts to you. Therefore, in order to improve your eyesight, you do not need to order special tools for this.
That lenses, that glasses are synchronized with this control bracelet. They are charged from it – tiny solar panels are located in it. Therefore, they practically do not plant, especially if you spend the whole day in the sun.
So, just a few paragraphs above, I talked about a very large development of holograms. So that you understand – I can't imagine our world without them. The same road signs and traffic lights – when I look at photos from the distant 2020, it becomes very unusual for me to see ordinary pieces of iron placed along the road. I don't even understand how you see them from a distance, even if they are reflective.
What am I driving at? To the fact that in our world there are such illusions at every step, only without glasses and light. Special lasers built into any device can output anything due to the good old acoustic levitation. Scientists have ensured that they are mobile and realistic, can take absolutely any shape and size. In addition, you can interact with them. For example, the same photos that I mentioned earlier – they are also hologram. You can take any photo through the same lenses or glasses (by the way, in order to make it – you just have to wink slightly. I agree, it's funny) – it will automatically be sent to your device, which will transform a three-dimensional 3D object from it.
And the calls? Of course, we still have such a practice of video calls or regular calls, where you only hear the voice of a person. But for the most part, when you answer a call, a hologram image of your interlocutor appears in front of you, also from real time. Because during a conversation, the control bracelet scans your image and sends it to the interlocutor in the form of a hologram. Therefore, each call can be called literally a meeting.
And the movies? In the year 2100, everyone will forget about your giant screens. In specially equipped halls you can watch hologram films. As a rule, small groups of ten seats are located throughout the entire area of the hall. And you, sitting in this dark room, feel completely immersed, because the characters of the film freely walk around the hall, contacting other characters. Or a car may be rushing at you at full speed, and you are fidgeting back and forth with a real sense of adrenaline. This is literally some kind of no, but contact with the film.
Our home televisions are simpler. Or rather, it's not even a TV, but the same hologram. Of course, there is no such immersion as in cinemas. Rather, it's just a 3D picture. By the way, you can adjust the size yourself – it can be either full-length or very small. Everyone has so many technologies in their homes, and in order to protect against hacking and blocking by someone else's proxy, the user's biometric data is embedded in the control bracelets. When you touch the bracelet on any equipment you have purchased, it instantly recognizes you and opens full access to use. Also, these bracelets have a control function for your equipment. Let's say you accidentally forgot to turn off the TV, and you are out of the house, you activate the bracelet, open the list of your equipment and turn off your TV automatically.
Education and some types of professions were conducted at home, remotely, because with the help of holograms, full-time activities were not needed. Your teachers or clients came to you in the form of a hologram, just like you came to them. There were no schools at all now – the children studied at home. Due to the shortage of personnel for new jobs, the government decided to reduce the years of training of students. Now students study for exactly 5 years. Some universities and enterprises have also been converted to a completely different type of activity for a long time, because many work at home and worked remotely.
What can I say about computer games? A kind of VR reality. Computers in the form that you have now have gone out of use. Our computers are a small metal box that connects to various devices (with hologram lasers, VR or smart lenses, for example). In order to play the game, you can simply download it to your computer, connect to a laser, put on gloves that design what you take in your hands (for example, a weapon), and spread out something like a mat with a small treadmill so that you can travel around the virtual without moving when this is real. All this synchronized with each other, scanning your movements, and you could travel with your favorite heroes and fight villains who come to life in front of you in 3D.
As for the usual work at the computer, there is almost the same scheme – hologram images together with the keyboard are displayed in front of you, and you can do the work you need.
VR technologies, by the way, have stepped much further. Instead of wired helmets, whole suits with masks appeared. Through the mask, you saw the virtual world in front of your eyes using the same technique as the helmet. In addition, it became possible to smell with the help of small transmitters near the nose. The rest of the costume created tactile sensations through special impulses passing through the body. For example, in virtual reality you were sitting on the seashore, and after another wave you were doused with water. And you felt this water, even though in reality you were absolutely dry. And even the most unpleasant sensations were transmitted – blows, wounds, falls. Of course, not to the full extent, but still, coupled with what you had in front of your eyes, it sometimes seriously seemed to you that you were literally dying of pain. In order to control your hero, you were given a controller in your hands, with which you controlled the character.
These technologies are used not only for games. For movies too – such cinemas are also common along with hologram ones. Of course, their cost is much higher. In addition to movies, you could also meet friends through virtual avatars that you created for yourself. And feel each other. You didn't have to go somewhere to meet each other. You just put on a suit, created an image of how you would like to look, and had fun with your friends, traveling to different worlds.
