The Board

Today's the day. Bill slowly opens his eyes as he reaches over to hit the snooze button. It's 8:00am again. Another day in paradise, he thought. The alarm is starting to sound eerie... maybe I should change the sound to a different tune... oh what's the point... It's 8:00am, July 24th, 2109. Today's the day of the annual costume contest of Sunnyville, Nevada. Everyone gets dressed up and meets at the town square, where the whole town votes on the best costume. Bill hated the costume contest. Bill has hated everything for the past decade. Bill turns slightly in the bed, to face his wife, Carol, who is fast asleep; unbothered by the alarm. Her satin night gown hugs her shape as she breathes peacefully. He watches her with defeated eyes. The love he has for her makes it almost impossible for him to get up out of bed each day; to carry on. How does she stay so unbothered? how does she stay so loving? Bill thought. He places a gentle hand on her hip and scooches in close, to hold her tight. Another day with the love of my life... how lucky am I? How did I even manage to keep this love alive? he thought. He gives her a loving peck on the shoulder before getting up to face the day. It's still dark in the bedroom, despite the morning light shining in through the curtains. Two costumes lay next to each other on the old arm chair, in the corner of the room. Carol had picked them out. He told her he didn't care, that she can pick out whatever costume she wanted for the contest. He remembered her being frustrated with him. She wanted him to care; she wanted him to at least TRY to care. How can anyone still care at this point? Bill looks up out the window at the Board, looming over Sunnyville. The gigantic LED screen is still black, has been for the past 22 hours. With a population of 1,700 people, the Board is perfectly placed in the middle of the sky, levitating somehow, by the electromagnetic current. Technology has come a long way, Bill scoffed. Everyone can see the Board from any point in the city. Every single morning, Bill fights the urge to just sit there and watch the black screen for hours... waiting for it to turn green. "You ok honey?," Carol's voice snaps him back to reality as she wraps her arms around his waist. He didn't even hear her shuffle over to him from across the bedroom. "Yeah honey, just.. lost in thought," Bill turns his body around to face his wife and embraces her in a bear hug. They hold each other, swaying slightly, for what seemed like an eternity, but only a few minutes had passed. "You ready for the day?," Carol asked as she lightly pulled away to turn the lights on in the room. "Ha, I'm always ready baby," Bill answered dryly. "What are we this year? Betty Crocker and a rolling pin? Mr. and Mrs. Smith? Peanut butter and jelly?," Carol shot him a playful glance before she disappeared into the bathroom, "you'll never guess." Carol was the only thing that can make him feel something... he was intrigued now as he walked over to the costumes. He let out a throaty laugh as his eyes found their way to the couple of outfits, the first laugh he had in weeks. Carol knew Bill had a dark sense of humor, she always wanted to make him laugh. Bill picks up one of the costumes; it's a cloth version of the Board, with foam to hold the rectangular shape. The screen is neon green. "Honey, this is gruesome.. Tom and Lucy will be devastated! I can't believe you actually chose THIS. wow. I mean, you don't think it's a little... I don't know, insensitive?," Tom and Lucy were their next door neighbor. They'd lost their only son to the Board last week. Carol let out a quick sigh, "honey, you know the store doesn't do refunds. Besides, I'm tired of saving face. It's a joke for Christ's sake." Bill chuckled again, "and I thought I was the asshole."

