Author: СЕЛЕЗЕНЬ ЕКАТЕРИНА ЕВГЕНЬЕВНА / SELEZEN EKATERINA EVGENIEVNA
My name is Ekaterina Evgenievna Drake. I am a 4th year student of Vitebsk State University named after Pyotr Mironovich Masherov. I am studying at the specialty "Belarusian philology (literary and editorial activity)". This story was written thanks to the knowledge and skills that I acquired at the university in my specialty. This author hopes that readers, through a humorous story in places, will understand my message and think about the future.
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– Wait, do you want me to believe in that nonsense that in fact you are not from 2022, but from 2100?
"Yes," the young man replied quite calmly.
Kirill was not at all ready to wake up in his own apartment and find that some suspicious guy was sitting opposite his bed and looking at him with the same disbelief and surprise. But during a short conversation (almost a fight, to be more precise), it became clear that this was definitely not a thief. And Kirill began to incline to the idea that a madman had made his way into his house.
– So, let's figure it out again. Did you come home from work last night, fell asleep in a chair, and woke up here? And how did you understand that it's 2022, and not, say, 2011? – Kirill wanted to catch this pretender in a lie and get him out of the house.
The guy just grinned and nodded his head somewhere behind Kirill. He turned around and found that there was a calendar hanging on the wall, which he had won in an advertising game. So not only did he not catch this man lying, but he also made a fool of himself.
– So what's your name anyway? Kirill asked with annoyance in his voice.
– I don't have a name. They don't give them anymore in my time," he replied without hesitation.
For a few seconds Kirill just stared at this strange man and could not answer anything at all. He got up from his seat and walked around the chair where his nameless guest was sitting. Outwardly, he looked like a resident of 2022. Well, what else was he waiting for? It sounded doubtful that in 70 years humanity would grow itself some extra limb.
But here are the clothes. Still, it resembled something like a diving suit, but made of soft, stretchy gray material. Well, the material looked soft.
– I was joking. Ruslan is my name," the young man replied calmly.
Is this how someone who, for unknown reasons, was thrown back almost a hundred years ago should behave? And where is the panic, denial, anger in the end? But to be honest, Kirill still wanted his guest to be a guest from the future. It's not for nothing that he watched so much fiction and read isekai novels. After all, he also decided for himself that if he ever turns out to be a hitman in another world, he will behave naturally. So maybe this Ruslan thought the same? And at that moment Kirill thought about whether his own life was not the plots of a book by some pathetic scribbler, but he quickly discarded this thought.
Ruslan, all this time, was looking strangely at the TV, which was standing on the table. As if he was more interesting to him than a man from another century.
– Why are you looking at the TV so strangely?
At this moment, the emotion finally changed on the time traveler's face and he seemed extremely interested. Ruslan even suddenly jumped up from his seat, which scared Kirill. Before the latter had time to come to his senses, the guest was already poking his fingers at the screen of the turned-off TV.
– Hey, what are you doing there, how old are you? You're behaving like a child, you're visiting, by the way," Kirill muttered discontentedly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I've just never seen TV live. My grandfather told me about them as a child.
Ruslan still remembered his manners and stopped torturing the screen, but it was clear that his hands were itching to return to studying an unusual subject. Kirill at that moment took the remote control and turned on the TV.
– We have a remote control for this, you could first ask how it turns on.
Ruslan had been studying the programs on different channels for several minutes and nodded his head approvingly. And Kirill kept studying his appearance and came to the conclusion that the traveler's clothes were clearly unusual. I wonder how it surpasses modern clothes? Or in this case it would be more appropriate to say not modern, but clothes of the last century? From such a complex thought process, my head was spinning.
At some point, Ruslan apparently got tired of switching channels, and he turned off the TV. After a moment of silence, he concluded:
"It's amazing what an old thing it is.
Kirill certainly did not expect such an answer and was indignant.
- what? Old stuff? Well, what do you have in the hundredth year instead of televisions? Do they load news directly into the brain? – Kirill himself did not know why he flared up.
– Yes, a chip is implanted in the head immediately after birth, – Ruslan replied and not a muscle on his face twitched.
Kirill hesitated for a second, but then almost shouted:
– Are you trying to make a fool of me again? I won't fall for such nonsense anymore. Tell me, or I'll take you to some laboratory and let them examine you," he still thought that his words should have sounded threatening, but something probably went wrong and he decided to close his mouth in time, giving the word to Ruslan.
– Okay, I'll tell you. We use..." and here he stopped abruptly and stared intently at Kirill.
- what? Is there something wrong with my face?
– No, tell me who you work for.
Kirill looked at him questioningly. Couldn't he have asked about it afterwards and had to interrupt the story, which he barely had time to start. What a strange guest he has after all.
– Let's say, a copywriter. Does that change anything?
Ruslan smiled broadly and slapped Kirill on the shoulder.
– Fine, so I can tell you about modern technologies and not be afraid that you will change the future. Still, your mental abilities are not enough for this," the traveler said without a hint of insult.
– Did you just call me stupid?
– No, no, just not smart enough.
