Technology Fiction

Thin Rectangular Boxes

A dystopian horror comedy

Langston placed a fresh log on the fire then sat back down in his comfortable chair. Pulling his pocket watch out of his vest pocket he checked the time. Chester had been gone now for an hour and a half. Looking at the empty seat in the time machine, Langston figured that Chester would be coming back from the future soon.

Langston took a sip of brandy then crossed his legs. He then opened a box on his desk, pulling out a match. Putting a fresh cigar in his mouth, he struck the match on the bottom of his boot then lit the cigar. Taking a deep drag of smoke, he then blew out the smoke in a wavy circle. He watched the circle of smoke move across the air of the dimly lit room until it finally dissipated.

It was the late 1890s and Langston had big plans for the impending new century. He intended to become rich and famous and become known as the greatest inventor of the twentieth century. Everyone would eventually know his name and books would be written about him. People would call him the smartest man on Earth.

Perhaps then he could afford better brandy. Chuckling at his own thoughts, he took another sip of brandy and blew another smoke ring.

In his own mind Langston already considered himself the smartest inventor of them all. After all, he was the first man to build a time machine that actually worked. But the time machine was a secret, in fact it was his secret weapon. He had no plans to divulge the existence of his working time machine. Instead he would use the time machine to go into the future and steal ideas for inventions that had not yet been invented in Langston’s time. The future was full of new ideas waiting to be stolen.

Looking at the empty seat in the time machine he began drumming his fingers on the top of his desk. This was Chester’s third trip into the future and he had never stayed so long before. Surely he would be back soon.

It was Langston’s fear of traveling into the future and not being able to come back that led him to send someone else into the future first before Langston himself went there. Chester was his guinea pig. He had sworn him to secrecy.

One function of his time machine that Langston had not yet perfected was being able to go to a specific date in the future. So far the time machine only had a decade setting. On Chester’s first trip into the future the dial was set for five decades forward. Having landed in the year 1944, which was 46 years in the future, it became obvious that the decade setting was close but not exact.

Upon Chester’s return there was much celebration over the fact that the time machine worked. Chester was able to go into the future and return safely.

But after Chester recounted everything he saw in 1944 the celebration came to a screeching halt. He told of a horrific global war that was consuming humankind. Everyone was fighting each other with powerful and frightening weapons — even weapons that flew through the sky. People were dying everywhere. It was obvious that the world was coming to a catastrophic end.

Langston’s hope for a century of fame and fortune for himself was deflated. What good was fame and fortune if the world was only going to come to a bloody end?

So it became imperative that Langston send Chester even further into the future to see if humankind survived. On Chester’s second trip the dial was set for eight decades.

Chester ended up in 1985 and upon his return reported that not only did humankind survive but seemed to have grown and thrived. It was a time of relative peace and prosperity. Society had shifted and was now based solely on rampant unrestrained consumerism. And there were countless new gadgets and inventions.

Langston was thrilled at the news.

Chester talked about global communication; how people could pick up something called a telephone and talk to other people on the other side of the planet. When it came to transportation no one used horses anymore but rather drove around in brightly colored horseless carriages at great speed. People also traveled through the air in giant winged vehicles. The main human activity seemed to be shopping. And everyone owned something called a TV, a box that showed moving pictures — stories and news and sporting events.

Chester went on to remark about how oddly people dressed and how most people went to colorful square buildings where food was cooked at incredible speeds. They would not even get out of their horseless carriages to go in to get the food. They simply drove to the side of the building and their food was handed to them through a little window.

Chester also mentioned that there was a relatively new invention that was coming to every home; something called a computer. Although he had not seen one he heard people talking about this new device and how it would change everything.

Chester also mentioned that humans had built a spaceship and traveled to the moon and back.

Langston was fascinated and took careful notes of everything Chester described. He was especially intrigued by that newfangled computer device. He quickly scheduled another trip into the future for Chester; this time setting the decade dial to the setting of twelve decades.

Langston once again checked his pocket watch. Chester had been gone for two hours. Pouring some more brandy, Langston began worrying. What if Chester did not come back? What if he came back but to the wrong time? How would he explain Chester’s disappearance? What if twelve decades into the future was too far? What if humankind had died out before then?

Suddenly the air in the room changed. Looking at the empty seat in the time machine, Langston saw Chester’s image slowly begin to take form. After a couple of minutes Chester was fully present.

Langston rushed over to the time machine and helped Chester out of it, leading him to a plush chair next to his desk. He then poured Chester a brandy then sat down in his own chair. Picking up his notepad and a pencil, Langston took a sip of brandy then spoke, “So tell me everything, Chester. First, what year did you end up in?”

“It was 2019.”

“Ah, that is good news. Apparently, humankind does survive into the 2,000s. Was everything ultra futuristic?”

