Singularity: Chapter 4: Armstrong (part 2 of 2)

So, this was a section I labeled as "weak" after writing it. I made a few changes, but I would welcome any input from my reader(s).



The team assembled in the meeting room. The furniture and technology had been upgraded since that first day, but the room was the same. It brought back feelings in everybody of that fear and uncertainty of the first day. The truth was, even after the months of training, there wasn’t much more certainty for any of them. Albrick came into the room, and took his spot at the slate. He smiled at them all.

“Well, you guys made it. You survived the most rigorous training we could come up with, and you’re ready to make Homestead a reality. You have already learned what you need to know, there’s nothing left for me to teach you. You don’t need another briefing on your mission, you’ve had so many of those already. So today, on the eve of your launch, I’ve arranged for a special guest to come and speak with you, and hopefully provide a little motivation. Mister President, will you please join us?”

The team all looked to the door, as it swung open, and two of the suited twins walked through, with their dark glasses and earpieces, wearing emotionless faces as usual. Then the man walked through the door, Zeke Rennet, it was really him. He stood a little less than two meters tall, broad shoulders, clearly muscular and fit. His hair was dark, cut medium short, and perfectly groomed in the fashion of a politician. His face was clean shaven, and his blue eyes peered through thick rimmed glasses, which was unusual, since most people had their vision surgically corrected, many people assumed it was to show off his wealth, as the frames were made from solid mahogany wood.

His presence was intimidating, partially because of his importance, and partially because of his size. It was rare for people to grow tall, since proper nutrition was difficult and expensive, so height was usually an indication of wealth or a genetic rarity. Clearly President Rennet was the former. His fortune was made in air recycling equipment. His father had invented the most frequently used large scale machine, which was enough to fund Zeke’s education in business and economics. After school, the company, under Zeke’s direction expanded their business into small home units, which flew off the shelves as fast as they could build them. As a result, the Rennet fortune grew. Zeke Rennet was a household name from that point forward, which helped bring him to the position he was in that day, as president of the NAR. He was widely known to be a likable, friendly, if slightly conceited guy. His smile was broad and welcoming as he addressed the team.

“When we first started your team, there was a significant amount of debate over whether to have it be included in the Artemis program, or to make it its own. We ultimately decided that it would be independent of Artemis, but under the cover of the program’s name. But we needed a name for this program. I knew that Homestead would be the perfect name. Homestead gives the feeling of possession, of value. A person’s home is the place that matters most to him, and cannot be taken from him. So we seek to declare the planet as our homestead. We will not give up in our struggle to survive. We will do whatever we need to do to make life on Earth easy and carefree once again.

“When we discovered what work was planned on Mars before the Travesty, our immediate thought was about how we could use any technologies developed for that project to sustain life on earth, and maybe even return to the surface one day. The potential to do such good for the planet could not be ignored. Unfortunately, the documentation for the Mars base was very slim, and difficult to find, and that is where all of you come in. You are the hope of our race. You are the light shining in the distance. Your success in this mission will bring a new era to the people of Earth.

“Now, I know this does not come without sacrifice, and we recognize the sacrifices you have all made in being here today. The secrecy does not come easy, even to someone such as myself who deals in it daily. And the knowledge that this program could take your life, well, I could not be so brave as all of you. I admire each of you for the courage that you exhibit by sitting where you do today.

“Allow me to share with you a brief story. A few years ago, when Artemis was just a note on an agenda, I came across a mother with a small child. The mother was sick, she had frequent coughing fits. She told me that she had lived her whole life in the lower reaches of Boston. Her husband had been killed in a tunnel collapse, and she feared that her illness would take her life before her young daughter was fully grown. She told me that the one thing she wanted for her daughter was a better world. She dreamed that her daughter would one day walk the surface of the Earth, feel rain on her face, and breathe clean, fresh air. I was devastated that I could not answer her plea. It broke my heart that I could not snap my fingers and fix the world. I was able to provide an air unit, hoping to help her illness, but I knew that would not help her dream to come true. I determined at that point that the NAR needed to take every opportunity to make the world a better place, no matter what the cost. I decided at that point that her story would become the shared dream of this region. Thus, Artemis, and eventually, Homestead were born. Godspeed to all of you, and I look forward to your return.”

That night, the team slept the dreamless sleep of drug-induced rest. They could not risk the possibility that any of them would not be fully rested before the launch. They all assembled for the launch at 5:30. They walked as a team to the elevator that took them 5,000 meters below New Washington, into the space dock chamber. They each loaded into their seats in the A-537 craft, sitting four wide across the craft. They fastened acceleration straps, and all held hands as the electromagnetic rail launcher began hurling the craft towards the end of the tube. With increasing speed, felt only by the forces pushing them into their chairs, the titanium craft flung itself through the blackness of the subterranean tunnel. After several minutes of the constant acceleration, they could feel their bodies pushing down into their seats as the craft began the slow curve upward towards the surface. By the time they could see the light appearing at the exit of the tunnel, they were darting towards it at 3,000 Km/h.

They could hear a massive pressure wave as they exited the tunnel, left the rails and flew free away from the earth. Elliot watched the monitor as the rear-mounted cameras showed the landscape of the planet as they travelled away. He could see the blue glow of the Fusion-Plasma thrusters as their craft began powering itself towards the edge of the thin atmosphere. As the A-537 finally arrived at the edge of the atmosphere, they could feel the acceleration reduce as the engines were able to relax and perform their final thrust towards escape velocity. The engines clicked off and Garst rotated the craft so the crew could watch the planet through the plexi-crystal windows as they floated towards the moon.

Elliot marveled at the view he saw. What he saw was not the blue-green and cloud-streaked planet depicted in ancient photos. The planet he looked upon now was very different. The blue was still there, with mostly brown landscape, and clouds were heavy around the center of the earth, but very sparse near the poles. He became sad as he looked down at his dying planet, and had a sinking feeling that their research would be in vain. They had set something in motion that could not be stopped. He wondered if it would come to sealed cities, completely closed off from the rest of the planet. He knew that a lot of their research would be towards that end. It was a depressing resignation, but he knew that survival sometimes required undesirable things.

Elliot was amazed at how dull actual space travel was. He expected excitement the whole time, but once he got past the view of Earth, the rest of the journey was terribly boring. It was a lot of waiting and floating, and he welcomed the docking procedure when it came the next morning. Garst’s control of the craft was masterful as it began its orbit of the Moon. After two orbits on a decaying path, they approached the Moon Base runway, and he set the craft down lightly on the tarmac. The team disembarked into the sealed tube that was attached to the hatch. The thing they all noticed the most was the gravity differential. They went to explore the base as the Armstrong crew began to unload the cargo they had carried from Earth.

It took a few hours for the reality of what was happening to sink in for Elliot. He was actually standing on the Moon. As a person who had only rarely been to the surface of the Earth through his life, the idea that he was standing on the moon was startling. He reflected on the events that had led him to this point, and he was amazed that in such a short time, he had gone from an ordinary family in Inner-London to actually travelling off the surface of the planet. And a week from that day, he would be travelling to an entirely different planet.

Singularity - Chapter 4: Armstrong (Part 1 of 2)

Chapter 4: Armstrong

The two months of Basic training went fast. Sarah had grown much stronger during that time, due to the physical training and sound diet that was provided by Artemis. The years since leaving home had not been kind to Sarah’s physical wellbeing. She never had time to think about food, or to learn how to cook. She would often eat takeout food, or just throw a quick sandwich together, but more often, she would just forget to eat. At Artemis, she was able to eat a well balanced diet, scientifically perfect, and exactly what her body needed to respond to the rigorous physical training she underwent for several hours each day. The results were fantastic. She had replaced her old skinny physique with toned muscles. For the first time in her life, she would look at herself in the mirror and be happy with what she saw. She didn’t see the old pile of skin and bones of her days at NWU, but now she was actually looking like a woman, and it made her feel good. She felt attractive.

Of course, the training she had really appreciated was the other specialty training she had undergone. She was invigorated with the knowledge she had gained since starting in the program. She now was trained at operating the navigation system of the A-537 interplanetary craft that would be transporting them from Earth to the Moon, and then from the Moon to Mars. She also was trained in operation of the B-537 landing craft. She loved learning things that were outside the training she already had in atmospheric studies. It was a refreshing change from what she was accustomed to.

Tomorrow would be the day they would launch to the Armstrong lunar base, and the crew was all arriving back at the Artemis building after a three day leave of absence. Elliot had taken the opportunity to visit his family in Inner-London. Garst and Priscilla had spent the time with their families as well. She was looking forward to getting back together with her companions who had shared these past weeks of training with her.

Sarah chose to spend her leave in New Washington. She hadn’t returned to Lower Chicago since her mother had died a year ago. She didn’t want to visit the father who had abandoned her at such a young age. Ironically, she had realized that it was her father’s abandonment that had pushed her away from home, and caused her to pursue the course that her life had taken. She was oddly grateful for the incredible pain, which continued to drive her to follow her dream. The leave time had given her pause to reflect on this paradox. She remembered the day that he had left her and her mother. She was young at the time, but not too young to understand the emotions involved. She remembered the shouting fight the night before, and the countless nights before that day as well. She remembered worrying that her friend next door would hear the shouting. When she woke up the next morning, her father had gone. She found her mother crying on her bed, clutching her father’s jacket in her hands. Her mother took her away that day, and they moved in with Sarah’s grandmother. That was the day that Sarah built the emotional barriers around her heart. She had decided on that day that she would not let her emotions interfere with her life, and locked all her feelings inside, vowing never to let them out.

