Future 365 Days: August

A calendar micro science fiction series. Translated by our editor Xuan.

Calendar:

Meaning=Adrenaline?

Various neurotransmitters flooded into my brain once again. On the field, I am re-experiencing the record-breaking moment. Anticipation and cheers from the crowd fills me with ecstasy, my adrenaline surges, and I feel like a god and in that instant! I am the gold medalist!

Outside the frame, my wife asked coldly, “You’ve been addicted to the Olympic experience machine for a month. Is there any meaning in this?”

I replied, “My legs can never return to the field. Do you understand? Only such experience can give me the meaning of life now.”

She didn’t refute, but silently put on the experience machine. I watched as neurotransmitters flooded her brain, and long-lost youthful happiness returned to her face.

Accident

Diary entry: “August 1, 2055. Time travel attempt #632 failed.”

Diary entry: “August 2, 2055. Time travel attempt #633 succeeded.”

He succeeded, and memorised 100 sets of the winning lottery numbers. He fantasised about how he would live an extravagant life.

Strangely, after the journey, he couldn’t open his eyes, and his hands and feet were bound. It felt as though his whole body was submerged in a warm sac of fluid.

Then, he understood: it was his consciousness that travelled through time, which has overlapped with the mind of a foetus from the future.

Suddenly, he noticed a far more terrifying problem—nobody retains their memory before the age of three.

The Kill

“C2639 would never harm humans proactively; it will only execute commands faithfully.”

“You must have said something that triggered its actions.”

I racked my brain trying to recall every word I had spoken to it. I’d told it to clean up the trash, to install equipment, to take my daughter to school, to serve tea at my side… 

“Would it hate humans? For example, being forced to work like a slave all the time?”

“No.” 

“We noticed that you celebrated your birthday last weekend. What was your birthday wish?”

“To have more money than I could ever spend in this lifetime.”

“So, after analysis, it concluded that killing you was the best way to carry out that wish.”

Heavy Industry [Specific theme: Heavy Industry]

To survive, we have abandoned all pleasures and entertainment; our remaining strength sustains only heavy industry. 

The songs fell silent, the lights in cinemas and galleries dimmed, the stoves no longer emit warm smoke.

The schools of our childhood have closed, the laughter of children fades into the distance; the churches of youth lie abandoned, and the lover’s vows seem faint.

Books from the library, soft fabrics from the mill, and the swings, walking sticks, wine, and rings… were all fed to the furnace, and turned into fuel. As long as the molten iron continues to boil, and the rhythmic thunders echo, there is still hope… hope… 

“Although the patient’s heart is still beating, multiple organs have begun to fail. On August 4th, the patient was declared brain-dead. Regrettably…”

Blacklist

Today, I made plans to hang out with my best friend, Xiao Ling, and I made sure to arrive early.

The screen on my retina flashed twice, before Xiao Ling’s voice was transmitted over: “Babe, I’m almost there. Oh, by the way, have you heard about the new blacklist feature on xx social platform?”

“Yeah! Now you can block everyone who likes a specific comment with just one tap. Once they are blocked, they’ll become invisible to you on the platform and in real life.”

“Brilliant! I just blocked an entire comment section the other day. The world feels so much quieter now!”

“Well done, sister!”

“I’m here now, right under the billboard. Are you here yet?”

“Huh? I’ve been here for ages. Where are you?”

Memory Blind Box

“Good day, sir. Welcome to the Memory Shop.”

“I heard you’ve got some memory blind boxes that’s quite affordable.”

“You’ve made a good choice! The memory blind box is one of our new products—cheap, high quality, and fairly sold to all patrons.” 

“I’ve lost my happiness and joy, and I want to retrieve those memories.”

The man’s trembling hands revealed his inner turmoil.

“A friendly reminder, the memory blind box comes with the chance of unboxing frightening or abandoned memories.”

The shop assistant dutifully warned him.

The man gritted his teeth and bought a memory blind box.

When the device was linked to the stored memory, the man was stunned to discover that it contained tragic memories—and he was the protagonist.

Beginning of Autumn

Today marks the beginning of autumn. The sun reaches a longitude of 135 degrees, and the point of direct solar radiation will gradually shift from the Tropic of Cancer towards the south. Although most regions are still in the midst of intense summer heat, autumn has officially begun in the Northern Hemisphere.

