In a world where gifted children attend an elite academy to shape the future, seventeen-year-old Lenny finds himself an outsider among prodigies. When a mysterious weather event forces the school into an underground shelter, the students must continue their studies in isolation. As days turn to months, tensions rise and the line between genius and madness begins to blur. Lenny struggles to find his place and purpose in this pressure cooker environment, all while grappling with the allure of forbidden knowledge and the growing sense that something is terribly wrong in the world above. This coming-of-age tale explores the heights of human potential and the depths of despair when faced with an uncertain future.

1. Fusion rockets

2. Holograms-in-water technology

3. Personal companion AI (e.g., Octavia)

4. Augmented Reality (AR) glasses and interfaces

5. Virtual Reality (VR) environments

6. Hologram desk tops

7. My-crete (a building material)

8. Self-weaving foam cable

9. Collagens (building material)

10. Interactive sleeves (wearable tech)

11. Closed net system for the school

12. Medusa (some kind of hacking tool)

13. Weather alert systems

12. The Cylinder (a multi-story elevator/shelter)

13. Iron Maiden (brain-scanning device for post-mortem digitization)

14. Slick Shoes (some kind of footwear)

15. Bipedal-bots and other types of robots

16. Med kiosks

17. Computational universe technology (using pool tables as computers)

18. Neuplus (cognitive enhancement drug)

19. Air purifiers

20. Emma Doll Bot

21. Emergency communication channels

22. Above-ground camera feeds

23. Advanced AI systems

Many of the characters in this project appear in future episodes.

Using storytelling to place you in a time period, this series takes you, year by year, into the future. From 2040 to 2195. If you like emerging tech, eco-tech, futurism, perma-culture, apocalyptic survival scenarios, and disruptive science, sit back and enjoy short stories that showcase my research into how the future may play out.

This is Episode 55 of the podcast "In 20xx Scifi and Futurism." The companion site is https://in20xx.com where you can find a timeline of the future, descriptions of future development, and printed fiction.

These are works of fiction. Characters and groups are made-up and influenced by current events but not reporting facts about people or groups in the real world.

Copyright © Leon Horn 2021. All rights reserved.