Of Space and Time: The Last Pandemic

By Bobby Brown

Of Space and Time is a space and time travel adventure set in the year 2055. Earth is over-populated and to make matters worse, people did not learn from the past mistakes of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. 2055 brings a new pandemic, known as the Last Pandemic. With Earth on the brink of extinction, the founders of time travel see an opportunity to control the future by making humans live on Mars permanently. The founders visit multiple universes to make sure their plan is safe, and they know that humans will be organized by following the already established Mars Constitution. However, in one universe, there was somehow a glitch when the two original authors of the Mars Constitution had no recollection of writing it. The original authors are two friends, Blake and Chris, who live in the epicenter of the pandemic, New York City. These two men are given the opportunity by the founders of time travel to go back in time to create a new Mars Constitution. They are tasked to meet and learn from important historical figures to learn the importance of education, art, exploration, leadership, science, and innovation to motivate their writing. However, not everything goes exactly as planned when Blake and Chris find a special device called the "Brainlink." After seven years, the founders adjusted to their plan in the form of an artificial intelligence take over. In order to safe humanity, a past historical figure helps to guide Blake, his family, and Chris on a new time travel adventure to stop the tyranny of the AIs. Follow Blake and Chris on their journey as they find the courage to take matters into their own hands.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098329594

Bobby Brown

Bobby Brown is a singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, and actor. He lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and children.

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© 2020 Bobby Brown All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN 978-1-09832-958-7 eBook 978-1-09832-959-4

For Joelle

Your future is as bright

as your smile!

Contents

Mysterious Visitors

The Plane Ride

Kealakekua Bay

Bright Flash

Education

Art

Exploration

Leadership

Science

Innovation

Electrum

Standards

7 Years Later

The Rise of the AI

The Burgiano Bridge

Memory

Creativity

Reason

Emotion

AI Takeover

Of Space and Time

1.

Mysterious Visitors

Who put this thing on my desk, and why is in the shape of the virus cell? Chris Alvord yelled out to his secretary while staring at the flat circular metallic object with multiple jagged edges. Chris felt the jagged edges with his thumb and noticed the button that could be pushed to display a holographic message.

For months, Chris’s head had been buried in a long list of formulae to process the approval of vaccine trials. Recently instated as the head of the National Center of Respiratory and Emerging Diseases, he had not yet found one vaccine that would work. The endless options were weighing him down. With no answer from his secretary, he tossed the object to the side, sat down, and put his head down into his hands.

Ring Ring. Chris lifted his head up to suddenly see a hologram of the President of the United States appearing in front of him.

Your department is shutting down, we cannot support a department of failures, said the president. Before Chris could respond the president left.

Ring Ring. Before he could process what had just occurred, Chris’s cell phone rang. Chris pulled out his cell phone and saw the hologram displaying his longtime friend, Blake Parsons.

What’s going on Blake? Chris asked.

Blake had desperation in his voice. She caught the virus last week, Chris; she is on a ventilator. Please tell me you’re close to a vaccine?

Oh, no. I’m sorry to hear that, Blake. You know I won’t stop until I find the cure. I wish the formula was on my desk but nothing is confirmed yet. Hey, I’m tired of this whole social distance order. I’m off of work in ten minutes, so why don’t we hang out like old times? Chris asked.

That would be great. Just remember to bring your face mask, said Blake.

Of course, said Chris, and he hung up.

Blake did his best to keep his mind off the hospitalization of his wife of ten years. He spent many hours a day milling about his office, reading up on historical figures, as always. A young professor of history and collector of ancient artifacts, Blake had a vast assortment of paintings, statues, and miscellaneous coins, pottery, and stone tools throughout his home office in New York City. He and his wife had put off having a family so they could focus on their careers.

The whole world seemed to be on lockdown. No business was open, no school was open, and the electrical grid was struggling. The whole global economy was in disarray, and hospitals had been at max capacity for many months. Blake was not allowed to visit his wife, a nurse, who had come into contact with people infected with the virus causing her to get sick. In fact, no loved ones were allowed in the hospital for the possibility of contracting the virus. The only contact they had was through hologram chat, but that had been impossible for Blake since his wife went on a ventilator a few days ago.

