BOTB Semifinalist - Living History, by Ben Essex

Living History, by Ben Essex

The Salmon Corp owns the future, and Jacob White works for the Corp. It's an easy job, provided you do what you're told and don't ask too many questions. Jacob is told to start bringing historical figures back to life, somehow- the details are up to him. He doesn't ask too many questions.

For a little while, it all seems straightforward enough. With the help of an old friend and some highly inaccurate history, White tries his best to answer the Corporation's whim. But the harder he works, the more White comes to realise that his latest task is actually impossible. Naturally, the Corp isn’t interested in hearing this- they're very pointedly not interested. Faced with a choice between failure and the most elaborate bluff in history, White opts for the latter. Unfortunately for him things are more complicated than they appear, and his lie will have terrible consequences. Allies will be hurt, cities will be burnt, and White will be left with nothing- not even his own body.

A lot of great men lived a long time ago. But this is the city-state of America Little, and great men are no longer tolerated. White begins the story with no enemies. He ends with many, including himself. In this future every lie has its price and every dream comes with a fee. For his great illusion, Jacob will find the cost laid out in blood and revolution.


Ben Essex is a twenty-one year old student of moderate laziness. He can currently be found enjoying a bout of unemployment in the sedate English city of York. Aside from blissfully whiling away his youth, his hobbies involve crime-fighting, ghost-busting, time-traveling and an ongoing feud with the colour blue. He is entirely real, but has aspirations toward becoming fictional.

He does not often talk about himself in the third person, but occasionally relapses into the habit.

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