John Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars by Roland Hughes - HTML preview

Prologue

This is Susan Krowley, reporting for The Times.

This story has been months in its creation but spans decades.

Father and mother felt the need to track down the last known

survivors of the Microsoft Wars and record their stories for

history. We sent skilled hunters out in all directions to counties

we knew about and those only rumored to exist.

All this searching expanded our knowledge in ways we did

not expect. Some of those places we thought to be only rumor

really did exist and some still do. Other reporters will be filing

stories in this series to bring you the facts as we found them.

What follows is an interview with John Smith, the last known

survivor of the Microsoft Wars.

Frame of Reference

SK: I must first thank you for allowing this interview. It has

been so long and so much has been lost; we feared we would

never record the real story.

JS: Be careful what you wish for.

SK: Yes, well, I'm sure that is good advice. I must say that

you have a lot of interesting art hanging on the walls of your

place and odd-looking stuff lying around. I can't really even

identify what much of it is.

JS: In both life and science you must take one thing at a

time.

SK: Can you tell us why they were called the Microsoft

Wars and was there really more than one?

JS: You don't have any frame of reference to ask that

question.

SK: The searchers did tell you that we wished to interview

you about this very subject to record the history, did they not?

JS: Yes.

SK: May I ask then, why you are so reluctant to answer my

question?

JS: I'm not reluctant, you simply don't have a frame of

reference to ask such a question.

SK: What do you mean?

JS: What do you know about the Microsoft Wars? Not just

the wars but what led up to them?

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Frame of Reference

SK: Just that it was a very dark period in human history.

Great atrocities were committed and many world governments

fell. Large portions of the world are still considered to be off-

limits for humans.

JS: You say that as if you don't know what it means.

SK: Say what?

JS: “Off-limits.”

SK: It means we are not allowed to go there.

JS: Thank you for the dictionary regurgitation. Now, why

don't you tell me what it means?

SK: I've already told you.

JS: And now you should be getting closer to understanding

why you have no frame of reference to ask your question.

SK: The only thing I'm closer to is branding you a fraud and

leaving.

JS: You are free to do what you wish. Before you can ask

the question you wish to ask, you must first have a frame of

reference so a meaningful response can be given. You don't

currently have any frame of reference.

SK: <sighs> What does off-limits mean in your mind?

JS: It's not a matter of my mind. Those areas of the world

are off-limits because the radiation levels are too high for

prolonged human exposure. Nature has attempted to reclaim

some of those areas and, due to man's arrogance, has created

some creatures that are severe abominations. Many of those

creatures will not survive once the radiation drops to a safe

level. Man cannot eat what comes from there and a bite of any

kind can cause radioactive material, if not venom, to enter into

the body, slowly poisoning it from within. We have no method

Frame of Reference

11

of removing such radiation. A single bite is usually a death

sentence, though that sentence may take years to actually

happen.

SK: Oh come on, we've all heard stories about radiation.

They are mostly there to scare children.

JS: In the past, when there was a massive nuclear disaster,

mankind put in a concerted effort to clean it up. Even when the

Chernobyl meltdown happened in a place called the Ukraine,

we built a low-quality and hasty tomb around the site and put as

much of the waste as possible in safe containment.

The closest my cycle had to the off-limits places you know

have occurred on an island nation known as Japan. A plant

there failed so completely after being hit by a tsunami that

untold quantities of highly radioactive water went into the

ocean along with radioactive dust, which covered farmland for

miles.

One thing is certain with prolonged radiation exposure:

mutation. Sometimes it kills the life form, sometimes it alters

it. Enough radiation will kill any known life form but we never

studied prolonged exposure to radiation from high-grade fuel

rods, or what happens to creatures who drink the surface water

containing particles from these rods. We do know that the

venom mutates, as well, along with the bacteria, which

naturally occurs in the mouths of certain creatures.

If I ask you to travel the direction of the setting sun two days

by horse, stay there a day, then come back before completing

the interview, will you do it?

SK: No, I'm on a deadline.

JS: You traveled here on horseback. You have no concept

of deadline. What is the real reason you won't do it?

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Frame of Reference

SK: It is a forbidden region. I could lose my job going

there.

JS: Might I ask you how you got your job?

SK: I'm a reporter. I was assigned to cover this story.

