♥ English Compo - Science Fiction
Earthsong continuation
The door hissed open as Joe checked his spacesuit, while anna peered into his pants. She was shocked and was surprised that Joe was holding onto something huge, hairy and very stinky. She widened her eyes, reaching for it in unnerving excitement. She prodded and squeezed it with caution, not knowing how it would react.
The mutated creature came to life, struggling violently in her grip. Finally it broke her grip and switched to a defensive position. The creature had silky and soft hair. It was smooth to the touch. Suddenly, a gap in its face opened and out spat a tongue that was equally hairy. The tongue licked her face. Anna was disgusted.
“Joe! What is this?”
“I don’t know,” said Joe, embarrassed that it had crawled into his pants secretly, “Perhaps we can ask Walter.”
“Who the heck called my name!” Cried a voice from nowhere.
“Walter…? Is that you?” Anna breathed.
“Yeah of course! What’s your problem now huh? You wanna fight?” The not-as-sophisticated Walter shouted rudely.
“Oh no, I think he has undergone too much heat and has thus changed his personality.” Joe concluded.
The creature wriggled in Anna’s hands, clearly, Anna had forgotten about it.
“Hey, Walter, do you think you know what is this, or are you too stupid to know anything?” Anna provoked Walter.
The incensed Walter quickly replied, “This creature contains the genes of the ancient animals, a frog and a monkey. It can also be called the Mog, and if you say I’m stupid another time, you’re gonna get it from me!”
Anna was not listening, she was examining the Mog in her hands.
“Wow! A rare species indeed! Let us find more of this and bring the news back to Titan!” She cried in triumph.
“Hey! Are you even listening?” Walter said in a huffed voice.
-Weiixen and Melvin
~~~
Parallel Dimensions
This diary entry was one of the few found by the archeologists in the northern America on 4th September 2000. Accompanying it were a few old and tattered photographs. Scientists are currently trying to find a logical explanation for them as they are closely related to the paranormal.
4th September, 1300
Dear diary,
What does it feel like? I don’t know. I swear I’m sane but sometimes it’s pretty unbelievable. It feels so wrong. You sense that the flower vase had been shifted but it doesn’t seem like it. You feel that the window has been opened and closed again, and the degree of the closed edge doesn’t feel the same anymore. Something is wrong, yet everyone is smiling.
To start with, people seldom believe in parallel dimensioning. Wait, scratch that. Nobody. Nobody ever believes in that, but it’s a fact. In a split second, the building you are in, transforms into something – yes, it’s a something and not a building anymore – which looks exactly like it. Okay, not exactly. Some things change, like how the intricate patterns on the wall change into something similar.
Sometimes it feels like déjà vu. Have you ever done something and for one splitting second, you feel as if you had done it before, somewhere somehow? Or just as you wanted to say something, you forget it and no matter how hard you try, it can’t be recalled. That’s how it feels like, for that very second. The building you are in, the world you are living in, has transformed. It’s like cause and effect.
Nobody knows why it happens. It’s near duplicate, but not exactly the same. To put it scientifically, these dimensions overlap into our dimensions without much people knowing. There’s no way to prove it, that it actually exists, but I know it does. Someday, if I’ve gotten lucky, it will bring me to the future. To prove it to you.
Aloysius L. Stone
-Wei Xuan, Celeste and Gigi
~~~
When Earth Was Destroyed
After They landed down on Earth, nothing was in sight and dry ground was everywhere. In The North, There was a blizzard storm, in the east was a raging thunderstorm, south was a massive hurricane and west lies a tragic heat wave.
They Were Traveling on a space car with weather free protection, equipped with a radar to look out for living species. Their Journey Continued to different parts of the Earth And Then They Discovered Many Hectic creatures in different parts of the Earth.
In the north, There Were Flesh eating wind , when the wind blows past you , Nothing will be left except your bones. It Was Really Deadly.
In The East, They Found mini thunder insects. The electricity given out by the insects could last a light bulb for at least a million year , just a gentle tap on the insect and the only thing we can say is “ Bye”.
In The South, They met a griffin which feeds on anything. Just A Flap Of its wings, a hurricane came and blew everything away even though they were in a space car with a weather free protection, they were still almost blown away.
In The West, There Was A black dragon which threaten to eat them up. Fortunately, their space car has weapons which were able to stop the dragon the flames it has was of temperature way higher than what any living things can withstand.
Then, they continued their journey and the found a black hole, they got sucked into the black hole and was brought to an unknown land.