She always wondered what she would say if she saw her father again. He showed up to her graduation from Harvard, but she avoided him, instead hiding among a group of friends until he gave up and left. She was afraid to confront him then, afraid she might say something she would regret, or perhaps not say something she needed to. Silence was safer. She knew that a confrontation with her father might be the one thing that could crack the shell she had meticulously constructed around herself. The risk of letting her emotions out was not worth the opportunity to make contact with the man who had not been involved with her life.

Elliot had invited Sarah to visit Inner-London with him, but she had decided to stay in New Washington. She needed time to herself to reflect on what had happened throughout the past few months. For some reason she felt uncomfortable going to Elliot’s house in Inner-London. She felt that New Washington was safe ground for her, because it was unfamiliar to both her and Elliot, but she worried that if she were in Inner-London, where she would rely so heavily on Elliot for everything, she would be unable to repress the feelings she had started having towards him. She was certain that those feelings were a result of how closely they had worked over the past year, and the past two months they spent nearly every hour of every day together. She reminded herself that her feelings for him were a sort of default reaction. Having never been in love, she just latched on to the first man who had treated her like she was special. None of this was able to explain the feelings of physical attraction. Elliot was on the same diet and exercise regimen as her, and she had noticed that his body was responding equally well to the plan. For the timebeing, she decided that this was just her reproductive instinct trying to pop up, and instincts were easy to repress. Repression of these emotions had become harder and harder as Elliot went from being her student to being her friend, and eventually her equal. She made a mental note of all these feelings, and compartmentalized them away in the place where she held those emotions she never understood, a compartment occupied nearly entirely by Elliot.

She had occupied herself by going back to the University. She rode the research train to the surface. While the students she rode with were doing research, she just looked out over the planet’s surface. From the mountainside platform, she could see for many kilometers to the East. She could see the Appalachian Mountains trailing off into the ocean beyond. The remnants of a few cities lay below in the valleys. Crumbled buildings strewn across concrete and dried soil marked the places where people had lived before destroying this planet. She looked at the sky above, the blue color fading towards black as the atmosphere thins. In a few more years, the atmosphere would have thinned enough that the brightest stars would be visible during the day. She noted the burning sun shining down on the scorched surface. She knew that at this point, the only thing preventing complete atmospheric collapse were the machines used to condition the air in the cities for people to breathe. There was no way to use mechanical means to bring back this atmosphere.

She was frustrated that a solution did not present itself obviously as she sat there. She wanted nothing more than to be able to go back to the University and announce that she’d figured everything out. But her world was one of baby steps towards the eventual solution. She worried that the science was moving too slowly to make a difference. There was a definite point where the whole system would collapse, and the planet was moving slowly in that direction. She estimated that if nothing changed, they would have one hundred, maybe one hundred fifty years before humans start dying from the lack of atmosphere. The whole process will take another hundred years from that point, slowing as the population declines.

All of these thoughts weighed heavily on her mind as she sat in the residential lounge in the secret Homestead facility that had been her home for the past months. She was still daydreaming when Elliot came into the room and sat in the chair next to hers. “Whacha thinking about, Sarah?” Elliot said, taking some pleasure in the startled reaction he got from her as she snapped out of her thought trance.

“What? Oh, hey Elliot. How was your trip?”

“Good. It was nice to see my friends and family again. Ches says ‘hi.’“

Sarah could tell there was something bothering Elliot, he was holding something back. “You seem upset about something. Wanna talk?”

“Not now, I’ll tell you about it later. It just felt a little weird, like I was lying to them the whole time. I hate having to tell my family the official talking points, mission to the moon, blah blah blah.”

“Ok, well, anytime you want to talk, you know I’m there. What do you think will happen at our final briefing this afternoon?”

Elliot welcomed the change of subject, “Oh, probably just the same old thing, talking about the mission, going over our plans, timelines, procedures, as if the dozen other meetings weren’t enough. I’m ready for the mission to start, all this anticipation is making me anxious.”

“Tell me about it. I get the feeling this briefing might be different. I mean, it’s the last before we launch, if any briefing were important, this would be the one.”

They could hear Garst’s rumbling laugh coming down the hallway, along with Priscilla’s dainty giggle. Sarah took the last moment of solitude to talk candidly to Elliot, “Elliot, I just want you to know that when we get up there into space, I’m going to be glad to have you with me. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have at my side on this mission.”

“Me too, Sarah, we have always been a great team. Our research is so much better together, we’ll make a breakthrough, I just know it.”

Sarah nodded and smiled. Of course that wasn’t what she meant, but she couldn’t let Elliot know different. She wouldn’t let any distractions take them away from the important work they were doing.

Singularity Chapter 3: Artemis (Part 3 of 3)

“I’m sure you have all learned about the Travesty and the conditions that led to that collapse. Before that time, the world had several very powerful nations, with nearly unlimited resources. Those nations invested in things we would now see as wasteful. The most wasteful of all in our current mindset was the space exploration program. The nations would send probes into space to determine the soil makeup of Mars, or to explore whether there were planets revolving around nearby stars. The program was wasteful because of the tremendous cost to build crafts that were durable enough to withstand the extreme amounts of time required to travel long distances, but light enough to be easily propelled at very high speeds. Recently, in preparation for Artemis, we sent researchers to a few key locations around the world that were involved in the pre-Travesty space programs, hoping to find any information that could be helpful for us in our endeavor. The goal of Artemis was not exploration as much as research, and the ultimate goal of helping mankind to return to the surface. Any information we could find that would help to those ends was worth a tremendous cost in obtaining. One location was near the pre-Travesty city of Albuquerque, long since abandoned, but was once a very important base for top-secret activities by the government of the United States of America. Most of the equipment was ruined, and records were hard to come by, but we were able to find a bit of information about a few of the space programs they had been working on.

“It turns out that what had previously been believed to be unmanned missions to Mars were actually manned missions with the goal of creating a Mars base, on which to develop new technologies for deep space travel. Unfortunately, shortly after these missions were sent, communications were lost with the destruction of all orbiting communications satellites as part of the great Nuclear War. The crew of those missions were abandoned on Mars, and all records of the mission were destroyed. The US government, however, failed to destroy all records, as we were able to discover, there was an engineer working on the project who kept a journal of what he was working on. It was this journal that we discovered, and we have reason to believe that the Mars base might have been completed despite the loss of communication.

“The goal of Homestead is to journey to the Mars base, and determine the condition of that base. You will spend the next two months in training here in our New Washington facility before being launched to the Lunar base. We have an advance team at Armstrong awaiting your arrival. You will receive further training there, before launching to the Mars base. You will be the first team to arrive at the Mars base since the original mission was launched. We’re not sure what conditions you’ll find when you arrive there, but we will prepare you for all eventualities.

“Once at the Mars base, you will report back to us on Earth regarding the condition of the base, whether the life support systems are usable, and we will make a determination as to the course to take from that point.

“Now, regarding your training. I will be overseeing every bit of your training. You will all receive physical training to prepare your body for the long journeys in space. You will also receive training on low gravity environments to prepare you for the Lunar and Mars gravity differentials. You will also receive, although I hate to use the phrase, a crash course in the equipment that you will be using for the journey. Of course Garst will be piloting the vessels, we want to be sure that you are all trained in the event that anything should happen to him.”

The team looked at each other. They all felt a sense of wonder at what they’d just been told. It was not what they had expected when they walked into the building this morning. Priscilla seemed to be soaking up the thrill of this new uncomfortable situation. It seemed to have an odd effect on her, as if she was happier right now than she had ever been before.

Garst was skeptical, which was his usual reaction to situations that do not turn out the way he was expecting. He was very excited, however, for piloting missions to the Moon and Mars. It was going to be a new experience for him, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the controls of whatever craft they are going to be using for the journey.

Elliot looked at Sarah. She looked at peace with all of this. He thought about what she had told him earlier, about running from her memories. He thought how much she must be reveling in the thought of being on Mars. No place could be further from her memories than the red planet, the furthest any human had ever travelled. He knew she would be thinking about that right now as she looked at him, a placid smile on her lips. She mouthed words to Elliot, “I can’t wait!” Her sureness gave Elliot strength. Any uncertainty he had felt before seemed to melt away when he saw how accepting Sarah was of the situation. He was going to be part of something big.

Albrick continued, “So you are now all wondering why you were chosen. Mister Jasper, of course you know why you’re here. You’re the best pilot we could find who didn’t have family ties. Of course you’re not familiar with the specific craft you’ll be piloting, but it won’t take you long, I’m sure. Your instructors have spoken highly of your ability to learn quickly and well. Miss Faust, you will be the technician of the crew. I know your experience has been mostly with computers, but you have developed a certain expertise with some of the legacy programming languages used Pre-Travesty. You’ll be using that knowledge much once you arrive on Mars. Before then, you’ll be taking care of the communications, and since Mister Babbit will not be joining us, you’ll be assisting Garst with piloting.

