A Day In My Life

I woke up to my alarm, bursting with excitement. It was Assignment Day. The Class of 2042 was finally graduating high school! I hopped to my desk and hurriedly opened my laptop. The screen was blank with a single phrase written on it: добро пожаловать.

Damn, they must have restarted our city’s server again. Our government-issued laptops still contained remnants of its former system OGAS. Once President Gorbachev overcame his illness and enacted reforms to automate the Soviet government with OGAS, the rest of the world quickly followed suit, even here in America. After a quick language switch, I was back on DigiNet. I log in into my laptop with my government ID and get on MyMessenger. The app is one of the few that is nationally approved, which makes it easy to talk to anyone around the country. I start writing a text to Adrian, but I get a notification from him before I can finish.

MyMessenger

ADRIAN: I knowwww, I promise I won’t be late. I mean, I know where I’m going to placed, but I’m excited for you!

Adrian would always talk about the hierarchy of servers and oversight from the workers to the departments to the government, where the level above decides the rules and content allowed on the network below it. Regardless of the details of DigiNet, I’m sure he would have been placed where he wants to be either way; the system has always been one step ahead. I mean, it even recommended the best outfit for today based on the weather and my wardrobe! As I get ready, I wonder where I am going to be placed.

I do well in school. Well, mostly. I have never been good at computer science and coding. Every time I would ask my parents for help, they would never be able to. That’s understandable, I guess, considering that Department of Education changes the curriculum every year as a result of DigiNet’s recommendations. They say DigiNet is constantly running simulations of future industries that would make the planet more sustainable, makes predictions for the skills an ideal citizen would possess, and develops curricula that the Department of Education enforces. The greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people. That’s the slogan we hear every day, what DigiNet is optimized to do. How did people deal with the uncertainty and lack of preparation before DigiNet? I’m going to be late if I keep zoning out. This is the one day I can’t miss the bus.