Sci-Fi Stories - #1 The Meal
Sci-fi Stories is a collection of sci-fi texts by Damien Lutz translating signals from real-life future research conducted by Transformative Times to inspire new futures
Signal #1 “What we eat can define our status / our status can define what we can eat.”*
Enjoying the morning quiet of the kitchen, Jamie gulped down her algae smoothie and blinked on her mixed reality lens to check the weather—'Forecast for 01/03/2100: Sunny with a chance of sudden storms.’
Unpredictable as usual, she thought as she strapped her kinetic energy pack to her belt and headed out to follow the river to the vertical farm.
Carl’s avatar appeared in the top right of her lens with a message, “Yum!”, and a video link.
Jamie blinked to play the video.
Tri, a top Planetary Efficiency (PE) motivator, grinned in ecstasy as he held a plate of steaming food to the camera.
“I’m eating melt-in-your-mouth PE Wagyu,” Tri said, wiping his mouth, revelling in the flavour, “with garlic-sauteed mushrooms, crunchy seasoned green beans, and a creamy leek-and-potato mash. Heaven!”
Jamie’s saliva glands pulsed and flooded her mouth. She gulped with envy.
“How did he get that?”
Carl’s avatar changed to a live video of him, and his voice spoke in Jamie’s earpiece. “He earned it with his high PE rating. And he gets kickbacks for inspiring others.”
Jamie glanced at Tri’s PE rating—94%. “But how does he get it so high and keep it there?”
“He must capture all his energy output and give it back to the grid. And he probably follows his Digital Twin’s instructions to the detail.”
Jamie checked her own kinetic pack was properly connected.
“I capture most of my output, too, and follow my DT advice a lot of the time. And I’m on my way now to the farm to add to my Basic Income.”
“Yeah, but we spend our excess on our foodie nights. I doubt Tri indulges in retro fast-food regularly like we do.”
Jamie’s mouth watered again at the thought of their recent pizza night. Synthesised replicas of fast food from the 2200s were an indulgent break from the nutritionally balanced, but unremarkable regular meals included with the Basic Income package. But they were also costly to a PE rating, and they took Jamie six work hours a week to offset.
“Tri’s meal must cost him weeks of work.”
“All his other meals must be made only from teenies,” Carl joked.
Ugh, teenies. Jamie cringed at thought of only eating insect protein every day.
“Anyway,” Carl continued, “don’t forget my birthday next month. It’s the day after Net Zero Day, so you can’t forget it.”
(Carl's Birthday the year before)
“Of course, I hadn’t forgotten,” Jamie lied. She blinked to add a calendar reminder… and simultaneously had an idea. “I’ve already planned a treat dinner for you. And it’ll be as good as Tri’s.”
“Wow, really? I can’t wait! Ok, chat later.”
Jamie checked the PE rating of Tri’s dinner, and her stomach dropped like a falling elevator.
I’ll have to work 20hrs every week to offset that.
Arriving at the farm, she greeted others who were there, like her, to pay off some high-resource activity they indulged in—meats (lab grown from real meat cells, of course, but high in energy and water use), extended periods of recreational technology, or intercity rocket travel.
Committed to achieving an exceptional dinner like Tri's for Carl’s birthday, Jamie worked past her usual two hours until she’d clocked up six. The farm AI remined her to take a break, and then she pushed through two more hours.
(Dead nature painting found inside the farm)
Exhausted from doing more work in a day then she usually did in a week, she headed home along the river and checked her PE, but it had only risen slightly.
Determined*,* she kept up the pace for three weeks, until, finally, on the morning of Carl’s birthday, **her rating sat at an impressive 90.5%.
She warmed with pride at being able to afford the special dinner for her friend and herself.
But not only that, her rating had attracted followers whose PE rating had risen since following her. She had earned a PE Motivator badge!
That night at the restaurant, their stomachs full and their heads groggy from the symphony of flavours, textures, and aromas, Carl and Jamie rested back on the couch.
“Thank you so much, Jamie, that was amazing.”
“It really was,” Jamie replied sleepily, fighting a food coma, and exhausted from her weeks of intense work.
She wondered how she might keep up her PE Motivator status... and if that one incredible meal of delicious and complex flavours was really worth all the energy it took to get it onto a plate.
Sci-Fi Stories is a collection of sci-fi texts by Damien Lutz based on prompts from real-life research. Each text contains serious clues regarding future food innovations that represent research paths taken by the Transformative Times team. Current research focuses on how to accelerate the adoption of new food habits.
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