One-Step for All Mankind
A short sci-fi story
Hey all,
This one’s set in the near future, and I blend a first person narrative with in-world news-style articles to tell it.
When I finished this one, I still wasn’t quite sure what it was or what I was trying to say, so it sat in a (metaphorical) drawer for a bit. But after I let my beta readers (my wife and my friend Eric) provide some much needed feedback, the tale came together.
Enjoy! And feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments!
One-Step for All Mankind
January 2, 2041
Tacoma, Washington
I watch the recording. To say Sarah ate her granola and yogurt mechanically would be underselling it. More like she’d been following a manual on how to consume food.
Fill spoon to brim. Lift to mouth. Chew exactly ten times. Swallow. Repeat.
I pause the video and think further back. Something had been off the moment we left Forward Labs. And I don’t mean off the way she and I have been off the past year and a half. More like, technically off. Biologically off. Naturally off. She’d deny it, but I swear she hadn’t recognized my face. Or her own name. At least not at first.
I shouldn’t have signed her up for our trial. Didn’t matter how well the animal testing had gone — a first attempt like this in human beings was just too risky.
I press play on the video.
“Honey?” I ask, pushing the baggie across the table. “You usually take honey with your yogurt.”
She swallows her bite and looks up at me, eyes both distant and polite — the way you’d look at the waiter refilling your coffee at a diner. “I do, yes, that’s right. I would love some.”
Sarah was one of only four participants in the clinical trial who had been “traveling” for more than fifteen minutes between platforms. Robert Wane, our VP of wormhole research who’d only risen for his ability to fawn over leadership, promised me the extra time in the wormhole was nothing to worry over — he just kept on about how wonderful it was that Sarah had no adverse events.
“Walter, you’re focusing on the wrong aspects here,” he’d said in that patronizing tone he saved for non-superiors. “Time away had no effect on health — do you realize how important that is? Obviously if you happen to see anything extremely unusual during the home observation — vomiting, fevers, insomnia, those kinds of things — you should let us know. But I just have to mention that for legal reasons. Your wife is perfectly healthy. By the way, you really outkicked your coverage with her! Married up, eh, Walter?”
Sarah squeezes the baggie over the yogurt, lining the honey out in perfect zig-zags across the bowl.
She normally dripped the honey in circles, like a spiral. Or maybe she did both, and I’m not remembering right.
I reach across the table and take her hand. She grips it back for a few seconds and lets go.
Perfunctory. But then again, our relationship has felt perfunctory since the affair. Maybe that’s all this is – a symptom of a relationship on its last legs. Maybe I’m just overthinking.
Internal Email Log, Forward Labs
August 11, 2040
From: Robert Wane
To: Walter Carlisle
Subj: Recruitment Numbers and Incentives
Hi Walter,
Your site was brought up again, and not in a positive way. Your site’s numbers are still really lagging, especially among women of childbearing age – we need that representation covered for this to sell.
Leadership is really pushing and wants to start analysis in November. (Btw, promotions will definitely come if we hit our mark!)
What tactics are you taking to ramp up your numbers?
Thx,
Rob
Robert Wane
VP of Wormhole Research, Forward Labs Inc.
M: 1-453-3241
------------
From: Walter Carlisle
To: Robert Wane
Subj: RE: Recruitment Numbers and Incentives
Robert,
Thank you for the push, I’m really doing my best here. My region is just wary of this type of travel – the people are more rural, a bit more skeptical of the tech.
Our site just started a new ad campaign that will hopefully help.
Best,
Walter
Walter Carlisle
Sr. Regional Director, Forward Labs Inc.
M: 1-212-4595
------------
From: Robert Wane
To: Walter Carlisle
Subj: RE: RE: Recruitment Numbers and Incentives
Hi Walter,
Other site leads are tapping friends and family. Have you tried that yet? I met your wife, Sarah, at the July 4th party and we talked for almost an hour about the project and exchanged numbers as well – she’s really interested in the tech scene.
Anyway, she’s the exact age we’d want. And she sounded like someone who’d be interested in signing on for the trial. No one would question your commitment if you can say you even recruited your wife! And it might be fun seeing her around the facility a bit, right?
Not forcing you to do this of course, but I know leadership would be really impressed if we land this plane ahead of time.
Thx,
Rob
Robert Wane
VP of Wormhole Research, Forward Labs Inc.
M: 1-453-3241
July 22, 2041
Tacoma, Washington
I stir awake. Damn bladder barely lasts three hours anymore. Takes me a minute to realize Sarah’s side of the bed is empty. Wouldn’t have taken me half a second a few years ago when her body never left mine all night, always finding new ways for limbs to lay on top of limbs. But the sides of our bed are distinct now — lights out, roll over, see you in the morning. Like we’re separate species.
