Everland

Everland turns slowly in the darkness. 
Not that anyone can see it, for one thing, there is nobody outside to see, for another, there is no light to see by. But still, this great hollow orb, some 192 million miles in diameter spins.
On the inner surface of this improbable construct, there are seas and continents the size of which would have awe-struck the ancestors of its inhabitants. The surface area is some 320 million times larger than that tiny orb from which they had come. In the centre of this hollow space is a star, burning slowly and steadily through the aeons. The star had been specially chosen by the ancient architects of this amazing world, for its stability and projected life span.
What of the surface then? And what creatures live thereupon? Man of course, though he now little resembles the images of Heracles and Hercules. How many billions of years has it been since the universe had been shut out? Since there had been any struggle for him to deal with, political, philosophical or physical?

The system provides all.

The system is everywhere, in everything. The endless battle between order and entropy has here, for a time, been won. Energy from the incarcerated star is captured in its entirety. At the poles, huge cities of spires larger than ancient countries; receive and store energy from the Sun. Here electrical storms larger than Jupiter rage unceasingly, though no human has seen them for at least a billion years, the trip from one of the populated cities takes years, and what would be the point?

The system provides all.

Great factories harvest oceans large enough to swallow Saturn without a trace. The harvesting is performed oh so carefully. Never is there any chance that the delicate balance of the Ecosystem could be harmed, that is a lesson the past had taught far too well. Farms the size of rainforests produce fresh vegetables and fruits of every variety. Occasionally an exceptionally curious human will attempt to grow something for his or herself, but rarely do they keep it up, what would be the point?

The system provides all.

For in Everland everything, the air the food, the buildings and technology, even life is part of the system. Nano-bots work ceaselessly, repairing the technology, the environment, and the people. Oh, people still die, but it is no longer something to mourn. Life is good and then it ends. 
 Perhaps if H.G. Wells had visited this place he would have been reminded of the Eloy and thought sadly to himself that he was right. That observation would not be entirely fair; the people of this world have not the ignorance of the Eloy. Indeed they are schooled to the highest standards and love to read, but nothing new do they create, the spark of inventiveness is dead. What would be the point?

 The system provides all.

The system is everything. In the smallest blade of grass the Nano-bots swarm in the millions, all talking to each other. The neurons of a human brain are a tiny matter in comparison. It is a distributed mind so awesome that even at the speed of light it takes over 15 minutes for a message from one side of it to reach the other. A system designed to eternally sit on the edge of being self-aware and to take care of the people, leaving them free to turn their minds to greater matters.

The system provides all.

And whilst Everland is in no doubt a utopia it is unfortunately, for this very reason, a total failure.
The ancient scientists had recognized that the universe would tear itself apart eventually. Early in the 21st century, calculations put that estimate at only 80 billion years. In perspective, ten times longer than their own sun. The scientists of the time and the greater populous thought little of it, they had bigger… No nothing could be bigger than the end of everything; shall we say more immediate problems. For that tiny world was dying. The energy needed to run the infrastructure of the various countries was growing exponentially, the food needed to feed the people was scarcely available, and the climate, the pollution... the world was just too damn small. And so many many years later, it was decided to build Everland, a world with boundless land, limitless energy, and a perfectly stable environment. A place where people could turn their attention to the one problem that remained, surviving the end of days.  
   They never stopped to think, those great leaders of their time; that without the need to compete, to struggle, to survive, that humans would fall sheep-wise into idleness. They had never intended when they shut the doors on the universe to stay there forever, but why should the people worry?

The system provides all.

Somewhere in one of the disused laboratories of the first city, there stands a computer. Its screen shows a countdown to the estimated end, the system knows it’s there, but is not quite self-aware it does not understand the significance. Though it is curious as to what will happen when it reaches zero. Next to the screen is a single switch which when pressed at the right moment will set into motion the huge collected energies of Everland, and save mankind from the end of reality itself.
Of course, it was set to count down the 80 billion years till the end.
And that’s today. 
not that anyone remembers.

The system provides all.