For the first time I was glad of a gift when my great-grandfather gave me a paper book for my 15th birthday. I still remember it – "Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury. In principle, a paper book was a rarity back then. They were mostly electronic, from the same holograms.

I couldn't find any friends at the university. Everyone was focused on studying, and then went to their virtual worlds. By the way, now, walking around the city, you will not see a crowd of teenagers or a group of friends who were walking merrily on the streets. You will not see people who are just walking at all – they are all purposefully going on business or home, rather to return to their fictional world. Even if you, contrary to all our laws in this rotten innovative future, try to meet someone on the street, through real contact, they will look at you as an idiot and pass on.
Robotics, like everything else, has also gone very far. Artificial intelligence has reached the human level already in 2040. Androids could freely talk to you on all topics and engage in absolutely any activity. Androids hired from some enterprises worked in many professions. They were able to learn by themselves. Moreover, by acquiring an android for yourself, you trained him yourself. Even emotions. Living side by side with people, they learned a lot from them.
Engineers and scientists have invested a lot of effort to "humanize" them. When intelligence was already pumped at the level and the main internal, harmonious structure was approved, people refused to acquire them because androids simply frightened them with their unnaturalness. Then it took about two more years to make a creature outwardly indistinguishable from a person out of them. For the skin, a synthetic, developed material was used, which was very elastic and exactly repeated all the movements of the face. Prosthetics for the eyes were perfectly designed – androids blinked. In order to remove the puppetry from their view completely, they even inserted a tear pouch. It's the same with breathing, and even the hairs on the body. Every detail has been worked out so that they look as much like people as possible.
And, you know, they did it. If you take off his branded clothes from an android, you will not distinguish him from a real person.
At first they were released with the same, standard appearance of two sexes, but soon everything grew to the point that now they have completely different looks, different timbres of voice, even different physiques.
At first, they, like any scientific discovery, were inaccessible to ordinary people, but after a while especially wealthy citizens could afford them. Someone bought them for housework, someone just for entertainment. Some companies, as I wrote above, simply bought them up for professional activity.
At the beginning of 2090, medical scientists invented autodoc capsules. A person is placed in this capsule. And after scanning, it instantly shows the presence of any pathological diseases in a person. Including a list of violations in the functioning of human organs. If such diseases are detected, the autodoc immediately begins to perform all kinds of operations for treatment after the start. For a very long time we could not buy such a capsule because my grandmother suffered from heart failure. After all, the capsule was available only to very wealthy people. But soon, in order to avoid a decrease in the population, the avtodog capsule began to be provided to the lower strata of society. With his help, we were able to cure my grandmother. Now she is 110 years old.
There have also been some innovations in the field of medicine. Just a couple of years ago, quantum medicine scientists managed to invent the most accurate quantum computer. With his help, doctors managed to cure the first patient with Alzheimer's disease. Measuring devices were also introduced as quantum sensors for the treatment of oncological diseases. These quantum sensors are able to detect and eliminate brain tumors on the spot.
There are no such supermarkets as in your time. Now no one goes somewhere to buy food. Our food is completely personalized. Taking into account all the wishes and preferences of the consumer, a diet is selected for him. We still use such a service as delivery. But now they are carried out only by delivery drones. We haven't been cooking in the kitchen for a very long time. To do this, we have an automated cook. According to a given algorithm, it executes your order in a quick period of time. It also takes into account your tastes, what you like, what degree of sharpness the dishes should have. Due to the shortage of meat for the population, meat has been replaced with vegetable proteins in almost all dishes. I've only eaten real meat a couple of times. And then on a joyful occasion, when we celebrated the recovery of my grandmother. I was glad that I tasted meat. We also have such segments of the population who have never managed to taste even a piece of real meat in their entire lives.
A year ago, information slipped through the news that our "Columbus" began to function poorly. But access to this information is closed and the authorities are trying to conceal everything about this topic.
Columbus? What is it? I asked, surprised.
Oh, sorry. I forgot to tell you about the most important thing. I hope I will have time to bring you up to date. Please listen to me carefully.