JS: Very good. Now, how did you get your job?

SK: I don't understand what you are asking.

JS: Because you have no frame of reference for the

question. You cannot provide an answer because you have no

knowledge of Earth That Was. Back then, reporters were

simply smiles and haircuts which looked good in front of the

camera. They read stories off a teleprompter. Those stories

were written by journalists. To become a journalist you had to

attend a university or college to obtain a 4-year degree. Then,

if you were lucky, you got a job covering stories instead of a

job proofreading them. So, let me ask again, how did you get

your job?

SK: I still have no idea what you are talking about. What is

a college? A university? I was trained for this job by my father

who had this job before me. It is how skills are passed to the

next generation.

JS: I see.

SK: You see what?

JS: Sadly, how the rest of this interview is going to go. Oh

well, it is much too late to wait for another.

Frame of Reference

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The reason you won't go and spend a day where I asked is

the same reason it is a forbidden region. Back in the day of

Earth That Was, there was a facility there known as the

Braidwood Station. It was a nuclear power plant powering

much of what was then the northern end of a state called

Illinois. It was the largest plant in the state. Like most plants,

it stored its nuclear waste on-site because nobody ever put in

place a method of recycling the spent fuel rods or eliminating

the deadly radiation from them. When the earth spun and the

land cracked, the containment facilities all crumbled. Most

likely, there are still massive quantities of radiation being given

off, since the half-life for that stuff was measured in thousands

of years.

SK: So, were there really multiple wars and why were they

called the Microsoft Wars?

JS: I can see that you have no intention of recording

anything useful for your readership or posterity. What is your

current circulation?

SK: We are the most trusted newspaper in the country. We

have the widest circulation and most frequent distribution

cycle: 5,500 readers look to us for information about the world,

twice monthly.

JS: It sounds more like you provide them entertainment

instead of journalism.

SK: Why is that?

JS: You are looking for the headline instead of the story.

The same thing happened to the supposed news services back

in the days of Earth That Was.

SK: Earth That Was?

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Frame of Reference

JS: That picture hanging on the wall to my right. When

you came in, you commented on it being a piece of art. Do you

know what it really is?

SK: A painting of some kind.

JS: It's a map of Earth That Was printed out on an

engineering printer, which took four-foot-wide rolls of paper

and used what were called ink-jet cartridges. Once it was

printed, it was run through a process the elders called

lamination, which sealed it in some kind of clear substance to

help preserve it. Otherwise, it would be yellowing like those

books stacked to your left.

SK: That still doesn't explain Earth That Was.

JS: The seven continents.

SK: What are you talking about? There are twelve

continents!

JS: Today, yes. Back in the day of Earth That Was, there

were only seven continents and that is a map of them. The

picture hanging beside it is a picture of Earth That Was taken

from outer space on a clear day. As you can deduce from the

map, it shows much of the North and South American

continents.

SK: American?

JS: <sigh> What is the first continent you encounter today

when heading in the direction of where our sun sets?

SK: Dians.

JS: What is the country we are in right now?

SK: Rica, but shouldn't you already...

Frame of Reference

15

JS: Back in the day of Earth That Was, Canada was a

country occupying the northern portion of the North American

continent and the United States of America occupied the lower

portion of it before you got to this skinny connecting piece.

The sun traveled from this edge to that edge of the continent

each day.

After the events of 2013, or during, depending upon how

you look at it, part of Canada became the land mass you now

call the Dians continent. The rest of the North American

continent also turned and split up. Some say it simply had an

ocean form over part of it. The difference between split or sink

doesn't really matter. Today, you cannot walk from one chunk

to the other, so they are considered separate continents.

The country we live in now was once called America.

Several other chunks floating around the globe were also part

of America. You are having trouble believing what you have

been told because some big pieces that are at the root of the

story are under the ocean now. As a country, we no longer

have any means of getting to them or taking pictures for others

to see. At some point, perhaps we will regain that but not at

this point.

SK: Do you really expect me to believe that you have

hanging on your wall a picture taken from outer space? A

beautiful picture in full color that was somehow taken while

someone or something was in outer space and then given to

you?

JS: It wasn't given, it was downloaded by my grandfather.

Many people had them back at that time.

SK: Downloaded?

