This story was written for an Xprize competition. The prompt was you boarded a flight which somehow landed in the future, describe what that future was like.
Beginning our future approach
It was dark and I heard mumbling close to my head.
“Sir, please put your seat up, we’ll be landing soon.” I opened a blurry eye to see the back of a flight attendant walking away down the aisle. I yawned and blinked. Being able to sleep during a flight certainly has its advantages. I looked over and sunlight was peeking around the edges of my window shade. Trying not to disturb the young woman next to me, I stretched out my long legs. It’s quite a distance from from Tokyo to San Francisco. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my phone, we were landing in a moment. The plane started to shudder a bit as we made our final approach. I hated this part, it made me wish for the good old days of train travel. There was a thump and I could hear a few audible sighs of relief, at least I’m not the only one, I thought. As soon as my stomach returned to its normal location, I turned my phone on. The screen went white, then the system icon appeared and did its happy little animation. It took a moment for the clock to adjust, to San Francisco time, if I had looked closer I would have noticed something was off about the date. I considered pressing the social media icon but decided not to, there had been enough bad news streaming in lately. I went to my mail app and waited for the flood of new messages. I had been “offline” for almost ten hours and I was sure there would be a ton. The little spinner icon whirled, then whirled again, no new messages. I looked at my phone a little puzzled, then the answer hit me, I had forgotten to take it off airplane mode. A quick swipe and I’d pulled up the settings, nope, airplane mode was off. I put my hand to my mouth and yawned again, now more awake. I looked at the small 4G icon, there were no bars. That answers that, I thought. The plane finished taxiing and the seatbelt light went off. I wasn’t in a hurry so I didn’t stand up yet. I find it’s better to just let people off and then get up when it’s your time. The rows in front of me started to clear and the woman next to me stood. I stood too, she couldn’t get out without going past me. She smiled as we made eye contact and I smiled back.
“I think you dropped this,” she said holding up what looked kinda like headphones. I looked at them and shook my head.
“No, I don’t think they’re mine.”
“Oh, okay, I just noticed you weren’t wearing any.” The row cleared and I let the woman pass me into the aisle. I picked up the “headphones” intending to turn them into the stewardess but when I got to the front of the plane only the captain was there so I walked past and just said, “thanks.”
I had never been to the San Francisco airport before, but from the moment I stepped into the waiting room, I could tell something was odd. Everyone was wearing headphones like the pair I was still clutching in my hand, but the small cups weren’t on their ears, they were on their temples. I saw a man walk by talking to himself, which on its own wasn’t a rare sight. I had seen people talking on bluetooth many times before, but the way he was talking, it was more like he was talking to someone face to face. And he wasn’t the only one, a whole group of people walked past me all acting similarly. What was going on? Was this a new West Coast trend? I looked down at my own pair. On the side of the small black cup were the words NeuraLink AR. I took a quick scan to make sure this wasn’t some elaborate prank, but I didn’t see any hidden cameras. I put one cup in each hand, then stuck them to my temples. For a second nothing happened and I was starting to feel a little foolish, then I heard a beeping and the sound of a cool female voice speaking clearly in my ear.
“Welcome new user, please identify yourself.” I quickly looked around but now I was standing quite alone, no one was closer than thirty feet.
“Um, Henry Anderson,” I said in barely more than a whisper. Suddenly the whole world changed. It was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes and I found myself standing in a digital fairytale. My jaw hung open as I stared at the computer generated world that had just appeared before me. There were arrows on the floor pointing out the direction I needed to go, along with a sign for my luggage that read, “this way Mr. Anderson.” The people who had been talking to no one were now holding conversations with glowing blue or green or red avatars. I held out my hand like a man trying to touch a phantasm. At the end of my finger was a glowing light and a menu appeared as a heads-up display. I heard the voice in my ear again.
“Can I help you?”
“Um, yes. Who are you?” A young woman appeared before me, she did not glow but she didn’t look entirely real either.
“I’m Julie, your NeuralLink AI, I’m here to help you.” She paused, then gave me an appraising look. “You seem a bit confused.” To say I was confused was a bit of an understatement.
“Where am I?”