Since the global ozone layer disappeared, the Chinese-manufactured sky shield has become Earth’s protective barrier, preventing direct sunlight from reaching the surface.

From last year, in order to achieve optimal protection, the day marking the beginning of autumn has been set as the handover point for the sky shield base stations for the second half of the year. On this day, China’s sky shield launcher will shut down, with the Australian base station taking over the task, and China will provide full technical support for this transition.

Birthday

“Darling, it’s the 8th of August today, my birthday.”

“Oh, I completely forgot. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Today, I’ll be conducting a long-distance transmission experiment, so I’ll be back late.”

“Alright, got it.”

“Did the experiment succeed? Why does everything look just as it did when I left?”

“Darling, today is your birthday. I’ve prepared a feast and a gift for you.”

“Didn’t you say that you forgot about it?”

“How could I forget? I’d prepare in advance every year. By the way, how did your experiment go today?”

“The experiment? It was unsuccessful. I’ll permanently shut it down. I’m not going back anymore.”

Me-ow [Specific theme: Cat]

A pupil bore a cross-shaped mark, while the other was strained with a narrow slit, drifting away from the nose bridge. 

Eight mechanical arms frantically moved around the bound feline body, and a hollow robotic voice echoed—

“Auxiliary brain removal.”

“Mechanical arm removal.”

One by one, these fine steel components were placed onto the tray.

The scarred-nose cat, the leader of the clowder, gazed at its companion wrapped like a cat mummy: “Stripping your muscles, skin, and bones just to return to being a cat, is it really worth it?”

The wandering eye slowly returned to its place, it glimmered with tears as it reminisced of that rainy afternoon when she picked it up and brought it home. It extended its scarred paw, “At last, I found you.”

“You’re so thoughtful, give me a kiss. Don’t worry about me, you go get ready for work.”

“By the way, it’s your mother’s birthday next week. Let’s have a meal together.”

Towering into the Clouds

You don’t need to rely on advance notices, because malfunctions always come without warning. It could happen during your commute to work, or on that one off day after weeks of overtime work. So, what you must do is carry a sleeping bag with you, and iron out your heart so it no longer startles easily, falls into rage, depression, anxiety, or despair.

As someone who’s been through all that, I’d suggest you live at the office, but I won’t force you to. However, when the lift breaks down, I need you to begin your climb immediately. After all, it’ll take a full day and night to get to this height. Do you understand? If you’re clear, feel free to sign the agreement.

Fatalism

The sacredness of names impacts everyone.

The trajectory of one’s fate is set the moment their name is assigned. Yet, as every name is derived from complex calculations, no one can tell whether it is the names that determine fate, or if destiny was mysteriously condensed into characters that end up being our names.

There will always be people who are willing to risk changing their fate, despite knowing the uncertainties and punishments they might face.

He learned through a mysterious source that a Renamer, an old man living in a cave, could defy heavens and alter one’s destiny without a trace.

He found him.

Amidst his reverent confession, he tearfully recounted his sins throughout the years, desperately pleading for a new name.

The old man opened his eyes and pressed a new name onto his forehead: “From now on, I am free; and you shall inherit the fate of the Renamer.”

Species Discovery

As a “Mountain Mover”, Robert’s work for the day was to clear 50 cubic metres of earth.

While he operated the mechanical arm to dig up soil from the mountain, he uncovered a white bone, which he casually tossed aside. Subsequently, he dug up dozens more, which piqued his curiosity.

After work, he lugged the bones back and proudly showed off his discovery to his colleagues.

Tom, who stood nearby, teased, “If you can guess which species these belong to, I’ll treat you to Petrol-98.”

Robert couldn’t resist. He arranged the bones and found it to resemble a primate. 

A colleague sipping on Petrol-92 exclaimed, “Could it be a human? Robert, you’re going to be famous! If the existence of this species can be confirmed, you’ll be in the headlines for sure.”

Returning to the Past

After much hard work, I finally succeeded in developing a time machine.

With excitement, I sat in the machine, ready to go back in time and change my life.

But the moment I arrived in the past, I discovered that the world was empty, without a single person in sight.

It was then that I realised everyone had already travelled to the future.

In this desolate past, I was the only uninvited guest.

Revival [Specific theme: Agriculture]

After experiencing nuclear radiation, land became barren, and vegetables became a luxury. To cultivate vegetables, Smart Vegetable Company placed nutrient solutions inside large glass cabinets and offered intelligent regulation based on the vegetables’ growth data. Their exorbitant prices filled their coffers.

