Blog #11 Erin Holbrook

Instead of the given assignment, what follows is an excerpt from my Nanowrimo Novel-in-a-month. Hope you like it. If you don't, revisions are still to come. And just a warning: It is really long.

Prologue:

The intellectuals call this Utopia. I suppose it was, for a while. Still would be if it weren’t for a few… minor issues. The death toll for one…But for you to understand that, I’d have to tell you the whole shebang. You see, about 500 years ago some scientists found a habitable planet- these scientists being from Old Earth. Earth was dying at the time, and they thought it would be neat to ditch the old girl like a sinking ship and come live here instead. They talked about it for a while, and then in 2475 AD a man named Ambros figured out how to travel at speeds incredibly close to the speed of light. The planet was about 50 light years away, so that was a good deal. Ambros graciously handed over his research to the government, and he was commissioned to spearhead Project New Earth.

But Good ol’ Ambros wasn't quite satisfied. So in secret he worked on another project. His bosses thought he was just working out the logistics: building a big and strong rocket, setting up a self-sustaining environment, finding volunteers to readily go into space and never come back again, etc. Really he was working on a way to break dimensional boundaries. He had a hunch that if he could jump dimensions, he would no longer be bound by the speed of light. He might find a shortcut to travel through time and space. Maybe he would even be able to travel back in time-which is a ludicrous idea, but to each his own. Who knew what the physical laws would be once he broke past that boundary?

Well, somehow he succeeded. Don’t ask me to explain the logistics, I haven’t taken Astronomical Physics yet. I don’t think he ever managed to travel back in time, but he did manage to cut a hole in time and space, with present day Earth on one side, and present day New Earth- then called Persephone- on the other. He took his findings directly to the US government. The “USA” fancied itself the big fish back then, even though the government  was a big bunch of pussies that would do anything to win favor in the public eye. At the time the public eye scowled at government and corporation. When Ambros suggested that only an elite team of civilian scientists should be sent to colonize the new planet, the government jumped on the opportunity.  Ambros selected the smartest of the smart and allowed them the opportunity to apply for colonization: first round. The applicants were tested for physical ability, mental ability, and personality. In the end Ambros accepted everyone in decent physical condition with an IQ of 150. Personality tests eliminated anyone who might be selfish, power hungry, lazy, etcetera and jeopardize the stability of the new society. They left, promising to send word when the colony was set up, promising to one day transport the rest of Human society to the planet with them.

Ambros’s old boss was understandably angry. The corporation had already taken all of the technology that Ambros had left them- including a spaceship that could travel 50 light-years in about 51, and sent off a group of trained youths to colonize the new planet. All of the money spent was for nothing, and imagine how angry the travelers would be when they finally set foot on ground only to discover they had traveled so far for nothing? In the time it took for them to arrive, Ambros and his followers had prepared. They had planted trees worldwide and nourished them until they thrived. They had used Ambros’s machine to bring in animals and equipment. They had built a small society with a few buildings. Everything was designed to be perfectly self-sustainable, thus preventing the environmental instability of the past. And, here’s the best part, this passive little utopia of geniuses had also invested in a supply of nuclear weapons capable of travelling through space.

 They had enough nukes to blow up all of planet Earth if they wanted to, not that they wanted to. The nuclear weapons were a ‘defense’, said Ambros. A necessary defense against the starving, dying idiots of planet Earth. As a message, he sent the missiles to blow up the spaceship as soon as it entered the atmosphere of Persephone. 2,000 people died that day, plus about 300 children and grandchildren whom had never set foot on solid ground.

And from their ashes, Utopia was born. The Utopians sent a message: they were creating a brand new type of world. On Utopia all children would be taught to love their home, and all children would know to take care of it. For the good of the species, the Earthling’s mistakes would not be repeated on Utopia.

And so scouts were sent from Utopia to administer more tests, and only the best and brightest and kindest were sent to live on Utopia. Even Ambros wasn't good enough to live in the new society: He failed the personality test. He was banished from the planet on the charge of genocide and executed upon arrival on Earth. The planet itself was renamed Ambros in his honor. For a nasty old man he did sort of save humanity and establish a flawless society.  The nation was nicknamed utopia.

It truly was the perfect system. Tests were administered to everyone on Earth: all 14 billion. The IQ test did not discriminate based on class or race or formal education, but tested potential intelligence of each person. A range of potential was developed by this test, and everyone with a potential intelligence range that reached 140 was sent on to round 2. Next, the personality test weeded out potentially harmful personality traits. These were taken twice to check for reliability errors, as personality is self-reported. After the personality test, the applicants were screened by the world’s best psychologists. Mental disabilities were diagnosed and treated at a rate never seen before. Psychologists were also trained to look out for any abhorable personalities that testing had failed to identify. Those with zero, minor, or treatable mental disorders were sent to live on an education camp adjacent to the main city of Utopia. After a period of time unique to each individual, new arrivals were assimilated into the City.