“And for the atmospheric scientists, your work will be somewhat less defined. We anticipate that there will be a lot you can learn from this trip. You’ll want to make special note of conditions of the Earth as you travel to the Moon, and as you slingshot past on your way to Mars. We know that part of the mission to Mars involved some contained environmental technology that we’d like to learn more about, so you’ll be examining that equipment while you’re there.

“The door behind me leads to your quarters, please make yourselves at home there, and we will send someone for you in two hours to begin your physical training.”

Sigularity- Chapter 3:Artemis (part 2 of 3)

The pair walked together in silence across town to the Artemis building. They both sensed an awkward emotional moment on the roof, and neither wanted to bring it up now. Silence seemed to be the best option. When they arrived at the Black tower, Elliot held the door for Sarah, and they went inside. The attendant at the reception desk directed them to room 742, and to use the elevator at the end of the lobby. They rode the elevator to the 7^th floor, and got off. The hall down which they walked felt as if it grew smaller the further they walked. When they finally arrived at 742, they were both feeling a little claustrophobic.

Sarah pushed the door open, and they walked into the room. It was a large room, with a long oval table sitting in the middle. About two dozen metal chairs surrounded the table. Elliot was amazed by the table. It was made of wood. Wood was so rarely used since the Travesty, due to the small number of trees that actually grew anymore. The wooden table only made the room more intimidating. The ceiling was two stories high, with pendants hanging from the ceiling above each spot around the table, casting a dim circle of light. The effect was to make each seat around the table feel like an interrogation seat. The rest of the room was dimly lit from half-dome lights around the perimeter. There were no windows in this room, so the dim light was all there was to illuminate the room. The path from the door to the table was lit by small lights installed into the carpeted floor.

Elliot led Sarah down the path to the table, where they took two seats next to each other. They looked around the table. At the end furthest from the door sat a man in a Dark suit, with a white shirt, and a thin black tie. He wore a pin depicting the North American flag on his lapel. He looked to be in his early 40’s. His hair was an earthy red hue, and his skin was very fair. Next to him was an overweight middle-aged man, wearing a short-sleeved button down shirt. His black hair was receding up his scalp, currently about half-way to fully bald. He compensated for this with a thick goatee. He looked uncomfortable as he sat in his chair, like a spring coiled and ready to jump at the slightest provocation. Next to him was a young blonde-haired woman. She looked to be a few years older than Elliot, with soft features, pale green eyes, and a slim figure. She wore a brown suit, with thin yellow pinstripes, and a yellow buttoned blouse, with a ruffled collar. She sat confidently at the table, directly across from Elliot. In the corner of the room furthest from the door stood two men, who could have been twins. They wore identical suits to the man at the head of the table, with the matching lapel pins. Unlike the man at the table, they both had dark hair, cropped short, and looked to be in their mid-thirties. The both wore darkened glasses, and each had an earpiece snaking over the back of his left ear. They stood with their backs to the wall, showing no emotion.

Elliot looked up to see a man about his age walk into the room. He had dark skin, being obviously of African descent. His head was shaved clean. He wore a red t-shirt under a black sport coat, and a pair of dark blue jeans. He was built muscularly, and looked very tough. He sat at the end of the table opposite the man in the suit. As he sat, the man in the suit nodded to a young woman standing next to the door. She left the room, closing the door behind her. The man in the suit looked around at the people sitting at the table. He looked over at the twins and gave them a nod. The twins walked across the room to the door, and stood on either side of the door. The man in the suit turned back to the table. His eyes travelled from person to person at the table as he spoke.

“You all know that you have been chosen to take part in the Artemis program of space exploration. I am here to tell you that this was a necessary lie that you were told in order to keep certain things secret. The program you have been asked to join is related to Artemis, but is not Artemis. You need to know that this program is vital to the survival of humans, and is undertaken at a very high cost to those ends. You also need to know that this program is dangerous, and there are a lot of unknowns. It’s possible that you could give your life in service to this program, and so we are giving you all one last opportunity to back out of this. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you more about the program we are asking you to join until you have fully committed. If you choose to leave this room now, you will be escorted out of the building, and you are free to resume your normal life. We do require absolute secrecy of what I have already told you, and any failure to keep this secrecy will be met with severe consequences. Would any of you like to leave here now?”

The man in the suit sat back in his chair, as if to release the others in the room from their obligations. Sarah looked over at Elliot, and he gave her a nervous smile. She smiled back and whispered into his ear, “I’m staying.” Elliot felt his heart drop into his stomach as he heard that, it was a signal to him that he had his own decision to make. If Sarah walked out, he could have followed easily, and had someone with whom he could relate. But with Sarah staying, the decision became that much more difficult. He saw the overweight man sweating and stirring in his chair. He stood up, mumbled an apology to the man in the suit and staggered towards the door. One of the twins opened the door for him, and a third twin was waiting outside the room to escort the man out of the building. As the door came to rest in the jamb, Elliot felt his foot step off the cliff into the abyss. He didn’t know how the decision was made in his head, but he didn’t get up, and now he knew he could not. He was now committed to this program, whatever it was.

The man in the suit smiled, “Good, the four of you are the brave ones. You will help assure the survival of our species, and it will all start right now. From here forward, you are the Homestead team, ladies and gentlemen, if you will follow my colleagues, we will head to our facility to commence your training.”

He motioned to the twins, and they Walked to the table. One of them said, in a smooth deep voice, “If you folks will just follow us, it’s a short walk away.” The twins walked back to the corner where they stood before the meeting began. As they approached, a panel on the wall slid sideways to reveal a well-lit white hallway.

The team walked into the hallway, and Elliot could see that it was slightly sloping downward. There were several other hallways and doors leading to the sides of the passage, and Elliot could not tell how the twins knew to turn down certain halls. After a few turns, they arrived at a door. The twin who had spoken entered a code into a number pad on the wall, and put his eye to a lens. The lens scanned his eye, and the door opened. He turned to the team and in the smooth voice said, “If you could each please look into this lens so we can verify your identity. Just a safety precaution, I’m sure you understand.”

Elliot was the second to scan his eye, after the twin. He placed his eye to the lens, and saw a red beam sweep across his eye, and then back. A computer voice spoke, Identity confirmed, Elliot Adams, please proceed. Elliot stepped through the door into the small room, followed shortly by Sarah, and the muscular African man, and finally, the second twin. The door closed behind him, and Elliot had a sinking feeling in his gut. He assumed this was his nerves coming back into play again. He had thought he was past that now, resigned to his decision, so he wasn’t sure why he was getting this fluttering feeling in his stomach. He started to notice a humming noise coming from beyond the walls of the room, and realized at that point that the room was moving, which was causing him to feel the way he was feeling. He paid attention to the acceleration, and sensed that they were moving downward very fast. How far down have we gone? We started on the 7^th floor, are we below ground level now? How many levels below ground? How far down can we go?

Just then he felt the elevator begin to slow. It came to a gradual stop, and the door slid open in front of them. The hallway in front of them was the same clean white as the previous hallway. The twins led the team out of the elevator, and down the hallway. The smooth-voiced twin punched another code into a number pad in the wall, and again scanned his eye. He invited all the team members to do the same again. The door next to the keypad opened, revealing a very basic room, gray walls, gray table with folding chairs, and a slate on the wall, with a piece of yellow chalk in a tray below it. “This is where we leave you guys, welcome to Homestead, good luck with the training.”

With that, the twins turned around and left the way they had come. The door was left slightly open, as if to tempt the four team members to make a run for it. The room was very sterile, not the type of room you would expect when you show up for your first day of a secret government program. The table was made from inexpensive polymers, not the elaborate wood of the table in 742. The chairs too were cheap. The slate on the wall was a sharp contrast from the monitors and displays seen throughout the Artemis building lobby. Everybody was looking at each other, trying to size their teammates up. Sarah was the first to speak.

“I’m Sarah Angler, I work with atmospheric studies and atmospheric manipulation.”

The muscular man spoke with a gentle voice which was unexpected from such a large man, “Garst Jasper, aviation engineer, pilot as they used to say.”

“My name is Priscilla Faust, I’m a computer engineer, I work with communications technology too.”

Elliot was last, “Elliot Adams, I’m in atmospheric studies with Sarah, my specialty is the relationship between plant life and the composition of atmosphere. Do any of you have any idea of what’s going on?”

“Not a clue,” Garst replied, “I was recruited to be a pilot for the Artemis program, so that was what I was expecting. But all this sneaking around and secret passages is a little too much spy novel for me, I’d prefer to just do my job and not ask questions.”

“I think it’s exciting,” Priscilla beamed, “I’ve always loved uncertainty. I like to be uncomfortable, not know what’s coming, it’s a thrill. Plus, it's nice to be important.”

The conversation was interrupted by a short old man walking into the room. He had a slightly protruding belly, and a bushy mustache. His hair was whispy and messed up. The hair on the left side of his head stood out like a wing. He wore a tan cardigan sweater over a white turtle-neck shirt. His pants were too long and too tight for his short, stout legs. He carried a small briefcase in his left hand, and a pair of glasses in his right. He set the briefcase down on a chair next to the slate, and put the glasses on his face, before writing Albrick Hunter in large round letters on the slate. He turned around to face the group, and looked at each one giving a small nod after examining each, and a quiet “uh huh” after he was satisfied with all four. His voice crackled from his throat as he addressed the team.