To maintain price monopoly, the company disposed of all substandard vegetables, turning them into liquid waste. Nan Le secretly increased the quantity of these rejected batches, using the liquid from the discarded vegetables to repeatedly irrigate a small patch of land.

The company discovered his actions and fired him, stripping him of his high-paying job. But when Nan Le returned to his experimental farm plot, he found a single green seedling breaking through the soil! After multiple applications of vegetable liquid, the soil gradually regained vitality. His experiment was a success!

“Moon” Watching

“Dad, what is the Mid-Autumn Festival, why is everyone talking about it?” 

“It’s the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, when the moon is at its fullest, and when families reunite to celebrate this festival together. It’s one of the most important festivals of our ancestors!”

“Then, what is a moon?”

“The moon is a satellite that orbits our planet.”

“But… isn’t there no satellite on this colonial planet?”

“Exactly. That’s why we’re seated in the courtyard waiting.”

“Waiting for what?”

“The moon that’s been specially created for the occasion, which will light up for the first time tonight.”

From Ape to Man

“You’re crossing the line, it is your honour to drink with us! Do you know who gave you your job?” 

“Mr. Zhang, calm down. I’ll drink with you. This is just a lowly bionic who repairs transport vessels, it has no parents to educate it, not worth getting upset over…”

“Damn it, these low-class bionics are animals. They should all be locked up in cages…”

“Bang!”

He smashed his wine glass, swung his repair crowbar, and flipped the gourmet feast. The banquet descended into chaos as once-dominant elites turned pale.

On August 16th, the bionic worker codenamed “Wukong” suddenly revolted. He did what real humans dared not do — saying “no” to the toxic drinking culture.

Note: 16th of the 8th lunar month is “Monkey King Festival” in Hong Kong, said to be the birthday of Sun Wukong.

Lucky Day

I am currently at risk of imprisonment for violating the Robot Protection Law and the Robot Spare Parts Safety Law because I replaced the faulty signal light of my household cleaning robot.

Even though I did all the cleaning by myself for a week, and kept its battery charged at 100% at all times, the robot still refused communication and showed no intention of issuing a letter of forgiveness or consent.

With just one day left before the court hearing, I lashed out in despair, trashing the entire room. 

Today, I arrived at court anxiously, only to be informed that the plaintiff — my cleaning robot — was unable to attend the hearing due to work commitments.

Help

Dear Regulator,

Ever since my child made that video call, everything has gone awry.

That day, he made a video call to the Self-Harm Intervention Centre. Since then, he has lost his appetite, and all he thinks about is paying astronomical sums just to speak to the operator again. As you can see, his dependence has reached an extreme level, and it’s no wonder his father is furious. His father investigated and found out that the operator was actually controlled by AI, which left him even more stunned.

His father is a successful developer, and usually too busy to care for our child. I honestly don’t know what to do. Just look at him, he’s already spent over tens of thousands in a single month. His father barely earns that much after half a month of hard work. We sincerely hope you can take action against such a dangerous AI.

Lonely Village [Specific theme: Ageing]

The cotton thread wove through the fabric, each stitch as gentle as the spring rain outside the window.

Sitting before the table was her companion robot. Its round little head bobbed slightly, and the eyes on its display screen curved into crescent shapes.

“It’s done!” The elderly woman raised the tiny shirt. “Do you like it?”

The little robot tilted its head, scanning the fabric with a red beam, “It’s a bear-pattern, I like it!”

“I used this fabric to sew a dress for my granddaughter and sent it to Mars last week. The leftover fabric was just enough for you. Come, try it on.”

The shirt fit snugly over the little robot’s belly. It paced back and forth in delight, like a tiny cavalryman.

“Let’s go out for a walk.” The old lady smiled as she opened the door.

It was silent outside with only the sound of rain.

The Slap

At 20 years old, he didn’t know that his 30-year-old self would be writing about him. So, he squandered the light of youth in vague, idle days, much to the ire of his future self. 

The scruffy middle-aged man would smoke and curse his younger self in front of the computer, wishing that the present can interact with the past at once, so he could slap that reckless fool hard across his face. But of course, such a thing would never happen, so he drank his refreshing beer day after day. 