16

Frame of Reference

JS: Yes. With a thing called a computer over something

called the Internet. America had some kind of organization

known as NASA, which sent ships, satellites and people into

outer space.

SK: Internet? People in outer space? I don't know what

you've been drinking but it would have been polite to share!

JS: <chuckle> Do you see that black rectangle resembling

a book sitting over there?

SK: Yes.

JS: On the front of it is a little ridge, which you can push to

the right, then lift the top portion of it to open it. Good. Now

near the bend where the two pieces come together is a button

with a circle and a line sticking out of the circle.

SK: I see it.

JS: Press it.

SK: It is making noises. There are lights flashing. Things

are appearing and disappearing on the top piece that feels like

glass. What is OpenVMS?

JS: It is the most robust computer operating system ever

created by man. Here, let me log in.

SK: Log in? Computer operating system?

JS: Yes. Computers with operating systems, which could

support multiple users, assigned each user a user name and

password. When you tried to gain access to such a computer, it

would prompt you for the user name and password. If you

provided values it recognized, it would allow you to sign onto

the computer. It would also write information to a computer

log file somewhere, much like a ship's manifest or a store's

receipt, indicating who signed onto the computer, from where,

Frame of Reference

17

what they did, etc. Eventually, the culture surrounding these

devices shortened the name to “log in” or sometimes “log on.”

SK: I have never seen or heard of such a thing. Is this some

kind of witchcraft or peddler's trick?

JS: Earth That Was had a great many wonderful things. It

also had horrible things. In the end, the Microsoft Wars were

good for the planet because they eliminated the excess

population and many horrible things. Oddly enough, the planet

was about to do the same all on its own.

SK: What are you talking about?

JS: As I said, nothing I tell you will be of any use without a

frame of reference. Here, now that it is booted, let me click on

this slide show.

SK: Slide show? Oh, pictures. What are these?

JS: A series of photos of, from and about the international

space station.

SK: The international space station?

JS: The cost of building, launching and assembling a new

space station became too much for one country to bear. NASA

teamed up with the space agencies of other countries, even

those in countries that had not yet gone to space themselves, in

order to build a series of modules, which could be launched

into orbit and connected together to provide an ever-growing

laboratory in space. Every country that participated managed

to get some scientists assigned to the ISS for at least one tour of

duty conducting experiments in zero gravity.

There! That picture is the same one you see on my wall. It

was taken from the ISS on a clear day by one of the scientists.

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Frame of Reference

SK: What has any of this got to do with the Microsoft

Wars?

JS: As I said, frame of reference. Would it surprise you to

learn that we, the people of Earth, sent many different science

teams to the ISS over the years, but the last team must have all

died.

SK: What do you mean must have?

JS: We have no way of knowing. There! Let me hit pause.

See all of these people?

SK: Yes.

JS: This is the last team to ever be sent there. However,

they died; it wasn't pretty.

SK: What are you talking about?

JS: When the Microsoft Wars started, the planet got

distracted. A group of scientists had gone to the ISS with

twelve months' worth of food and water. The air filtration

system should have operated for years, if not decades. They

had more than enough work for the four months they were

supposed to be up there. Nobody gave them a second thought.

The various militaries focused on trying to win the war. The

scientists focused on completing the mission. Before either

group achieved their objective, we lost the ability to retrieve

them. Eventually, we lost the ability to even communicate with

them. Nobody knows how their lives ended and nobody really

wants to know.

SK: You are simply making all of this up. I cannot believe

I was sent all the way out here to talk with a madman!

JS: Do you see that tube sitting next to that folded-up

tripod?

Frame of Reference

19

SK: Yes.

JS: It's a telescope. When it gets dark out, we will take it

outside and point it up to find something, which looks very

much like the pictures you just saw.

SK: It still exists? Why hasn't anyone written about this

before?

JS: Yes, it is still up there. You will even see there are

lights on in some sections. As to why nobody writes about it,

that's easy—it was forbidden. The law has been on the books a

long time in many different places. Before everything went to

hell, the surviving governments banned conversation about it or

writing of it in order to try salvaging the people's morale.

SK: That's absurd!

JS: Is it? How do you think an entire people would feel

knowing there were seven of their own trapped in a tin can

orbiting the planet and the only thing we could do was let them

die of starvation or by their own hand?

