The Future Is Here

‘There’s no turning back you know...once you go through...’ 

I closed my eyes and made a very audible sigh.  

‘I’m just saying Mister Sullivan...once you go through, there really isn’t any turning back...’ 

I opened them and turned to look at the man who was standing unnaturally close to me. He was small of stature, wispy hair covering a bald spot, and a nose that seemed to twitch when he spoke. He was by all accounts, unremarkable. Not here though. Here, he was the main man. He was the man who had control. He was the man who could judge. He was the final conduit to the next step...and he knew it. 

‘You know, you really are quite annoying...’ I said, trying not to wince as a waft of his garlic breath just hit my senses like a steam train out of control.  

‘That maybe so Mister Sullivan, but it is my duty to warn you...’ 

‘...of which you have done many times...’ I interrupted.  

‘It is my duty Mister Sullivan to warn you...’ he repeated in a more matter of fact fashion, with definitely a sense of irritation. ‘...that once you walk through it, it’s done. It’s over. You’re gone...do you understand?’ 

I nodded in a quite melodramatic fashion, just for the fun of it, making him equally melodramatically roll his eyes. This was a game, but I don’t think he was playing. 

‘When you walk through that...’ pointing to the rather unimpressive 1990s sci-fi special effect, ‘...you will feel a slight pressure against your body, and it might feel cold, but don’t worry, your body mass is enough to pass through it...’ 

‘It...’ I said, for absolutely no reason at all. 

‘Yes, Mister Sullivan, it. I could explain to you what the actual correct scientific term is and what it means, but I fear it might be a pointless exercise, so I’ll just call it a plasma portal. I'm sure you can understand that.’ 

If paying to be patronised was part of this deal, then I’d got my money’s worth. In fact, I’d paid quite a lot of money for this. The moment I read the advertisement on The Future Is Here website, I knew I had to apply. Everything about it was so exciting, and for a man in his 20s, whose only entertainment at night is watching repeat episodes of just about every science fiction series ever made, this was my heaven.  

He turned towards the rather pathetic looking console that was sitting on a wooden desk. It looked like one of those displays in the original version of Star Trek, where random blue, red and yellow lights flashed on and off constantly, without seemingly having any purpose.  

‘Are you ready?’ he asked, without looking at me. I nodded, but of course he couldn’t see that, so he had to ask again.  

‘You know, this is the part where I am supposed to shake your hand and wish you all the best, but I think we’ll dispense with the pleasantries, don’t you?’ 

I nodded again. If he was going to be the last human being from this world I would ever see, then I am quite happy not to return.  

‘Actually, before you go...why?’ 

‘What do you mean?’ I replied, now staring at the milky like portal entrance that I was supposed to walk through.  

‘Why do you want to go there? People who do this type of stuff are usually manic depressives, or they’re trying to stop a lost relative from killing themselves...or I don’t know...they’re not like you...’ 

‘I’m not like me...’ I replied mysteriously, not actually understanding what I meant.  

He shrugged and turned to his flashing lights and pressed one of them.  

‘Is that it?’ 

‘Yep...doesn’t look very impressive I admit, but it works...’ 

‘How do you know it works, if no-one comes back?’ 

He just shrugged again. I nodded.  

‘Okay...’ and I stood staring at the liquid thing that seemed to be pulsating. If I hadn’t been a massive fan of Stargate, then I would have had no idea what it was.  

‘Well go on then...’ my irritating tormentor suddenly said. 

‘What?’ 

‘Walk...’ 

‘Oh...’ and I did. I walked towards it, suddenly a little nervous, a little anxious, a little suspicious. Had I really spent every penny of my inheritance on this? Really? 

It was exactly as he said it would be. It felt like I was walking through an ice storm, with a force ten gale trying to slow me down, but within seconds I was through. There had been no sound, but suddenly there was a feeling of complete calm and peace. The air smelled fresher, my head a little dizzy, and the sound of the birds singing was clearer. I opened my eyes, because yes, I closed them when I walked through. I was a little scared.  

I was outside, but outside where? There were fields of green stretching far beyond, with occasional clumps of trees dotted here and there. In the very far distance, just as the ground met the sky, I could see whisps of dark smoke from two high chimneys, and above the clouds were the only visible signs in the sky. No jet streams, no vapours, nothing.  