“Yes, in some ways. There was one thing I noticed that seemed to have changed all life.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, it’s a bizarre new invention. It’s a small, thin, rectangular box that can fit into one’s hand. Every human has one and they are almost always holding it. On the top of the thin box is a screen that has either text or moving pictures on it.”

“Are there wires coming out of the box?”

“No, not at all. That’s the weird part. You can carry these little boxes anywhere. As I was walking down the street every single human I saw had one of these thin rectangular boxes in one hand. They either held the boxes to their heads and talked into them or they just held it in their hand running their finger over it. It’s kind of like a tiny TV but I’m told it’s some kind of computer. People seem totally oblivious of everything around them because all their attention is on these devices. It’s really odd.”

“So what are these boxes connected to if there are no wires?”

“Well, I don’t know how they are connected but it must be through the air. Apparently, the boxes are connected to some master control organization or something. The devices can be used to connect to any other human on the planet and to news and TV. Apparently, one can speak into the box and ask any question about anything and then the box provides an answer.”

“But who controls the answers?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s the companies that send the signals to the boxes. It’s weird but in that future people don’t do much of their own thinking. These boxes do most of their thinking for them.”

“So who ever controls the information going through these boxes controls the people.”

“Yes, it’s very scary. It’s like all humans have given up control of their own lives and turned it over to these boxes and who ever controls the boxes. You know what is weird?”

“It all sounds weird.”

“Yes, well while I was there I went into a restaurant. Going into a tavern in our time one is met with plenty of conversation, sometimes boisterous — and smoke. Going into a restaurant in 2019 one is met with stone cold silence. All that can be heard is the clinking of silverware on plates. Everyone is eating with one hand while looking into their boxes in the other hand. No one is looking at each other or speaking to one another. It’s like a bunch of robots with no human interaction. “

“Oh my. These thin rectangular boxes seem to have taken over everyone’s lives. Humans don’t seem human anymore. They are like controlled robots. Who ever invented these magical boxes must be filthy rich. And… they must have complete authoritarian control over the population.”

“Like I said, it is very scary. I’m glad I won’t live long enough to be in a world like that.”

Langston was scratching his chin as he smiled, “So that is how to become the most powerful man in the world; to have complete control over all other humans. I’ve got to get hold of one of these boxes so that I can reverse engineer it. I will be the inventor of these boxes long before anyone else builds them. I will become the most powerful man in the world!”

Chester was dumbstruck.

“Chester we are going to do another journey into the future. Except this time I will be the one going. I will keep the decade dial where it is so I can go to the very year you just came back from. I want to see this with my own eyes… and I want to bring one of these thin rectangular boxes back with me!”

It was with reluctance that Chester sat at Langston’s desk the next day while Langston prepared to travel to the future. Chester did not like what he saw in 2019. He did not want to live in a world where the entire human population was controlled by some magic device that they willingly held on to at all times. It seemed that people in that future time were being hypnotized by those devices into giving up their personal sovereignty and living in a made up world while woefully oblivious of the real world around them. Chester was not keen on the idea of Langston bringing that technology back to 1898.

Langston took three long deep breaths then smiled. He was about to go to the future and bring back an amazing device. All he had to do was figure out how it worked and he would become the wealthiest and most powerful man on the planet. Leaning forward, he pushed the start button on the time machine. He then slowly began to disappear into thin air.

Four hours later Langston still had not come back from the future. Chester was growing increasingly bored. He had looked over Langston’s drawings and notes, he had almost finished a bottle of his brandy, and he had smoked a few cigars. He was seriously considering going home. He was getting sleepy.

But he decided to wait for another half hour. He poured himself another brandy and lit another cigar. Halfway through that cigar he dozed off. The lit cigar slipped through his fingers and landed in the wastepaper basket sitting on the floor next to the desk.

Chester abruptly awoke a few minutes later to realize that a raging fire was burning in the wastepaper basket — and it had spread to the desk. Jumping out of the chair he began to panic. The fire was spreading rapidly to the rug under the chair and across the many papers atop the desk.

Langston would surely fire him for being so careless. Chester stood there motionless wondering what to do. The fire was growing far too rapidly for him to put out. He would have to go out to the well for water and he had only one small bucket. As he vacillated back and forth in his mind he remained motionless.

Finally, Chester turned and left the building, running home as fast as he could. Luckily, no one saw him leave the building.

It did not take long for the building to burn to the ground. All of Langston’s many notes and drawings went up in smoke — and so did the time machine! Langston never became rich and famous and no books were ever written about him. As an inventor he had only one successful invention and now that one invention, as well as the plans on how it was made, were gone forever.

The time machine was destroyed by the fire…

… and because of this Langston was unable to return from the future.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. Thanks for reading.

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