As I said, you don't have a frame of reference to ask about

the Microsoft Wars. You don't have any concept of Earth That

Was. Until your readers have a concept of Earth That Was,

they cannot begin to understand how we got here.

Please, let me shut this computer down. Once the battery

fails to take a charge, I will never be able to use it again. I

haven't heard of a place in the world that has the ability to make

a new battery for it. Like many portable computers of its day,

power passes through the battery instead of around it, so when

the battery fails, the computer is useless. A sad, yet effective,

marketing technique to sell more batteries.

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Frame of Reference

SK: You mean to tell me someone knew all this information

and when they passed a law, everybody went along with it,

never talking about it?

JS: It only applied to the reporters and news outlets. The

various governments of the world got in front of the story.

Missions to the station were so commonplace that the vast

majority of the world simply never thought about them.

Whenever something really bad happened with the space

station, we heard about it on the news or read about it in the

paper, but normally, we heard nothing. It was just some project

our tax dollars went to and we believed that some day, we

might see some new medical advancements or some other such

thing from it. The world was quite accustomed to the space

program developing things, which trickled out to the general

population, greatly improving the quality of life.

SK: Such as?

JS: Oh, there were lots of things but few exist today. There

were transistor radios, microwave ovens and ballpoint pens,

which could write upside down.

SK: Surely you're making this up!

JS: Do you see that white rectangular thing sitting on the

counter back there?

SK: Yes.

JS: Walk back to it. There is a stone cup on the counter

with tea in it. Touch and taste the tea to prove to yourself it has

gone cold.

SK: Okay, so it has gone cold.

Frame of Reference

21

JS: Press the large rectangular button on the lower right of

the device. Good. Now place the cup inside and close the

door. On the keypad, which is the little rectangle of numbers,

press the five twice, then hit start. Good. Wait for it to stop...

now press the button to open the door and take the cup out.

SK: Ouch!

JS: That is a microwave oven and, as you have just

learned, it still functions.

SK: So I'm supposed to take the other two on faith?

JS: Walk over to that desk. Pick up the silver pen, which is

laying on its side in a small box. Hold your notepad over your

head and write your name.

SK: Look at that...amazing!

JS: I don't have a transistor radio anymore—at least, not

one that works. I wouldn't waste the batteries on one if I had it.

Most likely, there aren't any radio stations left, anyway.

SK: Can we talk about the Microsoft Wars now?

JS: Orwell was right. Everyone was forced to read his

book and yet, it still happened. In reality, that is all anybody

needs to know.

SK: Orwell?

JS: <sighs> Back in 1949, an author by the name of

George Orwell published a novel titled 1984. It was a look into

the future and basically created the concept in society of Big

Brother. This Big Brother was a government, any government

really, which would watch over you like a child. Your life

would be monitored and controlled 24 hours per day. The

dictionary would not grow in size, but shrink, as words and

thoughts were continually restricted. Anyone who possessed a

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Frame of Reference

thought against the government, system or the way things were

being run would be turned in by friends/family/neighbors as a

thought criminal.

One by one, various ministries were set up to control every

aspect of life, all for the betterment of society, and most had

some plausible excuse bringing them into existence. There

would be monitors installed everywhere, so you were

continually watched and controlled. It was one of the best-

selling and most widely talked-about books of all time. Many

movies were created showing various flavors of the book.

SK: Well, if everybody knew about it, then it surely didn't

happen.

JS: Not in 1984, no. The final vehicle for control wasn't

chosen until the early 1990s and it took a while to roll out

globally. Sometime during 2010, the governments around the

world achieved 95 percent of what they wanted. The vast

majority of citizens carried with them a 24-hour monitoring

device, which could be accessed remotely and would, via GPS,

give a complete picture of their travels. Each one had a unique

ID. Best of all, the devices were marketed in such a way as to

make people think they were nothing unless they had one and

kept it with them at all times.

When it became apparent that some portions of society

simply couldn't afford the devices—yes, each citizen paid for

their own, and gladly...they even paid to customize them—most

governments came up with some kind of ministry or program to

ensure each and every person falling into the “cannot afford”

category was issued one under some plausible story as “medical

need” or “neighborhood watch.” This removed the poor-

person-rejection-of-charity problem. Nobody felt insulted to

receive the devices, since the devices allowed them to

communicate with anyon