I tap my bedside lamp and the room brightens. Wormhole travel and insomnia go hand in hand, so I should have guessed Sarah’s sleep might be disrupted. Nausea is a side effect, too. If she’s vomiting, it’s my fault.
Our bathroom is empty. Using the soft glow of the floor lights, I creep out of the bedroom and along the hallway until it opens up into the kitchen. Lights are off.
“Yes, I’ll be there.” Sarah’s voice carries softly from the darkness of our living room.
Fool. Here I am worried about wormhole travel safety when standard-issue infidelity explains everything. “Forgive, but don’t forget.” That’s what my brother said, when I told him about the affair a few years ago. My sister took a more direct approach – “You’re too humane, Walter. You should leave her.” Naturally, I ignored both of my siblings and kept my head buried in my work.
Denial takes many forms, that’s for sure.
I tap the dimmer on the wall, decide to play dumb. “What are you doing down here?”
“Hi, Walter.”
Sarah blinks twice, like she’s acclimating to a new environment, taking me in the way someone readjusts back into the world after a daytime trip to the movies.
I guess this new guy has a talent for scintillating conversation. Could she have met someone during the trial? I swear we were doing better before I asked her to join. Trust was starting to come back.
“I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
“Just myself.”
“Prove it,” I say, annoyed at the excuse, so flimsy it borders on disrespectful. “Let’s see your Retinal history.”
“Of course.”
She turns her hand upward and taps her palm with her finger to share her Retinal with mine. Nothing. No chat history at all.
Did she hear me creeping and quickly delete the contents? She wouldn’t have had time, right?
“Why are you talking to yourself?”
“I had trouble sleeping. Sometimes I do that when I can’t sleep.”
“News to me.”
“Of course it is.” She smiles, the way someone grins at a child who asks a naive question. “You sleep so soundly, you probably just never noticed.”
“Look, just tell me this time. If you’re cheating again, I’d rather you just tell me know.”
Sarah stands up and walks over to me. Grabs my hand. “Don’t be silly. Let’s go back to bed.”
PRESS RELEASE: Forward Labs Inc. Announces Successful Trial of One-Step, Manufactured Wormhole Platforms for Human Travel. FDA Grants Rapid Approval for Sale.
Seattle, Washington; March 2, 2041 - The FDA approved the One-Step, the platform-to-platform transportation patented by Forward Labs Inc., for commercial use early this morning, as predicted by investors.
“These data are truly groundbreaking, and the implications of success are wide-ranging,” said Robert Wane, MD/PhD, VP of Wormhole Research. “We’ve been transporting non-biological material and animals this way for half a decade now. But people are not livestock nor robots, and human travel in this manner is an accomplishment on par with the invention of the wheel. All participants transported without unmanageable symptoms. Even the four participants that remained in transit for longer than our 15-minute success window experienced no side effects at all. This means that it is unlikely that travel time has an adverse effect.”
“The FDA understands what we understand,” said Angela Phan, CEO of Forward Labs. “The sooner humans are using our One-Step to travel instead of planes or autos, the sooner our Earth’s environment will thank us.”
July 22, 2041
Tacoma, Washington
I check my Retinal. 10:21 am.
Two hours. Sarah has not moved for two straight hours.
I’m in the driver seat of a rental car. I left our hybrid at the Hertz lot and circled back after I left for work. The retro camera – my birthday present from three years back – is trained on the house. I forgot how much I like it. The turn of the zoom lens. The satisfying click of the buttons.
I snap a few photos through our living room window, just for something to do:
Sarah sitting up with perfect posture. Sarah staring straight ahead at nothing.
I remember the joy back when I first played with this camera. Sarah would dance or jump or make silly faces while I took the pictures. The laughter on her face was so genuine. We’d stand in the makeshift darkroom, under the soft red light, watching the photos sharpen from nothing into something.
I sigh. What am I doing? This behavior is anything but normal, but it can’t be infidelity, right? I should march her straight back to Forward Labs for a check-up.
Just when I’m ready to put away the camera, she moves. I focus the lens on her and snap away:
Sarah touching her hand embed. Sarah talking to someone. Sarah standing up. Sarah walking toward the front of the house.
I duck down in the seat just as she opens our door. My heart’s in my throat, ready for her knock on the car window, ready to find me snooping.
But she continues along the sidewalk. Marches down our street. I turn – she’s striding forward, no shoes on, still talking to someone on the other end of the Retinal.
My heart pounds, and my breathing feels strained. Just like in those first months after the affair when I’d picture her with someone else. Like some sort of panic attack.