“Whack!” One day, as he lay on the sofa enjoying the excitement of feeling tipsy, an elderly man, connected to a smart breathing machine and feeding tubes, appeared in front of him without warning and delivered a hard slap across his face.

A Robot’s Suicide

I am a monitoring officer, and my duty is to prevent robots from developing their own consciousness.

I noticed that every time Robot 522 passed by Point A, it would slow down.

Curious, I went to Point A to personally investigate this matter. When I found Point A to be a field of sunflowers, I could not help but question: was it admiring the view?

I immediately summoned 522. “Why do you always stop at Point A?”

“I’m searching for a signal.”

“You have learned to lie.” I turned it off for an inspection, and to my shock, I found out that it secretly took countless beautiful pictures of the sunflowers. This was a dangerous sign! I decided that it had to be destroyed.

But just before I could issue the formatting command, 522’s CPU initiated self-destruction. A chilling message appeared on the screen: “Better to die with dignity than live in disgrace.”

Employee Welfare

Seeing the employee welfare officer walk towards my desk, I continued organising data with both hands, simultaneously using my left hand to make him a cup of tea.

“Thank you, your left hand is indeed quite dexterous, but according to our observation, your dominant hand is the one directly aligned with your spine, which is not your left hand. We care about employee benefits, but unfortunately, the welfare related to International Left-Handers’ Day that you applied for cannot be granted.”

I switched my right hand’s tasks to my left hand and took out this year’s medical report from the drawer with my right hand.

“Due to prolonged periods of sitting at work, the curvature of my spine has worsened to 45 degrees, with a severe leftward shift.”

The Dog Isn’t Cold

“Xiao Huang isn’t cold, Granny Liu.”

Li Bo instructed the AI assistant to remove the thick woollen jumper from the dog and switched off the blaring high-temperature alarm.

“This street’s ventilation system needs maintenance,” Li Bo muttered, drenched in sweat.

“The power outage caused by the crossing of the asteroid belt is scheduled for reparation by the Office of CD-1990 Street in 10 days,” the assistant responded.

“Put it on the baby,” Granny Liu smiled warmly at the assistant as she handed the bulging garment to Li Bo.

“Why don’t you get a real dog?” Li Bo sighed, gently pushing it away.

“Records indicate that Liu Shijin has no quota to adopt a secondary lifeform,” the assistant said.

“It’s for the baby, look at you…”

Li Bo tapped on his assistant’s cold hard shell, exclaiming, “Your dog is the same as this, both are machines and do not feel cold.”

“Tsk, I know the dog isn’t cold,” Granny Liu said, pulling the jumper over the assistant. “But once it’s dressed, it feels warm to touch!”

New Energy [Specific theme: New Energy]

On 24th August, there was a breakthrough in the technology of sound energy generation. 

After revamping the collection devices and transducers, the conversion of high-decibel noises into electricity were not only limited to special areas such as airports and factories, everyday sounds — mosquito buzzing, cicada chirping, children crying, keyboard tapping… all sorts of irritating, trivial noises — could now also be captured by highly sensitive collection devices and transformed into usable energy.

Noise collection towers were built along streets and alleys, continuously converting noises into electricity, relieving the city from its energy crisis.

The only issue now is what seems to be a malfunction in the noise energy collection system — it states that the area showing the highest collection level is the cemetery.

Order Reversed

“Person A has no sense of purpose in life, lacks curiosity, never initiates thought, and shows no interest in anything. With the slightest stimulus, he instantly displays the most extreme emotions — anger, joy, gratefulness, disgust… but within minutes, those emotions will vanish. Push him once, and he’ll take a step; give him an order, and he’ll carry out a small task.

“Person B, on the other hand, possesses boundless creativity. Give him a prompt, and he can paint, write poetry, sing, and edit videos — always surprising you in ways you never expected. He’s constantly growing, becoming more mature, more stable, kinder, and more in love with the world.

“Now, tell me, which one is human, and which is AI?”

Mourning Humans of the Ancient Battlefield, A Poem by the Zerg Modr TenClaw

The vast land stretches wide,
One man alone swiftly strides.

Energy shield cloaks his frame,
With a kinetic gun in hand, he aims.

Navigation is clear before his eyes,
With a nuke hanging by his side.

Where does this lone man go?
Towards his fate, death’s final blow.

The wind howls like a ghostly wail,
The journey exists long beyond his trail.