It was a land which have ever changing climate which changes every 30 minutes or so. They saw climate changing creatures. When its cold , the animals would have big foot and when it becomes hot, their body turns into a creature that absorbs water from the surrounding to keep their body wet.
They continued walking through the land and discovered a one feet building which had 0.1mm of creatures living in it. They walked in and saw a 10 meters big micro- organism.
They Reached the “ final pit stop “ and they stood on it. Traveling at light speed,
they then were transported back to the time when Earth was Destroyed in ten seconds. They saw the cause of destruction. It was the scientist who planted a planet bomb in order to recreate Earth. After seeing that , they were determined to recreate Earth Again.
- Lennell and Edmund
~~~
Earthsong
When they reached the Earth, they were amazed by the view of it. There were huge trees over 700m tall and giant insects that had never been seen before such as ants which were the size of a tennis ball. Apart from these, nice, beautiful and bright stars which could not be seen in the 21st century were clearly shown in the quiet and peaceful night.
“What the hell! I cannot believe my eyes, how can trees be so tall and insects be so big. This is totally unexpected” said Joe. “Yeah, I agree with you,” Anna exclaimed, amazed by the sight of the wonderful things. “BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!” Anna and Joe’s suit started flashing. “That must be Walter calling for us. We have to get back to the ship.” Anna said.
“But I thought he was broken?” replied Joe. “I don’t think so. Anyway, let’s just get back to the ship.”Anna told Joe.
“And as you see, although Earth’s climate has been healed, I can’t believe that there were still drastic changes to the planet’s appearance. Take a look at this.” Walter began scanning Earth with its electromagnetic rays and a picture appeared in the screen.
Earth’s continents and oceans have changed drastically. There were only two continents, and the oceans have completely merged. Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, the picture is not clear and has a lot of black patches on it. “What!?” Anna and Joe screamed. Walter explained to them that the blackness is caused by the strong magnetic fields in the area. 80% of the map was completely different from the map in the twentieth century.
“So, I guess we’re in the sea if we were here centuries ago?” Joe exclaimed, trying to make a joke. Nobody laughed, “We have to find out what is going on in the middle of the Earth, it looks so weird even though it is the sea,” Anna said. Joe and Anna changed into their adventuring suits and start their adventure to the sea.
After a few days, they finally came to the shore of the sea. “Erm, how do we travel on the sea, we don’t have any boats and our food supply is low.”Joe asked. “Just go across Red line!” said someone.
Joe and Anna turned around and saw a half-human half-plant creature talking to them.
They were twice the size of normal humans.
“Aaahh!” Anna screamed. Joe stood there, simply shocked. More of the creatures came to them. “Are they human?” one of them asked. “Y…yes…” Joe said, frightened. “Ah…yes. It’s been a long time since I was a human…I think about a few centuries” said one of the creatures. “Really?” Anna said. A conversation begun and they found out that those creatures they met were actually Plantoids and they have been living here for centuries ago. Plantoids were formed when the drastic climate change happened, and plants leeched themselves onto humans to survive. Humans provides the plants food through the food they eat and the plants provide the humans water by absorbing water from the ground and the formation of plantoids begun.
Due to the weird DNA of the plantoids, they managed to survive through the drastic changes of the environments till now. They also found out that apart from Plantoids, there were still other creatures, such as Mermaids, Rocktoids, and probably even HUMANS still living on the Earth even though everyone was thought to be transported to Titan.
The plantoids took Anna and Joe to their home. It was a tree as tall as 1km. “Wow, the tree’s so tall,” exclaimed Anna and Joe. One of the plantoids pulled a piece of bark and they entered the tree. The inside was completely different from the outside. The tree was made up of lots of vines going up and down. There were ledges for stalls and homes made of wood. There were also abandoned buildings from the twentieth century which had been taken over by the plantoids and used as their headquarters.
Helpful as the plantoids were, they helped Joe and Anna build a ship and gave them some fruits and vegetables for their ship’s food supply. They also taught Joe and Anna how to travel across the Red line, which was the name of the sea. At first, Joe wanted to name their ship “Grand Merry” but, Anna wanted to name it “Going Lily”. After much discussion and a few arguments, they decided to name the ship “Going Merry”.
One of the plantoids decided to join them as part of their crew as he is good in fixing the ship, and together, they set off to get across the Red line.
They travelled and travelled and travelled. Occasionally, Vine, the plantoid, will catch some fish which they cook and ate. They were happy. After a few days of travelling, the needle of Anna’s compass swung wildly and soon, they were caught in a storm. “It’s the strong magnetic fields in the area.” said Vine. Joe tried to steer the boat and Anna and Vine kept hold of the sail. Rain was beating down on their ship and lightning struck all around them. It was the most dangerous storm they ever encountered since they left Titan.
