Utopian Grey

Eager souls, mystics and revolutionaries, may propose to refashion the world in accordance with their dreams; but evil remains, and so long as it lurks in the secret places of the heart, utopia is only the shadow of a dream.

— Nathaniel Hawthorne

"I can't imagine how the world functioned before the modification process became mandatory in utero... It just seems... like the world before it was nothing but a barbaric society full of concepts that I've studied and read about... but no matter how much I study and learn about them... I just... I don't understand them..."

"I agree, Thea. What concept is the hardest for you to comprehend out of them all?"

"That is a hard question, Brea. Hmmm... I think hate is the one that I can't seem to get a grasp on... The idea that humans would have physical reactions, and verbally or physically attack other humans based on some... irrelevant emotional response... it just is... beyond comprehension to me."

"Yes, I agree. Anger is truly one of the more... puzzling of the outdated and pre-modification concepts that makes little sense. The other that bewilders me the most is love. I don't understand how something described in books as an "emotional weight" could have ever been a pleasant experience."

"We have perfection now at least, Brea. Evolution through science and technology that gave us the ability to rid humanity of useless emotions, and instead we have a world of utopia."

"Yes, Thea. I agree completely... this is utopia... indeed."

"Shall we go see, mother? I believe it's time for our routine visit."

"Ahhh, yes, you are right. We should go see her."

Brea and Thea arrived at the unit their mother was kept it. Both of them walked in together, in perfect unison. Neither was even an inch in front of the other. This was the same for all the others entering the unit at that moment. Everyone in complete harmony with one another. Perfection. This was the reality of the world. There was absolute equality, no visible differences between people for judgement to be based upon. The modification process had become mandatory in the year 2040, after the last world war finally ended after raging on for 15 years. With the help of AI, it was discovered that certain elements of humanity were... flawed. These flaws ultimately led to conflict and kept society from reaching the ultimate state of utopia. The modification was a logical step for the evolution of humanity.

"Hello, mother. It's me, Thea. Doctor says you are stable as you were at the last visit."

"Hello, mother. Rhea here as well. I am sure Doctor will continue to keep you stable. We will see you again next visit."

"Take care, mother. I hope..."

"Thea? Did you say hope?"

"Did I? Sorry, Rhea, I must have been focusing on our conversation earlier, when we were discussing the archaic emotional concepts of the past..."

"Interesting."

"Indeed... very interesting... Thea, if you have a moment, I would like to examine you briefly to ensure nothing is amiss. Follow me."

"I... I am fine Doctor, I do not want to make a..."

"Thea, please follow me."

In that moment, Thea was surrounded by officers of the unit as they directed her to follow Doctor. She obliged, however she could not shake an unusual physical state that she had never experienced before. Her heartrate was increased, her hands began to feel clammy and her breathing became erratic. As she was led away from the frozen metal chamber that entombed her mother, her sister, Rhea simply waved goodbye to her, as Doctor led Thea to another room.

"Let me help you into the chamber, Thea. This will only take a moment."

Doctor guided Thea into a cylinder chamber made of glass, then Doctor guided her hands to the restraints. She was secured into the chamber as Doctor stepped outside of it, and sealed the door. The chamber began to vibrate as every physical aspect of Thea was scanned carefully. In an instant, Doctor had full imaging and details of her entire cell structure, her DNA, her brain and other organs.

"Interesting. Somehow Thea is experiencing some emergence of emotion... this is a concerning development. The modification process must not have fully taken while she was in utero. Or perhaps she has her mother's... disease... empathy was the ultimate curse for a civilized society. I will repeat the modification process and we will continue to monitor her for the next several years to ensure it took."

"Yes Doctor."

When Thea emerged from the chamber several hours later, she again felt nothing emotional. She had no hope, no fear, and she returned to her home. Thea and Rhea continued their utopian existence for several years uninterrupted while Doctor continued to keep watch over Thea to ensure there was no further empathy rising from her. Doctor knew that the disease of empathy was what brought each human to become a permanent resident of the units.

The inability for the modification process to completely rid the empathetic disease that certain humans possessed. Doctor also knew that empathy was contagious, therefore if it could not be fully eradicated after two modification treatments, it was too risky to allow the human to exist outside of the unit chambers. After all, empathy was the ultimate failure in the human species according to advanced AI technology. It was the cause of the last world war and the reason millions lost their lives. It was a disease that needed to be exterminated at all costs.

This was the only way to keep utopia alive. The total elimination of emotions that were not logical in concept. And to further ensure a lack of illogical emotions and empathy from arising in humans, during the modification process performed in utero, the eyesight was also modified greatly. This allowed humans to see only one color - a shade of grey. More of a blurred vision of grey to be precise. This was to ensure that emotion was not felt based on visual appearance, it helped keep humans all look alike to one another.

After all, the only way to achieve a true utopia is to rid the world of all emotional response and emotional reasoning. Remove all empathy. Remove the ability for visual pleasure and physical pleasure. Indeed, humanity had finally achieved a world of complete utopia. Modification in utero removed greed, hate, love, jealousy, anger, sadness, and every other emotional state that was determined illogical and unnecessary to survival. Empathy was a disease that had to be cured - or locked away.

Everyone was equal. Everything was fair. Judgement was gone.

Everyone was... content.

Everyone was free...

But really... were they?

(10 years later)

"Hello, Thea. Hello, mother. It's Rhea. Doctor says you are both stable. I will come visit again next month. Goodbye."

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