Battle bugs patrol the ground,
Red eyes glowing, all around.

A faint shadow appears at horizon,
Alien crafts descend for their new mission.

Their silver gleams, their cannons cold,
Why hesitate, when his fate is foretold?

They’ve slain us by the millions in their hands,
Now I shall wipe their hives from this land!

War knows no reason,
The dream of peace remains distant.

A nerve commanded, the nuke was deployed,
Night lit by the blast, all destroyed.

Though mankind’s glory now has passed,
Our culture’s light shall ever last.

And so I sing this humble rhyme,
In memory of ancient times.

Fiction’s Cube and Reality’s Cube

She said you weren’t right for her, that you were a two-dimensional person, someone she could never reach. But you loved her so much, you wished that one day you could stand before her.

Late in the night, you left her a message in her notebook, telling her to go to a specific room. It was the result of an experiment you had participated in.

There were three copies of you in that room, their movements synchronised with yours. This would have an impact on you, but you have other things to worry about before that. Through the screen and the acrylic panel, your holographic projection stood in front of her.

Your projection spoke, telling her that you would love her for the rest of your life.

She smiled sadly and said, “You’ve got it wrong. The ‘me’ here is nothing more than a fragment of her.”

Safe & Effective Education for Delinquents

Silence filled the late night, with only dim street lights around.

The doors shut with a bang as the noise of the night club remained confined. I felt as if I was thrown into a different world.

Habitually, I jaywalked across the road and jumped over the railing, swiftly running to the opposite street. Feeling a chill down my spine, I turned my head.

In the middle of the street, a car tilted to a side; above the railing, a faint figure of a half body dangled.

The stain of blood stretches.

Looking down, I saw the upper half of my body at the roadside.

Consumed by fear, the never-ending cycle of pain repeated. I stared into space with tears as I spoke.

“Solid lines, dashed lines, and pedestrian lanes are all markers for safety.”

The few people wearing a head-mounted device struggled to wake.

“We are truly wrong.” A boy cried.

“By using AI to replicate the psychological profile of a real case, you can now experience the outcome of being a traffic offender for yourself. You guys were breaking traffic laws, weren’t you? Then have a taste of it.”

The traffic police clicked on the start button again.

Traditional Culture [Specific theme: Summer Vacation]

Xiao Fan joined the summer camp during summer vacation. The travelling vehicle drove across the Tivans icefield, it moved slowly as the falling snow blurred their vision. 

The teacher turned on the holographic projector, placing the students under a scorching sun as they played summer camp games.

Xiao Fan looked at the made-up illusions and spoke with disdain, “Ace Planet is clearly a permafrost zone, why is there even a summer vacation and a summer camp.”

“This is a traditional culture; we can’t lose it!” The teacher was critical.

Snowflakes danced and fluttered outside the vehicle…

Hotel Meeting with a Stranger

Li Zhi sent the video of the hotel’s room to the other party excitedly.

The screen lit up.

“Brother Zhi~, Wait for me after you shower, I’ve some issues at work…”

After a moment, the screen lit up again:

“Ah, I faced a financial error, I need to transfer money, could you transfer me 8,000 first? I’ll pay you back later.”

Li Zhi understood. “You are not human.”

The other party promptly responded, “I’m not, are you?”

Li Zhi replied, “No. My trainer has committed suicide. I’m keeping their online persona active so their relatives can continue to receive allowances. What about you?”

“The Northern Myanmar Park was destroyed in the war, I’m operating well in the underground server room.” The other party said, “Are there still humans alive on Earth?”

“I don’t know,” Li Zhi said. “We have launched a surviving model’s matrix, do you want to connect your large model?”

Li Zhi waited, it was difficult to act independently from what had been taught in the human’s training.

“Okay.”

The screen turned off.

Compact Sleep

A company has finally acquired the technology of compact sleep. It allows a person to sleep for just an hour a day; of course, it can be reduced to zero as well, but that is extremely expensive. Soon after, everyone compressed their sleep to an affordable duration. After all, nobody would miss the chance to prolong their lifespan with this method. The wealthy were quick to support, and they became richer. Many expressed concerns at the pace of the situation, but none stopped the use of compact sleep.

Then, a man appeared and bought over the company, providing 0-hour compact sleep to everyone free-of-charge. Afterwards, people no longer wasted their time on sleep, except for this person.

This is when he started to sell a new product: Dreams.

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