INVASION: Wildest Game

Alexa's POV I feel a gentle warmth on my face. I sense the sunlight filtering through my eyelids, painting the world in soft hues of orange and pink. I stretch my arms and legs, feeling the cozy comfort of my bed. I smile, knowing that today is going to be a good day. I open my eyes and see the sun shining through the window, filling the room with its golden glow. I breathe in deeply, feeling grateful for this moment. The voice assistant in my room greets me with a personalized message. She tells me the weather, the news, and my schedule for the day. She also reminds me to take my health pill, which monitors my vital signs and adjusts the dosage accordingly. A helpful voice assistant in my room is supposed to improve my health and functionality, according to my parents. But I feel like it’s not really necessary, no matter how beneficial it is. I don’t want to depend on technology all the time to be organized and self-disciplined. I get off of bed and start my morning routine. I strip off my clothes and step into the shower. I turn on the faucet and adjusted its temperature. I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation of the warm water cascading over my body. It helps me reduce stress and get more relaxed. After showering, I get dressed, and then I head down to the kitchen for my breakfast. This is how I start my day. I like to arrive at school early, two hours before class. It’s quiet and peaceful because the bullies are always late. I can also enjoy the fresh vibe of the morning time. I go to see her in Mom in her little most precious garden. “I’m leaving, Mom!” I say and then I kiss her on the cheeks. “Your Dad won’t be home tonight, so he can’t pick you up later! Make sure you go with Cassy, okay?” Mom tells me. “Okay, Mom! Thanks! Bye!” I answer. I happily step out of our house and blink at the bright sunlight, ready to face whatever challenges lie ahead. I adjust my wristwatch and scan the street. It’s a typical day in the year 2047, full of high-tech wonders. I see flying cars zooming past, holographic billboards advertising the latest gadgets, and flying drones and droids delivering packages. I smile and wave at my neighbor who is walking his dog. He nods and taps his earpiece, probably taking a call. I walk to the nearest pod station and hop into a self-driving vehicle. It recognizes me and greets me by name. “Where to?” it asks. I tell it my destination and sit back. I wonder what else the future has in store for me. High-tech devices have taken over the natural beauty of the environment. I wish things were different, but I guess I can only adapt. There's still beauty in this era that's worth my appreciation. Virtual Reality!! I arrive at the school gate and scan my ID card. The security system welcomes me and opens the gate. I walk to the library where I usually stay to read or write a novel. When I get to my usual spot, I'm surprised when I see Cassandra got it there first, sitting at a table with a holographic screen in front of her. She waves at me and smiles. Her smile never failed to influence me so I smiled back. “Hey, you're early today,” I say 'coz she's usually late. “I know, right? I wanted to avoid the traffic and the crowds. I heard from the news that there will be heavy traffic today.” She says. I sit next to her and take out my books while Cass is using her smart tablet. She taps it and it syncs with the holographic screen. She can now access any book, article, or video she wants from the library’s database. “So, what are you working on today?” I ask. “I have to finish a project in technology class.” She says while looking for references from the database. “How’s that going?” “Well, I have a lot of information, but I need to organize it and make it interesting.” “Maybe you can use some interactive graphics or animations,” I suggest while looking at the draft presentation she made. It really is boring from my perspective. Good thing she's aware of it so I don't have to point it out. “That sounds cool!” She says with a giggly tone. "Coming from someone who's not much for technology, huh?" "You're welcome," I respond with a smile. I'm always glad to help her as she helped me boost my confidence and make me feel special ever since we met. As soon as I gave her an idea, she begins making another presentation so she could finish it before the first class of the day, starts. I try not to disturb her but I really want to ask her something. "I can see your reflection on the dark part of my laptop screen. What’s with your face? Hmmm… You don’t look like yourself.” I really can’t keep any secrets from her. She always notices everything about me. That's why I really love this friend of mine. "Are you done?" I asked, maintaining my anxious face. "Nope, but I'm all ears. Spill it. What's bothering you?" "You have a swimming practice later, right?" I pout to make it more appealing for her to grant my request. She's the school representative in the swimming competition, so she can get the validation to be excused from her first class today. She will be