‘Wow...’I said, turning around stupidly hoping that he was still there. The last man I saw in the 21st century, whose name I never asked. He wasn’t though...or if he was, I obviously now couldn’t see him. 

There was a door though. Just a door. It was like any other wooden door. Nothing special, except this one was stood on its own, with seemingly no means of staying upright. That was my return ticket...except it wasn’t. As I watched, it just seemed to fade away, until nothing was left. I’m sure as I watched it, I heard a voice saying, ‘there’s no turning back’, but it was probably my imagination.   

‘Now what?’ I said loudly to myself, just to prove I was really here.  

I actually didn’t know, so the only thing to do was to start walking. Where? No idea. I’d paid for this adventure, and so I had better make the most of it. 

I’d noticed that my clothing hadn’t changed as was promised, which proved to me that I had been scammed a little. Still, they had got me here, so that was part of the deal, and I’m sure I could find somewhere to buy a suitable shirt and maybe jacket. I probably needed a flat cap too, as everyone wore those from what I could see in the five minutes of You Tube research I’d done yesterday.  

‘Yesterday...’ I again said out loud. Where was I yesterday? How can it have been yesterday if today was now, thousands of yesterdays before yesterday? It made me smile, but I’m not sure why. 

The grass underfoot felt softer and springier as I started to walk across the field in the general direction of the chimneys. It was a huge field, and I didn’t seem to be making any progress in getting closer, as the grey smoke was as far away as it was when I first saw it. There was also an acrid smell in the air, which I hadn’t noticed at first. It was a little nauseating, but I carried on.  

I started to sweat, despite the temperature being cool, so I sat down, my lungs beginning to gasp for breath. I’m a fit man, so this confused me. 

‘It’s probably the time of the year...’ I reasoned, not actually knowing what year it was. ‘The seasons were different then...or now...or...?’ 

That’s when I saw him. The man I had said goodbye to (although I hadn’t actually) just thirty minutes ago. He was stood just to the right of me, wearing the same clothes, with the same wispy hair, and I assumed the same garlic breath.  

‘What...?’ I said aloud (although I admit there were two other words added to that sentence, which actually didn’t belong to the place I was in).  

‘Hello Mister Sullivan...’ the rather tinny-sounding voice replied. ‘I told you it was all over...’ 

‘I don’t understand...how did you get here too?’ and I stood there as the ground seem to move slightly, and the fields in the distance seemed to change colour briefly.  

‘It’s simple...we’ve scammed you...can’t you see?’ and he opened his arms out wide as if to point out the changing universe I was stood in. The chimneys had gone, but the smoke still remained, hanging in the air, attached to nothing. The few trees I had seen had now disappeared, and in their place was just a white background.  

‘What’s happening?’ I asked, actually now feeling a little panicky.  

‘You were so full of yourself, ridiculing me, looking down on me. You even accepted the stupid plastic control panel with all of those lights, and as for the portal...’ He laughed out loud, a laugh that seemed to echo around me.  

‘Is this not real...?’ 

‘Seriously? What do you think? Do you actually think we were capable of sending you back in time? Idiot...’ 

I sat there, watching as the sky turned to red, the same red that I’d seen in the room where I last stood with this man. My breathing was laboured, and my legs began to ache badly.  

‘I’m sorry Mister Sullivan. You were a bit too easy to be honest, but I kept warning you. I told you not to burn your bridges, and that it was over once you stepped through. I tried to warn you, but...’ 

‘You’ve taken my money?’ I asked in a far weaker voice than I expected.  

‘No... you’ll get a full refund...of course we’ve taken your money, you absolute fool. That’s how we operate...anyway, I have to go. It was nice meeting you...’ 

He stared at me for a moment. ‘Actually, it wasn’t. I didn’t like you, just as you didn’t like me. These things happen I suppose...’ and then he was gone. Completely disappeared.  

My body seemed to be draining its energy like a tap that won’t close. My head was light and dizzy, and I felt like vomiting.  

Then a voice. It wasn’t his voice, but a larger one, almost booming from what was the sky above me. It entered my senses and stayed there, repeating itself over and over again.  

‘I told you there was no turning back...’ 

Just before the darkness started to arrive, I wondered if I could contact Trading Standards...