Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 228

Tech Paradise
Shanghai Singapore International School, Buquid, Venizse - 11
Zoom! You can hear the sound of flying cars zooming through the air. Am I correct, flying cars?
Which world am I living in now? It’s now 2900, 1 st July in a rich city called Tech Paradise that not long ago
used to be called Macau. However, someone changed Macau into a Paradise, a place where miracles
happened.
Just 8 years ago, Tech the Inventor created flying cars. He didn’t just invent flying cars, but even
robots and pets that you could talk to. Each one had a tiny controller for emergencies, not that anything bad
ever happened in Tech Paradise. People praised him and supported him but eventually, he retired from
being an inventor. He was still well known but stopped inventing. Nevertheless, they were still satisfied with
their lives. Adults and kids always depended on their robots to do everything, including homework. Some
even asked their robots to steal money! High technology is good, but it can make life complicated. The only
low tech invention is Beebot the robot and Exech, a chair that could go 2 km high.
I am Venizse, amateur inventor, on my way to the Grand Technology Exhibition. It’s a fair where
inventors show new inventions they’ve worked on. Last year, they showed us a new robot pet species that
has natural talents. It has a cat’s head but a dog’s paws and a pig’s body. This year, there was talk of a
machine that could make you look younger called Youth XS. Everyone was impressed and was looking
forward on buying that. The huge crowd were pushing and shoving like wild animals, competing over who
got the Youth XS plus first.
“I am first! First come, first served!” screamed a woman.
“I should be the first to buy this, I am the oldest!” yelled another.
Everyone was crazy for these inventions. Then something unfortunate happened. CRASH, BZZZ,
PFFFT. The flying cars stopped in mid-air. Fortunately, the flying cars in mid-air didn’t drop and fall on
the ground. If that had happened, people below would be harmed. Instead, they hovered like helicopters.
Everyone panicked. Robot helpers were asked to bring down the flying cars. They extended their robot
arms. They got hold of the flying cars and tried pulling them down. However, they wouldn’t budge. They
tried pulling them harder, but still no luck. The robots returned to their normal size and then left. Why
would they suddenly leave? I saw everyone gasping at what just happened. Who knows, maybe the robots
didn’t want to be bossed around anymore.
Once the robots left, an old man with a speaker stood on a chair and calmed everybody then he
said, “Everyone, I am offering you a way that could get you down from those flying cars.”
Everyone stared at him in curiosity. He continued and said, “All you have to do is buy this floating
elevator for 10 million RMB, and it can send you straight back down.”
I shook my head. 10 million RMB?! That’s way too expensive. The man then disappeared. Beebot
and I went to my lab to get Exech, the 2km extending chair. Yes, it’s me! I am the inventor that invented
Beebot and the Exech, the one who everyone thinks is a loser. Anyways, when we returned to the crowd, I
showed Beebot how to use the chair. Turn the handle right to go up, turn left to go down. I also brought a
speaker with me. I told the crowd not to buy the elevator and that my helper, Beebot, and I could bring
them down for free using this Exech.
Suddenly, the same man who was speaking earlier came to me with an angry face. He spoke to me
and said, “I am Tech the Inventor, and I demand you to stop helping or else I would hurt your robot
friend.” He took our Exech and ran. We chased after him, but he rode on an autobike so we couldn’t catch
up. What could we do?
Then Beebot told me something. “I saw a red light and found that it’s a tiny controller.”
An idea struck me. What if I made an invention to restart the cars’ controllers? Using the materials
Beebot took from my cabinet, I was able to create a low tech device. I called this “Techvice.” Outside,