Suddenly, Joe sighted land and shouted, “Land ho!” They landed on the small island and what they saw gave them a shock.
“People! Humans!” Anna shouted in delight. There were still people living on Earth! Humans did not die out! Joe too was excited of seeing people that had survived on Earth. Some people turned around and spotted Anna and Joe. “Humans from Titan? They came back for us? We’re saved!”someone shouted. People started crowding around both of them and bombarded them with questions until they were too tired to speak anymore.
Then, a person with a large hat and bottles of beer hanging around his belt came forward and said, “This is Whisky Peak, children, first island on the Grand Line. Enjoy your stay! And could you please tell me about Titan? I’m the chief here.”
Joe and Anna told them about Titan and the reason they came to Earth. “Oh, I see…, you came to Earth to gather information about what once destroyed Earth. So, you need a navigator to help guide your way across the sea, I have a recommendations for you but it is not going to be an easy task to persuade her, she lives 2 km away from you and is an expert in navigation. Her name is Nico and is an extremely stubborn person. To persuade her to join you, it would be almost impossible” said the chief. “Nothing is impossible, we have to try first” said Joe. Together, Joe, Anna, Vine and the chief went to visit Nico.
“Finally…” said Joe, exhausted from all the walking,” I didn’t know she lived so far…”
The rest agreed. Anna walked up to the door and knocked it. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. “Hello, is anybody at home??” shouted Anna. There seemed to be a voice and Nico opened the door. “Yes, how may I help you?” Anna wanted to tell them why they were here but Joe suddenly spoke, “Hey girl, you’d better come and join us as a navigator as you made us walk 2km just to reach your home.” Anna and Vine stood there shocked, angry about Joe’s impulsiveness and they expected Nico to slam the door on his face. But instead, Nico asked them, “You want to find out what’s destroyed the Earth? Then you have to travel to the last island. Goodbye.” After saying that, Nico closed the door lightly. “How do we persuade her, it’s hard.” said Vine in a deep voice. Anna decided to ask her again. “Hey Nico, could you be our navigator and guide us to the last island?” They heard a voice, “NO!”
“Please?”
“I said, NO!”
“I’ll give you whatever we find during our journey, okay?”
“Really?”
“Yes, yes.”
Nico opened the door and asked one last question, “Promise?” Anna shook her hand and said yes. “Yay! We’ve got a navigator!” shouted Joe and he danced around with Vine.
Soon after going back into the village, they met the chief. He asked Nico whether is she going with them. She said yes. The chief then said,” Good luck! Hope you solve the mystery soon!” Joe, Anna and Vine got on the ship and with their new crew member, Nico, they set off to the next island…
“Did you get a lockpost?” asked Nico, travelling on the ship. “What’s that?” Anna replied. Nico told them that it was a special kind of compass that can work in strong magnetic fields and it would me impossible to navigate without it. “Oh, no! We didn’t get one.”Joe replied. Their adventure has just begun……
-Jia Wei and Yik Siong
~~~
Untitled
It was the year 2342, and the world had obtained perfection. Perfection, which came in the form of metallic implants and artificially intelligent chips.
20 years ago, a scientist by the name of Eric Richards decided to harness the power of neuro-technology to develop what he believed would be the start of a new era of cosmetic technology. By combining years of experience in the fields of nano-technology and countless experiments, Eric had finally manufactured the world’s first line of neuro-implants.
These shiny metallic chips, each about the size of your thumbnail, had the ability to enhance your body’s physical abilities. Surgically implanted directly onto the nerves and muscles of the limbs, it could make a person faster than a cheetah, have unrivaled might, or even push their IQ up by the hundreds. It gave the users power over their bodies that they never knew could exist.
Yet, such power came with a heavy price. To enhance a person’s abilities, the chips had to connect directly to the brain, something that required an extremely complex codex of binary code to be sent to every neuron in the brain. To support such task, the chips were created using artificial intelligence, providing each chip with the equivalent of a supercomputer’s power.
The sole side effect was something of top secret in the government. Though amazing, the chips’ artificial intelligence (AI) caused something of a short circuit in the user’s original intelligence, slowing down and sometimes completely shutting off the parts of the brain not required for physical movement. Basically put, it stole the users’ ability to think for themselves, as the price for the power it provided.