Ruslan only made the situation worse, but Kirill decided not to pay attention to this boor. Let him tell you everything first.
– Well, listen. These TVs of yours take up too much space, and the area of apartments is being cut down every year, so it was decided to introduce holographic screens. They don't look any bigger than what they called it in the museum, I'll remember now... ah, a matchbox. The control is carried out through the clock.
At that moment Ruslan rolled up the sleeve of his strange clothes and tapped on the watch that was on his wrist. They activated, and a small blue screen appeared in the air with the inscription "Network connection error".
–Amazing," Kirill muttered.
– Nothing surprising. It's just a pity that they are useless now.
Kirill looked at the screen for a few seconds and asked:
– Do you have them instead of mobile phones?
– Yes and no. Still, some part of the population still uses phones, but this is more like a tribute to the memory of the last century.
Ruslan pressed somewhere again and the screen collapsed. The watch was under the sleeve.
"What kind of clothes are you wearing?" Obviously, too– some kind of unusual.
The traveler grinned. And with pleasure he began to explain.
"You're right. It is made of high-quality organic material. The most interesting thing about her is that she grows up with you. So, having purchased a couple of sets as a child, you no longer need an annual wardrobe update. Your generation was too wasteful. Fashion no longer exists.
This part of the story reminded me of a moment from a typical dystopia, where everyone is the same and equal. He even nervously adjusted his sleeping T-shirt and pulled up his pants. Maybe he wasn't interested in fashion, but he was for variety.
– And in winter, is this your clothes with a fleece? Kirill tried to be sarcastic.
– I didn't guess. Although the material is organic, it is not devoid of technology. In winter it warms, and in summer it cools," Ruslan answered with a smile.
– Well, not bad. Did you say something about reducing the area of housing there, explain?
– Due to the overpopulation of the planet and urbanization, the government has to calculate the average housing area per person every year. There are no such problems in rural areas. But people don't really want to live there either.
Kirill felt on his own skin how cramped it was for him to live in the city, it's scary to imagine how many people will live on Earth in the future. He first wanted to find out this figure, but then decided to refrain and asked about something else.
– What about agriculture? There must be many farmers who provide for the food needs of citizens.
– You're wrong. Agriculture is fully automated. The computer calculates the best time for planting and harvesting, and the machines work in the field. In agriculture, only machine operators are needed who will repair faulty robot puppets.
– Do robots treat animals too?
Still, it did not fit into my mind that some robots could so easily replace a person. After all, the unemployment of most of the population is not far away.
– Animals are born in strictly controlled conditions. Such farms are quite similar to laboratories. The same robot puppet vaccinates the animal with everything necessary. If it happens that someone gets sick or is crippled, then he is immediately sent to the food shop, and there…
– That's enough, shut up, I don't want to hear about it. I got the gist of it–he was sorry for the animals, though. Although he understood that they were grown mainly for gastronomic purposes.
They were silent for a while. Ruslan decided to give Kirill some time to reflect. During these few minutes, both of them had several times growled bellies. It was still worth having breakfast.
"I suggest we move to the kitchen and eat," Kirill said.
Young people were sitting at the table. One of them greedily ate sandwiches with cheese and sausage and washed down everything with coffee, and the second only looked at the food strangely.
– Hey, why aren't you eating? You know, you don't have a choice, because I don't have another one.
– It's just the first time I've seen such food. Nowadays, a powder with all the substances necessary for the body has been developed. You dissolve it in a drop of water and get a reserve of energy for the whole day," Ruslan replied with a smart look.
Kirill choked on such information. How can you live without food? Sometimes, this is the only thing that pleases him. Still, it's a strange future.
– And how can you live like this? Did you really exchange the best dishes for some kind of powder? – Kirill cleared his throat.
– But we solved the problem of hunger.
Kirill could not answer anything to this. But I still decided to persuade Ruslan to at least try normal food. And after a while, with a dissatisfied face, he cut the sausage, because someone liked the food very much.
I wonder what will happen to Ruslan when he returns to his time? After all, it is true that if a person has eaten bitter all his life, then he will get used to it. But if you give a taste of sweet, then next time the bitterness will still twist your face.
Now they were standing on the balcony and watching the passing cars. Ruslan for some reason stood with a dissatisfied face.
– Well, what's wrong now? – Kirill decided to find out.
- It's so detrimental to the environment. We were very lucky that oil ran out in 2075," Ruslan replied with the same dissatisfied face.
– Lucky? And people are afraid of this moment and are trying to find an alternative. Was it possible to find her?
The traveler was silent for a while, and Kirill thought that he would hear something like that now, that nothing had happened and people had moved back into the chariots.
– It worked. Scientists were able to create a substance from safe materials. And if you think I'm going to tell you what it consists of, then you're wrong. This information has not yet been made public. I don't know why it's being kept secret. But if it's safe, then I don't have to know.
Kirill wanted to clarify something, but at that moment the phone rang in the room, and he went out to answer.
When he returned, the time traveler was no longer there.
It's for the best. All in good time, Kirill thought.
P.S. This author by no means describes a time machine, it is still too early for it even in the year 2100.