Abstract
The end of the world does not take place once but rather over and over again in numerous manners over the period of time that the universe has existed in the chaotic cosmos. These ends of the world are more often than not categorised as mass extinctions, of which five are already in our knowledge. This paper follows the idea of the recurring ends of the world, with the protagonist being able to jump in between the points in time and being able to converse with the survivors of the various ends. The scene for each conversation takes place in every survivor being present at the end of their time with the world around them taking a final breath. This moment of the final breath is frozen in time in the scenario as the characters engage in conversation about how the human race failed and drove the Earth to this point of extinction, all while the protagonist tries to move the conversation towards solutions for tackling the problems and creating a means for the survival of the species.
Diagram Plot
Scenarios
Natural Disaster / Giant Solar Flare
Just as the giant solar flare reaches the Earth and causes massive tsunamis and eruptions of the volcanoes, the protagonist – JoJo – jumps into the fragment of time with all planetary species being destroyed and freezes the scene with the flare in mid-air, combing over the atmosphere like a gigantic solar tsunami. This is where JoJo meets Naomi – the scientist that leads the preparation for the survival of the society facing this calamity.
Willful Self Destruction / Apocalyptic Nuclear War: Between Humans & A.I. / NanoTechnology Disaster
As AI gained sentience and combined itself with nano-technology, it began to take over and initiate World War III between humans and AI. This part of the play takes place in a frozen time of the human world being absorbed by the AI and splitting the earth as massive surges of electrical plasma waves pulsate through the Earth, it is here that JoJo meets Mike, the robotics professor who put forward the means to tackle this apocalypse.
Biological Warfare / Mass Insanity
With the technology and means to extend the human lifespan and touch immortality, the human race got lost in living forever. The immortality combined with the greed of mankind, these “immortals” depleted the Earth of all resources. The earth now lies as a barren wasteland with oxygen rapidly depleting from the atmosphere. Here, JoJo encounters Mallory, the biophysicist, their interaction freezing this frame with the birds falling from the sky and the human colony held high off of the surface to stay away from the heat radiations of the planet as they struggle to survive.
Greater Force / Dream Sequence
Suspended in zero gravity, the space station looks straight towards the Earth. The planet, which was home to many species of living creatures and home to the advancements and interventions of humans, it is now only a floating rock with scars of the mistakes of the humans of the past. On this space station, in a sleep pod, lies our protagonist, JoJo, the scientist-astronaut, who left the Earth to search for solutions. Just as his consciousness takes one final jump in time, he is woken up to have a conversation with his thoughts. However, now he has the knowledge of the past and tries to find meaning in what he thought was real but was just a dream simulated in a perfect manner. Or is what he is in now a dream?
Characters
- NAOMI
- Natural Disaster
- Giant Solar Flare
- MIKE
- Willful Self Destruction
- Apocalyptic Nuclear War: Between Humans & A.I.
- NanoTechnology Disaster
- MALLORY
- Biological Warfare
- Mass Insanity
- JOJO
- Greater Force
- Dream Sequence
Fragment Conversation
As JoJo arrives in the first world through an unpredicted time jump, he witnesses the collapsing reality with a massive solar flare about to engulf the entire planet. He stands beside the only survivor in sight, Naomi…
JoJo:
What happened here? Where is everyone…and everything? Who are you? This world is not the one I know!
Naomi:
Today is the day. The moment of our reckoning. If only we could, we would have put more effort into changing the way we lived with mother nature.
JoJo:
I am so sorry that your world is going through this. It’s heart-wrenching to witness so much impending loss in one sight.
Naomi:
We thought we were entitled. Being the apex intellectual species of the planet, we were so ego-drunk with our accomplishments and scientific advancements, we failed to fully comprehend the might of cosmic forces.
JoJo:
Is this a solar flare? Who are you again? Is there anyone left at all?
