INVASION: Wildest Game

Ch, 2: Flashback

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 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.

I get up and smile, knowing that today is going to be a good day.

"Good morning, Alexa! The sun is up, and a brand-new day awaits you! I've checked everything and your home is secure, and the temperature is set just right. Would you like me to play your morning playlist or update you on today's schedule?" The voice assistant in my room greets me with a personalized message.

"No, thanks!" I replied.

While doing stretching, she tells me the weather, the news, and insisted my schedule for the day. She also reminds me to take my health pill, which monitors my vital signs and adjusts the dosage accordingly.

This helpful voice assistant in my room is supposed to improve my health and functionality, according to my parents. But I feel like it's unnecessary, no matter how beneficial it is.

I don't want to depend on technology all the time to be organized and self-disciplined.

Anyways, it's time to start preparing for school.

I step into the shower and I strip off my clothes. I turn on the faucet and adjusted its temperature.

I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation of the warm water cascading over my body.

After showering, I get dressed, and then I head down the kitchen for breakfast.

This is the routine of my weekdays.

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 get to see Mom in her little most precious garden before leaving.

"I'm leaving, Mom!" I said and kissed 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?"

"Sure, Mom! Bye!"

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, 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, "Hello, Alexa! Where to?" It asks. I tell it my destination and sit back.

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.

Next, I walk to the library where I usually stay to read or write a novel.

When I arrived 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 my mood 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. In whatever generations, traffic will always be there. Air traffic was just a meme before and now it's real. That's what my parents told me. They don't have air and underwater passages. How boring right?" 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 med 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. It's kinda boring."

"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?" and then followed by a sarcasm.

"You're welcome," I respond with a gawky smile.

As soon as I gave her an idea, she begins creating another Powerpoint 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.

"Are you done?" I ask because I don't want her to stop what she's doing.

"Nope, but I'm all ears. Spill it. What's bothering you?"

"You have a swimming practice later, right?" I pout to make my request more appealing.

She's the school representative for the swimming competition, so she can get the validation to be excused from her second class today.

"What about it?" She keeps typing on her laptop.

With my pouty lips and silent words, she understood what I really want to convey without directly saying it.

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. I don't have financial crisis within the family, but I want to be independent from my dad. But don't worry, I'll ask my cousin to come with you later to the cafeteria. After the practice, I'll pick you up for dinner. All on me!" Only if we are in a different world, would it be a good deal. No other people could make me feel comfortable but her.

But I admit. I was too selfish to stop her from advancing her career.

After all I just nodded in response 'coz I have no choice, and then I get back to the book I was reading.

The time we spent together was just as smooth as jelly. We didn't talk even a bit after that conversation because we were too focused in our own stuff.

I spent my last hour reading half of the book I brought with me. It is the 'The You Beyond You' by Ramzi Najjar.

After an hour and a half minutes, we go to our respective classes. We separate ways right after we step out of the library.

Alone in the hallway, I stroll until I'm close to my destination.

As I hear footsteps approaching from the other side of the corridor, I quicken my pace, suspecting they might be my classmates. Hastening to our classroom, I reach my seat situated at the back corner of the room.

Fortunately, my classmates aren't among the students who consistently bother me, yet they exhibit a lack of concern for my presence. While they maintain academic discipline within the class, they engage in activities that violate school rules outside.

Moments ago, Prof. De Vera stepped into the classroom, holding a book and a sleek smart tablet in his one hand.

He strode toward the teacher's table at the front, offering a warm greeting. "Good morning, class!"

We all responded in unison.

"Where did we leave off yesterday?" he asked while arranging his materials on the table.

"Types of Civilization, Professor," Keesha promptly answered. As our Class President, she never hesitates to participate.

"Ah, right! Thanks, Ms. Smith."

Keesha is undoubtedly Prof. De Vera's favorite student. She's the most engaged in class—deservedly so. While he acknowledges her enthusiasm, he remains fair to everyone. That's a good shot of him.

A wide holographic screen emerges from the teacher's table, syncing seamlessly with his tablet. With a quick tap, he launches an animation on civilizations, and we watch as a 3D visualization of our lesson comes to life.

And then he started lecturing.

"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, Earth 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 in the day." 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, it turned into a virtual reality without a gear.

I can see stars, the sun with millions of small sphere-shaped device around it, and some planets.

This is amazing!

Virtual Reality is my most liked advanced technology feature of all, so far.

Prof. De Vera continued lecturing, "But now, Galactic Federation 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 in space, virtual reality that we are using right now, and even transcend the physical limitations of our bodies and minds, which none from this planet got to have the 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 running."

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 and open an argument.