3.30.2011

City of Walls: Prologue pt 1

A while back, io9, had an environmental writing contest. I started a short story, but never finished it. Currently, it feels as though I have but a few paragraphs left. This story has evolved into the opener of another story I've been working on for sometime.

So without further ado,


City of Walls: Prologue pt 1

2013

No one knew Mexico had WMDs.

At 12:25 pm, E.S.T., 15 nuclear missiles launched in the mid-day sun. They left from cities bordering the U. S. as well as the former island nation of Cuba, and Mexico's newest conquest, Brazil.

Approximately a year before, drugs were legalized in a bid to stop cartel violence. But the violence in Mexico didn't stop, causing a desperate civil war.

Hazmat teams still investigate Mexico City Nueva, searching for clues as to what went wrong. Some media pundits claim Mexico was trying to knock the governments of the world down a few pegs. Others, that the rebel movement was making a kamikaze move to eradicate the cartels for good. Many more decree a plethora of confusing plots, most of which are mere smoke dreams.

It was estimated that the U. S., Canada, Australia, Russia, Africa, China, and most of Europe were targets. In short, it was the end of the world. However, for some unknown reason, 25 min. after launch 13 missiles altered course and impacted on Mexico City Nueva and its military strong holds. The fourteenth missile impacted on its original target, Vancouver. As did the fifteenth, in Albany. The death total was in the millions.

At the time, the Metropolis of the 21st century were on their way to becoming megacities, complete with domes and independent power grids. Ottawa/Montreal was merging into a megacity as was Albany/New York. The two cities were to be the first dome border cities. Completely isolated from each other, but with a basic airlock ports for borders crossing. Though mankind had left space exploration to its robotic counter parts, much of what was learned from the early era of space travel was transferable to the dome city plan. But it didn't happen in time. Now the area is a waste land, requiring a hazmat suit for entry.

Canada is still struggling to recover, while the States do little better. Canada is rebuilding its capital in Winnipeg. The U. S. is keeping its capital in D. C. We are a defiant and stubborn nation.

Many commentaries of the time point out that politicians became less corrupt than they once were. It is thought by many that the proximity to the "Mausoleum", as it is commonly called, made public service a role one does not take lightly. For decades even in D. C. people had to go about in a Hazsuit. Needless to say the areas closest to the danger had put their domes on fast track. But, building massive domes was a painstakingly slow process. Everyone thought the domes would need to protect them from the upcoming ice-age, not radiation.

The year that would have been the start of the Third World War, was the year my parents met. My mother was attending the University of North Texas, working on a degree in biotech. My father was working for as an engineer for a construction company.

2028

My father's company was able to win the bid to dome D.C. His love of space travel, he once wanted to be an astronaut, gave him a leading edge in the creation of the modular domes. Creating smaller domes and adding adjacent domes or tunnels enabled the work to be done quickly, as well as more environmentally safe.

On the night a combination charity function, 10 year Anniversary party for my parents, the model of the D.C. domes was going to be displayed for the first time ever. I remember talking with my dad just before they left.

"Daddy, I like the new city you're gonna build."

"Well I'm glad it meets with your approval." He chuckled as he straightened his tie. "What do you like about it?"

"It looks like a pile of bubbles. You know the ones I make with a straw in my juice. Like this, pphhbbbt." I demonstrated for him.

"You know something, you're right! Now think about how hard it is to blow out all those bubbles. Takes a long time, doesn't it?" I nodded in agreement.

"Stacked up all together like that protects the inner ones better." He explained to me.

"But Daddy, what about the ones on the outside? What protects them?" I asked.

He sat down on the bed next to me, "Those ones are extra special. They will be real strong. I was also thinking of putting some extra air and water in those. Not let any people inside. That way if they pop, no one gets hurt."

Though my father's work would utilize recycled water and air, there was still an uproar about the pollution that such enclosed spaces would accumulate, and create in the surrounding area. The PR dept. worked hard to point out that the city was also going to be a pilot program, testing and using quite a variety of earth safe tech. Tonight's gala was primarily to show off all that tech.

One such tech was an innovation on the harnessing of human energy, bioelec.

9 comments:

  1. Good to see you getting in on the Thursday Tales! I really like the world that is being built here, it feels sort of inexplicable like the real world.

    There is a ton of exposition in there, though. It gets things laid out quickly, but that is a lot of information to take in all at once.

    The conversation at the end is great, the dialog is handled well and I'm learning about the world without being directly told about it. I am really looking forward to seeing where this goes, and I eagerly await the next chapter.

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  2. Good start. You had me at dome cities. Well, at least until I saw that NYC didn't make it. Where would I get decent pizza?

    Though mankind had left space exploration to its robotic counter parts, much of what was learned from the early era of space travel was transferable to the dome city plan. I like the idea of space technology being used on earth. And I want to know more about the space robots.

    The conversation between her and her father was a good way to explain the multiple bubble form of the domes. It would have been interesting to see more of this intro in that format. Then we could have a better feel for the family dynamic and your main character while they covered the history.

    We are a defiant and stubborn nation. That sounds about right.

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  3. @ icallshogun
    I'm so glad the 'vibe' for this place came through. Originally the intro was supposed to have a documentary feel, like something on the history channel. I'm still playing with ideas on how to take it away from that and make it more personal to the narrator. I think the second part has a more personal feel to it.

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  4. @ J.A. Platt
    Sorry 'bout NYC man, I never even got to visit so I can't imagine how terrible the loss is for you.
    As I told icallshogun, the second part is more personal, complete with a family meal!

    Anyway, major thanks to both you guys for your input.

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  5. Canada is still struggling to recover, while the States do little better. Canada is rebuilding its capital in Winnipeg. The U. S. is keeping its capital in D. C. We are a defiant and stubborn nation.

    This bit confused me. I thought only two of the intended nukes made it to their targets. Why wouldn't the U.S. keep it's capital in D.C.? Was there something special about these nukes? Were they 5 megaton or 500 megaton explosions? Were there other factors (economic, political) that made the situations worse? The next paragraph goes into people in D.C. wearing hazmat suits and being close to "the danger" but I'm not sure what is meant by this statement. What was the danger exactly?

    You should go back and detail exactly how the surrounding areas were affected and how the nations as whole were changed.

    I don't want you to think I'm attacking your work, I'm not, I really like the idea and think you have a cool story coming through so I thought I would leave real meaningful feedback as I would like to see it expand more!

    Good luck.

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  6. @Noise, hey man I don't take it as an attack. I appreciate all the feed back I can get. I'll see what I can do on fleshing that out so the reader gets a better feel for it.
    Are you in the services? Let me say thank you for all you do for our nation!

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  7. @archnemesis_goldenhair I was in the service until about a year ago. Still adjusting to civie life :) Thanks for being supportive.

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  8. Good start. I am going to echo most of the comments above me in that you have done a great job fleshing out the world, even in this short of a post.

    Can not wait to read more.
    Also, over on my page is my email address, send me a message, have a question for you :)

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  9. Sorry for the late response. I can't seem to find your email. Feel free to reply send me your question.
    at yahoo dot com, archnemesis_goldenhair
    Name before the at, hopefully I won't also get a ton of spam.

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