An hour later, Chris and Blake sat down in his living room as the news hologram played in the background. The new reports seemed always the same, but every day was worse than the next.

The Last Pandemic of 2055 has decimated the world population, said the news reporter.

Earth is over-populated, and many had feared of an artificial intelligence takeover, as well. Back in the 2040s, AIs were becoming too advanced and were seen as a threat. Since then, they had been downgraded to butlers, drivers, cleaners, and even pets. Besides, no one wanted AIs to take their jobs. Today, the only imminent threat was the virus.

Despite so many advancements in medicine, health, engineering, and space travel, there was no preparation for the virus. Though modern science had allowed much of the world population to be vaccinated for past viruses, no vaccination could be made in time for the fifteen percent of the world’s population who has perished so far, including millions in the United States. Failure of wide spread testing, a lack of essential healthcare resources, and a lack of early action by the nation’s leaders had led to the worst death toll the world had seen since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

Here in the United States, the government urged all classes to social distance themselves from one another, but because the president did not mandate it in time, too many people did not take it seriously. With there being so many people in the world, it was already difficult to distance one another. This was a virus that not only severely infected both lungs, it caused extreme bleeding. It was like the Black Plague and COVID-19 combined as was named The Last Pandemic because the virus sought to make the current word population, the last population.

Surprisingly, the virus had not affected the small populations of people that currently existed on Mars. Colonization on Mars was started more than 20 years ago by Elon Musk, but all transportation had been halted between the two planets. It was a vacation spot for the wealthy, but, for people like Blake and his wife, it was a dream to go see one day. Mars had a singular free world government, kickstarted by their constitution. This was something that could never happen on Earth.

But there is hope, despite having lost so much time, said the news reporter.

Just turn the hologram off already! We have been going through this for 12 months with little hope left, said Chris while looking through the window down upon the city streets. Isn’t it amazing how the streets are empty? It feels like forever ago when things were normal and we weren’t the epicenter of the virus.

The lights flickered on and off in the apartment, something that happened frequently with the electrical grid struggling.

Stop with the somber tone. I want to hear the news, Blake said. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘Everything that is done in this world is done by hope,’ and we have to have hope.

You’re always quoting historical figures, but never famous scientists, said Chris. Why not someone like… Leonardo Da Vinci who once said, ‘Learning never exhausts the mind.’

Will we ever have a vaccine? The President said today he wishes we could time travel to the past. Many lives could have been saved, said the news reporter.

Did you hear that, Blake? What a poor job the president has done. Why would he say that when time travel does not exist? asked Chris.

Maybe the president is finally taking some responsibility. Maybe if there was a time machine, we could change the course of history, said Blake.

The lights flickered on and off again, then there was suddenly a loud knock on the door. The security camera fixed on the front door displayed two men wearing face masks and in dark suits. One was younger, thin-built with black hair, and the other older, short in stature, with silvery-gray hair. Speaking into the microphone positioned on the tv remote, Blake curiously asked, How may I help you two gentlemen?

In a heavy European accent, the man with black hair said, Dr. Parsons and Dr. Alvord, you are desperately needed, and there is no time to waste. Can we please come in?

Blake called upon AI45, his artificial intelligent robot from the Google AI company, to open the door for the two men. While greeting them at the door, AI45 used thermal scanners equipped in its left arm to detect if the men had a fever. Proceed, said AI45.

Blake and Chris put on their face masks and met the two men in Blake’s office. With so many historical artifacts engulfing the two men, they were distracted from what they were initially there for. The room made Blake look like he wanted to be Indiana Jones.

The man with silver hair spoke first with his higher-pitched European accent. We are with the World Time Travel Division, and you both have been determined as the individuals to create the constitution of a new free world government on Mars through our use of time travel.

Blake put his hands on his hips and his expression grew curious, What did you say? How do you suppose we do that? Mars already has a Constitution, I thought? Blake asked.

While staring at a book by