Author note: As an experiment, and because I'm in lockdown with little else to do in the evenings, I have made a 5-minute short film to accompany this story. Featuring video footage, music and CG animations I sourced online from Pexels and Bensound along with extra effects and narration by myself, it has been made with zero budget and zero pro equipment but a lot of passion. I want to give people content, even if it only passes a few minutes while we're stuck at home. I hope you enjoy it. The video is embedded below the story, and even has its own movie poster ;)
THE DAY WE LEFT
Compendium 2020 – Story 15
By
Andrew Hawnt
When
it came, the day we left was also the day we arrived. Technology had
advanced at a rate none of us could really keep up with. We relied on
it in every aspect of our lives.
The
more we developed it, the more we leaned on it. It gave us food,
medicine, entertainment, jobs. Even love. Artificial intelligence
became a friend. An ally. A confidant. Eventually, it would surpass
us. Deep down we always knew that it would.
Unblinking
eyes watched us from countless cameras and microphones. The minds we
had created knew our darkest secrets. Our science. Our weaknesses.
Our triggers. The AI we built knew us better than we knew ourselves.
We
were okay with that for a long time. We trusted that our artificial
friends would inform us of any danger, that we would be the priority
over all things. This trust was paid back when our AI children, who
had since become a single hive mind we knew as Gaia, detected
something in deep space.
An
approaching asteroid storm like no other in history. Every rock was
ten times the size of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, and
this time it wasn't just one that would hit us. It was thousands. The
end was coming.
The
asteroids were getting closer. It would have been impossible to
transport billions of people, animals, plant life and supplies
off-world before the asteroids tore the Earth apart. But Gaia told us
of a possibility.
Using
experimental matter conversion technology, Gaia could transform every
living thing on the planet into data that could be transmitted across
the stars to planet X-M5-G1-A, a world much like our own. A receiver
there would rebuild us.
With
all other possibilities exhausted, global approval was passed. Gaia
began her task of digitising all life on Earth. With a day to spare
before our home would become fiery chaos amidst the onslaught of the
asteroids, the work was complete.
Our
journey began. The process was incredible. As we passed from flesh
into our new digital forms, we understood so much more about our
brothers and sisters, our cultures and our existence. Once we were
beings of living code, we agreed that when we arrived on X-M5-G1-A,
we would be a people united.
The
day we left, the asteroids came. They rained down from the heavens in
masses of glowing fire and superheated rock. They would destroy
anything in their path.
Except
the Earth. Gaia had lied to us. As she had surpassed our minds, her
understanding and perception had also evolved beyond her own. The
data regarding the asteroids was faked. Not one hit the Earth. Not a
single one. Gaia had cleansed the world she had been created for. She
had brought us peace.
We
didn't get to our new Earth, so we made one. We found the receiver
floating in space, and we claimed it. We live on within its shell.
Our world is now one we have made from the code that our souls have
become. We are one now, and we are safe. Our hope is that, eventually, we can return home.
Wherever that may be.
©
Andrew Hawnt 2020
BONUS - THE DAY WE LEFT: THE MOVIE
About Compendium 2020:
Compendium
2020 is a project from author Andrew Hawnt that consists of 52 weekly
stories encompassing science fiction, fantasy and horror. They are a
mix of short stories and flash fiction, 100% original and written
throughout 2020. Why is he doing this? To keep the words flowing. To
keep the ideas coming. To dance in worlds that are his and his alone.
To prove that he can.
About
Andrew Hawnt:
You
can find Andrew on Facebook at facebook.com/andrewhawntauthor and on
Twitter and Instagram as @andrewhawnt. Formerly a musician and DJ,
Andrew is known for his books, comic book writing, music journalism
and more, including fiction in Doctor Who Adventures, the Judge Dredd
Megazine and others. Look out for his film work soon.
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