The Cage of Tomorrow

The blinding white light of the sun and the untouched, swirling snow snapped Apollo out of his negative thoughts. The room was atop of the massive facility, overlooking pristine mountains as far as the eye could see. Facing the door was a single, massive, curved window covering half of the circular room. The remaining walls, ceiling, and floor was all dark wood, giving the room a feeling of a cabin in the sky. The furniture was built for comfort and held enough spots for every individual in the facility.

Apollo and Hayes took a seat at a glass table by the center of the window, both melting into their chairs and leaning back in a subconscious effort to ease the nerves of their shared reality.

“So why am I wrong?” asked Apollo.

“Huh?”

“You said I was wrong about pursuing a less extreme option, I want to hear your

explanation,” said Apollo as he straightened his back and leaned forward, “Tell me why the whole world being put to sleep for a century is the answer.”

“There’s two ways to answer your request. The first is looking at the basic nature of all sentient life. Let me ask you this, Apollo, what happens to a caged animal?”

“I’m not sure what you...” Apollo started.

“We put an animal in a cage because we fear its behavior; we want to tame the aggressive nature of the beast. But what happens when that animal escapes or is released? More often than not, the life that comes out is even worse than the life that went in. More aggressive, fearful, paranoid, and worst of all, more unpredictable. The cage is a temporary fix to address our need to punish certain behaviors, but it only makes the situation worse when the cage is finally broken or removed.”

“I would hardly say limiting areas for people to live is a cage,” Apollo replied, “Plus that was just an idea off the top of my head.”

“You’re missing the bigger point. A cage isn’t always physical; in fact, the most destructive cages are mental. You can lock yourself in a cage that doesn’t even exist.” Apollo turned toward the mountains in a contemplative trance, guessing where

Hayes would go with his argument.

“You see Apollo, our society has developed in such a way that any attempt at

changing behavior is perceived as a cage. Humanity has become accustomed to dominating the environment and bending nature to fit any desire. Technology has raised the status quo to such a high level, individuals expect to get what they want and if they don’t, they lash out at the world and take any means necessary to fulfill their desire.”

“So you’re saying humanity doesn’t have the ability to change?” Apollo asked with a twisted face of disapproval, “And if you ask me, the machine is the most literal representation of a cage I can imagine.”

“Of course humanity has the ability to change, but it refuses to go backward. Humanity needs to grow, expand, and progress toward something greater. Humanity is selfish and that’s why we’re in the current situation. We still lack an understanding of the true definition of progress.”

“And the machine will create that understanding?” Apollo asked, finding himself increasingly critical of Hayes.

“Maybe, maybe not. I don’t disagree the machine is a temporary cage, but it manages the status quo to which we’ve become accustomed. The propaganda comparing the simulation to heaven and portraying it as a stepping-stone for long-term survival of a civilization was used specifically to combat the feeling of being caged up. In a way, it’s the only strategy to put ourselves and the planet first at the same time; we continue to live a life of consumption and nature is left alone to heal.”

“I’m still not buying your stance on the destructiveness of the cage. My best--” Apollo started.

“Here, let me show you something,” Hayes said as he stood and grabbed Apollo’s arm, “I think it’ll make more sense in a second.”

Hayes led Apollo to a door in the back corner of the room, again holding his hand open to invite Apollo to enter. As Apollo walked thru the door, Hayes slammed it shut, leaving him in the dark closet.

Apollo’s heart stopped for a brief second before lunging at the steel door and pounding once with a hard fist. Apollo knew what Hayes was trying to prove and he wasn’t about to let it happen, so he took a seat on the floor and remained silent.

Apollo focused on a response to Hayes’ words, confident in his ability to deconstruct his argument; this time in the cage will be beneficial. After several minutes, Apollo’s mind began to wander, wondering how long he would be in the dark or if Hayes was playing nice all along just to get him locked away. Several more minutes passed and Apollo found himself fantasizing about smashing his captor’s nose with a jab and putting him in a chokehold until he begged for mercy, apologizing for his mistake. He could feel his body warm and feet begin to sweat. Mid-fantasy, a click caused Apollo to leap to his feet and a huge ray of light filled the closet. Apollo maintained his composure and walked out with a smile.

“So, how was it?” Hayes asked with a grin and a light caress of Apollo’s back. “Just fine,” Apollo responded, “Wasn’t bad at all.”

“Yeah because it was ten minutes, but what if I left you in there for an hour, a

day, or a whole week?” asked Hayes, “Would you still be fine and organizing your thoughts toward progress?”

“Surely.”

Title: The Cage of Tomorrow

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Range: 14-Up

Word Count: Short Story=15,000 words/Longer work=100,000

Author: CeeOh

The Cage of Tomorrow revolves around the entirety of the human civilization hooking up to a digitilized existence to preserve the planet. Apollo, an intruder, breaks into the facility as the process is set to begin, meeting the scientists in charge of monitoring the operation. Over the course of the day, accompanied by several unforseen circumstances, Apollo inches closer to the crew and his own beliefs about humanity.

The target audience includes fans of dystopian futures, digitalized existence, and narrative heavy writing. On a broader scale, readers interested in a slower moving, philosophical science fiction.

I write under a pen name, but I'm 29 and located in Iowa. I attended Grinnell College and for most of my life I've only written academic papers while reading as little as humanly possible. *Enter pandemic* ...*Discover Star Trek*... Now I'm obsessed with science fiction/short stories and read as much as possible, because well, every piece I read seems brand new. I'm still plowing through the world of classic science fiction, so my writing is pretty limited to that slow style. I play basketball for a couple hours everyday and love summer almost as much as I hate winter. I'm shy and keep to myself as much as possible.