Since 2021, the world seemed to turn upside down. Nobody knows what really happened, maybe the polarity of the Earth really did shift, but ever since that year, the people of Earth no longer trusted mass media... the people of Earth no longer trusted anything. Hollywood fell to pieces, nobody watched TV, celebrities lost their pedestal of idolization, and all of mass media became a laughing stock; yesterday's news. It was the end of the war era; there was actually peace in the world. People of Earth collectively, out of nowhere, boycotted the meat industry, the military, and all forms of propaganda. A few years after that, streaming services went out of business; marketing and advertising companies went under. This led to the rise of human population. The fall of slaughter houses gave way to an abundance of land, fresh air, and inevitably, new ways of living. The available new lands brought in new life and vegetation, but the rise in population created a brand new problem; OVERpopulation. The citizens of Earth were no longer easily manipulated by politics and social divides, which meant most people understood that the state of the world was each individual's responsibility; it was their ONLY responsibility. Pharmaceutical companies only existed now for organic supplements and natural vitamins; chronic diseases were virtually non-existent. Earth is thriving now, a century later. A luscious planet with global warming being a thing of the past. A new source of protein took over the land around 2025; insects; specifically, beetles. Among all insects, beetles have the highest protein and mineral content and requires very little energy and resources to farm. Every city has about 4-5 skyscrapers erected around the busiest spots, forming a square, hence "town square". These buildings were built specifically for insect and produce farming, to cut down on transportation and energy consumption. These vertical farms have made it possible to feed the new generation of people using very little land and producing very little waste. Each building is covered, top to bottom, aside from the ground floor, with solar panels. The tops of the building are all adorned with Tesla towers; free energy for all. Government involvement has dwindled massively and yet, there is still peace in the world. Around the year 2099, a new form of population control had emerged. This was something that just came up out of the woodwork... a strategy that was rumored to have been drawn up back in 2012. Somehow, it came to stay. Every city in the world now has a levitating rectangular LED screen, hanging in the sky, facing the ground. The screen has become known as the Board. The Board flashes a bright neon green light at random; it could flash anytime between every 24 to every 48 hours. Every time the Board flashes green, one citizen from each city ceases to exist; they simply just vanish into thin air. Some people believe this was the ultimate plan after all; the sudden lack of government involvement being just a front, a false sense of freedom, for this barbaric form of population control to come up. After a century of reform, government involvement or not, humans are still controlled by an LED screen. Nevertheless, there is peace in the world.

"Well, what are YOU supposed to be?" Bill asked his wife, who seemed to be in a cheeky mood today. He picks up what he figured was her part of the costume, "what is this? the blue power ranger suit? Honey, no one's gonna know what that is, that's an ancient cartoon, it doesn't even go with what I'll be wearing!" Bill studies the form fitting, light blue leotard with clouds sewn on the private bits. "Bill, YOU'RE anciet, my god, the blue ranger was indigo blue, this is sky blue and the clouds! look, see the clouds?," she points at the crotch, "how does this look like a power ranger suit? ugh, I even hand-sewn the clouds on myself.. thanks a lot," Carol snatches the suit out of Bill's hands and disappears into the bathroom once again. "Ohhh... I get it. You're the sky, because the flashing screen.. ok.. my bad. Wow Carol, you're more twisted than I thought. I totally underestimated you. After all these years, I thought you were a compassionate woman. Boy, was I wrong." "Shut up Bill," she gives him a kiss, "zip me up, will you?." Carol took a step back and did a twirl for her husband to admire her handy work. The clouds looked like cotton candy and Bill thought he was so lucky to be here right now. "Well, what do you think?," Carol sounded like an excited little girl. "You look beautiful, baby." Bill glanced at the vintage LED clock on the night stand, "oh shit, I'm late... I'll see you at the square after work baby. We'll knock 'em dead! I love you." He gave her another kiss and hurried out the door and into the car. He glances back at her from the rearview mirror and sees her waving good bye from their bedroom window, still in the leotard.

