The Rise

It was Thursday, November 4th, 2038 when Doctor Amiyah L. Torres unlocked the secret to the robots. She called it Project 438.

This remarkable time in history has come to be known as ‘the Rise’.

Doctor Torres’s work has economically excelled for some time now. It’s grown more famous throughout the four years that have passed since the Rise. Her robots changed the whole world. Society was becoming more and more advanced with every passing day. The world was changing for the better.

At least, that’s what everyone else thought.

I hate robots. Everything about them makes me sick.

“What have they done to you?” I soon got used to people asking me this, and I gave them the same answer every time.

“It’s not what they’ve done to me, I just don’t like them. Robots have ruined society. We used to be able to fend for ourselves. To care for ourselves. Ever since robots came about, everyone’s become indolent, greedy, and feeble. I don’t want to be like that.”

Of course, I wasn’t always this deep in my well of hatred. When news of Project 438 spread, I was just as excited as everyone else. As soon as the first line of robots was released, I jumped at the opportunity to buy one for myself. Soon, every household held at least one robot. The richer folk usually had more than two working on every story of their houses.

In the four years that have passed, I’ve realized just how much the Rise has affected our everyday lives. We have become so weak that we rely on salvaged scraps of metal to get through our day. They are taking over society. 

I put myself to sleep every night thinking about the way things used to be. I can’t help but wonder what my parents would make of all this. They were good people, but just as the birds in the trees and the fish in the sea, their time came to an end.

I have always loved the way the wind can creep through your hair and pull every strand apart. And how the bright stars shining down on you can make you feel like not a problem in the world exists. But the pollution and bright lights of the big city has made it so hard to appreciate the things I have always found so much joy in.

In a few days time, I’m moving back to the same house I’d spent the most of my childhood. Where the grass grows so tall, it towers over you like the skyscrapers of the big city. Where billions of tiny lights shine like small suns lighting up the night sky. Where birds’ rich, aesthetic songs float on the wind and into your ears with their euphonious melodies. The crickets still chirp their calming, mellow lullabies and the air is always filled with the gratifying fragrance of flowers and grass and honey and trees. That’s where I’ll spend the rest of my days in peaceful bliss. I want to die in the same place I was born. So I can always remember how happy I was. Maybe someday, I’ll meet someone who understands the truth behind my words. Maybe they will want to be with me and we can raise a family together. One that will know the true joy of childhood and experience a life where they don’t have to worry about the cruel judgments of society.

A smile creeps to my lips as my mind paints the picture of what my future life might be like. I hope that I can feel that same overwhelming happiness that filled most of my childhood memories again. I hope that by the time my children have grown up, society will have realized their mistake in the Rise. I hope that they will not feel the way I have if they move to the city.

All I can do is hope for a better future. For me and my future family.

I clean the dishes, wash the floors, make my bed, clean the apartment all on my own. I made my apartment room look better than any robot could ever manage to do. And all in less than half an hour. All it takes is a simple malfunction and the robot will shut down. They are weak and die quickly. Not to mention the hefty price you have to pay. The line between a robot and a human is thick and endless. We are different in so many ways. I could list at least a hundred things wrong with the Rise right off the bat. Needless to say, society still picked modern technology over quality and saving money. I can’t think of anything more exasperating.

Soon, I think to myself, I’ll be out of here soon enough.

Today is the day I move. I’d just finished packing up the rest of my stuff and loading it into my truck. Everything was set. I’d be driving for a long time but it was worth it to get to that place out in the country. Far from any big civilization.

As I weave my way through the streets until the city was far behind and only a long straight road lay in front of me, I let myself smile. The first real smile I’d had in a long time.

The wind whips through my hair as I roll down the window. I breathe in the smell of the fresh grass and springtime pollen just starting to come in. I never realized how much I missed that smell. Before I knew it, tears rolled down my face. I would’ve laughed at my wet cheeks had it not been for how happy I was to finally be away from the big city. I missed that feeling of freedom. I missed the sun shining on my face. I missed the harmonious buzzing of the bees. I missed the beauty of it all.

I’m home now.

I forgot about the big city behind me as I pulled into the driveway of my countryside home. I forgot about the honking and sirens and lights. I forgot all about the Rise. All I could see was the house where I had fooled around with my brothers and sisters. The whole forest behind the house where we ran for hours and never lost our way. The old oak tree that had stood in front of that house for decades.

I’m finally home. That’s all that matters to me. The big city is gone. The Rise is far from reach.

And so I walk into my home and only one thought is carried with me. Forever ringing through my head.

It’s time to make my own Rise.