Strike 2

Day 297

I have lied down beneath the surface for so long. My mind longs for human interaction and my heart longs to feel love again. Daily, I must remind my brain why I have sheltered myself away from my very own species. Although responsible for the downfall, I ran and chose to hide. Every night I struggle not to go outside and be dealt with as I rightfully deserve. But it seems as though the creator of the outbreak is the only one capable of stopping it.

Have you ever heard of the phrase, "Every decision has a consequence?" Over my lifetime I studied complex technology until one day on August 21, 2052, I changed the world. I created a technology to further the ability of the common man. In the power chain of the universe, a man rests at the bottom, men cannot do nature's simple tasks such as producing oxygen or forcing the sun into the sky every morning. Before my invention, mankind had no control over three fundamental forces: nature, time, and mortality. Now, only two remain beyond our grasp.

I created a way for men to control their lifestyles and write their own stories. I created a chamber, this invention regenerates cells at an excessive rate, allowing your body to stay perfectly healthy for as long as necessary. With this invention, mankind was finally in control of their lifespan, every man. No matter the damage done, their body could be completely dismembered and my younger self created a way for the cells to pull the poor soul back together as if nothing had ever happened.

At first, I intended to use my invention to help victims of violence, with souls that died for no reason at all. To give younger ones who died another strike at life. Surprisingly my chambers were simple and inexpensive to make. As soon as I was shown a dollar sign, my righteous side was thrown out and replaced by soul-tearing greed.

I remember the first time I revived a human, it was a girl, she was shot during a store robbery. Her lifeless body was carefully placed in the chamber and I felt a sharp pain as I pressed activate. My mind raced with possibilities that this wouldn't work and that this mother would never get her girl back. My fears were silenced and locked away forever when within seconds I saw her chest rise and fall and could hear her heartbeat again. The mother sprang towards the chamber to hold her daughter in her arms again, joyful shouts were heard from down the hall and heartfelt tears rolled down her cheek when she thanked me for "bringing her Nena" back to her again. From then on, I continued the production of my chambers, and I felt like a superhero.

I had created a way for mankind to be practically invincible. As long as the body was regenerated 72 hours after death, it could be repaired back to its original state. Although we were still incapable of breaking the second power, the constant existence of time, it stopped the effect of time on the human body. Humans were now capable of finding life again after death, to abuse the powers of nature and tease death itself knowing they were untouchable. I single-handedly redefined humans as creatures not afraid of any outcome, no longer controlled by the fear of death or their clock stopping before they were finished.

But like I previously said, everything has a consequence, some good and some bad. It didn't take long for me to find mine.

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Day 302

Talking about the chaos occurring outside brings me great despair and sorrow. To recall our race at the top of its art, turning something made with righteous intent wicked. To question how long it will be before we can again find peace and escape the horror we have become. Man against man, father against son, and no sign of any saving authority. We changed the rules and put them in our favor and in doing so we abandoned any right to a saviour. Now we are left with front-row tickets to the end of all mankind. Life to man seems to be infinite but if our race turns fully away from any good we will be destroyed.

For those at the end of their seats, I find it only fair to discuss the downfalls of immortality. I do this for any hope in the future, as our technology expands, things marked impossible are now considered mere puzzles we haven’t figured out yet. When one day a man, driven by grief creates a machine to turn back the years and erase this whole thing, I find it only fair for you to consider what did go wrong.

As I previously discussed, my intention of the chamber was to rejuvenate victims of violence who were killed for no apparent reason just as caught in the crossfire or those robbed and died in the process. My intention was also to help those who died at birth either child or mother. The machine was only for the person to use once, to be given another shot, and to move forward. As soon as I was convinced that we should sell the chambers I agreed only for other hospitals and medical centers. My partner had gone behind my back and as soon as I figured it out I wanted to shut the whole process down, that is until he told me how much we could make, how much I could make.

Immediately, chambers were getting shipped worldwide, and people in poverty were saving every last dime for the chambers. Even people who couldn't find a reason to live saved up for the opportunity to live forever. Anyone in the world had an opportunity to live forever, those who didn't buy one themselves could rent one at nearby gyms and stores. The damage was done and was irreversible, over a few weeks I realized why before my chambers being immortal was something out of our control, and there was a good reason why.

The ability to experience any amount of harm and then have one of your buddies throw you in a tank and bring you back to life is a power that to humans means that not only are we no longer afraid of death but we can die doing whatever we desire and come back tomorrow morning.

Two weeks after the chambers hit the market, crime exploded. Death was no longer permanent—just an inconvenience. Wars raged endlessly, gang disputes left streets littered with bodies, only for families to drag them to the nearest chamber the next morning. Even suicide lost its consequence; people threw themselves into death just to ‘experience’ it, knowing they’d return by sunrise. Life had a price tag—$2,500 to rent survival, $15,000 to own it forever. Morality crumbled, and with it, our humanity.

Armies were made, unafraid, wars seemed to see no end. A major fight would break out and the next day you would see the remainder of the soldiers dragging the bodies off of the battlefield to restore all the fallen soldiers. Fights occurred and instead of bringing peace, it separated our nation further pushing our nation into poverty. Overpopulation occurred and many were killed and their bodies trapped for over five days to ensure they were to never come back. The rulers call it “hitting the reset button,” it typically happens to women and children and only men are left to live. Friends could no longer be trusted, families were torn by grief. Those who were no longer capable of saving their family members' lives trembled at the outbreak of murder. Not daring enough to even go to the store, simple actions were far too dangerous and for them, there was nowhere for them to run to. With my chambers I created a reality opposite of my intentions, I killed more innocent souls than revived them, I made it harder to kill off serious threats, and worst of all in our capitalist country, only the rich were able to survive and afford to do so.

Like I said I am responsible for this downfall and for the rest of my life no matter how long it may be, I have to live with that weight upon my shoulders.

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Day 45

I never realized the outbreak would be this bad, Lord what have I done? I have created this metal safehouse 23 meters below the surface. At first, it was hard to live in, it was hard to tell any time of the day. I stored enough food cubes for at least a decade although with my grief I don't know if I will live that long. Each food cube keeps you fed for the entirety of the day. I have a small selection of books, I suppose I may have to read some twice, and the last thing besides the furniture and appliances is my laptop and equipment.

I figure that if I were able to create a tool for humans to be immortal, I could create a machine that can turn back time and erase the wretched decisions I have made. So far I have only spent a few weeks on a prototype but signs show it's not going to work. I figured I was only destined to make one huge scientific breakthrough in my lifetime.

Although it could be the middle of the day, I think I'm going to go to bed…

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Day 366

It's officially a new year. As my way of celebrating, I am going to step outside for the first time in a year…whatever happens, I will ensure this is my last entry log. I can't do this anymore, being immortal sucks! I am going to die, I am going to go to the afterlife.

Before I do I have created a successful machine that can turn back time…. only once. I have made a package that will include my name, the date my chamber was created, my location during that time, why this should never be attempted again, and my journal log. I will turn in the package one year before my chamber is released to ensure I have not created it yet. I have delivered the package successfully to a close friend I can rely on to terminate my and erase these years from the history book.

If you are reading this… please learn from my mistakes..please.