One pleasant morning in the year 2060, Asad woke up and pressed a button next to his bed. Suddenly, a seat popped up from the side of the bed and it carried him to the bathroom. His bathroom was a super-modern place where everything happened automatically.

His seat automatically transformed into a standing position and Asad stood in a certain spot. A robotic hand came out from the side of the mirror in front of him to brush his teeth. Asad didn’t even need to move his hand. Then, the floor rotated a bit, sliding him to the bath area where he could have a steam bath. When the bath was done, the moving floor took him to the wardrobe area. A screen on the wardrobe showed him clothing options, from where he picked the dress he wanted to wear that day. The wardrobe opened on its own and gave him the chosen outfit. He got dressed and sat on the seat again.

The automatic seat then took him to the dining area. Like everything else, the dining table was also super advanced and felt more like a mini kitchen. A 3D menu floating moved towards Asad and a robotic voice greeted him and asked what he wanted to eat. Asad looked at the menu and touched the names of the foods he wanted to eat. Within a few minutes, a tray with his breakfast came out from a cabinet-like part of the kitchen and slid up to him.

Asad began eating and then gave the command, “E-news.” A screen popped up in front of him showing the news. Just by waving his fingers, he changed the TV channel to one that talked about travel and vacation. He saw exciting news about Kepler 452-b, a planet he had wanted to visit for a long time, but couldn’t because of his busy schedule.

The news was special because the Pakistani government was offering a good deal for trips to Kepler 452-b. They were working with Nasa and the friendly aliens, the Keplerians, who lived there. Scientists had found these aliens, who were much smarter than us in science and technology, a few years, ago. They were nice to humans, and that was why people were going on trips to their planet. Now, they were even planning for humans to live there with the Keplerians, and this offer was about that. The first 25 people from Pakistan to buy land there would get a special discount on the total price. This news excited Asad because he wanted to go to Kepler and also invest his money there.

He quickly finished his breakfast and asked his robot, Sam, to get his car-case. Sam was already holding a small briefcase-like object that was the car-case, and handed it to Asad. Asad’s seat took him outside the house, then he pressed a button on the car-case, and it transformed into a cool flying car. Asad hopped inside and took off. The sky was a bit cloudy, making it a bit tricky to fly, but the air traffic control helped by moving the clouds and making a clear path. Asad reached his office and decided to learn more about that exciting news.

He got in touch with his scientist friend, Mr Siddiqui, and discussed the intriguing offer, seeking guidance. Mr Siddiqui suggested that Asad should go there personally to see the place and living conditions before deciding. Asad agreed and asked Mr Siddiqui to join him, and they booked their tour right away, through Asad’s watch, which was like a small computer. They purchased their tickets and received confirmation within seconds. They were scheduled to go on a weekend.

However, before the trip, they needed to attend a special class to learn everything about the journey and their stay in Kepler. Before the training, all the essential items were provided to them, including special clothing and food. And on Kepler, everything was arranged by the Keplerian administration, along with Nasa. After the training, both Asad and Mr Siddiqui were filled with excitement.

Finally the day of their departure arrived, and all the tourists were given special space outfits with special helmets. Then, they hopped on a rocket called Pak Apollo Kep. Asad thought space travel would be super scary, but it turned out to be amazing. There were windows in the rocket from where they could see planets and galaxies passing by, like looking out of a car window.

After a few hours, they saw a planet that looked just like Earth. The announcement said, “Welcome to Kepler!” The rocket landed and when they got out, they were greeted by humans and some Keplerians.

Mr Siddiqui was thrilled because, as a Pakistani scientist, this was a huge opportunity for him. One of the humans introduced everyone and said, “These are Keplerians. They live here on the exoplanet Kepler 452-b.”

The Keplerians looked strange, all green with oval heads, big ears, two antennae on their heads, big sharp eyes and weird voices. Asad noticed they could change the colour of their skin based on their mood.

They realised that Kepler 452-b had more gravity than Earth, but they felt just fine. An alien named Ropello introduced himself in their language, which they didn’t understand, but then he pressed a button on his outfit, and an audio played with his speech translated into English. He explained that they had special rays around the planet that made it feel like Earth.

All the tourists were taken to the place of their accommodation and were asked to join for refreshment. In a short while, they were taken to a restaurant in a space shuttle-like vehicle. The place was amazing with flying carpets instead of tables. They were served a green sticky rice dish, a shake-like drink and purple eggs. At first, they hesitated, but the food smelled good and it tasted delicious. They felt super energetic afterward.

Ropello took them on a tour of the planet, and they found lots of scientific and tech-based fun places. The aliens controlled the weather, so there were no extreme conditions. They also met other humans, who were there for research and other official purposes.

Finally, they checked out the plot Asad wanted to buy and Mr Siddiqui wanted to work in a lab there. They talked about it and planned to finalise the deal. But suddenly, something unusual happened, criminal aliens landed from another planet, carrying special weapons. Everyone ran, and Asad and Mr Siddiqui hid behind a tree. Kepler police came and, after a little fight, the criminals were arrested and everyone felt safe.

But then, something hit Asad’s back and he felt severe pain. When he tried to look and speak, everything was blurry. He heard his wife’s voice and things started to clear in his mind. He opened his eyes to find his wife waking him up.

He told his wife about his amazing dream and they laughed together. After breakfast, he shared the dream with Mr Siddiqui and they laughed too. Then, while reading the newspaper, he got a surprise. There was a news about the discovery of a new exoplanet called Kepler 452-b. He realised his dream might be a hint of what could happen in the future. Who knows, one day his dream might come true?

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 28th, 2023