The Proposed Prophecies

“Miss Liv, you have a visitor.”

Liv’s eyes opened wide. The loud voice of the nurse pulled her out of sleep and back to reality. Her blue pupils immediately narrowed and her eyes blinked in desperation to adjust to the excessive brightness of the room. Despite the past few months spent at the nursing home, it was a continuous struggle to get used to the bright lights on the ceiling and the overwhelming whiteness of the walls in her room - walls that always appeared empty and cold. To her this place felt as if it was some sort of parallel world of lightness: white walls, white floor, white furniture. Everything was white… A machine to her left was making a beeping sound, monitoring her heart beat through a wireless sensor. It made her hate each second of being awake even more. All she wanted was to finally die and to leave her old, aching body in peace.

Her breathing was still heavy as a result of suddenly because pulled out of a dream but it was slowly regaining regularity. She looked to her right and spotted the diary written by her grandfather, the very last one written by Jason Johansson. She had read it thousands of times on the white nightstand. Her black framed glasses lay on top of it. They always reminded her of the writer she once was. She slowly sit up but each movement came with the price of the pain as her aging body couldn’t keep its balance and strength like it once used to. Even the easiest task such as pulling the sheets closer to her chest, involved a huge amount of effort. She sighed loudly as she glanced at the frail lines on her hands, reminding her that she was only young in her dreams and nightmares, as it was the only way she could keep them apart from the reality.

“You have a visitor.” The tall blond nurse named Carly repeated her words.

“I have a visitor?” she asked, and glanced at Carly who remained in a firm position at the glass entry door with her hands behind her back and a polite smile, as always.

It had been months since she’d had any visitors other than people trying to force her to take the injection to give her body the lost youth and energy everyone was obsessing about. The desperation for the fluid came as a result of the need to preserve the beauty and strength to keep up with the modern century, and people had become despondent and idiotic as the decades passed by, in pursuit of this.

“Yes Miss Liv… Katie Barnett, the reporter. Remember? She arrived to interview you for the 100th anniversary of the official start of the Proposal Project.” The words “the Proposal Project” gave her goose bumps underneath her white hospital gown, all across her ancient body. Even after a hundred years, she still felt the pain and the anguish of the six step process to restore the damaged human society and the days spent in the bunker with lack of food and natural light.

“I am not interested.” Liv was instantly exasperated as she slowly lifted her fatigued body higher up on her bed. Since she had stopped taking her injections, every move was now excruciatingly difficult.

2118 was nearly one hundred years since the depopulation started and yet it only felt like it was yesterday that Liv had signed the promise to become the leader she needed to be in order to help to save and restore the human race and to reestablish life on earth.

“Miss Johansson? I am working on a book about the Proposal Project and I was hoping you can tell me more about it. Perhaps you can share your story with me”. A young woman appearing in her early twenties entered the room with the kind of voice that suggested a determination that she would get answers for her questions. Despite Liv’s miserable life leaving her with characteristic features hardly wanting anyone to stick around her, there was something about Katie that reminded her of her old self, the person she had been – and lost - decades ago. Katie stood at the glass door, breathing heavily as if she had just ran a marathon. She had a purple plastic backpack in her hand that brought a bit of color into the room and contrasted strongly against her white clothes. She passed by Carly, who shook her head. Carly knew that Liv did not want any visitors and had ordered the young woman to wait outside until permission was granted for entry. Katie was clearly someone who was impatient for this interview.

Liv tried to focus her vision on Katie’s blurry face but her vision felt weak without her glasses and she eventually gave up and sighed.

“I said I am not interested in giving an interview,” Liv said calmly after a longer pause. “Plus, you have all the resources available to read about me and my history. Your chip has an option to read any book you need, just like everyone else. Why do you need to speak to me in person?”

“Actually, I don’t need to use my chip, I know how to read and I have read all your books already. I am here because your books appear plain and cold and I think there is more hiding behind the official history you have written about. There is something missing and that something is your personal story. I am not here to hear about specific dates and facts. I am here to understand the person behind these books, rather than what they represent.” She spoke quickly, loud, barely breathing in-between, as if she didn’t want to be interrupted. The young woman pulled some old, first edition books written by Liv out of her backpack. Liv hated every single one of them, despite the fact she had authored them herself. They were a constant reminder that she had contributed to the biggest lie about historic events in the history of mankind, and a reminder of all those desperate days she had had to spend writing in the bunker.

