In an alternate realm 2025, there are no iPhone. No Android. Only BlackBerry.
The Toronto sky that afternoon was silvery, reflecting the dark towers of RIM’s headquarters—now known as QNX Global Dominion. They didn’t just survive… they ruled. The world never escaped the vortex of physical buttons, click-tactic QWERTY, and a BES operating system more secure than Vatican secrets. It all began when Jim Balsillie never resigned.
2007, Trajectory Shifted
In this universe, after the SEC investigation began sniffing out backdated options at RIM, Jim Balsillie didn’t surrender. He fought back. Instead of stepping down, he led a global press conference clutching a BlackBerry 8700, clearly outlining how Silicon Valley’s executive compensation system was riddled with double standards and hypocrisy.
Public reaction? Not outrage—admiration.
“He’s transparent,” said the investors.
“He’s a tech worker’s warrior,” declared the media.
“He’s a man who pays engineers not with promises, but with real shares,” said the engineers who flocked to Waterloo in droves.
2010, Apple Dies Early
Without internal chaos and backed by a steady pipeline, RIM acquired Palm before HP could touch it. WebOS was studied, dissected, modified, and merged into BlackBerry 10, powered by QNX—a real-time operating system far ahead of its time.
BlackBerry 10 wasn’t delayed. It launched in 2011 with the flagship BlackBerry Z1: full touchscreen with a pop-up mechanical QWERTY keyboard.
Apple couldn’t compete. They launched the iPhone 4, but without a massive App Store and with developers frustrated by Jobs’ tight control, iOS withered.
2020, The World Wall
Now, BlackBerry isn’t just a phone. It’s a global passport.
QNX controls 88% of smart vehicle infrastructure.
Quantum-encrypted BBM messaging replaces WhatsApp and Signal.
The “PIN” becomes the primary digital ID for voting, transactions, and even state biometrics.
The tech war becomes a privacy war. And BlackBerry stands as humanity’s final fortress.
At the heart of CyberToronto, a hooded youth steps into an official RIM store. Glass walls display transparent BBMirror terminals, holographic touchscreens, and of course—rows of BlackBerry KeyMonarchs, tri-fold phones with hybrid touch-tactile keyboards.
The store clerk approaches.
“Old model?”
The kid nods, offering a battered BlackBerry KEYone, scratched but fully functional.
The clerk touches it reverently, as if accepting an ancient artifact.
“This... was the last generation before the uprising. You’re a survivor.”
The kid stares at the holographic display.
“And I want the newest.”
In his office, CEO Balsillie, now gray-haired, gazes out the window. The world in his grasp wasn’t a dream—it was the outcome of war, courage, and one small decision he didn’t make: resigning. He nods at his reflection.
“If you want to change the future,” he mutters softly, “you have to fight the way the world works today.”
Then he types on his new device, the BlackBerry Phantom, and the screen glows red—the color of power. The color of war. The color of conviction.
Black. Berry. Forever.