“I see Mister Babbit chose not to join us. It’s a shame, but no matter, he was not essential. I suppose you are all wondering why you’re here, in this dingy room in the sub-sub-sub basement of the Artemis building here in New Washington. I suppose you’re wondering what Homestead is, which you have no doubt heard mentioned several times in the past few minutes. I also suppose you’re wondering who I am. I hope to answer all these questions for you, but I will start with the easiest. I am Albrick Hunter, and I am the director of the Homestead project. You are here because you are all experts in your field, without immediate families to make you cautious, and you fit the profiles we needed for inclusion in Homestead. And the last question is somewhat more difficult for me to explain, so I will do so by telling you a short story."

Singularity - Chapter 3: Artemis (Part 1)

Chapter 3: Artemis

Elliot’s alarm went off at 6:00, but he didn’t need it. He was already sitting at his kitchen table, dressed and ready to go. He had tried in vain to sleep, but gave up at 3:00, knowing it wasn’t worth trying. He was too excited, nervous, and anxious about the Artemis program, and what it would be like. He had emptied his fridge, the Artemis administrator had told him that he would be away from his apartment for at least two months, but he was not to pack a bag, they would provide issued clothing once they were at the training facility. He could bring a small bag of personal items, so he packed his shoulder bag with a picture of his dad and Cheslie, a notebook and pencil, a few keepsakes that made him happy, a deck of cards and a travel Scrabble set, just in case. He just sat there, staring out the window as the sun began to filter in through the gap in the cavern dome overhead. He decided to leave a little early before going to Sarah’s apartment to get her.

He got outside his building, and crossed the street to the Surface Studies building. He took the elevator to the roof, and walked out to the edge, facing north toward the Capitol. He loved the view from the roof of the SS building. He could see the Capitol dome reflecting the early morning rosy glow. He had seen true sunrises on the video monitors before, but for some reason, he liked the New Washington sunrise so much more. The video screens couldn’t fully capture the hues of the light that streamed through the ceiling gap, or the way the city became bathed in the pure sunlight. Beyond the dome, he could see New Union Station, and beyond that, a landscape of buildings stretched to the edge of the cavern, just barely visible in the dim morning light. To the left of the Capitol, he could see the Artemis building, looming where it sat at West Avenue and 1^st Ring Road. It was a huge black monolith, tall and thin, fourteen stories above the surface, and an unknown number below. The activities in that building were a mystery to most in the city, and until today, Elliot had counted himself as part of that number. This very morning, he would enter into the elite few that had been inside the building.

Elliot stood at the edge of that building that had been the place where he had learned everything he knew about how the world worked. He felt as if he stood literally at a cliff’s edge, and one foot hovered over the edge. Below the cliff was blackness, mystery, intrigue, the unknown. If he stepped back from the edge, he could run home to Cheslie and Bruck, live out his life in Inner-London, become a rail mechanic like his dad. He’d find a nice girl, maybe a school teacher, get married, have children, and completely forget what he had learned about the doomed planet, and the sliver of potential to reverse course. He could take that step back from the cliff, and never know what changes the future could bring. He could be near the ones he loved, with the only uncertainty being the future of the planet he calls home, and maybe he could train himself to forget. But he knew that if he took that step back, he would always wonder what might have been. He was determined to step from that cliff and fall into whatever his future brings. He knew this course could lead to his death, or separation from his family, but he knew that the cause was greater than one person, and he knew that he needed to heed the call of duty to his race. Mankind had destroyed this planet, and he was determined to see that mankind would fix it. He dreamed of a day where people could once again walk the surface, grow crops, and incubate the animal zygotes stored in cryostasis before they became extinct. That future lay ahead of him off the edge of the cliff.

He heard footsteps behind him. They were footsteps he recognized, and had heard many times before as he labored through the night in a lab, studying an air sample from the surface, or testing the reaction of extreme ultraviolet on certain grass hybrids. Those footsteps had woken him from dozens of naps while sitting at a worktable. The footsteps grew louder as the owner of the feet approached. “Hi Sarah, how did you know I was here?”

“I didn’t, apparently, I just had the same idea as you.”

“Did you sleep at all last night?”

“Not a wink, you?”

“I have been wondering for the past month what today would feel like. The day where I wake up, walk into that huge black building, and start a new chapter of my life.”

“So how does it feel?”

“Hard to say. I didn’t wake up, for starters. But other than that, I guess it just doesn’t feel real. Just now, I was watching the sunrise over the city, and I thought about how beautiful it is. I wondered whether this would be the last time I saw that. I keep getting these feelings of finality, like after today, nothing will ever be the same again. Like I’m going to walk through those doors, and disappear. I thought about running away, but then I thought that maybe things happen for a reason, and I was selected for this because I’m meant to do something to help save the planet. So I know that I have to stay, and I have to walk into that building. Well, we have to walk into that building. Sorry, I sometimes forget that you’re going through the same thing as me. It just doesn’t seem to faze you.”

Sarah leaned against the half-wall next to Elliot. Her blue eyes had a softer look to them in the dim morning light, not the piercing that Elliot had eventually grown accustomed to. She looked younger to him somehow in this moment. He had always seen her as being his mentor, and in his mind that made her so much older than he was. But now that they were both off to the same fate this day, he looked at her, and saw an equal. She was still his mentor, and he knew that he still had a lot to learn before he could come close to her knowledge. But today, they were both going to step off that cliff together, and it was that unknown abyss that brought them to equality. She was truly his friend and colleague, and he wasn’t sure at what point they had gone from student and teacher to friends.

She grimaced a little, as if thinking of a sour memory. “I wouldn’t say I’ve not had doubts about my decision. I’ve had plenty, but I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. There are so many bad memories for me here. I ran from Lower Chicago to get away from them, but no matter where I go, they chase me. They caught me in Boston, and they are on their way here too. I’m a nomad, Elliot, I need to keep moving, it’s just how I am. Sure, I could have gone to another city, but when you get the chance to do something really good, something that could make a difference for millions of people… Think about that, Elliot. I grew up feeling like dirt. I blamed myself for my parents’ divorce for the longest time. I never thought I was good enough. Sometimes that little girl inside me still doubts whether I can do anything right. But when this came along, I knew it was right. It was my chance to finally do something to prove, if only to myself, that I am an ok person.”

Sarah had let down her guard for a moment. It felt good. She hadn’t opened up to anyone like that before. At least not anyone who wouldn’t be sending a bill. But still there was a voice in her head telling her to be ashamed of her emotions, to hide them deep inside, to hide them behind a book, or a telescope, or computer. She felt sheepish for the thought. But for that moment, she could feel the emotion pushing up her throat, trying to find a way out. She forced a small smile at Elliot.

“Sorry for the speech.”

“Don’t be sorry, Sarah. I’m so glad to be sharing this with you. You’ve been such a wonderful mentor to me, and a true friend.”

“We should probably go.” Sarah said, trying to change the subject. She knew that if they sat there much longer, she might crack and fall crying on Elliot’s shoulder. She didn’t want to be the typical girl. She was too old for that, and too mature. She was the world’s foremost expert in atmospheric manipulation, a staff member on the Artemis project, and she was standing on top of the roof of the NWU Surface Studies building, ready to cry on a former student’s shoulder.

Singularity: Chapter 2-Cheslie (Part 2)

The commons was busy with activity, people talking, playing games, making new friends, and falling in love. It was the type of place that Cheslie rarely saw in Inner-London. She thought that it must be the natural light that streamed through all the buildings in the city. It just made people happier. Sarah bought Cheslie a cup of tea, and they found a couple of nice soft chairs near a window.

“Either you’re really distracted today, or you really don’t like me. I’m hoping it’s the former, but I suspect the latter. Can I have a second chance?” Sarah started

Cheslie was taken aback by Sarah’s honesty, but she appreciated that even though she was nearly twice her age, she didn’t treat Cheslie like a child. Maybe there were some redeeming qualities about her after-all. She immediately sipped at her tea to hide the startled look on her face, and burned the tip of her tongue in the process. She couldn’t hide behind the cup forever. Unfortunately, the only thing that came to her mind was, “I’m sorry, the trip over was so stressful, and I wasn’t expecting anybody to be with Elliot when I got here.”

“It’s ok, Cheslie, a lot of people dread ICBM travel. But I can tell that you’ve got more on your mind than that. I’m sorry Elliot didn’t mention I’d be with him, but it was a last minute thing. He was on his way over to the station when I ran into him on the street. We had some details to talk about, so I walked with him. I offered to let him meet you by himself, but he said that he really wanted you to meet me, so I stayed and waited with him.”

“I feel terrible for the way I’ve reacted. I would really like to know more about you, since you know my brother so well, and I know almost nothing about you. Tell me a little more about the mysterious Sarah.”

“Well, let’s see, the short version is, I was born and raised in Lower Chicago where I lived with my mom and Grandma. I have only traveled to Europe one time in college, I like reading and strawberries. I got my PhD from Harvard in Environmental Manipulation, and now I’m here in New Washington, doing what I love.”

“Well, I can see why Elliot likes you so much, you guys are perfect for eachother.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said you’re perfect for eachother. Elliot told me he had a big announcement. I had suspected that he was going to tell me he had fallen in love. I have to admit that I was a little surprised when I met you, because you’re so much older than him, but now I can see what he likes about you.”

