Project Harmony

I looked upon the line in front of me, a seemingly endless serpent of people converging to one singular point, one indisputable goal that united us all, a desire experienced by humanity since the beginning of civilization, one that persisted beyond its end and arose alongside a new beginning. In 2024 the world ended, it was quick, simple, predictable. Since the 1940's the world has been warned about the dangers of nuclear power, yet our greed and ambition messed with a technology designed for civilizations much more advanced than our own. In the end, it was a mistake, what that mistake was we will never know; maybe a wrong message, a rogue general with nationalistic ideals, whatever it truly killed humanity, it didn't matter. Billions died in the first wave of nuclear attacks, millions more from the ongoing nuclear winter, famine, and radiation. However, from the ashes of the old world, the future was found. They called themselves the Harmony Project. An initiative designed to build a new civilization, cradled inside massive domes, protecting the survivors from the winter and radiation. However, Harmony was anything but the freedoms of the past. Its government, behind the shadows of bureaucracy and a promise of freedom, selectively chose those who could enter the dome; the worthy admitted with the purpose of perfect reproductive capabilities and the possibility of bringing advancement to the new world, those who were not deemed worthy, however, were shunned, condemned to live in the wasteland for the rest of their miserable and short existence.

The line grew shorter by the minute, despite the population and demand for what lay at the epicentre, Harmony prided themselves by their efficiency, even when that efficiency was not well placed. I was one of the few selected for the dome, they never told me why I was admitted–They never told any of the admitted–however, I was grateful for this bittersweet chance to live anew, even when that involved leaving my family, friends, and life behind the impenetrable dome. The world changed very quickly under the dome, the population was kept under check, even the expansions of the dome were not enough to keep the rising population at bay. When I, a resident of dome #42, heard the announcement through the cities controlled entertainment system, I simply knew my time had come.

'Citizens of The Harmony Project, your great government is proud to announce the greatest advancement in science and medicine in recorded human history; the opportunity to live beyond the limits of the dome. This involves the first step of the new plans to expand our territory in hopes of finding a better future. Beginning one week from today, all citizens of the domes will have the opportunity to be injected with the new 'LEVIED' treatment. A revolutionary procedure that ensures prevention from any disease and completely stops the process of aging, ensuring that the prominence and glory of the inhabitants of the Harmony Project can be spread throughout the whole planet and that the glorious joy of living under our great government will be enjoyed for generations. All citizens who report for this magnificent opportunity need to be above 21 years of age and willing to pay the required price of treatment. Glory to Harmony!'

Immortality. Ultimately, the unattainable elixir of life at our reach. The promise our sovereigns had given us, the chance to live under their government forever, no aging, no disease. This, of course, was only the beginning of their actual plan, allowing citizens beyond the dome means the government has the opportunity to begin colonization and annexation, a world under the flag of Harmony. Despite the millions of people who throughout history have craved this opportunity, not everyone was willing to give the high price away, even for the promise of immortality. Once the day came, the lines formed around the medical stations, while those who refused the offer stayed in their homes and jobs stations, we were the unruly ones who lined under the protection of that dome that had saved us from certain death, searching for a way to rebuild and find a new beginning, a beginning outside this place who, through a promise of prosperity, had controlled every aspect of our existence. I looked up, trying to discern just how many people were in front of me; despite being almost a decade since the creation of the dome, I knew almost none of its inhabitants, the few friends I did have had decided to stay in the security of the dome with no desire to explore beyond, claiming that the wastelands outside were nothing more than real estate and only for those with a mission to help rebuild what was once lost. I, however, was not doing it for the opportunity to improve humanity, I did not care about the desolate land beyond the blue dome. I wanted immortality for the chance to leave the reach of Harmony, after all, not even their regime could possibly reach every corner of the earth. There had to be somewhere, a place where art was no longer censored, where I could read any book, where I could love whoever I wanted without having to think about gender, children, or marriage, a place where food wasn't rationed based on your job and my every movement surveyed by the ever-present orbs floating all around the city, or by the crawling microps who regulated our movements and words even in the "security" of our own home. That was the truth of Harmony, they achieved peace and prosperity, yet they did so by building over blood and bone, by eliminating undesirables and dreams.