“So. How do you know how to read?” Liv asked, as she attempted again to try and gain a clearer view of Katie’s physical features. But all she could manage was to legitimate the brown color of Katie’s hair, which was held in a long ponytail. She could also work out that Katie was avoiding an eye contact most of the time. It made her seem embarrassed or possibly even angry. Liv could also just about make out her clothes, which were vaguely military in style, and white. They blurred into Katie’s snow white skin.

In 2118 no one was able to read or write any longer. There was no need for these skills when the contact lens device implanted in each individual’s eyes was capable of reading or writing anything. The special lenses used a small chip device with a wide memory space connected to each person’s brain through tiny vessels that managed to capture each word and store the information into a specific folder, to be accessed whenever needed. The device was easily controlled by the brain, voice and even thoughts of each owner. It was the basis of the artificial intelligence used every day and the habitants of Earth were no longer required to think for themselves.

The device also enabled anyone to read a book in any language, and reach any level of hearing. Everyone possessed this device. The lenses were free and everyone was required to have them implanted at the age of three, when it was believed that the human brain started to form long term memories.

No one ever questioned the device or knew why the lenses were so easily available. No one that is, except Liv and the crew of technology engineers who realized it was the only way to ensure that everyone remained under control, even if it meant creating a generation who did not know how to think for themselves without the special device; a generation who was so easily manipulated once the desire to educate oneself became history. And it worked, the world was peaceful once no one questioned anything anymore and no one worried about being right or wrong. The new generation had the exact same information given to each of them every day. Each person was essentially the same, no one person had a stronger voice than the other.

Yet, here was Katie; a woman who knew how to read, and was ready to put effort into writing a book that could easily have been written by artificial intelligence instead. She also appeared to be prepared to question things Liv had said in her books, things that no one had ever questioned before.

Liv was amazed. It had been ages since she had even know someone who was able to read or write, other than her team of researchers and some military guards.

“Yes, I taught myself to read and write,” said Katie, smiling proudly.

Liv reached for her glasses on the nightstand but her frail hand let them slip and they fell onto the ground. The young woman stepped closer. She cautiously picked up the glasses and glanced at them with an amused expression. No one used glasses anymore, any health imperfections an individual could have, such as problems with sight, hearing, even issues such as headaches, were resolved by the injections taken each year. Problems such as this had been forgotten. Once Liv started refusing the injections, she was reminded about all the small struggles in life and was forced to use the glasses she had kept all those years. They acted as a reminder of who she used to be before she was the one in charge and her mind became preoccupied with coming up with the ways to keep the world in peace and to avoid the mistakes of the past that led people into wars and fights. The glasses were the only reminder of the writer she used to be once upon a time, before she even knew about the Alters and the Proposal given to them.

“I have never seen real reading glasses before. I mean, I have seen pictures of them on the net, but not in real life.” Katie handed them to Liv, who put them on. She took a more constructive look at Katie, who had the deepest set of brown eyes. They reminded Liv of a man she used to know years ago. He also had the deepest brown eyes she had ever seen. Liv sighed. She felt tired just thinking about how to explain the past, a past that she tried so hard to forget.

“What do you need to know?” Liv said quietly, her voice deep and sad.

“The truth.” The young woman pulled the white chair from the corner of the room. It was used only by the nurse at rehabilitation time. She sat it next to Liv’s bed.

“I want to know everything from the very beginning. I know there is more hiding behind the words of your books. Please, Miss Liv, I would be honored to carry on your story; the real one.”

Liv shook her head in resignation and reminded herself privately that all those days she was forced to rewrite history, she promised herself she would get the truth out. And here it was… her chance to fulfill the promise given to her old self. It might be the only chance she had before her soul leaves her body for good.

“Alright then, but you won’t interrupt me while I talk, do you understand?”

Katie smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgement.

“Do me a favor and grab the box laying on the floor in my closet.” Liv instructed her to get the paper brown box she had not opened for a long time, not even when she moved into the nursing home five months ago. She smiled as Katie passed the box to her. Liv opened it and spotted her old handwritten diaries. She handed one to Katie. The front hard cover used to be black with some white ornaments on it, but the time had changed the color to a light gray with faded yellow. The handwriting was mostly faded but still somehow legible. Katie took it and opened it carefully, as it was so dilapidated, it looked as if it was about to fall to pieces. She slid her fingers along the first page as if she was trying to touch the words of the writing. She didn’t look at Liv, and instead stared at the first page, but it didn’t look to Liv like she was reading, instead she looked thoughtful.

“When the other civilization, also known as the Alters, arrived on Earth, why did they chose you?” Katie said suddenly, as if she had wasted far too much time thinking.

“I have always felt different to everyone else…and to a point I was. Maybe that’s why I was the Chosen One. My life changed from the moment I arrived in Miami.”