“San Francisco International Airport. Would you like to book a flight?”
“No thanks, I just got here.”
“Do you need a hotel? There are a number of excellent hotels nearby.”
“Um, yes, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Henry.” A 3D miniature of the San Francisco airport appeared at my feet. A small pulsing pin showed Henry Anderson, four more pulsing pins showed nearby hotels. I reached my hand out towards one of the pins and it highlighted. A quick spinning icon was created, then replaced, as a man materialized next to Julie.
“Hello, my name is David,” he said. “How may I help you today?” David was a man who looked to be in his thirties, with brown hair and long sideburns. He was wearing a crisp three piece suit and he looked similar to Julie in that he almost looked real, but not quite.
“Are you an AI too?” I asked. David smiled.
“No, though it’s hard to tell sometimes. I’m a digital booking agent for the hotel. Did you want to make a reservation, or have any questions I can help you with?” I cleared my throat.
“Yeah, how much is a room?”
“We have many choices when it comes to accommodations, but I think this one would work for you.” Another 3d model of a room appeared in front of me in the space between myself and David. “It’s only $500 a night, quite a bargain.” This seemed a little expensive, even for San Fran, but I was too much in awe to question it. David’s avatar stood smiling expectantly.
“Sounds great, I’ll take it,” I said. I wasn’t sure what else to do.
“Great, I’ll send a car to pick you up.” The model of the room disappeared and another pin was added to the 3D miniature with a little label that read “Your ride” and underneath it “ETA: 10 minutes.” “Is there anything else I can help you with? Dinner reservations, perhaps?” I held up my hand and gave it a slight wave.
“No, I think I’m good. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to make your stay more comfortable.” David waved goodbye and then started to slowly fade away before he disappeared entirely. I stood for a moment looking at the empty space where he had vanished before my attention was caught by the car pin moving along the miniature roadway.
“I hate to interrupt,” said Julie, “but you should get going if you want to pick up your bag.”
“Oh, yeah. Lead the way.” The model shrunk down and became a flat map in the top corner of my vision. The arrows on the ground now pulsed in an urgent way. I started to walk. It was a little distracting having all of these digital avatars and models all over the place. More than once, I side stepped so I wouldn’t run into them.
“Is there a way that I can only see my directions and not all this other stuff?” I asked Julie, who had been walking beside me. A second later all other digital visions were gone, save Julie and the arrows by my feet.
I picked up my bag from the luggage turnstile. An icon with my name floated above it, which made the bright red ribbon I had tied to the handle a bit redundant. The arrows now changed direction and a clock appeared.
“Two minutes until your car arrives,” said Julie. I picked up the pace and made it outside just as a blue car with the name Ready Rovers on its side pulled up to the curb. It didn’t look quite like any car I had seen before. It was sleek, there was no windshield and the windows were as dark as onyx. The entire car looked like it was cut from a single piece of metal. There was an electronic hum and the door slid open. My arrow pointed me inside. I climbed in and the door slid shut behind me with a hiss. The inside of the car was lit by screens all around the interior. Two rows of seats sat opposite of each other like on a train car.
“Welcome to Ready Rovers,” a voice inside the car said. “This ride is only going to the Bay View Hotel and is for Henry Anderson. If you are not Henry Anderson please say exit, now. Otherwise, please fasten your seatbelt. I turned to see Julie sitting next to me.
“Is this a dream?”
“I don’t think so,” she replied, “though I’ve never had one.”
“Please fasten your seatbelt,” the car’s voice said again. “We cannot begin our journey until all safety guidelines are met.” I looked down and saw the seat belt buckle was pulsing red. I pulled the belt and clicked it. The light turned green and the car began to slowly pull away from the terminal.
“Our estimated arrival time is thirty minutes,” said the car’s voice.” Julie leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “More like forty, these AI’s are always a little optimistic.” As the car moved along, I watched the screen showing the world outside. There were people from all walks of life going up and down the street. I noticed that almost all of them were wearing NeuralLinks, or something similar.
“Would you like to watch something?” Julie asked. A scene from an old Humphrey Bogart movie appeared on a screen in front of me.
“How did you know that I love Bogie?” I asked.
