The Perfect Fall of Humanity

The leaves fell within the minute, falling peacefully to the ground to lie there, but for mere hours until the “tidier” came to pick them up the following morning. A cool, crisp breeze tickled Melissa’s spine as her roommate Jennifer sat upon the porch, remembering what the world used to be like; that is, before everything became “perfect.”

"Remember when we used to dream, Melissa?" The words slipped out of Jennifer's mouth, finally releasing the thought that had been coursing through her mind for quite some time.

“What do you mean, you of all people should know that I dream every night. I dream the most perfect dreams of Eric and I, creating a world on our own.” Melissa’s response sent Jennifer through a small laughing fit, until she returned to her thought.

“You know that is not what I mean, though… I mean, when people didn’t have all the answers and when we had to rely on our curiosity to get us places. That's what made our people so great, OUR DREAMS. Dreams of flying cars and robots walking the streets, dreams of household jetpacks and… and”

“Okay! I get it, but we already have those things, thanks to our wonderful leaders, we have all that and so much more….much, much more. The “Evoultioners” rose during a dark time in the nation, realizing their superior intelligence, they created a way for humans to live in peace with one another. Thanks to the Evoultioners, humans can go through their normal day without facing struggles, but even better, they can thrive to be whatever way they wish to be. By the Evoultioners amazing creation, they made the world the wonderful way it is today, they allowed humans to learn the most amazing things about our world, creating inventions for any problem a human may ever come across.”

“ Thanks for that marketing speech,” Jennifer said with a sarcastic smirk smeared across her face,” I do know the history, but I mean I just want something to wonder about, you know, I just want a problem to solve, you know, well maybe you don’t know.”

“ Do you want me to run inside and write you some mathematical questions for you to solve and wonder your way through?” Melissa looked almost anxiously at Jennifer, not understanding what had penetrated her usual easygoing nature. She was about to ask until Jennifer had broken the awkward silence that had rested between them for some time now.

“ No, that's alright. I just wish for a challenging problem that the common man hasn't thought of… You know?” As she spoke, her face had lost its previous thought and floated slowly to a downcast expression.

Melissa suddenly matched her friend's depressed expression. She suddenly became overwhelmed with despair as she just couldn’t pull her friend out of her sad thoughts.

“ Well, I’m here for you if you ever need anything. I’m sure there are many different equations I can write for you. The common man doesn’t think about some of Alyosleans equations if those are what you are looking for. Otherwise, I can look for something else. There has to be something, as today we know answers to many questions, older ones struggled to learn about the universe.”

“ PRECISELY, we have everything we will ever need, scientists, spaceworkers…and …and philosophers, they all struggle finding new problems to fix. The only questions left in the world are those of a Theologian. Man no longer has the capacity to dream or to be curious. What could they possibly dream about? We can control our entire lives just by sitting right here on our porches. We can live consumed in a virtual reality, we can start unreal families with fictional characters. We can control our whole lives JUST BY SITTING ON OUR BUTTS DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AND YET… YET WE HAVE REACHED THE PEAK OF HUMANITY?”

Her thoughts had revealed a pain she had struggled with for so long and could no longer take. She didn’t know how to escape it. She could drown out her hearing by blaring music, but no matter what she did, this thought lingered loudly. This voice inside of her head was inescapable, and she just wanted it to disappear.

Melissa could see the loop Jennifer had been stuck in as she heard from others how daunting this thought was over her. Having no other response, she sat in silence for a few moments, deeply considering Jennifer's previous words. She scanned through her brain of all the inventions created for problems, but it seemed nothing could relieve her friend of her settling heartache.

“ I’m Sorry..uh.. Jennifer, I don’t think my software has reached this far. Please allow me to reboot, I shall be up momentarily, GOODNIGHT.”

Jennifer brought her shaking hands to her face, where she removed her virtual glasses and applied her special lotion to prevent marks from the strain of hours the device had been used.

She looked out upon the world. The world many called perfect, but the world she knew she had no place in. Other fields were perfectly watered by timed sprinklers. Their leaves, caught mid-fall and disposed of.

Then she looked out upon her own yard. Flowers withered and ran over, the grass yellow and brown begging to wither away. Her old house was creaky and withered. And she was reminded of the reason why she left it this way. Why she didn’t have her glasses order a perfect home within seconds. Then she remembered once more, things were better this way to remind her that no matter how perfect the world could be, they were the reason she suffers. To remind her that hope is lost, and this is the true world she now lives in.

Loneliness settled in her heart as she remembered the days when everyone around her were basic zombies, and there was no room for friendship in the world. Again, she stared at the scenery around her and wondered how long she had to live in this misery.