Random Developments

No, I won’t talk about Dean.

A long time ago, I had a cool idea (at least I thought it was cool) and started writing a sci-fi story. I wrote a few paragraphs and promptly forgot about it. The story was called “Election Day”, hence the title of this entry.

Now, I found it again, but I really don’t have the time (or the inspiration) to continue it. So, I’ll post it as-is, so that at least maybe someone else will see it and tell me what they think of it.

If you want to read it, click on the link below and check it out. Bear in mind that it is incomplete and very unpolished (that is, it could use an editor). If you do read it, leave a comment telling me what you think of it.

Election Day

Opening his eyes was not the easiest thing to do, but he managed to do so anyway. He felt like he had slept for ages and, at the same time, hadn’t slept enough. There was too much light in his bedroom, and that probably meant that he was late for work. Again. His dreams had a way of coming true in the worst possible way.

On second thought, that didn’t seem like his bedroom. Or his bed, for that matter; this one looked more like a gurney, of the kind he had seen on TV shows about hospitals. Actually, this didn’t look like any room he had ever been in. It was completely empty, with featureless walls and a fully lighted ceiling. The only things in the room, besides himself and his (”or someone else’s”) bed was a second bed, from where a naked woman was looking at him. And, coming to think of it, he was naked as well.

“Who are you?”, she asked.
“I´m Michael. Who are you? And where are we?”
“Julie. As for where we are, it looks like a hospital. Where you also at the concert?”
“Concert? What concert? No, I was driving to work, I was late… maybe I hit a truck?”
“You look very well for someone who was in a traffic accident. I was at a concert, I thought there was an explosion, but I don’t feel hurt either.”
“Well, we must be here for some reason. I blacked-out, don’t remember anything… How long have you been up? Did you see any doctors?”
“Not really. I’ve tried calling, but no one answered. And I couldn’t find a door. Or anything else, not even a light switch. If it’s a hospital, it sure is a strange one.”
“Not even your clothes?”
“Well, if I had found’em, I’d be wearing them, trust me. I had no intention of showing around to you or anyone.”

At this moment, part of the wall before them disappeared and a man walked in. He was not dressed like a doctor or a hospital worker, but with a leather jacket, boots and a hat. And he looked amazingly like… well, like Harrison Ford.

“Julie, Michael, welcome. Sorry about the method by which you were brought here, but it was the easiest one for all concerned, considering the situation. You’ll understand as soon as I finish explaining everything to you.”
“Who are you ?”
“First of all, let me assure you that I am not the person you think I am. Neither you are where you think you are. Trust me, you are absolutely safe here, and will be returned to your homes as soon as possible.”
“You can’t keep me here against my will!”, Julie started. “Whoever you are, I have rights, and I demand to know why I’m being kept here, and I want to go home now. And I want my clothes back!”
“I’m afraid that´s not possible right now. The quickest way for you to go home is to let me explain why you are here. This will only take a few minutes. Should I proceed?”
“Yes”, answered Michael, before Julie had a chance to say anything. “Please, go on.”
“Very well. First, about your location. We are now in what you’d call a spaceship, stationed just outside your solar system. You were brought here from Earth just a few hours ago; you were unconscious during the trip as a precaution, because you might be understandably scared…”
“Bullshit. Come on, where’s the camera ?”
“There is no camera. Well, there is, but not the kind you mean. You’re not on a TV show. Come on, who’d put two naked people against their will in a TV show? Have you though of the liability? The sexual harassment charges? Not even Fox would do that.”
“Good point. Prove we’re in space, then.”
“I’m afraid that´s a little hard to do. I might take you to a window, but you’d argue it was just a TV screen. So, short of taking you outside, there’s little I can do to prove to you that you are in space.”
“So, take us outside.”
“Sorry, against the rules. And we have no space suits that’d fit you. We don’t actually look like you on normal days.”
“How come you look like Harrison Ford?”
“We had to pick a form that’d look familiar and non-threatening to both of you. This looked like a safe bet. Can I continue? Trust me, you´ll understand everything when I finish”.
“Ok, go ahead. No use complaining…”.
“Very well then. Well, you two are here to participate in an election. You were selected to represent your planet in a universal election where every technologically advanced civilization is required to participate. Your civilization is what we call “technological but isolated”, that is, you have the means to contact other civilizations but have not yet done so. In this case, you still get to vote, but you can’t be voted; also, you don’t get to pick your representatives; they are selected by a special comission.”
“And why us?”
“For a few reasons. First, each planet sends one representative of each sex from each civilization that lives in the planet. In most cases, like yours, that means two individuals. We have planets with as many as five and as few as one representative.”
“Five sexes?!?”
“Yes. Some beings are very strange indeed. Throughout the universe, two sexes is the more usual situation, but it is by no means the only one.”
“So planets with more sexes get more votes?”
“No. Votes are weighed so that each planet counts for exactly one vote; in this way, species with more sexes do not get an unfair advantage. This means that each of your votes counts for 50% of a vote.
The other reasons why you, specifically, were selected: you were both educated in technology- or science-related fields; you both have what you call “open minds”, so you were more likely to accept strange situations and function normally. You both are not parents. You are not related to each other. You are physically and mentally sane. And, from within the pool of individuals who share all these requisites, you were randomly selected.”
“No attention to ethnical background?”
“No. You are only one species, ethnical background does not enter the equation. Still, some of the rules tend towards selecting white people from what you’d call developed countries. This in no way represents an ethnical preference.”
“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what is it that we’ll be voting for ?”
“I’m glad you asked. You´ll be helping to select the next god.”
“Come again?”
“This election will select the individual who will take over the position of controller of the universe for the next 64,000 of your years. This is the individual whose position matches your concept of “god”. Allow me to make it clear that this does not mean that he is the mythical “god” of your religions. He is not, I repeat, not the god of any of your religions. His responsibilities do not include medling with day-to-day affairs of any species.”
“What does he do, then?”
“It’s a position very similar to that of the mayor of a big city. He, well, takes care of the universe, makes sure it works nicely, guarantees that all laws are good and are followed… this kind of things.”
“I though the universe basically ran itself.”
“It does, but there are a few rough spots here or there that make it not so good. For example, some laws of physics are still works in progress. When you see the candidates’ platforms you’ll know what I mean.”
“What, you mean the laws of physics might change?”
“Yes, definitely. Some of them are just crazy. Do you know anything about quantum mechanics? That stuff is absurd. You can’t know where a particle is and how fast it’s moving at the same time? Who thought of that? Can you imagine a driver saying “we´re doing 65, I just don´t know where we are”? And the speed limit of 186,000 miles per second? Sure, there are ways around it, and it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it´s just too slow. The universe has grown too much. And don’t get me started on that “particle-wave duality”.”
“Aren’t some of these things pretty basic ? I mean, doesn’t a lot change if you change that ?”
“Yes, probably. But that’s the job of whoever gets elected: making a workable universe without the constraints it currently has, and without destroying anything too important.”
“And how does he do it? I mean, if there are beings out there who can change the universe, why don’t they just do it?”
“Well, you see, there aren’t “beings” out there who can do it. There is only one. When his time is up, he transfers his powers to whoever is elected, and this one is the new one. 64,000 years later, the same process happens.”
“And where do these powers come from? Who started this process?”
“Very good question. One for each I don’t have an answer, unfortunately.”