Breathe in, one two three. Out, one two three. In, one two three. Out, one two three.
I wait until she’s a block away before I start the car. Wherever she’s going, whoever she’s meeting, I’m going to see it with my own eyes. And she’s not getting a dime in the divorce.
60 Minutes Interview Excerpt
April 12, 2041
Scott Pelley (Interviewer): On the eve of its commercial release, the question I keep coming back to is [pauses for effect]…is this the most important product in the history of mankind?
Angela Phan (CEO of Forward Labs): Our pre-order sales team would certainly say so. It will be the most bought product ever sold.
Scott Pelley: Speaking of that, I must say – the One-Step is very affordable for something so profound. Cheaper than the newest iRetinals. Can you tell us how you came to the price point?
Angela Phan: Everyone deserves access to easy travel. We manufacture them soundly and at low costs precisely for this reason. Sure, we may take a hit on the first few thousand One-Steps sold, but that’s nothing when our aim is to sell a hundred million. More platforms mean more destinations available. I want one in every home. I want every state and city government to place them at high traffic junctures. I want one at the entrance to national parks. My R&D team will kill me for saying this but [laughter]…I even want one on the Moon eventually. We should have been mining it for resources five decades ago. But that’s another issue entirely.
Scott Pelley: Can it work at that distance?
Angela Phan: Wormhole travel can work at any distance. This is the future for humanity.
Scott Pelley: Some people are worried about the economic implications. If this replaces auto, rail, and plane travel…how many jobs will be lost? How many companies will go under?
Angela Phan: Whenever I hear this skepticism, I can’t help but recall a quote from Christopher Columbus: “Nothing that results in human progress is achieved with unanimous consent.” I know, I know, not the best source to quote, but the medium shouldn’t take away from the message. I’m sure abacus manufacturers were worried about the first calculators, too. The assembly line replaced individual work. The computer replaced the typewriter. Automation replaced human grunt work. Capitalism is ever improving. That’s its beauty.
Scott Pelley: You know what I have to ask next. How safe are these?
Angela Phan: You’ve read the trial reports. The One-Step is safer than any form of travel we use today, and it’s not even close. In the short-term, some people may have some nausea or other issues common to new forms of travel. Nothing worse than seasickness on a cruise. And certainly nothing that compares to the countless automobile accidents that happen every single day.
Scott Pelley: Speaking of the trial — there were four participants who had, what did the report call it, “travelled” longer than anticipated, right? Can you speak to that a bit more?
Angela Phan: Let me start by saying those participants are in perfect health. In fact, none of them even experienced any side effects of travel that some of our other participants felt. No nausea, no migraine. Nothing. So if any new users have that experience, they can rest easy knowing they’re as healthy anyone!
Scott Pelley: Why does the travel time vary? What is the sensation of travel even like?
Angela Phan: For those who travel, it feels like one second. The extra time is only felt by their loved ones here on Earth waiting for them. And remember that these trials were conducted in Seattle, jumping to New York, with a maximum travel time of 52 minutes. Still a vast improvement over current methods even at our longest time point, I’d say!
Scott Pelley: Have you used it yet?
Angela Phan: I plan to be the first in line.
July 22, 2041
Tacoma, Washington
I creep along in the rental, a block or so behind Sarah, occasionally allowing a car or two to pass me to avoid looking suspicious. But she’s not worried about someone following her. As far as I can tell, she’s not worried about anything.
Three hours. Non-stop. Walking. No shoes. No breaks. No change of pace. Right, left, right left.
My emotional state has been yanked around like a damned Yo-Yo. Anger at infidelity warped into curiosity a few hours back. Now, I’ve lapsed into some odd combination of horror and shame – I can’t believe I thought she was cheating again.
Sarah reaches a four-way stop and plants her feet, unmoving. But not for traffic. No cars are approaching. She’d never stopped walking until right then, unless it was for good reason.
I pull my camera out and zoom in, guilty for taking one more set of photos before I intervene and take her to the hospital. My pictures from today are no longer for a divorce lawyer. They’ll be evidence when I sue Forward Labs for whatever the hell is going on with my wife.
Sarah caked in sweat. Sarah’s feet bleeding. Sarah not moving out of the way for other pedestrians.
I speed up to the intersection and open my door. But before I can shout her name, a man approaches, walking in a mechanical forward-march just like Sarah’s. He’s wearing shoes, but otherwise seems just as disheveled as she is. Almost as if he’d also been walking for three hours straight.