Bill works at the beetle farm, in the mating lab, on the 9th floor; the breeding ground. The beetles breed here and then the eggs get transported to the 11th floor for maintenance and care until they hatch. Since the vertical farms are covered on all four sides with solar panels, there is artificial light in the otherwise dim labs. The light encourages mating within the beetle community; beetles don't mate in the dark. Every 1 to 2 days, ultraviolet light gets switched on in the mating lab, while the rest of the building dims down even more; no energy wasted here. The beetle community thrives here. They are fed organic, local produce from a nearby produce farm. There is never a shortage of food for the humans or the beetles. Bill's job was to switch on the ultraviolet mating light every couple of days. After the eggs get transported to the 11th floor, the next day was mating day. Bill couldn't stop thinking about Carol and her little clouds. She manages to make him smile everyday, despite the state of the world. He hated that retched Board. He wondered what life would be like if they could exist in a time where there were no Board, no green light. Bill was constantly lost in thought, but always manages to work his way to the conclusion that this was probably for the best. He'd rather have this damned Board instead of man-made viruses or war, he guessed. Today's the day; mating day. Bill wondered if the beetles looked forward to the light. Sometimes, he wished he was one of the beetles. As a matter of fact, he kind of felt like one; always looking out for the light. Bill clocked in, 9:03am. Not bad, he thought. He enters the mating lab and takes a look around. All the insects seemed happy, creepy, crawly, all over each other. Everything felt right in the world today. Alright, you lucky sons of bitches, here we go... Bill takes a sip of free, freshly made, community coffee and pushes the big red button only HE had the authority to push. The low hum of the ultraviolet light drowns out every thought that lingers in his brain. Somehow, this light delivers him from the daily spiral of ruminations. He catches himself staring straight into the light and after a few minutes, everything dims back to normal. Bill stood there in the lab for a few minutes, feeling strangely heavy; something felt off now... *BUZZ* *BUZZ* his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was his neighbor Tom calling. "Hey what's up Tom," Bill answered swiftly. "Bill.. it's- it's- Carol... the Board flashed just now and we were just outside chatting and- and- ..she's gone Bill. I'm so sorry... hello? you there Bill?" The cell phone slips out of Bill's hand and clatters onto the floor as he falls to his knees. It can't be... not Carol... not today... it can't be...

Exactly one year has passed and Bill has lost the will to live. He hated everything. He hated everyone. He was drowning in grief and sorrow. Today, July 24th, 2110, he got transferred from the 9th floor of the beetle farm to the ground floor, where animals and other insects roamed free. His new duty was to clean up animal feces to be recycled into fertilizer. He didn't give a shit anymore. Today is the anniversary of Carol being taken away from him. He spent every hour reminiscing about Carol today. He couldn't shake the thought that he was somehow responsible for her being taken by the Board. He knew this was an unhealthy thought; there was no way it could have possibly been his fault, but it kept coming for him. He tried to shake the thought out of his head, but it kept coming back. Regardless of everything, it was better for him down here on the ground floor. The ground floor was the only floor where he could see the outside world; there were no solar panels surrounding this floor. Today is mating day again. Bill still remembered the mating schedule. After all, he'd been working here for 12 years. He never thought anything of it, but he had never actually seen the neon green light of the Board; he'd always been in the lab when it flashed. Carol was always the one to tell him about it when he would come home from work. Bill stopped mid-scoop as the lights above him dimmed. Lucky sons of bitches, he thought to himself; the beetles were mating. As the lights above him dimmed, Bill finally saw the Board flash, for the first time, a blinding neon green. Bill was shocked into paralysis. Could it be? It couldn't be. Could it be that the mating light was connected to the Board? It couldn't be. The lights above him brightened back to its normal level and the Board also went back to black; they were definitely linked together. Bill fell backwards into a steaming pile of shit. It WAS him. All these years, he was the hand that controlled the entire population of Sunnyville. He singlehandedly took the lives of his friends and family... He had no idea. Bill mustered the strength to get himself up onto his feet... brushed the shit off his clothes, dropped the poop scooper, and walked away of his job. Tears rolling down his face, he's been waiting for the day to give up this sad excuse of a life; without his love, without his mate, without the will to live, he couldn't go on with this life, knowing what he knew now. Today is the day, July 24th, 2110. Bill walked away from Sunnyville, Nevada and never looked back. Lucky Lucky son of a bitch, Bill thought to himself, as he crushed a running beetle under his shit-stained foot.