Naomi:
My name is Naomi. I am a scientist who is leading the survival of what is left of our society. We managed to shelter parts of our society in the underground tunnels we built for subways. I’ve just received news that the other parts of the world where human beings were still developing urban infrastructure have all been wiped out.
JoJo:
Oh God! I can’t even begin to imagine what they must have gone through in their final moments. So many people..so many families..so many lives…
Naomi:
Yes. I wonder, are we the lucky ones who have been spared or are they the lucky ones who were taken away? We managed to salvage some food that would last for the survivors for a few months, but we did not expect the solar flare to reach its peak today. Our entire world is burning, and there’s only so little we can do right now…
JoJo:
Please let me help you in whatever way I can. I am sure there’s more that can be done to….
JoJo swiftly gets pulled into another world mid-way through his conversation with Naomi. There are surges of electrical plasma waves scraping through the entire environment. As he steps bewildered into this new apocalyptic world, he encounters Mike, a Robotics Professor on the run from a nano-tech swarm. Seeing the massive nano-tech swarm behind Mike, JoJo begins running alongside Mike.
Mike:
What the hell are you doing out here, kid? Don’t you know you’re not supposed to come out when the swarms are on patrol?
JoJo:
Nano-tech swarms?! I don’t understand how, but I just got here from another world that was teetering on the brink of extinction! What’s happening in your world? What’s the blue currents all around us?!
Mike:
From another world? Are you telling me you just did a dimension jump? Turn left! I wouldn’t mind a dimensional jump at this point! The human and AI war is in full force in our world! We should be safe here for a while!
JoJo:
Human and AI war?! How did that even come to pass?! Aren’t we in control of Artificial Intelligence?
Mike:
Well, first there was a time when AI and Humans lived in harmony. Those were such merrier times. Everyone loved AI because it was so helpful in practically all established fields. Whether it was in Science, Economy, Design or even everyday life, AI was a big part of all our lives…until it gained sentience. That’s when it all went to hell! There’s too much that’s happened, and I don’t think we have enough time right now to chit-chat about what happened here! Oh no! They’ve found us again! Run!
JoJo:
Oh no! Wait! If the AI gained sentience, why is it attacking us?! Damn, this is just like Skynet from the Terminator movies! Shouldn’t it be more empathic like us??
Mike:
Because it categorised us as the biggest threat to this planet and began taking control over every single warfare technology we designed. What do you mean, Skynet?? And what do you mean ‘more empathic like us’? The majority of our species is far from being empathic, kid!
JoJo: Isn’t there anything you can do about it? Maybe you could…
Bibliography
- (2020) YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlrj4iE7FA4 (Accessed: December 4, 2022).
- 1899 (2022) Netflix. Available at: https://www.netflix.com/title/80214497.
- Bradley, J. (2015) Clade. Melbourne: Penguin Random House.
- Brannen, P. (2018) The ends of the world: Volcanic apocalypses, Lethal Oceans and our quest to understand Earth’s past mass extinctions. London: Oneworld.
- Danowski Déborah, de, C.E.B.V. and Nunes, R. (2017) The ends of the world. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
- Drexler, K.E. (1986) Engines of creation. Sydney: Anchor Books.
- Hoffman, H.J. (2022) Permian extinction, facts and information, Science. National Geographic. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/permian-extinction (Accessed: December 4, 2022).
- How humans are driving the sixth mass extinction (2015) The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2015/oct/20/the-four-horsemen-of-the-sixth-mass-extinction (Accessed: December 4, 2022).
- Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office (no date) Mathematics predicts a sixth mass extinction, MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Available at: https://news.mit.edu/2017/mathematics-predicts-sixth-mass-extinction-0920 (Accessed: December 4, 2022).
- Kloser, H. (2009) 2012. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190080/.
- Melancholia (2011). Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1527186/.
- Powell, C.S. (2020) 20 ways the world could end, Discover Magazine. Discover Magazine. Available at: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/20-ways-the-world-could-end (Accessed: December 4, 2022).
