An inventor makes a time machine and travels to 3000 AD. There he meets with future human generation and learns about the horrendus future, awaiting the present generation.
Excerpt:
After many years of trial and error I had finally perfected a machine. And I was at the point where I could put it through. The date I chose was January 12th 3117. I’d decided that this was the hour I would like to witness, to get a good idea of our future prospects. I was very excited, but a little anxious about what mankind was going to be surprised with.
I entered the time machine, and had a swift look at all those who came to wish me good luck. I sat down on the seat, taking care to close the door behind me and went through the checklist. I pushed the buttons in the preset pattern, and there continued the operating procedure as designed. The time machine shuddered, but nothing appeared to happen at first, perhaps the conversion of weak force into gravity and its deployment for time compression took place rather imperceptibly. All of a sudden, I saw a blinding, white light that seemed to appear from nowhere. It spun faster and faster. A tremendous pressure built up inside the cabin. I could barely read the dial that measured the years flying past. 2025, 2030, 2040… I finally forced my hand up to the buttons and pushed them. The years slowed and the machine finally stopped. The dial was showing January 12th, 3117. Over two thousand years had elapsed.
With a pounding head, an equally frightened heart and a shivering hand, I grabbed the lever to open the door. And my ears were feeling a deafening thunder. My body felt even more miserable as though it had just come out from a centrifuge. Weak at the knees, I stumbled out into the open. The lab still stood there, its walls could be made out, though, were hardly recognizable, but for its skeletal frame. Tables were covered in dirt and debris that had fallen from what was left of the false ceiling. The laser machine, though bent and broken, could be recognized as my chosen model. This didn’t present a problem as the present machine had been stored with sufficient material to provide a way back to my era many times over.
I walked over to the lab door. Thankfully, my old door was still standing. I unlocked the rusted bolt and stepped out into the hallway. The stairs were in complete disrepair, but I could manage to maneuver. I made my way up to the grand foyer, walked past the secretarial station to the front doors, and shoved against them. What greeted me was a totally new world.
The roads looked as though unused for centuries. There were plenty of cracks filled with sprouted weeds and flowering shrubs. It seemed mankind had stopped using road transportation and taken fully to the air. I could see specks in the distance that I assumed were flying vessels. Many of those were speeding to and fro as if on an invisible highway. Skyscrapers soared little higher into the heavens. I sat down on a curb, to reflect, engage and to take it all in. It was an awesome sight. I reached around to my backpack to grab my notebook and pen. My sensations started to pour down as words.
The thing that was noticeable by its absence in the nearby environment was a human being. Perhaps none of them lived on the surface, but stayed high above it, as was the practice with us. To find out more, I got up off my haunches, grabbed my diary and started on my journey.