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BEN'S JOURNEY / PART IV

Anna and Claire always hated moving. With finances getting progressively worse, each new apartment they moved to was grungier than the last. Not this time. When they drove their U-Haul up to the new residents welcome center, everything got the white glove treatment. A nice young woman escorted them to a travel pod with completely opaque windows--it was meant to build up suspense. Anna had seen plenty of blueprints and 3D models of their house, but she wouldn’t believe she’d finally have a real home again until she saw it in person. Claire was hyper with anticipation. She had spent the past few months in a lousy school and it was her mother’s promise of a better life in Apollo that really helped her get through the rougher days. When the travel pod came to a stop, both of them couldn’t help but let out a few squeals of joy. They stepped out of the pod and into dim moonlight. Anna could barely see a few fellow new residents get out of their vehicles too. Surely they didn’t drop them off in an empty field, she thought. Just then, a single porch light turned on. Then another. And another. Each new house lit up one by one. Claire loved the pretty colors coming from the lanterns. Finally, their house illuminated. Anna was of course biased, but she thought it was the most beautiful one on the street. Their home was now real.



Applause and cheering erupted from behind the houses. Soon about a hundred people came out shouting “Welcome home!” The crowd was made up of all the tourists that helped build the houses that day--and Ben and his family were out in front. Tears streamed down Anna’s face. Everyone hugged and shook hands. A parade carrying some of the workshop craftsmen came through the street and livened things up even more. Over the next two hours tourists and residents laughed, played, and shared in a huge feast. As the celebration began to wind down, Ben felt something in his pocket. Suddenly it hit him. He ran through the crowd with determination. I didn’t lose it. I didn’t forget. Running out of breath, he came upon Claire, who he recognized from the ride videos. Between breaths he pulled out a key and said, “Someone...said..you needed...this.” Engraved on the key was: “For Anna & Claire’s New Life.” As if on cue, fireworks burst over the neighborhood. Everyone looked up in awe--except for Ben and Claire. He handed her the key to her new house, and in unexpected return, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. No color in the sky could match the vivid red on his face.

 

The next day, Ben and his family returned home having accomplished far more than just a vacation. They were inspired. Mom started work on a project to modernize the power grid for their small town. She modeled much of it on what she had seen in Apollo. Dad convinced the town council to implement a frequent polling system to better determine the true will of voters. Natalie’s interest in flowers eventually grew in to a career in botany. Ben graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Transportation Engineering. He quickly landed a job with the Novus Vita Design Group, the organization that led the development of Apollo. The city he visited as a kid was just the prototype--what was known internally as the “Relearn” concept. When it reached build-out, much of the ride and theme park components were shipped to Kansas City where similar designs and ideas were applied to an existing urban fabric--termed the “Revive” concept. Ben’s big break came when he was named Project Manager of travel pod infrastructure for the newest Novus Vita City about to be built in sub-Saharan Africa. The “Rebirth” concept will be the most difficult to implement, but Ben is not doing it alone. He and Claire, who fell in love together that one amazing day years ago, are about to bring a new baby into a world that’s better in so many ways than the one they grew up in.

 

So much of life is a blur, but the future has never been more clear.

TEN UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES FOR THE FUTURE 

 

1  Each action or process must be one that can be repeated eternally.​

 

2  Intellectual and emotional growth must be the primary goal of society.​

 

3  An individual’s freedom to pursue fulfillment is guaranteed as long as it doesn’t hinder others’ freedom to do the same.​

 

4  Each person has the inalienable right to a physical and mental quality of life that ensures survival and opportunities for personal development.​

 

5  Each person, when of able mind and body, must work to ensure others’ quality of life with the assurance that the same is being done for them.​

 

6  Government must serve as the stable core of society while also responding to the will of each individual.​

 

7  Economic systems must never hinder individual or collective development.​

 

8  Technological innovation must only advance quality of living.​

 

9  Every culture and heritage is important, but there must be recognition that we are one species whose survival and development depends on      

    cooperation and goodwill.​

 

10  Each person must recognize that humanity is just one component of a larger natural system that must always remain in balance.

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