In 2065, scientists and experts from all over the world came to the conclusion that there is no way to avoid global warming in the future and the climate will gradually deteriorate, and soon threaten the existence of humanity directly. The prerequisites of all the horror and chaos that could come in the future were already making themselves felt. Hurricanes, tsunamis and drought hit the earth. A wave of catastrophe enveloped the planet. Floods flooded not only coastal areas and islands, but also large megacities. In a matter of years, the tropical lakes dried up completely. The southern part of Asia and the whole continent of Africa have almost completely turned into endless valleys of sand. Millions of lives were claimed in the aftermath of natural disasters. And then, being on the verge of extinction, people realized that no single country could cope with this problem alone. Under the auspices of the UN, it was decided to unite the forces of large economically developed countries. Then they represented not only the interests of their nation, but also of all mankind. Scientists have surrounded the planet with a network of thousands of satellites. Each of which could affect three main elements of the weather: temperature, humidity and pressure. The network was managed on the International Space Station. In the event of a tsunami or tornado, thousands of small devices were released from the station to neutralize it. And in droughts, these devices generate particles that form clouds. As a result, it starts raining on the ground.
Up to that time, Columbus was functioning perfectly.
Regarding the information that I happened to find out. Recently, under the guise of a laboratory assistant, I made my way to the Columbus research center, which is located not far from my house. There I found documents and materials that indicated the dynamics of risks for the complete failure of the Columbus system. This data completely stunned me. I walked down the corridor of the center in complete despair. Suddenly, from office number B-20, it seemed to me that someone was calling me. I looked around and someone stuck his head out of the office door and whispered to go there quickly.
Confused, I went there. He was some kind of weirdo scientist, thin and relatively old. He quickly put me on a chair and began to interrogate me, saying where I came from, why I came here, who sent me, etc.
I explained that I was interested in the information that had recently appeared about the functioning of Columbus. He put his hands in my mouth and told me to speak softly, saying that even the walls have ears. His name was Harold Zeminsky. Then he rummaged through the papers on his desk and pulled out a folder.
On the read. - he shoved it at me.
I opened the folder and thought wow, someone is still using pieces of paper. I started reading and was just in a stupor.
I will briefly explain what was written there.
The Columbus system began to malfunction. The report indicated that recently there were cases of a system outage, as a result of which some small cities in the southern part of Asia completely turned into ice. Only a limited circle of people knew about the outages in the system. A complete system failure is inevitable. Scientists don't know how to fix the problem. And the authorities have already begun to take measures to evacuate the layers of high society to Mars. The information and all the data about it are completely classified.
After reading it, I just fell silent for a few minutes. Harold said that it's too late even if we announce it to the whole world now, it won't give any result. I started saying it was wrong, it shouldn't be like this. We can't let that happen. What about my parents. What will happen to them? There must be some way out. The scientist began to calm me down and said that there was actually a way out. But the chance to implement it is a million to one. It turns out that he has been working on a project for a long time. Something like a time machine. But it has not been fully finalized yet. I volunteered to help him with his machine.
We have been working on it for 3 months. I had a basement in the veterinary room, we fully equipped it with the necessary equipment. And finally there was a little bit left. Soon, information about the ongoing evacuation to Mars spread to the masses. Chaos began all over the world. Fortunately, my parents were among the evacuees. I voluntarily gave my place to my grandmother. Because elderly people were simply not taken. It was hard for my parents to say goodbye to me.
Scientists have determined the approximate duration of the possible functioning of the "Columbus". The term is 5 days. And then no one knows what will happen. Harold and I realized that we didn't have time.
But we decided to take the will into our fist and not give up. Yesterday we managed to finalize the car. And Harold decided to test it first. He sat in the capsule and said that he would fix everything and order and harmony would reign throughout the world. But at some point something went wrong. The car started shaking. There was a fire from the side of the car. I barely managed to open the capsule where Harold was. Harold was covered in burns and wounds. There was no autodoc capsule in the nearest place. He died in my arms.

In parallel with the time machine, we were working on another project. He was with us as a last resort. It was a high-frequency device for capturing waves from the past and transmitting the necessary information through it, and finally creating conditions for communication with people from the past.
Today is the last day of the Columbus operation. And I am very glad that I managed to do it. To reach you.
Listen up. You must tell everyone what I have just told you. Your world needs to realize the fact that the consequences of not taking the right measures at the right time can lead to.
I ask you to convey this idea to everyone.
At some point, the connection began to break. We called her, but she didn't respond. And in the end, the connection was completely cut off.

Epilogue
The world does not stand still. Just like science. In the near future, humanity will reach a new threshold of development. Every day the invention of new technologies facilitates and improves our lives. But this does not take away the fact that our planet will not always remain unchanged. Any insignificant factor in the present will have enormous consequences in the future. I hope that by coming to our senses now and taking the necessary measures, we will create a better future for our generation.

References:
1. The future through the eyes of an eyewitness. Baruzdina Alina