Unchosen Die
Gator Thunderstorm ~ 07/26/2024
In the year 2124, the world was a peculiar place. Despite the passage of a hundred years, technology had regressed to a level even less advanced than the early 21st century. The reason? A bizarre societal structure where only the “Chosen” classes could be hired for any job.
Meet Max, an ordinary man living in this topsy-turvy future. Max was not one of the Chosen. He was part of the “Unchosen” class, a group of people deemed unworthy of employment due to their lack of prestigious lineage or arbitrary qualifications.
Max’s daily life was a series of absurdities. The public transportation system consisted of rickety bicycles and horse-drawn carriages, as the Chosen engineers couldn’t figure out how to maintain the once-ubiquitous electric cars. The internet was a distant memory, replaced by a network of carrier pigeons that often got lost or distracted by shiny objects.
One day, Max decided he’d had enough of the incompetence. He gathered a group of fellow Unchosen and started a secret project to build a functioning computer. They scavenged parts from old junkyards, piecing together a machine that, while primitive by 21st-century standards, was a marvel in their time.
Word of their success spread, and soon, the Unchosen were secretly building more advanced technology. They created solar panels, water purifiers, and even a rudimentary internet. The Chosen, oblivious to the ingenuity of the Unchosen, continued to bumble through their daily lives, unaware that a quiet revolution was brewing.
Max and his friends knew they couldn’t keep their advancements hidden forever. They decided to reveal their work at the annual Grand Assembly, a gathering of the Chosen where they celebrated their supposed superiority.
On the day of the Assembly, Max and his team unveiled their creations. The Chosen were stunned. They had never seen such innovation and efficiency. Realizing their own vulnerabilities, they reluctantly agreed to allow the Unchosen to contribute to society.
With the barriers lifted, the world began to advance rapidly. Max and his friends led the charge, ushering in a new era of prosperous meritocracy. The future was no longer a place of stagnation and incompetence but a vibrant world where everyone had the opportunity to thrive.
However, not everyone was pleased with this new order. The Chosen, who had long enjoyed their privileged status, began to feel threatened by the success of the Unchosen. They saw their power and influence slipping away, and their resentment grew.
One day, the leaders of the Chosen gathered in a secret meeting. They were furious that the Unchosen were doing so well and decided that it was more important to be totally equal in immense poverty than prosperous based on merit. They concocted a plan to sabotage Max and his friends’ inventions.
Under the cover of night, the Chosen raided the workshops of the Unchosen. They seized the solar panels, water purifiers, and computers, and loaded them onto trucks. The next morning, Max and his friends awoke to find their hard work gone.
The Chosen drove the stolen technology to the coast and, with a sense of grim satisfaction, ordered it all to be thrown into the ocean. As the waves swallowed the inventions, the Chosen believed they had restored the old order. They cheered themselves to the masses as breakers of inequality and champions of equity.
But Max and his friends were not so easily defeated. They knew that their ideas and knowledge couldn’t be taken away. They began to rebuild, this time with even more determination. The Unchosen community rallied together, stronger than ever.
The Chosen, meanwhile, found themselves struggling. Without the innovations of the Unchosen, their society began to crumble. The public transportation system became even more unreliable, and the carrier pigeons grew lazier. The Chosen’s decision to prioritize equality in poverty over merit led to widespread discontent.
As the situation worsened, some of the Chosen began to question their leaders’ decisions. They saw the resilience of the Unchosen and realized that destruction, not collaboration, was the key to a better future.
In a surprising turn of events, a group of young Chosen approached Max and his friends. They offered to help rebuild the lost technology and work together to create a society where everyone could thrive. Max, ever the optimist, welcomed them with open arms.
It was not long before the young Chosen were found out to be frauds, void of the skills and ingenuity required to rebuild the world. But it was too late for Max, he was savagely murdered and stomped into the ground. Many leaders and early adopters of the Unchosen revolution were rounded up and killed. A reminder to all that only the Chosen can offer safety and security through equality.
