Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020 | Page 17
Hong Kong Young Writers Awards 2020
Through the Looking Glass –
Adventure to Laboratory 155
Diocesan Girls’ Junior School, Ho, Nga Kiu – 10
“Congratulations! You are the lucky winner of a rare adventure to the Greater Bay Area
2030. Please join us at Laboratory 155 at 9 am on Wednesday January 1st 2020. You can bring
one additional guest to join you. See you soon!”
What an amazing surprise! I actually won the lucky draw for the Future Smart City
campaign! Excitedly, I ran to ask my parents if I could go along with my cousin. Fortunately,
they agreed, and two weeks later, I stood with my cousin Carol at Laboratory 155, our
Oculus headsets in hand.
In the count of “3, 2, 1,” we put our headsets on and were transported to the world of the
Future Smart City.
The first thing we saw was a gigantic holographic menu. It had seven cities and things
to do on it. Curious about what would be in Hong Kong, Carol touched the caption and we
were immediately transported to the bustling streets of Hong Kong.
There were only autonomous electric cars and taxis, and much more trees and greenery.
The air smelled fresh with a pleasant fragrance of wood. The roads and sidewalks were also
clean and orderly — and no more garbage bins!
“It seemed they have found ways to recycle everything now. Everything can be sent to
the recycle centres for recycling,” I looked at the signs on the row of boxes nearby. “Yes and
not only with milk cartons or juice boxes, but even Styrofoam and plastic items that used to
be non-recyclable.” Carol echoed.
I flagged down a taxi and said, “Please take us to one of the best cafes here.” “But we
don’t have any money!” Carol whispered urgently. The taxi heard us and said, “No worries,
miss. All your expenses on this trip will be covered by Laboratory 155. Please enjoy!”
When we had arrived at the café, we realized there were only robot servers. There were
no menus. Instead there were holographic assistants at each booth. “What would you like to
eat? We have all types of cuisines here at Palantir Café. You can also specify what types of
nutrients you would like to have. Calcium, protein, vitamins… we have everything!” Our
holographic assistant projected a list of suggestions for us to choose from.
“How?” I asked. The robot pointed to an enormous 3-D printer. “With this, anything
you would like to eat can be printed in mere seconds.” We ordered our food using the
holographic menu and the order was sent to the 3-D printer immediately.
After the delicious breakfast, we decided on going to Shenzhen, and took the taxi to the
train station.
Ten minutes later, we arrived at Shenzhen and went into Mixc mall. Household robots
were everywhere, carrying all their owner’s purchases and shopping. Carol looked around and
took me to a shop to look at the latest watches with AI holograms and implantable phones
which were as small as SIM cards.
“This is so amazing!” I said. “I wish I really had one.”
Carol also suggested that we go and try out the newest Oculus virtual reality headset. It
was extremely realistic, which made Carol scream very loudly when she played the VR game.
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