Taking a break from criticism again, here is the first chapter of a science fiction story I am working on. I would appreciate any comments and criticisms of your own on my efforts.
It was only after the Slovoxians invaded that it was realized that all those lunatics
had been right. There was intelligent life in places off the surface of the Earth. To this day, we still don't know exactly where, though. When the attack came, that was the beginning of the end. No more space exploration until this thing was over. And that could be a long while.
The worst part for me is that advancement in technology virtually went by the wayside as well. Ironically, we were at the height of the technology boom when it happened. Computers were on a rampage of advancement. Operating systems were being cranked out at amazing speed. And new ones, too! Not just upgrades! Security measures were astounding. "Black hat" hackers were being put to good use. Rehabilitation programs were being implemented within the governments around the world. Success in the U.S. government had sent word around the globe that these types of programs really do have a positive effect on the abolition of computer and technology-based crime.
Of course, the invasion didn't help the situation. You see, the normal flow of the tide says that as computer criminals get better, so does the technology to thwart them. Or more accurately, I guess, vice versa. The criminals always seem to be no more than one step behind the crime-fighting technology. It's almost as if there were moles scattered all through the government. I couldn't ever imagine that. Can I say sarcasm? As per the turn of events in this case, the criminals kept going, but law enforcement was forced to stop what they were doing and focus on somewhat more pressing matters...like saving mankind.
That was the spring of 2015. It seems like a few lifetimes ago, yet it has been only 35 years. I am writing this down because I will not be here to see another 50 years to the turn of the next century. Whether it be from old age, or the imminent destruction from our obvious enemies from another world. I am sorry to say I have no faith that we will prevail in this conflict.
This time, we in the U.S. are not the sole freedom fighters in this war. In the past, with the exception of the World Wars in the early 20th century, the United States has been on one side and the enemy was the other side. In this case, the good old U.S.A. is only one small part of the package that makes up the fight for human existence.
As I said, although technology was hitting its pinnacle, there have been no significant advances since the war began. Scientists have actually been working in tandem with programmers in an effort to stop the invaders at any monetary cost. Now that's something I thought I'd never live to see.
No luck, though. As soon as a breakthrough is in sight, a lab is bombed (or whatever those things are that they throw at us) or a power grid goes down. That usually sends every able person with two hands (sometimes only one) and a brain scrambling to help rebuild a building or get things back online...and I don't mean the internet.
Even our secure documents are no longer safe. PDF had high potential for great things. A new technology was in the workings that would not only make these documents untamperable, but if an attempt was made to alter them, the offender would be automatically tagged with an aura scanner as a probationary suspect. Authorities would be at your door in less time than it took to order a pizza.
That invention had only to be patented before implementation was complete and available to the public. No more using it in military installations for decades then releasing it to the people who could really use it. Technology went straight to PVC
as you might say.
Yes, if there was one thing that stayed on top of things other than the pharmaceutical companies was Hollywood. The ones who make money showing us things that will never happen. It was almost like a repeat of the 1920s, when cinema boomed in an attempt to take peoples' minds off the terrible things happening to their loved ones across the seas. Only this time, it was not confined to other lands.
And they always have to have the best and latest formats to tell us their stories. Perpetual Video Cartridges came out around 2014. Right on top of the invasion. You see how concerned we were at the beginning...Flight of the Soransins...Attack of Kaplincon...Every One of Us...No Room for Stella...the list of blockbusters goes on and on. It was a cinema summer to remember. And the last one I remember.
Astronomers and astrologers alike warned us that doom was in the air...literally. Astronomers were questioned. Astrologers were ignored as usual. Today, those (and a handful of people with aluminum foil hats) are about the only ones who now have a pleasant lifestyle 5,000 feet under the Earth's surface. It's like The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine come to life. H.G. Wells would have been slightly amused.
Speaking of those classics, I believe that is one major reason why we were not prepared for such a tragedy. Between Y2K and the WMDs, coupled with the 1938 War of the Worlds radio scare, brought to us courtesy of Orson Wells, we had become the boy who cried wolf. Nobody paid attention to the warnings...lunatics or not.
So I now sit here in my self-made meditation room writing down everything my deteriorating brain allows me to remember.
My hopes are grand. My idea is that if I can make this memoir seem pathetic enough, I will simply plant a copy on the surface in an open field (they tend to hold their meetings in such places) with the intention of having it being discovered by them.
Maybe they will read it, see that they are destroying an innocent and peaceful race, and leave us be. Fat chance. For one thing, convincing them that we are peaceful will be a challenge without cutting out most of our history.
I also doubt how long I may have to write this before I myself expire. Not because the invaders will destroy me, but because conditions have made the average life span shrink once again to age 45. Which makes me way beyond my expiration date. And to be a newborn in this world...I can never envy the little ones who have no chance.
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