“Oh Cheslie, I’m sorry for the confusion, Elliot and I aren’t together. Elliot is a wonderful young man, but our friendship is not romantic at all. I’m his professor, we have been working together on an independent research project studying the planetary conditions required for atmospheric formation. “

“Wait, you’re Professor Angler?”

“That’s me, Sarah Angler. Elliot never calls me Professor Angler anymore now that we’ve been working on this project together, we’ve become more friends and colleagues than a student and teacher. But I can assure you that this big announcement has nothing to do with a romantic involvement with me. Believe me, if I were ten years younger, I would probably feel much differently about Elliot. I won’t give away his secret announcement, though, you’re going to have to wait for him to tell you later.”

Cheslie felt guilt, shame, and disappointment hit her all at once. She felt guilty for all the bad thoughts she’d had about Sarah, shame for the way she’d treated her. Oddly, it was the disappointment that was strongest. She was surprised, but she was hoping that her suspicions were right. But all that was out the window now, with Sarah’s revelation.

“I feel terrible, Sarah, I haven’t been very friendly to you today. I started thinking on the train about what Elliot’s announcement would be. I assumed it was romantic in nature, and when you were at the station with him, that connected all the dots in my mind, and I have to admit that you weren’t the type of woman I was expecting, so that threw me off balance. I know how terrible that must sound, and I’d really like to make it up to you, Sarah, and I’d like for us to be friends.”

“Don’t even worry about it a second longer. Let’s just move past it. How about if you tell me an embarrassing story about Elliot?”

“Wow, I thought you’d never ask. So many to choose from, it’s hard to pick just one.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

By the time Elliot joined Sarah and Cheslie, they were laughing almost to the point of tears. Elliot was happy to see that they had warmed to each other. He was worried about Cheslie’s mood earlier, but that appeared to be gone now. Sarah was the first to look up as Elliot approached. “Cheslie informed me that you prefer to be called Elli-Belly. How come you never told me this?”

“You can’t believe everything she tells you, she’s a known liar.” Elliot smiled at his sister.

“Liar is a little harsh, don’t you think? You know, Elli-Belly, when I got here on the train, and I saw Sarah, I had thought you guys were dating. Sarah has cleared that all up now, and everything is great. Of course, that means I still don’t know what your secret is.” Cheslie said, with a slight grin peaking out of the corner of her mouth.

Sarah put a hand on Cheslie’s shoulder, “You really should tell her, Elliot, I think she might explode soon, I can feel the pressure building in her.”

Elliot pulled up a chair and sat down. He wasn’t sure how he could tell his sister what he was about to tell her. He was a little frightened of it himself, and he didn’t want her to be afraid for him. He decided that it would just be easier to just tell her flat out, without dancing around it. “Cheslie, Sarah has been asked to join the Artemis program as an atmospheric researcher, and she has decided to take that position.”

Cheslie touched Sarah’s arm, “You didn’t mention that, Sarah, that’s great, congratulations.”

Elliot hesitated before saying, “She’s asked me to be her research assistant, too.”

“Wow! That’s fantastic, Elliot, this is like a dream for you. I’m so excited! When do you start, will you be moving?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty exciting. But the thing about where I’ll be is a little complicated. I’ll be here in New Washington for the next few months, but they are going to be training Sarah and me for space travel. I’ll be travelling to the space station and the Armstrong Moon Base to do some outer atmospheric studies. It’s been a while since they’ve sent anybody to the moon base, but they have a team there now testing it for usability, and the signs are good.”

Cheslie’s face dropped at that announcement. Suddenly she was scared for Elliot. She remembered when he went to New Washington for the first time. She was so worried that she would never see him or hear from him, and that was scary, but this is a whole new thing. He’ll be on the moon. That’s even further away than New Washington, and there’s no bullet train connecting Inner London to the Armstrong Moon Base.

Elliot could see Cheslie’s fears, and put his arm around her, “I know Ches, I’m a little scared too, but the only reason I agreed to this is because I see how important this could be to changing the Earth for the better. This could be my opportunity to make a difference, and fix the problems that are ailing our planet. This wasn’t an easy decision, but I think it’s the right one, and I’ll never have this kind of opportunity again. I already told Dad, but I wanted to tell you face to face.”

“I trust you Elliot, but I’ll miss you. I hope you’re right about this.”

Cheslie didn’t sleep that night, she just stared at the ceiling of Elliot’s apartment, thinking about all that Elliot would be experiencing in his new project. The rest of the weeks in New Washington they spent seeing the sites, chatting about the old times, and by the end, Cheslie considered Sarah to be a true friend. When the three of them walked to Union Station for Cheslie’s train home, she had a sinking feeling that she might never see them again. She hugged them both as they left her at the platform, and she found her seat on the train. She was able to hold back the tears until the train left the station, but as the electromagnetic coils began to accelerate the train towards Inner-London, her eyes began to well up with tears, and she could no longer hold back. The tears flowed the whole trip, and Cheslie didn’t notice once the terrifying ride home.

Singularity: Chapter 2:Cheslie (Part 1)

Chapter 2: Cheslie

Cheslie had been to New Washington to visit Elliot a handful of times before, but this time felt different. She looked out the window of her train cabin. The sea rushed by at 1500 Kilometers per hour. Cheslie didn’t like the train ride. The speed frightened her. She was used to the traditional tube lines that traveled regionally throughout Europe. Their speed was limited by the capacity of the train to stay on the rails, as well as by the drag effects on the train, plus, the trains didn’t have windows, so you could hardly tell they were moving at all. The Intercontinental Express between Inner London and New Washington was a new concept in tube travel. It was a major accomplishment of engineering. The train was nestled safely inside the evacuated plexi-crystal tube that kept the water from rushing in. It was the longest continuous vacuum sealed tube ever built. The ICBM, as it was commonly called, was propelled by an electromagnetic coil drive, allowing the train to forgo traditional rails and wheels, and simply had casters built in rings around the cars, a gyro compass kept the train upright as the massive magnets at the front pulled the train through the tube at speeds that blurred the little bit of scenery visible through the windows. It allowed the trip to be made in only a little more than 4 hours, a trip that used to take 12 hours when the train had to make stops at land masses along the way, stopping in Iceland, Greenland, and then down the coast of North America. Cheslie wondered about all that technology put into the system, seemingly all designed to make her sick and nervous. But she liked how fast she could get to New Washington to see Elliot.

In his last phone call with her, he had mentioned some big news that he wanted to tell her, but he wanted to tell her in person when she visited. She didn’t like waiting for things like this. She hated surprises, and didn’t like not knowing everything at all times. She couldn’t believe he actually made her wait two weeks to find out what was going on with him. She was trying to guess. Was it a job? Maybe he won a contest. It could be a girl. She was convinced of that last one. It must be that he’s met a girl, and he wants to introduce me. Cheslie had worn her best dress for the occasion. If she was going to meet her future sister-in-law, she had to look her best. She tried to picture what the girl was like. She’d surely be tall. Elliot always liked tall girls. She imagined she would be smart, brilliant really. She would surely have dark hair, and a warm smile. Suddenly, Cheslie was jealous of this girl. She knew that as time went on, Elliot would have less and less time for her. How could he forget about his sister?

The speaker above the door to her cabin interrupted her quiet anger, “We will be arriving in New Washington in approximately fifteen minutes. Please return to your seats and fasten your safety harnesses for deceleration.” Cheslie moved from the small writing desk in the corner to her seat, pulling down the rigid harness and latching the buckle to her seat between her legs. After a few minutes, a small alarm went off signifying that the deceleration was about to start. Cheslie felt the pressure on her shoulders as her body tried to keep moving against the train’s slowing progress. She could hear the click clack of the magnets switching on and off outside the vacuum tube pulling against the train’s progress. After eight minutes, the train had slowed to docking speed, and she could hear the cars in front of her detaching from the train, and entering the airlock before being unloaded into the docking bays. She did enjoy the docking process. Her car got lifted out of the half-tunnel where it had rested, and was carried across the terminal to dock C-3. When the crane had set the car down, and locked it down to prevent sideways rolling, she headed out onto the platform. She tried to hide her smile as all her resentment flooded away from her when she saw Elliot waiting for her on the platform. A box of candies in his hand, he opened his arms to hug her as she ran over to him.

“Hey Ches! How was the ride?” Elliot asked his sister.

“Terrifying as usual, Elliot. Do they really have to do that so fast? Why is everyone in such a hurry?”

“Because they are all excited to see their older brother, and find out the secret that he’s been hiding for months!” He couldn’t contain his excitement, and his voice showed it. Even with her head buried on his shoulder, Cheslie could hear Elliot smiling.

“You couldn’t even wait one minute to remind me, could you? And you thought you’d bribe me with candy to boot.” Cheslie slapped her brother on the chest teaslingly. She wanted him to see that she was upset, but she was still excited about his big announcement, and forced out a cursory smile. All she could think was that this girl that’s got his attention better be something special.

“They’re your favorites. Fruit squares and a few chocolates. I think one or two have hazelnuts! You dressed up for the occasion, happy to see your brother, huh? C’mon, I’ll get your bag. Sarah’s waiting outside the station for us.” Elliot picked up Cheslie’s bag and started walking towards the exit.