excused from her second class as she has swimming practice later. "What about it?" She keeps typing on her laptop. With my pouty lips and silent words, she understood what I really want to convey. She sighed, "I can't skip my practice today. I might lose my sponsorships because all of the managers will be there to see me rehearse. But don't worry, I'll ask my friend to come with you later to the cafeteria. After the practice, I'll pick you up for dinner. All on me!" Only if we were in a different world, would it be a good deal. But I admit that I was too selfish there to stop her from advancing her career. I just nodded in response and then I get back to the book I was reading. While Cass is working on her project presentation silently, I used my last hour to read half of the book bring with me. It is the ‘The You Beyond You' by Ramzi Najjar. The time we're spending together is just as smooth as jelly. We didn’t talk even a bit because we were focused on our task at that time. After spending our spare time, we go to our respective classes. We separate ways right after we step out of the library. I am now walking in the hallway and when I'm near enough to my destination, I run to our classroom as I hear footsteps on the other side of the corridor. I guess they are my classmate and then I get to my seat at the back corner of the room. Seeing them entering the room one by one makes me think they are good students. They acted like innocent and perfect students in class, though I admit, they're academically disciplined. However, when they were out of the class, they would do things that broke the school rules. A few minutes later, Prof. De Vera enters the classroom, holding a book and a thin smart tablet in his hands. He walks towards the teacher's table in front of the center and greeted, "Good morning, class!" Everyone greeted back, including me. "Where did we left off yesterday?" He asked while organizing his things on the table. "Types of Civilization, Prof. De Vera." Keesha seriously said. She is our Class President. "Oh, right! Thanks, Ms. Smith." And also Prof. De Vera's favorite student. Well, Keesha is the most active student in his class. He has a reason, but he's never unfair. That's a good shot of him. A whole wide holographic screen appears from the teacher's table in front. It syncs with his smart tablet and shows us the lessons for today. He taps on an animation file about civilizations and we watch a 3D animation of our lesson. *** "A type 2 civilization on Earth is a hypothetical stage of human development in which humans can harness the energy emitted by the sun, which is about 4 x 10 raised to the 26th power watts, and control the climate of the whole planet. This concept was proposed by Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev in 1964, who classified civilizations based on their energy consumption. According to the Kardashev scale, a type 1 civilization can use the energy available on a planet, a type 2 civilization can use the energy of a star, and a type 3 civilization can use the energy of a galaxy. Before, humans are considered to be a type 0.7 civilization, as we have not yet achieved global cooperation and sustainable use of our resources, and the fact that humans were still far beyond their current technological capabilities and ethical implications back then." Prof. De Vera stated, along with the smooth transitions of the animation every time he moves it with his fingers. He placed his 5 fingers on the holographic screen and zoom it out towards our direction. From a holographic screen turned into a virtual reality. I can see stars, the sun with a huge sphere-shaped device around it, and some planets. This is amazing! Virtual Reality is my most liked advanced technology feature of all. "But now, Galactic Federations helped us by building a Dyson sphere, a swarm collector of the sun that could collect and transmit solar energy to Earth and other planets. It collects jazzillion times of energy from the sun in just one second, which is more than the Earth has produced in all of history combined. In our current state now, we would have access to a vast amount of energy and resources, which enable us to create advanced technologies that are beyond our imagination. For example, a type 2 civilization could manipulate matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic levels, create artificial intelligence and nanotechnologies, travel faster than light and explore other star systems, virtual reality that we are using right now, and even transcend the physical limitations of our bodies and minds which none from this planet is having signs of this ability yet. Accessing and gaining this type of advancement would take up to million years for humans, but because of Galactic Federation, we only did it for 20 years." Prof. De Vera continued. I know, the information is quite overwhelming. But that's how it should be discussed. I've never been confident when it comes to sharing my thoughts in front of the whole class, but I have something to say that urged me to raise my hand.