PAST PREDICTION
By Timothy A. Fenner


      “Tell us why you are here, Doctor,” a woman’s voice said from the darkness.

      “Yes…yes, of course,” I said, my words stumbling as five podiums materialized in a semicircle before me, each hosting a hooded figure behind their misty gray facades. “As the sole author of the End Game report, I have been summoned to provide testimony regarding the report’s conclusions, to explain why humanity has only two hundred and thirty-six years before…before extinction.”

      Reactions varied across the Inquisitors. One man took my response in quiet contemplation. Two others scoffed and shook their heads. Another folded his hands in prayer. The lone woman seated at the center of the group just stared back at me, her fierce eyes unblinking. Exactly, I thought, as Sam predicted.

      With the raise of an open hand, the woman silenced the growing unrest amongst the Inquisitors, returning the chamber to the silence of a burial tomb. She lowered her hand as glowing white circles formed on the floor beneath each Inquisitor, engulfing the once shadowy figures in milky-white columns of light. Above their heads, holographic signs rotated around the outer edge of the light, noting each Inquisitor’s assigned identity and their general area of expertise: BLACK:INTELLIGENCE, GREEN:PHYSICS, GRAY:GOVERNMENT, BLUE:ENGINEERING, and RED:RELIGION. 

      The extra light cut into the black veil surrounding us, allowing me to see beyond a few meters for the first time. Not that there was much to look at. Other than the tinge of burnt ozone common to holographic environments, the chamber contained nothing but the Inquisitors, their podiums, and a seamless gray floor that stretched into darkness in every direction.

      An abyss of secrets and intimidation; just how Sam said it would be.

      “Two hundred and thirty-six years?” the woman asked, pulling back her gray hood to reveal a tightly wrapped bun of ebony hair and practical selection of monochrome cosmetics underneath. “Did I hear you correctly?”

      First question down, I thought, just thirty-nine more to go. You can do this.