Cheslie was not one to miss a subtle hint, and she caught exactly what Elliot just said, and he tried to pass it off so nonchalantly. So, her name is Sarah. That’s an ok name. An old pre-Travesty name, like Elliot. Could he have been so careless as to not realize that he was giving away his surprise? Probably not, I’m sure that was supposed to be a hint. If he expects me to ask about her, I won’t satisfy him with that kind of reaction. I’ll just forget he even said it.

As they worked their way through the maze of tunnels and hallways that led to the different platforms of New Union Station, Cheslie couldn’t help but be impressed with the structure. It was built near the center of New Washington, just a few hundred meters from the Capitol, and only housed one story above ground. That is, above the surface of New Washington’s roads and walkways. The whole city was underground in reality. The rest of the station was built below the ground level of the city. Different train routes entered the station at different depths. The local trains were shallow, while the long distance trains were on the lower levels. The Intercontinental Express was the deepest, since it was added recently. The trip from the platform to the surface was long and disorienting, so Cheslie was somewhat confused when they suddenly emerged from the station into the grand cavern of New Washington.

Even though Cheslie had been to New Washington several times before, she was still in awe at the first view every time. They walked out through the massive columns of New Union Station and she saw the sunlight streaming through the massive gap in the dome overhead. The light seemed to flow like water throughout the cavern. The whole city was bathed in clean, white light. The Capitol dominated the view, with its majestic dome reflecting the sun’s rays in crisp whiteness. Beyond the Capitol, the cityscape stretched, each building unique in its details, some were glass monoliths, others stone or brick structures. The roads radiated out like rays of sunlight from the bright Capitol in the center. It was just about the closest thing to a beautiful vista that existed on Earth anymore. The natural light made the city much more pleasant than the artificial lights of Inner-London. Cheslie was too distracted by the view to notice the woman that came up to her with hand extended in greeting.

“Hi, I’m Sarah, you must be Cheslie. Elliot has told me a lot about you.”

The voice took Cheslie by surprise, and her reaction was less than gracious, “What? Who are… Oh, right, Sarah, Yeah, it’s nice to meet you too.” She looked at Sarah. She was thirty-something, with wavy dark hair, fierce blue eyes that Cheslie was sure could cut steel. Not unattractive, she was of average height, Cheslie could, if it weren’t such a terrifying experience, look her eye to eye. She was thin, but not in the way that you would expect of a person who takes care of her body, more in the manner of someone who frequently forgets to eat, no doubt for the same reason that she has no time to exercise. Her handshake was firm, with a hint of bitterness to it, in the manner of someone who has a serious chip on her shoulder, and resents the world for all the problems it causes. Cheslie was surprised by the woman. What a letdown, that is not what I expected. She’s definitely not right for him. I must prevent this from going too far.

Sarah was a little put back by the reaction from Cheslie. After what Elliot had told her, she was expecting a friendly, gracious young woman who could make conversation with anyone. The distracted teen she met was not as Elliot described. Sarah remembered how it felt to be seventeen. Sarah was raised in a lower-middle class household in Lower Chicago. She never had to worry about her next meal, but was no stranger to a hard day’s work. It took her several years of academia to rid her hands of the calluses of her youth. Her parents had split when she was eleven, and Sarah went to live with her mother and grandmother in a deeper part of the city. Her teen years were marked with awkwardness and a feeling that she didn’t belong to the world in which she lived. Her youth never slipped into criminal territory, but she was never far from that. She struggled with who she really was until she was asked to join a program for children of single parents at Harvard University. She discovered that academic pursuits provided an escape from the memories of the turmoil that marked her youth. It was this release that caused Sarah to spend the next ten years of her life learning everything she could. Her passion for academics translated perfectly into her career as a professor. She discovered a passion for life support systems and atmospheric and environmental manipulation theory. That passion led her to teach at NWU, which is where she had met Elliot.

She was sure Cheslie’s cold shoulder was just distraction, and was hoping that she and Cheslie would get a chance to talk privately later. She was sure that with all the time she and Elliot would be spending together in the future, a good relationship with Cheslie would be important for Elliot, and also would give her some personal peace of mind.

The trio began to walk to Elliot’s apartment. It was a long walk, but Cheslie always enjoyed the walk across the city, so they didn’t take the subway to get there. They walked down the steps of the station and found themselves in an area called Pratt Square, named after the city’s first mayor. It stood between the station and the Capitol, and today it was the home of a flea market. As they walked past the vendors that lined up across the square, they saw every variety of oddity, necessity, and a lot of things that didn’t make any sense at all. Some of the vendors stood in front of their stands, shoving their wares in Cheslie’s face as she passed. Others sat quietly reading or napping behind their tables. Vendors’ children ran between the tables with complete disregard for the sales going on, or the people walking through the square.

They walked past a table full of pieces of rusted metal that looked like tools. Thin rusted metal cylinders with one pointed end, and one blunt sat next to some kind of striking tool with a heavy metal head attached to a metal handle with a rubberized grip. Another tool had a plastic handle with a metal shaft and tip shaped like a plus sign. Several other tools on the table were hard to recognize, and all were rusted to the point of being fragile. A man behind the table was dressed head to toe in a slick black suit. Only a small section of the suit opened for his eyes. The skin around his eyes was redish black, and looked like a tomato charred under a broiler. The table had a large slate with a small piece of chalk next to a card that read I cannot hear or speak, please write questions on the slate. All tools were personally gathered from the surface, certified Pre-Travesty woodworking tools.

An old man jumped out in front of Cheslie. He looked at her through one eye, the other was shut tight, a scar running across it from his cheekbone to the center of his forehead. He wore a pair of tattered blue pants and a striped, button-down shirt, with only two buttons remaining. His hair was reduced to thin gray whisps that darted randomly across a scarred and filthy scalp. His wrinkled lips tightened into a toothless grin as he held up a large, empty glass bottle. “Would y’be needin’ air? Ten pounds pure Oxygen, only fifty dollars, git it befur it’s all gone. Er maybe y’need water? I’ve got twenty liters fer only ten bucks. Garunteed pure. Stock up now little lady.”

Elliot grabbed Cheslie and pulled her away from the peddler, dragging her along with him. “Let’s get out of this square, it creeps me out.”

They walked faster towards the Capitol. When they finally cleared the last of the tables, they were able to slow their pace, and Cheslie could start to take in the sights. She looked up at the dome as it glistened in the light from the opening in the cavern roof. Elliot lived about two kilometers South from the Capitol down the 165^th degree radial street. The route took them down South Avenue, through the government office complexes of the inner ring, then the business district, with large, multi-story buildings between 1^st Ring Road and 2^nd Ring Road. They turned on 2^nd R.R. and headed counter-clockwise one block to the start of 165^th Street. From there, it was another 3 rings of business district before they arrived at NWU. The University occupied six blocks of the city between 5^th R.R. and 7^th R.R. stretching from South Avenue to 135^th Boulevard. The university buildings were mostly between three and seven stories above the surface level. To refer to these as separate buildings is somewhat inaccurate, since the entire university complex occupied five stories below ground level that were linked together through hallways and tunnels, forming essentially one interconnected building with various sections protruding up above the ground. The Surface Studies building was in the southwest corner of the University, at the intersection of South Avenue and 7^th R.R. The above ground portion of the building was six stories above surface level, and filled one block of the city. Below ground, the building went an extra two stories down, seven in total, to allow for extra labs and equipment storage near the access tunnel that ran under the city to the surface studies platforms. Cheslie marveled at the building’s construction as she walked past. The exterior was mostly plexi-crystal, shaded verdant green at the base, and fading to a rich blue at the top, to symbolize the colors of the surface from before the Travesty. Sections of the building protruded from the sides, in cantilevered rooms, at seemingly random intervals. A sky bridge extended across 165^th Street from the Surface Studies building to the commons building on the other side.

Elliot’s apartment building was at the corner of 7^th R.R. and 165^th Street, diagonally across from the Surface Studies building. It was a five story building above ground, with two more below. It was built as a large stone square, with fifty small studio apartments. Elliot lived on the third floor, facing 165^th street, with a view across at the Surface Studies building. As they entered the apartment, Cheslie noticed, as always, how much better this apartment smelled than most homes throughout the world. Her home in Inner-London was a hole in the ground, with an exhaust shaft and fan to circulate air through. This apartment had windows that could be opened, and air circulated directly into the open air of the city outside. It was one of those things that most New Washington residents took for granted, but it was marvelous for her. She set her bags down next to the couch under the window that would be her bed for the next two weeks. She looked around the room. Elliot had a way of making this place feel much larger than it was.

“Well Cheslie, I’m sorry, but I have to run to a plant biology class, it’s my last one for the day. Maybe you and Sarah can run across to the commons and grab a cup of coffee and I’ll join you two in an hour. I’m off, I’m really glad you’re here, Ches, this is going to be a great visit!” Elliot grabbed his bag and ran out the door before Cheslie could protest.

Great, now I’m stuck. Cheslie thought to herself looking over at Sarah. I’m going to have to try to talk to Sarah, and pretend I don’t know what’s going on. Elliot never even introduced us properly. He seemed to be in a big hurry the whole time. His mind seemed pre-occupied. I just need to grow up. If this woman will be my brother’s girlfriend, or maybe even my sister-in-law, then I am going to have to learn to like her.

