DEADINTERNET By:FinaFriedel
My name is Allison and the woman I'm in love with is named Marie. We are architectural designers on the outside, but what people don't know is... we're undercover superheroes.
The day started with us receiving a secret mission: go to the future and asses the changes design from AI has had on society.
Marie and I ran to our time machine quickly; we were so excited.
But as we raced through time, we started to notice the colors growing duller.
When we got there, we immediately saw how gray the sky way and the houses were all the same too.
I took to the skies and saw a ginormous figure, one I can only assume is an artificial intelligence, building houses upon houses.
Immediately, Marie and I went to look up what's happened and how.
Marie and I met a young man, who said his name was C630. Apparently name's are not used now.
According to our research, recent design encourages efficiency with standardization, however it's a world no one wants to live in (Monteiro 31).
Marie and I talked. Marie says that she is frightened by this future and wishes to return to the past, to see if any changes she makes there impact the future.
I see Marie off to the past. She waves goodbye to me and I can tell she is very sad, though I'm not sure why. We agree on a time to meet here, at seven P.M., so that I may also return to the past. I know we'll only be apart for a short while, but it still feels like an eternity until we are to be reunited.
I keep checking my watch as the future continues to unfurl. I can't wait for seven. This future is a mystery to me.
As the hours tick on, I see that the huge android has continued to build hundreds of houses. An efficiency, it seems, humanity could not afford.
It all changed though when I ran into a young girl. She looked like Marie and I. She said her name is C341. C341 says that she is my daughter in the future.
The future suddenly becoming too real to me, I began to ran. It's almost seven anyway.
Seven P.M. eventually came. Marie did not.
C630 comes running after me though, with a piece of paper. He seems perplexed about it as he hands it to me.
When I ask him to explain his perplexity, he explains he's never seen a piece of paper before. Trees do not exist anymore, and he's only heard stories.
My daughter runs after me too. She warns me not to read it, that the letter is addressed to me and I'll be happier in the dark.
I read it anyway. I will live to regret it, the past, and my future.
"Dear Allison, I'm sorry, but I won't be coming back. In the end, it was too late to fix anything. We tried too late. I can't bring myself to come back for you and see what's happened. I love you. - Marie
Bibliography
Monteiro, Mike. "Ruined By Design-How Designers Destroyed the World and What Can We Do to Fix It." edited by Ani King and Erica Hall, Mule Design, 2019, p. 180.
Peart, Rob. "Automation Threatens to Make Graphic Designers Obsolete." AIGA Eye on Design, 2016, https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/automation-threatens -to-make-graphic-designers-obsolete/.