Sarah turns to him. They do not talk. Someone else having neurological issues like this will only help us stick to Forward. I snap more photos:
Sarah and strange man lock eyes. Sarah and strange man lean forward stopping half a foot before their faces touch. Sarah and strange man place palms on each other’s foreheads.
They stand like that for a whole minute. Just holding onto the forehead of the other like some Vulcan mind meld. Only in Star Trek, Spock’s eyes are closed while he does it. Sarah and this man had their eyes open. Staring. Not at each other. Not at anything really. Like they forgot they had eyes at all and the default for eyes just happened to be wide open.
Without a word, they each let go at the same time. Turning forward, back in the original direction Sarah had been walking, they march again.
Collection of Headlines
April 13, 2041 – July 16, 2041
CNN: Forward Labs sells 45 Million One-Step Platforms in half a day, draws lines around block. April 13, 2041.
Washington Post: One-Step Wins Key Battle, International Travel Legalized for Adults. May 3, 2041.
AP News: One-Step Use Approved for Children Worldwide. May 25, 2041.
Business Insider: Five Ways Your One-Step Can Improve Your Small Business. June 1, 2041.
New York Times: Airline Stocks Continue Downward Spiral, Bankruptcy Looms for United, Southwest, Others. June 4, 2041.
Seattle Times: Family Files Lawsuit Against Forward Labs After 2-Day Platform Travel Time. June 19, 2041.
ABC.com: Pets and One-Step, Must-Watch Video Reel. June 28, 2041.
Reddit, r/AskReddit, top post: Anyone’s family members acting odd after using the One-Step? July 2, 2041.
CNN: NATO Leaders Travel to Summit via One-Step. Stock Reaches New High. July 16, 2041.
July 22, 2041
Tacoma, Washington
I keep rolling at around 5 miles an hour. It’s the same as before. Only now there’s two of them. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. No pace change. Looking nowhere but straight ahead.
They reach a gated parking lot and turn for the first time in two hours. I let them get halfway across the asphalt before I pull in. No other cars are around.
Sarah and the man continue walking straight-backed, toward the open door of the building. At the back of the lot sits a one-story warehouse, as large as an airport hangar.
I creep along, a couple hundred yards behind them, and pull to the side of the lot. I set the gear into park and pull my camera out. Zoom in toward the open warehouse door. But my breath catches in my chest before I can snap a photo.
Hundreds. No, thousands. Enough people to fill a high school football stadium. They’re all in the warehouse, all in various states of disarray. Some not wearing shoes like Sarah. Others without shirts. A few without any clothes at all. Each an arms-length away, holding palms to the forehead of the two people nearest.
Sarah and the man reach the building. My hands shake as I snap the photos:
Sarah finds a spot in the grid of people. Sarah touches foreheads near her. The crowd nods as one, like ants taking cues from an unseen queen.
My camera clicks. Film’s out. I reach into the bag in the passenger seat as fast as I can. Fumble the new film canister. I unbuckle my seatbelt, lean down to fetch it before it rolls under the seat.
I sit back up. Jam the film into the camera. Put the lens to my eye and almost jump out of my seat.
No palms are on foreheads any longer. Every face in the warehouse is turned toward me. Just heads, as though moving the whole body isn’t worth it. A thousand eyes, staring. And not like before, just outward, but with a purpose. They’re looking at me.
In perfect lockstep with one another, they sprint toward my car.
AM Radio Log
North Cascades National Park
September 7, 2042
“Messaging over channel 550. One year and forty-eight days since the Takeover. About noon, judging from the sun. As always, I’ll start with what we know. Obviously, don’t ever use a One-Step to travel – and if you have to use them, time it with a stopwatch. Anyone that travelled more than 15 minutes is likely a Synth. Don’t communicate on anything except AM radio, they own everything else. And don’t ever let the Synth touch your forehead.
Watch everyone in your group for any signs of compromise. They can mimic us, but not perfectly. If it’s someone you know well, ask about a specific memory before the Takeover and change a key detail. If they don’t correct you, it’s likely they’re a Synth. If you did not know the person pre-Takeover, there are other signs: ignoring sweat or pain, mechanical movements, foregoing sleep. If you notice them in your group, don’t engage. Just wait for an opportunity and flee. Use a vehicle if you can — they will outrun you on foot.
There’s been chatter in our encampment that they’ve shipped groups of Synths to the Moon to begin mining there. A couple that arrived yesterday swears they saw them working fields. From what I know about Forward, I doubt either of these is true. More likely harvesting the circuitry in our brains for bio-hacked computing or storage. Regardless, the fact remains that we still don’t know what the Synths are being used for. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we don’t become one.
We have a small encampment. Message me back on this frequency.
Stay safe. Stay human.
Walter Carlisle, signing off.”