Exceptions occur in one of two ways. All three stages were completed by every applicant no matter at what point elimination from consideration occurs. And so, one who passes at all levels but intelligence is allowed to retake the test every 2 years without having to retake the personality test. Upon passing the re-test, only a brief mental analysis is required before assimilation. One who fails any test is able to submit a request for Individual Cultural Value Override. An ICVO occurs when one is accepted into Ambros because of a particular talent in the arts or sciences that prompts the ICVO review board to overlook certain irregularities in test scores. A piano maestro who brings entire ballrooms to tears might have his IQ of only 130 overlooked. A successful author with a high IQ would quickly be accepted despite a mood disorder. 

And so the most amazing, wonderful, brilliant, and interesting people formed a society of their own. At the time it was like a fairy tale, just without a villain. Or maybe Ambros was the villain, and this was the ‘happily ever after’.

By 2563, every human being on earth had been tested. Children are still required to test annually after the age of 17, after which a retest every 2 years is optional and they become eligible for ICVO’s. Few outsiders make it into Ambros anymore though. With everyone of high intelligence evacuated, Earth’s downfall accelerated. Rulers were mean and stupid for the most part, and teachers took no joy in their work. No one save the testers was left to encourage the population. Testers today dwindle in number as Earth becomes less and less safe, and volunteers rarely last long. Now, riots on Earth are a tempting excuse to end the program altogether. Luckily the council is forbidden by the constitution to abandon the Earth until a viable option has been prepared for them.

Our society has grown much in the past 300 years. We grew gracefully, spreading out like the bloom of a flower. We refuse to be the suffocating weed we were on our last planet. Forests were preserved at a rate of 2:1. Use of paper and wood is expensive and rare, though tree farms maintain a population of trees for that purpose down south in Duvaltal. Population here will never choke the planet as it once did, as the birthrate remains steady at 2.6 children per couple, which makes each generation roughly the same size once you consider the old maids and bachelors.

People immigrate to Ambros at about the same rate that they emigrate. Even those born on Ambros have to pass a test to stay at the age of 18. For the most part no one is kicked out, really. Anyone who fails the intelligence test applies for an ICVO, and most parents make sure that their child has an applicable talent by that time. Most people who leave do so by choice, or as punishment for some crime. They aren’t made to go back to Earth though.

What would be the point of sending people Back to a dying plane? What kind of a people would we be then? So instead we colonized a few nearby planets. Our moons were collectively terra-formed with the purpose of forming research planets. Vega and Strata were originally where one went only to preform only the most outlandish studies, like genetic mutations on steroids- which has created quite a few entirely new species that Ambros would rather not deal with. Taylor planets, as they are called, are much more industrialized than Ambros. Today almost all experiments are performed on the twin moons for no other reason than the best experimenters moved to Taylor, and the rest followed. Most who fail the intelligence test, or who dislike Ambros for some odd reason, end up doing odd jobs on Taylor (Farming, commerce, janitors, you name it.) Most experimenters on Taylor work two jobs, one as scientist and the other doing some odd job that maintains the planeta.

Criminals and dangerous personalities are sent to Taurus. Originally Taurus was a jail planet, where a prison was set up and any criminal on Ambros was sent. History repeats itself, though. Just like on Earth, when criminals and the unwanted were sent to the New World and made a culture out of it, a new society established itself on Taurus. Criminals of Ambros and Taylor are still sent to the magnificently well-furnished prison there, but once their time has been served, many choose to stay on Taurus. Anyone who fails the personality test on Ambros is allowed to go to Taylor or Taurus, but most choose Taurus. Taurus, like America, turned out remarkably well, if not a bit rude and distasteful.

Five planets total, and all well off but Earth. Earth deteriorated more and more while the other planets  experienced peace and wealth. That was when the trouble started. About 75 years ago the people of Earth got a bit envious. Just a tad bit, ya know? There they were starving and burning and choking on air. Here we are happy and successful, dancing under the stars that they can no longer see through the smog. That was when the Earthlings really started to protest.

A Polar Bear doesn't eat a Walrus. It won’t. Not because the Walrus tastes bad, not because it wouldn't be a fine meal, but because the Walrus is big enough to defend itself. The Walrus would fight back, and might even kill the Polar Bear. So the Polar Bear ignores the Big Bad Walrus and lives off of penguins and fish instead.

The Polar Bear stays away from the Walrus its entire life, until one day Mr. Polar Bear can’t find any penguins or fish to eat. He swims and swims and swims, and suddenly he can hardly find any ice to stand on either! So he treads water until he is starving and tired, and he finally finds land, and on that land there is no other animal save a group of Walruses. So the Polar Bear plays it smart and stays away from the Walrus still, because even though he is weak and tired and dying the Walrus has the power to beat him back even farther.

