“The ZipNap
Chronicles”
By Laszlo Belarski
It sold like hotcakes.
It couldn't have gone otherwise. The ZipNap pill: get the full effects
of twelve hours’ rest in just one hour sleep. Twenty-three waking hours a day.
Sheer genius.
The profits of DreamLabs Pharmaceuticals rocketed up in no time. They
initially targeted affluent, management-level professionals only, pricing and
packaging the pills accordingly. It didn't even need an Ad campaign. Word of
mouth worked like magic.
Businessmen and women could feel completely relaxed no matter how wild
they went the night before. The less hedonistic welcomed the extra time they
could spend with their families.
For many, it meant double love lives, finally able to pursue flirts and
affairs to the full. For some, it even meant double families.
The Entertainment Industry was first to react. With extra hours -and
money- to spend, this privileged new class wanted places and things to spend
them on. Luxury restaurants and clubs started opening around the clock,
doubling staff - and income. Airlines scheduled flights to holiday destinations
throughout the 24 hours.
So, the economy had a healthy boost, jobs were created. Unemployment
rates decreased. The Government took notice, and encouraged the diffusion of
ZipNap by granting tax breaks to DreamLabs.
For a while, it was a Business-Class dream.
* * *
It didn't take long for somebody to do the maths. With 23 waking
hours a day, working hours could go up to 18. Productivity would more than
double, and profits would boost, with only a modest increase in the salaries.
The trick was to get a ZipNap supply for your employees, at low cost. Of
course, Management-level would stay on traditional 8-hour days, and employee
salary increases would have to be calculated against projected profits.
A few companies started bulk-ordering the pill.
The Government silently watched as ZipNap was implemented at all levels
within the pioneering companies. The workload had to be reorganized, and new
logistics problems emerged.
But it worked.
As the first financial year ended, the figures were convincing enough
for the Government to commission supplies of ZipNap for all State Offices.
It was unprecedented.
DreamLabs Pharmaceuticals expanded to a town-sized plant.
The Government started a carefully planned campaign to introduce the
pill to the public.
Sure enough, some Unions started fussing, and hardcore Ecologists
created a "Movement for Natural Sleep", demonstrating in Pajamas,
chaining themselves on mattresses to DreamLabs’ gates. The Government made sure
that media coverage of the dissidents was marginal.
Energy consumption increased exponentially, but Experts assured it was
nothing to worry about, that natural resources would last for millennia.
Public opinion at large took the revolution favorably. Employers would
also supply ZipNap during vacation periods, so workers could enjoy longer
holidays in the same number of weeks.
By popular demand, DreamLabs developed ZipNap Jr, specifically designed
for children. Parents wanted their kids to be prepared for the new world. The
education system had to adapt, offering 12 hour lessons. Better education in a
shorter number of years.
The rest of the world soon conformed to the new economy. Most
Governments adopted ZipNap. DreamLabs became the number one Multinational, with
factories on all continents. In five years, a staggering 65% of the world
population was on ZipNap.
It was the dawn of a new society. The real 24 hours society.
Well, 23.
* * *
It wasn’t until a few years later that things started to go wrong.
As the percentage of ZipNappers increased, newborn babies started
displaying comatose symptoms.
The babies were healthy, but their brainwaves showed patterns
comparable to nocturnal activity. When the cases multiplied, the entire Medical
Science efforts were directed to the problem.
The assessment of the first thousands of cases was shocking. 100% of
the newborns slept for 23 hours a day, unresponsive to external stimuli, as if
in a deep coma. The remaining hour they were perfectly awake and reactive. They
had to be fed artificially, and learning processes were slow.
It was almost comic. 23 hours asleep, 1 hour awake.
Somebody made the connection to ZipNap. Very quickly, the correlation
was proved. All the parents of the comatose babies were ZipNappers. No
exception.
The news caused DreamLabs to collapse in a matter of weeks, as panic
spread. Tens of thousands of parents sued them. Millions sued their
Governments. The almost totality of the world population was generating what
the media nicknamed SlumberBabies.
More and more of the workforce stopped the pill, causing catastrophic
effects on the world economy.
Scientists monitored the growth of SlumberBabies through the years. The
symptoms persisted. At the age of four, their mental development matched that
of a two-months-old healthy baby. They tried to develop passive learning
techniques. Billions were invested to research a cure, dedicated scientists
worldwide uniting in the effort. They realized they only had their lifetime to
succeed. The next generation would be almost entirely SlumberBabies.
The chaos of a world torn between ZipNappers and opposers caused the
world economies to collapse, in a deadly domino effect.
Millions were reduced to hunger.
The scientists didn't make it, and the last non-Slumber generations
slowly died.
That was 150 years ago.
* * *
What we inherited from our ancestors is a very different world.
The SlumberBabies grew up, and generated other SlumberBabies.
Despite what the so-called Experts declared, the world resources did
run short. Our ancestors’ unscrupulous 24 hours driving caused the ozone
layer’s depletion. Many died of skin cancer.
The icecaps melted. Three quarters of dry land were submerged, and we
now live on a network of tropical islands. We are sailors and shipbuilders.
The irony is, mankind was saved by its scum.
The destitute. The outcasts. The once unwanted saved the species. Those
who couldn’t afford ZipNap. Excluded from the revolution, we got out of it
untouched. Our children were healthy, our struggling economies kept struggling,
but survived.
We, the third world, rule the wreck of the first.
We still search for a cure.
And look after your comatose children.
Bahari N’Kono,
Fourth Chronicler,
United Archipelagos of Africa
END
© Copyright Laszlo
Belarski 2005