i am the author

Disclaimer:

I am Maria, and I am the “author”. However, do not misunderstand. I do not create the story, I merely tell it. Science has come to a point where we can calculate and predict every single human action, movement, thought, etc. They call this type of math the ‘Magic Eight Ball Method’, named after the famed toy that was popular in the 21st century. This science has been protested by many, and we understand your concerns. Some may have said that we are playing ‘god’. Some have said that they feel a lack of privacy. However, I hope you understand that this is for the greater advancement of humans and to change how our history books are written. From every perspective. 

My assigned human was Henry [last name redacted for privacy purposes]. He had already gone through 3 Authors and had just turned 24 when I took on the role to be his Author. I was the same age. I had just finished the Author Master’s Program. When you just start out at this job, they only give you one person to be a scribe for. They don’t want you to be overwhelmed, when you get good, they just might give you more. The more people you write about, the more you are paid. My goal is 100 people, but it seems impossible right now. When you get good, you can predict years of a person’s life in advance. I can only do an hour to maybe a day at the moment, but I’ll improve. They say practice makes perfect. I did wonder when I was assigned Henry why he had gone through 3 Authors already. I assumed that they had retired early. However, I soon realized that wasn’t the case, it was the assignment that was the problem. 

Henry [last name redacted for privacy purposes] - Day 8761 Predictions:

Today Henry chose not to comb his hair, he didn’t put a hat over it either. He just let the curly mess fall over his eyes as they always did as he grabbed  his knapsack and ran out the door. As always, he was late. He found it to be a miracle that he hadn’t been fired yet. He was an accountant (yes even with the current advancements in technology he chose an outdated job that would soon be replaced by robots). 

He was a kind soul, loved by his co-workers even though he had just joined a few weeks ago. He asked out a beautiful woman who was 2 years older than him, and they went out for lunch together. On day 8761, Henry went  home with his blue knapsack slung over his shoulder and no longer single. 

This was the start to the problems. I was reprimanded by my boss. It was small inaccuracies, to which my co-workers assured me were bound to happen. He went to work the next day with straightened and gelled back hair. He didn’t ask out the beautiful woman who was 2 years older. I must have forgotten to carry a 2. 

Henry [last name redacted for privacy purposes] - Day 8762 Predictions:

Today Henry gelled back his hair, but didn’t straighten those brown curls. He wanted to give his hair a break, two days of heat on hair in a row would damage his hair. There was some action at work today. Their office was robbed of some very important documents and he stubbed his toe trying to hide under the table. When he let out a yelp, the beautiful woman seemed to be turned off, while he was embarrassed. He has lost his chances with the beautiful woman and he went home head hung down. It was a bad day. 

The problem got worse today. I got my first strike, in this job, three strikes and you're out of the game. Everything was different. Even my co-workers couldn’t say anything about my mistakes. I graduated at the top of my class. Valedictorian. Most people could only predict minutes ahead straight out of graduate school, while I could do a whole day. Henry went to work with straightened hair under a beanie. Not very good for his hair in my opinion. He stood up to them. He was stupid enough to stand up to the robbers. He was shot in the arm by those new-fangled laser guns, but he saved the documents and now he’s the hero of the company. The beautiful woman now has a crush on him. There’s no way I could be this wrong. Yet somehow, I envied and was excited by the unpredictability of it all.

Henry [last name redacted for privacy purposes] - Day 8763 Predictions:

Today Henry got a visit from the government police on his day off because Maria had reported him. Her pride was hurt, so she blamed this on him as an anomaly. He willingly went with them. 

I had not yet gotten any flack about day 8763, so hopefully I had gotten this right. Deep down I hoped that I hadn't. I started to type away on my computer about day 8764 when I heard a familiar voice,

“Hello Maria.”

Maria [last name redacted for privacy purposes] - Day 8800 Predictions:

Maria started her day with braiding her straight black hair, and put on some makeup before heading off to work. She took her teleporter to work and was there in a matter of seconds. She was fairly worried because she had done poorly on her first two days of work. She vowed to herself that today would be the day. She was going to get it right. She had started to type on her computer when she was disturbed by Henry.

“Hello Maria,” he said. 

She swiveled around in her chair in shock. There was her assignment, messy and curly brown hair covered in a beanie. It was a combination she had not seen before. 

“You,” she began, “You are not supposed to be here!”

Her head swiveled around to see what her office thought of this trespasser. No one seemed to even notice this curly haired man. She quickly grabbed a pencil from her drawer and pointed it at Henry,

“Don’t come any closer.”

“Oh, you still own one of those?” he asks as he inches closer.

She gasps and closes her eyes as she thrusts it forward. Maria thought she would feel blood, or some kind of warmth, but it felt more like she was stabbing the air. She opens one eye and sees that her hand has passed through her assignment. Her day keeps getting weirder and weirder. She eyes him up and down before fainting in her spot.

"Has she never seen a hologram before?"

Maria [last name redacted for privacy purposes] - Day 8801 Predictions:

Maria wakes up groggy and in a rundown apartment that's far too familiar. She's seen this many times in her calculations. A solid two days worth.

"Oh, you're finally awake," says Henry the kidnapper (or at least from her standpoint).

"What do you want?" Maria asks as she sits up.

Henry gave her a look of concern,

"Straight to the point I see."

Maria scans the apartment for a way out that can escape the man. Henry turns around to grab a stack of papers, she hasn't seen papers in a long time. Maria had thought that she was old fashioned, but this accountant had folders and folders of loose leaf line paper from who knows what decade. Henry let out a quiet,

"Aha!"

He gave Maria a folder. Inside was an insane amount of papers, she started to read it. They were all about her. He was an author. She read day 8801 and finally got to day 8802 before she forcefully closed the folder. Knowing your own future was against the law. Doing calculations even though you aren't employed as an author was against the law. This guy was breaking the law. She did as her day illustrated, she reached for her phone in a panic.

"You read it," Henry said with a smile, "You know what I want and you know how you'll answer to my next question."

"That can't be right," she says holding her phone - ready to dial 911, "That isn't me."

"Maria, it's time we take control of our lives again," he replies slowly.

"No," she mutters knowing exactly what he says next.

She read it, she can't deny that it's a good offer. She can't deny that he's right. She can't deny that she's wanted this her whole life. She no longer wanted to be bound by the algorithm.

"Join our revolution," Henry finally says, "Let's be the authors of our own lives again."

After a long while, Maria nods.