My turn was coming ever near. I remembered my family back in Toronto, I placed my hand around the heart-shaped locket given to me by my brother in the moments before I entered the dome, leaving him behind to die. Every time my hand would brush against the gold texture, painful memories would invade my thoughts. The sudden realization of my loneliness due to the unfairness of life would transform me for a second in the image of cruelty, I wanted to hurt reality as it had hurt me. My parents had died during the second stage of the nuclear war. My brother and I were rushed to safety without letting us say goodbye to their barely recognizable faces. My mother had given him her necklace moments before the explosion destroyed our city. To this day I still remember the vivid picture of the grey smoke covering most of my vision and the ongoing ringing in my ears standing out from the screams in the background. My thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind me; "Do you know the price?" The man asked, "What?" I responded in confusion, "The price for the treatment, they never specified it, how many credits do you think it will cost?". There I noticed something, the price, our only property was bought with credits, all supplied by the government, if they truly wanted credits they could just take them through increased taxes, after all, no one could ever argue against it. Undesirable. As I attempted to respond, a woman in front of me, a nurse, called me. "Name?" She asked. "Evelyn Montenegro" I responded with a shaky voice. After imputing my name she looked down at her device and said "You are clear for procedure". At that moment two armed guards bearing the Harmony logo escorted me to a massive door bearing the letters "LEVIED" in red. My turn had finally come, it is time to pay the price.

I am not the same anymore. Something is missing. As I am escorted out of the medical station by armed guards I can feel my existence and my past fleeting, leafs carried away by the heaviest breeze. As I look at my neck I see a locket, I know that not so long ago this small locket meant something to me–maybe even everything–however I can no longer afford to feel. Mind over heart. I take off the locket and stomp it with my feet, the past, whatever that once was, is dead. Whatever my past was, whatever the dome and the world outside meant to me, is gone. The meaning that came with memories and emotions becomes insignificant, emotions bring selfishness, greed, desire, emotions bring evil. Harmony has helped me transcend the banality of evil, predictability, and the destruction of violence. It is as if, for the first time, I feel the harmony of humanity, the possibility of harmony within existence. As I walk through the streets outside the medical station I heard screams, I turned back and saw the man who once stood behind me in the line, running. His eyes met mine and he started to scream; "Our memories! Our identities! They are stealing our humanity!". I did not react since his words, after all, meant nothing to me, he was blinded by the desire for selfishness and freedom, an illusion created by the mere presence of emotions. He rushed past me and continued to scream his claims to anybody who would listen. I then walked home, unafraid.

Over the next few days, I saw my world collapse once more. Outrage struck through its population as they found out Harmony stole their memories and emotions from those who gave themselves the treatment of Immortality. The lines disappeared as those waiting for their share of eternity began rioting in the streets, soon they were supported by those who refused the treatment. Riots turned to violence as the peace-keeping forces of Harmony attempted to defend the utopia they had helped build. Riots to violence and, eventually, violence to anarchy. I, alongside those already treated, heard their claims; they declared the injustice of Harmony controlling their thoughts and forbidding them from having certain tendencies and emotions. I never denied any of those claims, I knew they were right, I could feel the gaps within me where something resembling memories and emotions. However I understood something they did not; Harmony lives to create perpetual harmony, their expansion's only purpose was ensuring control and order over the chaos we as a species had created. They understood that emotions and our attachments to those emotions were what created evil, the same evil that killed billions of people years ago. By allowing us to move on from those primal instincts they give us another opportunity, the opportunity of reconstructing a better world, a more organized one, a world rid of evil, pure harmony for the first time in recorded history. I heard a bang, the riots escalated, a small explosive device had impacted the base of the dome, as I looked up I saw the cracks and pieces of the one indestructible dome fall from the skies, like drops of rain in a heavy storm. As the dome fell the cold and pestilence came in, evil reclaiming its dominion over humanity. Such a pity, such a waste, gone is the last opportunity of harmony for humanity.