“Zeus, where am I?”

“Analyzing…” I waited patiently while Zeus took an abnormally long time to respond. I hardly blamed my APRIL since I couldn’t come up with any answers. “…Ouray, Colorado.”

I snorted and ran my hand through my hair. “I hate to break it to you buddy, but we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

“We are not in Kansas.”

“Nor are we in Ouray,” I mumbled.

I took a few angled steps back from the edge of the cliff and sat down. I’m generally not afraid of heights, however, when you're stuck on one, it adds new elements to your phobias. DJ padded over to me and laid down, resting his head on my lap, working his head until my hand was resting on his ears. I chuckled and started to scratch his ears.

Dogs have a way to remind you of the important things in life. If there’s nothing else you are doing, then scratch some ears and rub their head. Life isn’t that complicated for dogs. DJ knew I was distressed and figured a good head rub would make me feel better, and surprisingly it did. I had my best friend with me.

“Well, DJ. I’m afraid we’re not going to see my family anytime soon.” DJ let a high pitched whine briefly escape his throat. “I agree. I miss them too.”

I fought down the lump forming in my throat as the feeling of being completely overwhelmed threatened to shut me down mentally. Being alone has never really bothered me. Most kids like myself spent the majority of their days isolated in our Zero G couches attending school. As an only child, if I wasn’t at school or playing games with my virtual friends, I messed around in my cavern. I even wanted to work in space. However, sitting here overlooking what once was my home caused my ears to buzz due to the silence of it all.

I looked around and failed to see any indication of aircraft. Normally, the skies were crisscrossed with contrails, but the clear, flawless blue skies were disturbing. This was the first time in my entire life where I couldn’t hear any sounds that could be associated with people or machines. I’d like to say I felt peace and serenity but that’s not the feeling that threatened to overwhelm me. I felt alone, truly alone for the first time in my entire life.

My hand jerked up, and a wet nose slid across my palm reminding me I wasn’t alone and have been neglecting DJ’s ears for long enough. With a smile and a sense of belonging, I aggressively rubbed my friends head and ears leaning down kissing his head. “You’re right buddy. I’m not alone. How can I be alone when I have my best friend in the whole world with me? It’s time for me to figure out what the hell is going on.”

With a renewed sense of purpose, I stood and walked over to the edge to see if I could piece together what I knew about my location. Ouray, in 2117, was still a tourist trap for those trying to escape the oppression of the mega cities. The oldest building was Liberty Hall Museum, way back when, someone designed it to resemble the original Liberty Hall in the old city of Philadelphia. Unfortunately, Philadelphia was destroyed during the Cyborg Wars, but this building still existed. Ouray took advantage of the fact they had the first and oldest replica of Liberty Hall, and millions flocked to this small city to visit the Museum.

An original copy of the Declaration of Independence was found and donated to the city when they changed the purpose of the building and turned it into a museum. I went there a couple of times as a kid, but honestly, most of us preferred to look at the Virtual Philadelphia City rather than a knockoff. Regardless, the old city offices and the fire station was moved out of the building, and the United World Council declared it a Global Monument, and the tourists came.

This area was mined extensively back in the 1800’s, and old mining shafts and caverns like mine-littered the area. The girls at the bars thought it was cool, but with thousands of old mining claims in the area, it was hardly unique or special to those of us who grew up in the valley.

“Zeus, this looks like the Ouray valley but where is everyone?”

“Unknown.”

“You said you could hear animals. Can you show me where?”

My vision blurred while Zeus turned on my AR, or Augmented Reality, sight. Zeus added arrows to various animals, and when I focused, I was able to zoom in for closer inspection. A small herd of bison was lounging down near the Uncompahgre River on the north side of the valley. I was surprised to see bison and forcibly closed my mouth while watching them.

“Zeus…”

“Yes, Caden.”

“Bison?”

“Affirmative.”

Movement out of the corner of my eye jerked my view away from the bison. A large…bipedal pig wielding a spear was stalking a young calf. I swallowed and felt the lump in my throat threaten to choke me to death.

“Zeus, what is that animal?”

“Unknown.”