“I had a hunch.” Julie said with a wink. I turned away from the movie.
“What day is it?”
“Its June 28, 2037”. I slowly shook my head in disbelief.
“2037,” I repeated. I looked back outside at a humanoid robot walking a dog. It had a screen for a face which was currently showing a cartoon smile. The robot waved as it passed another couple walking their dog. They didn’t seem to think the sight of a dog-walking robot was strange at all. “Hey, can we stop somewhere and get something to eat?” I asked. It had been a long flight and I had just noticed my stomach was rumbling. Julie smiled.
“Of course. Would you like to see a listing of the top rated restaurants in the area?”
“No thanks, just take me somewhere quick.”
“You got it. There is an In-and-Out burger bot that can meet us on the way. What would you like?”
“Um… a cheeseburger, fries and a vanilla milkshake.” A green dollar sign appeared in front of me with a checkbox next to my order and the total. I reached my hand out and touched the virtual box, it made a ka-ching sound and disappeared. A few minutes later, as we waited at a stop light, I heard the sound of whirling blades. I looked over to see a smiling electronic face looking at me from outside. A large drone with a square undercarriage hovered next to the car. “Here is your order,” it said in an electronic voice reminiscent of a drive through speaker. I wondered if that was on purpose. The car door and the one on the burger bot both opened and I reached over and took the food. The light turned green and the door shut. I watched the burger bot zoom off into the sky to make his next delivery. I opened the bag and took out the hot food, the burger bot must have a heater in him to keep everything toasty. We pulled onto the highway and I took a bite of my burger. I chewed thoughtfully for a moment.
“You know, this burger tastes a little different. It’s good, just not quite what I was expecting.” Julie smiled. “Taste isn’t one of my senses, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s because it’s lab grown. All of the fast food meat is.” I looked down at my burger, trying to decide if the idea of lab grown meat bothered me. I took another bite and decided it didn’t.
After finishing my food, I checked my ETA, only ten minutes until I got to the hotel.
“What is that?” I jabbed my greasy finger up against the screen. Something had caught my eye. In the distance an enormous spire was stretching into the heavens. Julie followed my gaze.
“Are you talking about the space elevator?” I leaned in close so that I could see if the top was visible.
“Is that really a space elevator? Where does it go?”
“Well, it doesn’t go anywhere yet. It’s still being built. This side should meet up with the side coming down in about two years. Construction is slow, as its being assembled on the nanoscale to ensure maximum strength.”
“That’s crazy. Hey, can we go see it?”
“Sorry Henry, that’s off limits. The government has already spent more than ten billion dollars on it and they have a long way to go. When its complete, it will provide daily access to space at a fraction of the cost of a rocket launch.” I was still staring at it when we pulled up to the hotel. The car door opened and I got out. My helpful arrows pointed me toward the entrance, which was unnecessary as there was only one large door in front of me. I went in and walked up to one of the check-in desks. A young woman stood before me. She had long raven hair that came down to frame her face and almost hid the two small lumps where her NeuralLinks were.
“Good morning, Mr. Anderson. We have your room ready for you. It’s room 814. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Um, I need my room key.” I said with a grin. The young woman just smiled and said
“Actually, we have biometrics on our doors. All you have to do is press your finger to the sensor.”
“Oh, okay.” I said. “Thanks”. I turned and walked to the elevator. It opened when I got close and the eighth floor button was already lit when I got in. When I got to my room I put my finger on the sensor next to the door and it opened. A voice greeted me.
“Welcome Mr. Anderson, we hope you enjoy your stay.”
“Thanks, I said to the empty room.” I took off my jacket and threw it on the bed. Julie appeared before me.
“Is there anything I can help you with? Do you want to watch a movie? There are some good ones out.”
“No thanks. I’m going to go to the bathroom and take a shower”.
“Are you sure you don’t need anything?”
“I think I can handle this on my own. I’ll talk to you soon.” I gave a little wave, then pulled the NeuralLinks from my head. With a little pop the room changed. Gone were the arrows and labels, gone was the price menu above the mini bar, gone was Julie. I set the NeuralLinks down on the table and closed the bathroom door. It had been a long day.