Ashton Cirius, “Untitled”

UNTITLED

Ashton Cirius

My name is Jacob Adams. The year is 3025, and now that the world is almost over, I might as well tell you how we all got here . . . This all started a year ago today. The year was 3024. It was a sunny day in Atlanta, GA. Now that the world was full of high-tech gadgets, I wanted to make a life-changing piece of technology. After many trials of figuring out what I wanted to create, it finally came to my head: a tablet that gives you anything you draw! Of course, the device was going to have limitations; it wouldn’t be able to create living things or food. Five months later and I was nowhere close to being finished. After many tries of the project failing, and hours of smelling burning wiring, I realized that I could not complete this alone, but interviewing people to help with a job that feels damn near impossible is very challenging. The day of the interviews only six people showed up, which wasn’t surprising but very unmotivating. All interviews started with the same question: “Why would you be useful to this project?” The first guy said, “I don’t know, I just want to be a part of the project.” I was already thinking in my mind, Decline. Every other person had around the same answer about just wanting to be a part of the project. I was ready to give up on everything until one guy came in, Jayden Rich. I asked him the same question, “Why would you be useful to this project?” “Because I have two PhDs, one in technology and the other in engineering.” To be fair, the answer wasn’t amazing, but comparing it to everything the others said, he won by miles. Now, in month six, we were still not close to being finished, but we were closer than before. The design was 12 inches wide and

15 inches long. While going into the laboratory, I saw Jayden Rich working on the project when he was not supposed to come in that day. When he saw me, he was frightened, saying, “What are you doing here?” I replied back, “I can ask you the same thing.” “I came in today just to get extra work in.” It seemed a bit suspicious that he would come in without telling me, but I just brushed it off not thinking anything else of it. That might have been the biggest mistake I’ve ever made now looking back. The next day I came back and saw all of my material, designs, and hard work just GONE, like it just VANISHED. What I did see next was weird and unexpected, a note from Jayden reading, “Hi Jacob, By now you’ve realized that all OUR work was taken, and yes, it was me who took it. I just couldn’t keep watching you not making this device to its full extent. Why only create non-living things when you can create living things with the help of artificial DNA? Bye for now from your former work partner, Jayden.” In frustration and anger, I destroyed everything left in the lab, just the smell of burning wiring and smoke so thick you could barely see. At this point, I gave up. It got so bad that I didn’t do anything for two WHOLE months until I heard it. A loud BOOM. I look outside the window and see a FREAKING dinosaur. Piles of rubbish follow it with every step. I already know how this happened, but I would have never expected Jayden to do something like this. Now realizing this might be the last thing I can do. I remember that I had built a GPS into the device. When I reach the location where the device is, what I see is horrible. Jayden’s DEAD BODY, blood everywhere, but the damage is already done. Giant creatures are now roaming the earth.

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