I zoomed in on the pig and realized it was a man or what looked like a man. I chuckled. “Zeus, are you playing games? End Virtual.” Nothing changed. “Zeus, end Virtual!”

“I’m sorry, Caden. You are not in virtual reality.”

My mind began racing back and forth as I tried to figure out how to exit this nightmare. APRIL’s couldn’t lie, mislead, or disobey a command. It was hardcoded, yet here I stand looking out at what I could only describe as an orc preparing to attack an American buffalo! There were no and never have been orcs in human history. But…

“Zeus, is that a Neanderthal?”

“Unknown.”

I’ve played a few games in my life and thought I knew what orcs would look like and for that matter Neanderthals too. This thing had small tusks protruding from his rather large lower jaw and looked rather strong, but I was lost for an explanation. I needed more information.

“Zeus, are we still on Earth and if so what do you need to know to figure out what the hell is going on?”

“I’m sorry, Caden. I need a connection to the Network to give you the right answer.”

“Assume the network is gone. What do you need?”

“Stars.”

“Stars?” I asked confused by his response.

“Caden, stars will tell us if we are on Earth and I should be able to send a signal to a satellite orbiting using light pulses.”

“Morse code? To a satellite? With what? My lantern?”

“Yes.”

“Would they see it?”

“Unknown.”

###

The night couldn’t have taken any longer to come. We watched the orc take down the calf and drag it out of the valley. The mountains cradle the valley in such a way that it wasn’t hard to lose sight of the Orc as it drug the bison away. I’m not going to call bison stupid, but the herd hardly stirred after the attack on one of its calves. They moved further into the valley, and it finally dawned on me that it’s possible a group of humans or orcs could have herded them here.

“Damn. Zeus, is it possible those orcs herded those bison?”

“Orcs are a fictional species.”

“Yeah, yeah. Is it possible for the unknown beasts to herd the bison?”

“He has a spear, so it’s possible.”

I don’t know why I bothered asking Zeus in the first place. He knew as much as I did about our situation and until the stars appeared, we’d both be in the dark. I chuckled.

“Well, Zeus, I think we are both in the dark.”

“The sun is still setting. Oh. Yes, we are both without knowledge. Clever, Caden.”

It wasn’t clever, but Zeus was smart enough to interpret language nuances. The moon peaked over the ridge and looked larger than normal, but that’s often the case on moonrises, so I let it slide. Ouray was once considered the Switzerland of America due to the valley and mountain range surrounding the area. The sun rose late and set early due to the high peaks surrounding us, but it never ceased to surprise me how beautiful the sunsets are here. Mom always said that was the reason we moved here in the first place.

When the stars were finally visible, I searched the skies for a long time trying to find Explorer One or any of the many space stations. The moon looked bare but had the same markings as I remembered. We were on Earth since that was my moon…and yet not.

“Zeus, where is Lunar City?”

“Unknown.”

“Have you located any of the space stations?”

“There are no satellites or stations currently visible in the night sky.”

“And Lunar City disappeared?”

“Negative. Lunar City has not been built yet.”

I paused and took a deep breath as his words slowly sank into my thick skull. “Explain,” I barely breathed out the word.

“We are no longer in Kansas anymore, Toto.”

“What?” I was confused, and then I started laughing. It’s the first joke I’d ever heard my APRIL utter. “Zeus, did you just crack a joke?”

“Affirmative.”

I laughed so hard and long that tears started to stream down my face. At first, it was from humor and then from fear and loneliness. I don’t cry. I can’t remember the last time I cried, but here I stood looking out into the naked sky crying like a baby, feeling totally and utterly lost and alone. I finally sat down and sobbed for the first time I can remember.

DJ sat down next to me and placed his head on my lap but didn’t insist on a scratch but shared my grief with me just the same. I’m not sure how long we sat there before I could speak but it felt good letting out the torrent of emotions that had been building for the past couple days.

“Zeus, what year is it?”

“Unknown.”

“Guess,” I told my APRIL in a steady slow voice.

“Based on the star alignment and the proximity to the moon, it’s approximately 8500 BCE.”