Flip Side: The Meeting

The red light is winking over the door. On. Off. On. Off. That means the house is running well. All systems are functioning as they should be. There is music playing. It comes from tiny speakers built into the walls. The heating system is working. The floors are warm. There should be nothing to worry about.

But outside and above us the military is watching. Then with guns, and bombs and lasers. The whole country is frozen in terror. The whole world is frightened...

When the I. S. S. A. C. was launched, the whole world hailed it as the biggest step forward since nuclear fusion. It was like a dream come true. It had everything. People from every part of the world celebrated. They danced in the streets. They threw parties. It was like a fantastic Christmas present, given to the people of the world by science and technology, and like little children under the Christmas tree, the people of the world clapped their hands together in glee.

The acronym stood for International Standard Self-Activating Cubicle. What it meant, basically, was a house that was able to think for itself. It was the coming-together of every computerized breakthrough, and every technological invention. It was a house with holographic displays, nanoconstruction, solar power, perfect recycling, and computerized networking via satellite with every other thinking house in the world. It was like Mankind's answer to the Garden of Eden.

And it worked very well for a number of years.

But human nature is fickle. Given a paradise, people tend to be just like their first parents - still not satisfied. Ever. There is an inner perversity which drives people to ruin even the best of things, even their own peace and happiness. And this is what happened.

First it was the anti-I. S. S. A. C. movement. Disgruntled individuals, in ones and twos, who resented having everything done for them. They thought the world would be better if it was a jungle. Nature was better than machines, they said. People should live in the wild, they said. They wanted everyone to abandon the cities and return to the "old ways," which meant something undefined and vaguely primitive. Stone tools, herbal remedies, sleeping on the ground, bone fishing hooks and so on. It didn't appeal to many.

Then came the Vandals. They were far more dangerous. They were usually young people, who said they wanted to live their own lives, and not have machines doing everything for them. They rebelled against the world, as teenagers do, and smashed whatever they could. It was like a sport to them. The surveillance cameras, the sophisticated electronic police, the detection devices... the Vandals tried to beat them all.