Three In Utopian Hell

Imagine a future, I have in my story Zenith, where technology protected everyone.  No one could be harmed physically by anyone else.  There could be no murder, war, or threats.  What if everyone had everything he or she could possibly want?  What if all functions of the government were performed by computer.  Heaven on Earth right?

1. The Confession of a Serial Killer

“I am in hell!”

He looked around at the sympathetic eyes that gazed back at him.  No one looked away, no one looked down.

“How so?” one of them asked.

He fidgeted as if to get comfortable.

“I’m not normal,” he began.  “I like to kill.  I like to hunt people, to capture them and torture them and kill them.  I like the chase.  I like seeing the terror in their eyes and then to see all life fade from their eyes.  I like the blood, more is better.  I like, no I love to kill people.

“I look at each of you and think about slitting your throats right here and now.  I would like to hear you beg for your lives, but I would love to hear you each scream in pain and terror.”

He still saw nothing but sympathy in their eyes.  One or two nodded just a bit at what he confessed.

He tried to get comfortable again and cleared his throat.

“I have killed hundreds of people in the virtual but of course the system won’t let me even scratch a single person in the real.  And as real as the virtual seems to be, I know it isn’t.  I haven’t actually killed anyone.  The warm, thick, red blood on my hands isn’t real, even though I can taste it.”

He chuckled and continued, “Some of my victims were willing participants in the virtual…,” he choked a sob with another feeble laugh, “They thanked me for the experience!  The ones I killed thanked me the next day!

“I’m in hell!  What am I supposed to do?”
One sympathetic voice suggested, “You know the system can correct your mental issues completely and permanently.”

He laughed at that.

“Yes, I know.  But if the system fixed me, wouldn’t be me anymore.”

“But you wouldn’t be suffering as you are now.”

“But, I wouldn’t be me.” he growled back at them.

“This perfect system is hell for me!”

2. The Jihadist

He smiled.

“Well, we cannot actually fight and conquer the world in the name of Allah,” he admitted, “the system does not allow for the strategies of the 21st Century.  We can fight battles in the virtual, but at the end of the day they are like a football game.  Who actually wins?  What does it mean? Nothing really.

“The political injustices are done away.  Everyone is equal.  Everyone has a home, food and water, every comfort.  So, our jihad must be different, now.  We cannot enforce Sharia Law within the system.  There can be no real punishments.

“So our jihad must be in our example of who we are.  We are Muslim and we must show the world that Islam is the only true way to live.  The whole world must see the benefits of being Muslim.  Our jihad is our presentation to the world.  It is marketing really.  It is all the system allows us to do; we can do no more until Allah frees us from this machine.”

He continued to smile.

3. The Freedom Fighter

He tugged at his uniform and looked at the interviewer with a fire in his eyes.

“The system violates our God given human rights!” he declared.

“What do you mean?”

“We were given the rights to govern ourselves as human beings, created in the image of God, and they built this computer that makes all the decisions for us!”

“What decisions do you want to make?”

“Where I want to live.”

“Where do you want to live?”

“On the ground that the Good Lord Himself created, and not in this sterile tower!  We should have the right to defend ourselves instead of some machine’s force field.”

“But it protects everyone the same.”

“But no one has a choice.  What if we didn’t want that protection?  What if we wanted to take care of ourselves?  We are man not babies that need protection from everything.”

“But you would be opening yourself to risks.”

“Life is all about risks, or at least it used to be before the system was built.”

“What else would you change?”
“Humans leading humans, not some machine!”

“How would that be better than the Governor Program?”

“It would be flesh and blood, not some computer program!”

“Well, everyone is safe.  There is no death, no illnesses, no physical conflicts, everyone has everything they need or want.  They can do anything they want in the virtual, and anything they want in the real as long as no one is hurt.  They can live anywhere in the virtual.  Every person has a voice in the government’s decisions.  What more do you want?

“We want freedom from the tyranny of the system!  We want to have control of the system in our human, flesh and blood hands again!  Power to the people!  We want to be free!” he shouted with his hand raised in a fist.

“Thank you for sharing your views with us.  They are duly noted.” said the holo-image of the Governor.