I’m not sure what my name is or what year it is. Those who know me call me 3, since three is what the number on my shoulder mostly consists of. The beautiful green planet that we all heard of when we were kids is now gone. While the parts that are still green are no place for humans. People had not taken care of the Earth and let land-fills, garbage, and pollution run rampant. War eventually broke out over clean water and practically destroyed anything worth fighting for. Our world now looks like it needed to be repaired years ago, the city is now rusted over and crumbling. But people still live here; to us it is home. We live like rats in the ruins of the past.

There is no longer such a thing as government, the thing that really rules over us now is a company called Teklow. Many people couldn’t stand to live in this world, so they created their own. That’s what Teklow is, a personal virtual reality to escape the real world. Now, thanks to Teklow, more than half the human population is in their own Teklow Paradise (or TP as it is commonly called).

I live with my older brother, 89, in the broken and decrepit apartment buildings of what once must have been a great city. We never really had any parents. For as long as I can remember, 89 had been taking care of me. We were a team. Working multiple jobs to be able to pay for food and supplies or even stealing when work wasn’t available. My world wasn’t very big and there weren’t many people in it either. But none of that really mattered.

But everything changed the day I had just arrived from working in the scavenging yard. The Yard was a place where old broken warships, bits of bridges and other items were brought to be scavenged for useful materials. It had been a long, hot day filled with grueling work. But all my exhaustion turned to shock when I saw the T-P contract slip sitting on the table. It was filled out and signed by 89 in blatant, permanent black ink.

That was when everything seemed to fall apart.  Imagine a computer able to scan an individual’s mind and then create a perfect virtual world where he or she would be completely happy; a paradise created especially for each person. This is the solution that humanity has come up with to solve their problem. A solution that my big brother was now going to follow.

I didn’t want this. For if he went into T-P, I would never be able to see him again. T-P costs a lot of money, money I never knew my brother had. I just thought that 89 was very careful with money, and barely bought anything extra. It hurt to know that no matter how long we have struggled, my brother had already given up.

After being connected to Teklow, a person experiences true happiness. The only problem is that T-P is more addictive than any substance known to man. It is said that once entering T-P there is no going back. Once being disconnected a person couldn’t accept the real world anymore. They would either go insane or become utterly depressed and distraught. After disconnection a person was never the same again, and normally didn’t live very long. 

I heard the sound of the front door open and my brother came in to the kitchen. When he saw the contract in my hands, his smile faded.

“I was going to tell you later today after dinner.”

“Why?” I asked looking down at the paper in my hands. Fighting to keep tears back, I glared at my brother’s neat signature.

“Life is hard, 3. Things are bad and they aren’t getting any better. I’m sorry, but I can’t put up with this anymore,” 89 tried to explain.

The defeat and sorrow was plain in his voice, but that only made this worse. “But I won’t be able to see you anymore…”

Nodding he tried a sympathetic and reassuring smile. “I know 3, and I’m sorry. I really am. If I could take you with me, I would. But you’re not a little kid anymore. You have a job, good friends and can take care of yourself now. You won’t be alone and you’re strong. If anyone can make it in this world, its you.”

Swallowing back my tears, I asked the question I didn’t want the answer to, “When will you be connected?”

“Tomorrow.”

That final word finished the conversation. For the rest of the day 89 and I spent our remaining hours together. We ate, played the games we used to when we were kids, and just talked. I was going to miss him, but the contract had already been made. There was no going back and nothing I could do.

The next morning, a Teklow patrol came and picked up my brother. We said our goodbyes there. Because of security risks, I was not allowed to follow him any further than the entrance to the patrol car. The guards were impatient, so I didn’t get to say much. And all to soon, 89 was gone.

The next few days were torture. It was difficult returning to an empty apartment and everywhere I looked, I was reminded of 89. It was hard, being left behind.

Months went by and this feeling slowly receded, but it never went away. Life was now difficult, much more so than it had been before. I got by, just as 89 said I would. But mostly because I didn’t have much choice. I no longer smiled; things were bleak and without a silver lining.

However, one day I was listening to the older scavengers exchange stories around a small fire after work. Most were the usual dark and reminiscent tales; stories of better times and the mistakes humanity made. But that evening, I heard a new story. It wasn’t the usual tale of the past, but a new one of the present. A new seeker ship had come into the scavenging yard the other day. With it came a fabulous haul of part of an old oil rig and rumors of distant places. These rumors spread like wild fire throughout the Yard. It told of locations where forts had been built and communities stationed. Places where humans were starting to learn how to live once again, instead of just surviving.

Most didn’t believe the tale; they said it was a child’s dream. Most had become so used to the current state of reality, that anything other than that seemed like T-P. But for me, it was refreshing to hear something different. However, through all the struggles of everyday, that rumor drifted to the back of my mind.

Years went by and things dwindled even further than they already were. A few rebels had tried to shut Teklow down, but they never succeeded. Too many want to be in their own personal paradise. Even I was drawn to it sometimes when things became unbearable. As the years went by, there were less and less people. Which made things harder for those still around. It is a miracle if you see anyone younger than 20 now a days.

But then one day I was jogging across town, trying to make it to the yard on time, and I saw it. I was stopped completely in my tracks. There was a little girl on the side of the road in front of an old cardboard box. She sat there, in the heat of the sun, playing tea-house with her teddy bear and other toys. Her pink dress was dirty and ragged and so was the bear. Instead of an actual tea-set and food, she had rocks and weeds. But this didn’t stop her. The girl had the happiest smile I’ve ever seen and didn’t seem to have a care in the world. Such a normal and peaceful sight was dumbfounding. The girl might as well have emerged out of the stories of the past I had heard so often. 

This was when the memory came back to me. I had spent many years of my life doing the same thing and trying to survive. It wasn’t living, it was simply existing without hope.

Packing my backpack that very day, I caught the next voyage of a searcher ship out to sea. I didn’t look back; there was nothing to look back to. T-P might be great, but the fact still remains that if humanity is too busy living in their virtual realities and ignoring the real one, the only thing left of us will be the ruins of the pleasant past we once lived long ago.