4. The Gate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqyQmecxub4 Although this entry is similar to the first one in name, the analogy stops there. This time, we are treated to an environment that is closer to our own. That is, there is no extreme tech around and there is no oppressive government to... well... oppress. All the dynamic encounters are happening in retrospective, and the viewers are invisibly floating at the meeting or hearing of sorts. With the number of stressful workplace situations on the rise, and with life becoming ever more taxing to the small man, a new kind of drug has entered the market. It works as a stimulant to the nervous system, making the user more adaptive to all the stress - automatically increasing his performance when required. While (presumably) expensive, it doesn't have many side effects. As usual, there is a cheaper version available via the black market. This one isn't all that safe. Apparently, when used by people with a very rare blood group, it repurposes the DNA and basically speeds the evolution up in the wrong direction. The users rapidly become something inhuman, and tend to die within hours after the mutation. While scientifically unviable, the short does set up some important questions. How do we regulate all the medication everywhere in the world at all times, for example? Also, more and more anti-stress drugs are bound to be produced within the decade, as we - as a species- become more and more stressed out. While the depicted officials do mention that these are isolated and rare cases, we also realise that a special military unit has been formed to deal with them. Maybe they're not all that obscure after all, then. Unlike most short movies, this one comes with a message that we might want to take note of. We never know when we might have to make use of it.