So the Polar Bear keeps looking for food elsewhere until he is knocking at death’s door, about to die. Now the choice is clearer: Either he does nothing and he dies, or he attacks the walrus and possibly luckily might not but probably actually will die. So he attacks the Big Bad Walrus, right in front of Big Bad Walrus’s friends, and hopes that he doesn't die.

The Earth was the Polar Bear, past caring that Ambros could turn the planet to dust with the amount of Nukes they had stored up. And so the Earth protested, and begged, and some say that Earth planned war on Ambros.

But then, suppose that right before the Polar Bear attacks Mr. Walrus, a group of juicy, meaty penguins happens to swim by. All the Polar bear has to do is jump in and snag one, and he is safe. He can even follow the penguins back home to a less hostile sheet of ice.

And so, right when the people were most desperate, Great Britain received word that a colony attempt launched centuries ago had reached its destination safely. The attempt had quickly followed the failure of the first one, but contact was lost ages ago and the spaceship was presumed to have crashed. Instead, the colonizers reported a technical difficulty with communications devices that had been repaired using materials they developed on the colony planets. They reported that the mission was almost complete: the planets were almost completely habitable, and ships leaving immediately would arrive plenty of time after the erection of the first city on New New Earth. The people of planet Earth celebrated by the thousands.

But then, right before he dives down to claim his meal, a Killer Whale comes into sight. The whale gobbles up every last morsel but one, and the last terrified penguin swims off at speeds that the poor, weak Polar Bear could never hope to match.

What I mean to say is that while the people of Earth were packing their bags, the colony planets were hit with a massive asteroid. Even with a nice thick atmospheric shell, colony planet Alpha was left in ruins.

Eager colonizers had focused most of their attention on the large colony planet Alpha, leaving Beta, Charlie, and Delta neglected.  Charlie and Delta had no atmosphere whatsoever, and Beta’s atmosphere had nearly no breathable oxygen. Colonizers were practically back to square one. They had less than what they’d started with: 50% of the equipment and 4/5 of the population was lost in the Alpha tragedy. What remained was 50,000 seeds, 89 men and women of working age, 3 children, and a temporary habitation center on each planet but Alpha. Colonizers would have to build entirely new equipment from the salvage on Alpha and the materials on the other planets. The planets Alpha and Beta were in one solar system, and Charlie and Delta in another. The colonizers would need another two hundred years at least to create the new equipment, harvest more seeds, and effectively set up the four planets. Just one hundred if they abandoned Charlie and Delta and called back all resources from these planets. Alpha, the nearest planet to earth, was a 79 year travel without FTL .

To make matters worse, though, Earth was no longer capable of space travel. They had no rocket, and no materials to make one. With a rocket, Earth could have set out to the stars and just hung out in the ship an extra 21 years or so, but alas there was no way. Ambros was going to help the Earthlings out by lending out their Time and Space manipulator. Despite its name, though, the Time and Space manipulator couldn't actually send anyone 100 years forward in time, just space. So Earth was stuck waiting, dying, until the colonies would be ready.

That’s when the rioting got really bad. The Earthlings needed a planet, and they needed one immediately. Someone suggested we keep them on Ambros until the colonies were ready, but a lot of damage can be done by 7 billion (see that? Population’s already dropped by half in only a few centuries! And you can bet that drop isn't from the high number of emigrations…) uneducated humans. Plus if they came to Utopia, they would never want to leave.

“What if we send them to Taylor?” asked Ambros innocently. But the Taylor planets were too small, just moons after all. They couldn't hold the standing population plus another 7 billion, especially since the Earthlings would be hostile to the genetically altered new specie.

“What if we send them to Taurus?” suggested Ambros, the council batting their eyelashes. But Taurus was a defiant, independent place. They refused, it wasn't their problem. Taurus couldn't be bothered. Only Ambros was left to take in the humans, and it couldn't do so without killing itself, so it let the humans be. Rather helpfully encouraging the earth from it’s safe little solar system a million miles away.  “You go Earth. Just keep living! You can do it!”

Trouble started on Ambros about 50 years ago. A minority on Utopia wanted to save the humans. They argued that anything less was genocide. It was only a minority that protested, but a minority was enough. Most of the protesters were testers. They were the ones who had visited the Earth and witnessed it’s desperation. They had seen it first hand, and it had broken their hearts. Some began to fudge test scores, just a few points here and there. They began to talk to each other, and they began to plot bigger things than a few fudged results. A human trafficking ring was developed. Earthlings were transported in secret to Ambros, where they lived hidden in the forests.

Their plots were inevitably discovered, and for the past two decades the government has been struggling to keep the peace. Human traffickers were banished to Earth, to the outrage of the general public. Testing became less frequent, and a secret police was established to monitor the situation.

A society that needs an army to keep the peace is most definitely not a stable society. And so the government kept everything hidden, right under the nose of the public. Most don’t know that anything is wrong. Others have seen the soldiers of the night. We know that eyes watch us in the dark. We have seen our family members dragged off into the night. We conspire against our overlords. We are the rebellion.