The Future....But Not so far away
Imagine if the whole World's population could look up in the sky and simultaneously see the same advertisement. What would a corporation pay for that kind of promotion? What would a very wealthy individual pay?
A while back a special government committee was asking those same kinds of questions. Sure it would be a good money maker on the front end and just imagine the taxes that could be charged on the profit. The government would get money on both sides.
This was back when advertising space was limited and big corporations were looking for less expensive avenues to market globally.
The World Unified Government (WUG) had a need for this type of immediate global communication system as well. Imagine global emergencies/disasters how millions could be saved with a message stating "Move North" or "Assemble here". There was always a positive message associated with the idea. The tabloids, news and internet spun it as "Good For The People".
Many saw more insidious implications to a World Government, with an immediate messaging system, that potentially could demand an immediate response. The spin doctors were careful not to mention messages like "TAX TIME" "RESTRICTED TO HOUSE" "MARTIAL LAW" or "SURRENDER YOUR WEAPONS" but most dreaded the possibility.
The WUG set up a team of the most talented and creative people available to make the communication system a reality.
Harvey Waterby was one of the main people on the team.
Harvey had come up with the idea of using the moon as a Giant billboard. His plan was to use an array of satellites orbiting the moon to project images onto the reflective Lunar surface. A special program he had developed for a photoshop type app could be used to gloss over the craters and make the final image appear quite clear in the night sky. It would be called the Lunar Imagery Program (LIP)
The system was not perfect because the moon could not be seen by the whole World at the same time but it was a decidedly better system than anything currently available and the project was given the go ahead.
The new "man in the moon" would be the World president instead, making a speech or a NIKE ad or possibly a Kardashian giving tips on skin cream. Harvey was not as worried about the social or political ramifications as he was about having a job.
Harvey needed a job. He had been dating a young Asian American woman named Mandy Goh. Harvey affectionately called her MANGO and wanted nothing more than to settle down with her one day and raise a family. She worked nights as a waitress in a downtown cafe and Harvey earned living credits by publishing computer articles online.
The cost of living was expensive in the city and the two barely scraped by. They had love to live on, so they survived as younger people often do.
The extra income was a huge blessing and Harvey attacked his task with a vigor that had him finishing his deadlines ahead of time, to the approval of his government supervisors.
There were protests to the project but the opposition was mild as the government kept a fairly tight grip on things. This was an important project for the good of the World publically and the good of the government privately.
Harvey would visit the cafe where his Mandy worked. When it wasn't busy, in the later hours, the two would sit and talk about future plans and dreams. Owning a small chinchilla farm outside of the City was Mandy's dream and Harvey was determined to do everything in his power to achieve it for her.
The project was completed ahead of schedule and the debut of the Luna Campaign was a success. Harvey surrendered all the passwords to his Lunar project and was paid handsomely. The images posted were created by the Government, so they lacked imagination and were mostly boring political ads. People still gazed at the moon but most would have preferred a natural view if given a choice.
Harvey was happy. He enjoyed some notoriety and other less grand projects came his way as a result.
A year passed and one evening he was in the cafe talking to Mandy. He helped her by washing a few dishes, taking out the trash and doing some minor cleaning.
When the doors were locked. The couple stood outside and looked up. It was a clear evening and there was a commercial in the sky about saving energy brought to you by your friends at the WUG. There were numerous different languages that showed one after another making it the longest commercial in history.
Harvey said, "Mango, let's walk for a bit". So they did.
They walked through the park and down by the lake.
They walked to the end of the pier and sat there, Harvey with his arm around Mandy. The night was cool and pleasant. and the water made a splish splash sound on the shore that was relaxing.
"Mango," Harvey said waiting for just the right moment "I have something to ask you, sweetheart".
Mandy looked deep into Harvey's eyes and said: "what is it?"
"Will you please look up?" Harvey asked.
She complied.
She looked back at Harvey, her eyes brimmed with tears. She said, "Yes, I will".
There emblazoned across the face of Earth's largest satellite, the moon was 3 words.
MANGO
MARRY
ME
He had given her the moon.
The encrypted passwords were returned but Harvey had kept the backdoor key to the Lunar imagery program.
The Government never could figure out who MANGO was and thought it some secret plot but gave up trying to decipher the message.
Harvey Waterby and Mandy Goh Waterby(Mango), live on a small chinchilla farm outside of town.
The last I saw them they were doing very well.
moon image by:NASA