Headphones

This is totally not related to anything. I just had a sudden warm loving feeling towards my headphones, and I needed to communicate it. I love them so much. They are Philips SHE-9500 in-ear headphones. They come with 3 different sized rubber cones, so you can fit them to your ears. They kinda jam into your ear canal (I know, it sounds painful, it's not). But they completely seal off your ear, so all you can hear is your music. It works really well, I can't hear my phone ringing 2 feet away from my head, and I never notice when people come into my office either. The sound quality is very good. I imagine I could probably spend a lot more and get something even better.

I've always been impressed by the bass that they can produce. They have a bass port design, so there is an opening on the back side of the headphone, and that allows the bass to react more naturally, which it can't do when jammed into a tiny ear. The result is a great frequency response range, and minimal loss of volume in the low frequencies. Sure, it's nothing compared to listening on my system at home, where the bass has an entire room to fill, and the speaker cones can be measured in full inches, and the power measured in hundreds of watts. But it's great for my office.

That makes me think about how it's been a long time since I've had the chance to just sit down and focus on listening to music. I used to do it all the time, especially in college, when I had all the time in the world. Now I mostly listen to music as a background to doing something else. I listen while I work, while I write, while I clean or mow the lawn, etc... So I don't give the music my undivided attention. When you actually sit and listen to the music, you can catch a lot of details that you've never heard before, and come to appreciate the finer points of the music you listen to every day.

Singularity - Chapter 1: New Washington

Chapter 1: New Washington

Elliot tried to repress a smile as he ran into the flat he shared with his father Bruck and his little sister Cheslie. He ran up the stairs from the front door, and stormed into the kitchen where his dad and sister were chopping vegetables for dinner. He was a tall young man, with dusty brown hair, he was strong, but not muscular. His pants were an inch too short, and his shirt a size too big. He looked awkward, like a young deer fawn just getting used to his legs. This analogy would, of course, be lost on Elliot and his family, since none of them had ever seen an adult deer, much less a fawn. The deer had now been extinct for several hundred years, along with the other major land mammals other than humans.

“Happy birthday, Elliot!” Cheslie blurted. Cheslie was 14 years old, with the same hair as Elliot, only she wore it considerably longer. She was getting quite tall now, was very smart, and absolutely adored her older brother. “You’re 18! That’s exciting!”

Bruck put down his knife and walked over to Elliot, and shook his hand, “Welcome to the adult world, son.”

Elliot immediately gave his dad a hug, and then walked over to Cheslie to hug her too. He picked up a piece of radish and ate it, trying to show indifference towards it, as if it was the most ordinary radish he’d ever eaten. It was, in fact, a very ordinary radish. Red skin, white flesh, grows in the dirt, slightly bitter, very crunchy, in every way, a very ordinary radish. But for some reason, it was the best tasting radish Elliot had ever eaten. He couldn’t contain the excitement anymore. “Dad, Ches, I have a big announcement.” The family gathered around the counter. “I got accepted to New Washington University!” The smile that had been building up behind his teeth burst out with what seemed like an explosion.

“Yay! Congratulations Elliot!” Cheslie was immediately happy for her brother, but slowly her smile faded as she remembered the family’s trip to New Washington four years ago, and how long that took. She started thinking about the fact that Elliot would be far away, and she’d never spent more than a day or two without talking to her brother. Her eyes went to the floor as she wiggled her foot.

Elliot could see that she was upset and walked over to her. He put his arm around her shoulder, “Don’t worry sis, I’ll be home for holidays, and I’ll call you every week. Maybe you can come visit me sometime. With the new bullet rail service across the sea, it wouldn’t take you more than a couple of hours to make the trip.” He looked up at Bruck who was still smiling. “That is, if it’s ok with Dad.”

“Of course that’s ok, Cheslie’s almost 15 now, I think you’re ready for a trip by yourself. But we can figure that all out later. Elliot, this is your day. I’m so proud of you. Your mother would be proud too.” Bruck had pictured this day for years now, and it was harder than he imagined it. Elliot and Cheslie were all he had in the world, and the thought of Elliot heading out on his own was bittersweet to him. It wouldn’t be four years before Cheslie would be out on her own too. They would both get jobs, maybe move to a different city, and Bruck would be left alone in Inner-London. It was times like these that he missed Jenla. She was his soulmate, and they had such plans to spend their lives together, raise a family, and just be happy. But she was gone now, and he had two beautiful children, one of whom was about to head off to college, so he was determined to move on.

Elliot could tell his dad was sad, and knew it was about his mother. Times like these were hard for Bruck. Elliot couldn’t remember much about his mother, just her vague presence when he was very young. He remembered when Mom and Dad went to the hospital, and he was sent to the neighbor’s house. He remembered his dad coming home with Cheslie, and not Mom. He also remembered how sad everyone was. He remembered Dad holding Cheslie and just crying for hours. Over time, things became normal without Mom. The neighbors all talked about her as being a wonderful person. They all spoke of how generous she was, always helpful, always caring, and kind. He also knew that those were just the things people say about the dead. Nobody remembers the bad, only the good. He just remembered her being warm. Elliot always wondered why Bruck never remarried, but he just figured it was because of him and Cheslie. He hoped that once they were both out on their own, Dad might think about finding someone. He could hope at least.

“Well Ches, we should get back to making some dinner for Elliot. Son, go sit down, put your feet up and relax. We’ll let you know when dinner is ready.” Bruck gave Elliot a solid pat on the shoulder, and got back to his vegetables. Cheslie went to the sink and started washing something, but something was bothering her about her Dad.

“Dad, what’s wrong? “

“Oh, nothing, I was just thinking about your mom. She would have been really happy today.”

“What was mom like?”

“She was a lot like you, actually. She loved her family, worried a lot, and always knew when something was wrong. She was beautiful like you too, Cheslie. I’m proud of who you’ve become.” He paused, realizing that all the time he’d spent missing Jenla, he never realized how great his kids had turned out. “How are those berries coming along? Almost ready to make the pie?”

“Yes, Dad, be right there with them.”

* * * * * *

Elliot was in the living room, relaxing, and daydreaming about his future. Elliot had learned about the original Washington DC, and it’s place in history in one of his school classes. Before the Travesty it was once the seat of government for a very powerful country called “The United States of America.” The US, as the country was commonly called, was the most powerful nation in the world shortly before the Great Nuclear War. They had become too proud of their power, and had resisted the admission that Europe was becoming more powerful than they were. Although Europe and the US were never officially at war with each other, it was this tension that had caused the Great Nuclear War.

After the Oil Wars, the great powers of Europe and North America had learned that it was too costly for them to actually fight wars themselves. They decided that the best way to fight wars was to get other smaller countries under their influence, and induce them into fighting the wars for them. It was very effective. The great powers didn’t lose as many lives, but the battles were still fought by proxy, and the desired results achieved. Of course, everything changed when robotic warfare became the standard. At that point, without soldiers fighting the battles, it became easier for attacks on the heavily fortified nations to be carried out. Great tunneling robots or airborne robots were used to execute pinpoint attacks within territories never thought possible. Once this began, the chain reaction was rapid, and the world began its slide into the state it was in that day, as Elliot sat on his couch.

After the end of the wars, and the environmental disasters, collectively called The Travesty, life had become impossible on the surface. Most cities began to build downward. The basements of buildings became entries into the massive tunnel systems that started growing beneath the once great cities, being overrun by heat. Over time, as more and more people retreated to the underground, new tunnels were built. On average, most cities achieved a depth between 2,000 and 5,000 meters below the surface. In some places, those depths got close to 8,000 meters. The balance was to find the spot where the temperature of the earth surrounding the city was neither to cold nor too hot. Care had to be taken to avoid major aquifers or lava flows, or potential lava flows. However, proximity to aquifers was an obvious advantage. Most cities became somewhat complicated systems of tunnels running at odd angles and varying depths.

It was very easy to get lost in a city like Inner-London. The problem was with depth. Elliot’s house was at approximately 2,800 feet below the surface. There were at least 2 layers of city above his house, and more than 10 below. So a person could be heading the right direction, but be a thousand feet too deep. The tunnels wove back and forth, crossing occasionally, or occasionally ending abruptly, sometimes at an Elevator or ladder, sometimes not. Great efforts were made to map the cities, but it was well known that there were corners of the city that very few people knew of, except the packs of miscreants who spent their time there. Elliot remembered a poet who had written about the city of Chicago.

Windy City, where have you gone?

Gone to the depths below the earth.

Gone are the winds, gone are the lakes

Gone with Lower Chicago’s birth.

Grab your children, grab a shovel

Like ants, we’ll tunnel with food to store

Windy City, what have you become?

An earthen anthill, nothing more

Elliot was all too familiar with ants, and other tunneling insects. Of all the creatures of the earth, the tunneling insects were the ones who survived best. At times, it seemed as if Inner London were overrun with ants. Some tunnels and homes were coated with materials to try to prevent the ants from getting in, but they were resourceful, and got in. Elliot thought that the poet got it exactly right, although he had never been to Lower Chicago, he knew exactly what it felt like to live in an anthill. It was stifling for him. He had spent his entire life underground. 18 years, and he had never seen the surface. The truth was, not many people went to the surface. The surface was a dismal place. Nearly devoid of life due to the extreme heat, and the sun’s rays were so powerful that they could burn you almost instantly. The only people who ever went to the surface were the power engineers, going to repair or replace solar arrays. About the only good thing coming from the thinning atmosphere was a great source of solar power, and the surface above cities was blanketed with solar arrays. The power engineers would put on their protective suits, stuffed with frozen gels and cooling devices, and even still could only spend an hour or two on the surface at a time. Elliot’s only experience with the surface was when he would look up through some of the air shafts, and catch sight of a speck of light at the top. And he could watch videos coming in from the cameras mounted on the surface. The cameras themselves were remarkable, able to withstand the extreme weather of the surface. The boiling heat, the torrential, hot rains, which were more than a little acidic, and the fierce winds would be enough to rip normal equipment apart. But these cameras had to be built tough. Their job was to monitor the solar arrays, watch for debris, or other potentially dangerous situations.