Ashley watched silently as wave after wave of people entered the ominous grey building, oblivious to the cruelty that radiated from its very core. Each time she saw parents happily bringing their child in, wonder and curiosity flashing in the infant’s eyes, Ashley wanted to rip the poor kid out of their arms and save it from the horrors the building held. But she could only watch, watch as the parents willingly lead their own flesh and blood into the lion’s den, into the deep bowels of the cursed Chip Implanting clinic.
Ashley was only ten years old then. It was the time where they had made it compulsory for every single human being to have at least the basic chips inserted into them such as a tracking chip to make it easier for the police. It was during a school check up that she had a tracking chip injected into her. She tried to protest but to no avail. When her parents heard of it, they immediately brought her home.
That was when they began teaching her that trying to become perfect through technology was not the correct way. They told her their wish of making the world realize what they have been doing in order to be perfect were not right. However, soon after, they were labeled as traitors and were assassinated—right in front of Ashley’s eyes.
Ashley’s eyes started to water. She shook her head, reminding herself that it was not the time to be crying. She had a mission to do, a mission to make things right, just like what her parents had wanted ten years ago. She managed to pull herself together and began to walk towards a tall and large building.
There was a major event at the building which was broadcasted world wide. Ashley had planned to make use of this chance to accomplish her mission. She blended into the crowd entering the building and immediately scanned the area for guards and cameras.
The president would make his speech at 1p.m. She checked her watch every now and then. She had 10 minutes left. Time was ticking. She had to hurry. Ashley crept along the corridor. She slipped backstage and spotted the president, where he was surrounded by guards, getting ready for his speech.
It took all of 30 seconds to subdue the guards. Their bulky frames were more bark than bite, and by the time they heard Ashley behind them, it was too late. She ambushed the platoon two guards at a time, her calloused fingers digging straight into their exposed jugular and crushing their windpipes. The sudden lack of oxygen screwed the chips’ wiring, and soon the floor was littered with the unmoving bodies of the guards. Ashley felt no remorse as she rounded on the frightened president, grabbing him by his scrawny neck. His reedy face turned blue with the lack of oxygen, and Ashley slammed him against the concrete wall, knocking him into what she hoped would be oblivion.
She dragged the unconscious guards and president to one corner and tied them together using a thick rope. She heard the bell for everyone to be silent and knew it was time. Calming herself down, Ashley walked out onto the stage, ready to face the surprised crowd and to make a speech that she hoped would change the world.
“I know that you are all now very shocked at my appearance but please do not panic, I do not intend to do any harm to anyone,” she said, trying to calm them down. Thankfully, the zombie-like guards were too busy guarding the building to realize the change of speakers.
“I want to tell you of something my parents told me when I was young and when they were still alive,” she began, “they told me that in this world, people are born imperfect and that is the way it should be. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and trying to become perfect through technology is just not right.” The crowd began to become unsettled, they had become accustomed to living under orders, yet this strange woman spoke of something else?
“If everyone were to become perfect suddenly, there would be no need for a lot of things such as cosmetics and others. People will begin to be more like robots than humans. Its like technology is taking over—is that what you want?”
At that moment, the crowd fell silent. Their faces betrayed no emotion, but in their minds, a small part of them understood what she meant. Their will to live was not really there anymore. They were nearly perfect, there was nothing else they wanted to do, and they felt empty.
Ashley’s speech was taking effect, but the world seemed against her. Someone had alerted the guards of the intruder and immediately, they barged into the building—ready to terminate the unknown girl.
The sound of footsteps charging at her did not come as a shock to Ashley. She never planned to escape, having known all along this would be her dying act. One of the guards leapt gracefully onto the stage, his murderous intent flashing in his blank eyes. He removed a small Taser gun from his belt, ready to send a fatal electric shock into his target. As Ashley felt the gun stab her in the chest, a resigned smile crept onto her weary features. Just before her heart gave in, Ashley wondered: “So this is what death feels like…”
The crowd gasped in horror as her lifeless body fell, their humanity slowly regaining control over the robotic chip’s influence. The guards swiftly removed her carcass from the stage, sending the martyr’s remains to the furnace. Ashley’s speech had awoken something in all of them, sparking their humanity back. Eric Richards ended up out casted by the very people he used, condemned to be hated forever, just like his technology.
Ashley was never mentioned was a hero nor as a traitor, her name forgotten by the world too busy to remember. Yet, deep down, everyone was grateful to the mysterious girl who saved the world and their humanity, even if she had to die.
-Claudia, Michelle Lim, Rachelle Low, Shireen Sam
And so, goodbye @ 11:16 AM