Elliot had always felt like mankind was out of place living underground. He read books from before the Travesty, all stories about life on the surface. They took it all for granted. He read about characters running from the rain to find shelter. People complained about the heat of the sun, or worse yet, about the cold of a season called winter. In the northern and southern parts of the globe, ice occurred naturally. Elliot thought they would have seen this all so much differently if they had lived the life he has. Some people were ok with living underground, but Elliot hated it. It was his curiosity that made him wonder what it would be like to breathe clean, fresh air that naturally came from plants, not the stagnant, recirculated air in the cities. Elliot dreamed about running through the fields he had seen in photographs, and read about in books. He would watch the video feeds from the sky cameras and deep space telescopes, wondering whether there was a better place out there for people than this wretched ant-hill called Earth. Inside, he often hated mankind. He hated that they had a perfect planet, capable of sustaining the race for eternity, but unable to control their warlike urges and selfishness for the sake of humanity. It wasn’t until humans saw their own destructive abilities that they finally got together to try to solve the problems, and by then it was too late.

He had these types of thoughts from time to time, and inevitably, it would lead him back the same types of thoughts. He would think about life, death, history, and always would wonder whether there really was anything outside of the Earth, and whether he was just dreaming. He thought about what old Rand Stillson, who lives down the tunnel says about a supreme being out there that controls everything. He wondered whether Rand was right about that, but had doubts. Why would a god allow people to destroy the planet he gave them? Not many people thought like Rand did anymore. It used to be pretty common that people had religions, but since the Travesty, people had sort of moved away from that in the focus for survival. Maybe it was the easy life the surface provided that made that so common Elliot thought. But he decided that sometime, he would have to go talk to Rand about it. He thought he was a sort of eccentric, but maybe hearing the man’s stories would give him a little hope for a brighter future.

All these thoughts brought Elliot back to thinking about New Washington. New Washington was half a world away, and a much bigger city. He remembered the family’s trip there a few years ago. Unlike Inner-London, which was built quickly, in pieces due to increasing need for space, New Washington was built as a fully planned city. The streets were laid out in a pattern of concentric circles, centered around a grand structure called The Capitol. Every fifteen degrees around the circle, a road radiates out away from the center towards the edges of the city. Since the original Washington was built near the ocean, at a relatively low elevation, the new city had to be built further inland. The final site was chosen west of the original city in a high-elevation area known as the Appalachian Mountains. The city began as a massive excavation of a huge cavern. The cavern was round, six kilometers in diameter. The roof of the cavern was built as a massive dome, which was reinforced such that it was self supporting other than a circle of support pillars about one kilometer from the center. From those pillars, the dome opened to a shaft that ran upwards in a slow curve to the south. By the time the shaft emerged at the surface, it was horizontal, and opened in a half-kilometer wide opening in the side of a massive south-facing cliff. That tunnel was lined entirely by highly reflective surfaces, which allowed sunlight that shone into the tunnel to travel all the way down into the city. The light shone through the gap in the dome, onto The Capitol and out through the cavern. It was one of the few cities in the world that could function without 24 hour electric lights.

The city was also one of the few places with open spaces. Most cities, like Inner-London, were simply a series of tunnels, connecting caverns that were converted into buildings. Although there were advantages to the tunnel/cavern construction method, there was nothing quite as remarkable as an open area six kilometers across. Of course, this meant that the city of New Washington filled very fast. Eventually, the main cavern had become full of buildings, and could not support any additional construction. The radial roads had been extended, and the traditional tunnel/cavern construction was used for the extension.

The university at New Washington was widely seen as one of the best universities in the world. Some of the pre-Travesty universities had survived underground, and Oxford, Harvard, and MIT had all remained good universities, but New Washington University was the best. Because it was located in New Washington, they could draw the best minds from around the world. It’s location inside a mountain made it a center for geological studies, and surface science. Tunnels extended outward from New Washington to the surface. The situation of the city meant that the tunnels could extend horizontally, and emerge on the surface near the base of the mountain. This meant that equipment could be transported easily between the city and the surface. Tracks were built with platforms at the emergence of the tunnel. Trains would leave the university and arrive at the platforms several minutes later. The trains could carry students, equipment, and other cargo to the surface for research, and the students could stay protected inside the train while the analysis was done.

It was the surface science that drew Elliot to NWU, specifically atmospheric studies. Since his first Pre-Travesty History class in 3^rd grade, Elliot had been fascinated by the study of planetary atmosphere. He wanted to learn how atmospheres formed, how they deteriorated, and how they could be balanced. He knew there was a balance in the Earth’s atmosphere once, and he hoped there could be once again, under the right conditions. But he had to learn the fundamentals before he could move beyond that. He had to learn how Ozone and CO2 worked together to form the outer layer of the atmosphere that keeps everything inside protected. How light filtered through a thick atmosphere produced the right conditions for plant growth, and safe conditions for human exposure. He wondered how they could ever replace those elements. His thoughts were interrupted by a news bulletin on the radio.

…until next month. Meanwhile, in New Washington, the North American Region Government has announced that they will be starting a space travel program early next year. The program will be the first of its kind post-Travesty. NAR President Zeke Rennet made the announcement from the steps of The Capitol in New Washington. “The purpose of the NAR space program will be to again stretch the limits of mankind, to venture beyond the scarred atmosphere of the planet. Humans once regularly travelled to space for research, communication, even pleasure. If we, as a race, give up our curiosity, we give up that one thing that most makes us human.” No human has travelled to space since the last Mars mission, in the 3^rd year after the start of The Travesty. The NAR is calling the program Artemis, casting the program as in the spirit of the Apollo program from early space exploration times, which landed the first man on the Moon. The initial task of Artemis will be to launch 3 probe satellites. The first will orbit Earth, to determine the condition of any remaining orbital stations, the second will land on the Moon, to determine the status of the Armstrong Moon Base, named after Neil A. Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon. The Final probe’s status is currently classified for security, but speculation is that it may be sent outside the solar system toward neighboring star systems.

“Elliot! Dinner is ready.” Cheslie shouted from the kitchen.

Elliot’s daydreaming would have to wait. For now, it was dinner time, and of all the dinners throughout the year, it was his birthday dinner he looked forward to. He was not disappointed. As he walked into the kitchen, the table was covered in his favorite things. There was a large bowl of asparagus right in front of his plate. Across the table was a dish of beet and radish cole slaw. He saw a large dish of nut and bean loaf, which he was sure would be seasoned with fresh basil and rosemary. There was a golden loaf of cornbread in the center of the table next to a dish of brown rice with peppers and tomatoes. It was the perfect spread. He remembered from his history classes that at one time, people ate animals on special occasions. Birds, pigs, cows, sheep, and other animals were cooked and eaten. Since The Travesty, the idea of eating animals seemed silly. People had learned to supplement their protein needs with beans, and other vegetables. On rare occasions, people ate nuts. Nuts were rare because of the difficulty in growing them. Peanuts were common, but since trees did not grow on the surface, tree nuts were grown at tremendous cost in massive greenhouses near the surface. Luckily for Elliot, today was just such a special occasion.

“Thank you both so much for this meal! It’s absolutely perfect.” Elliot mumbled through a full mouth.

“You’re welcome, Elliot. We do it because we love you.” Bruck said through a wide grin.

“Just wait until you see dessert!” Cheslie said with visible excitement.

“Elliot, there are a few things I would really like to get done before you head to New Washington. We need to clean the water pump again, pressure is getting so low lately. I’m not sure it will do much good though, I think the city is putting too much of a strain on the aquifer with all the growth. I’d also like to replace the old com screen in the living room. If you’re going to be across the world, I want to be able to see your face well when you call home.”

“Sure thing, Dad…Dad, what do you think the future has in store for the planet? Water shortages seem to be more and more common around the world. I have heard that some cities are starting to collapse in Southern Europe. It’s getting hotter under the surface, and the atmosphere seems to be getting thinner every day. Today, I heard that the NAR is starting up a space program, that doesn’t make much sense. I’m worried about the planet, Dad.”

“I’m worried too, Elliot. I don’t have an answer though. I’ve spent my whole life as a rail mechanic. I fix trains, engines, rails, and things like that. I don’t know the first thing about fixing a planet. You are a brilliant young man, and I believe that if anyone can fix it, you can.”

“I hope so, dad.” Elliot finished his dinner, and thoroughly enjoyed the strawberry rhubarb pie Cheslie had made for him. That night, he couldn’t sleep. All he could think of was the Artemis program going on in NAR. He wondered if he would be able to see any of the facilities in New Washington. He was excited about college, but nervous about the future, and what part he would play in that future.