by G. R. Carter
The ambassador’s logic sunk in. Even Guangwu silently admitted there was little choice. The population had to be reduced quickly. There was no arguing the simple math.
“Everyone here agreed long ago humans were having a terrible impact on the environment; maybe this is Gaia’s way of balancing things out,” Marburg continued. “We’ve all used eminent domain for the greater good, right? Well this is for the good of Earth, even if it might be a little difficult in the short run.” The last few holdouts started nodding, picturing idyllic landscapes wiped clean of human parasites.
He knew each person in the room was calculating their own odds, trying to figure out where they could go to establish their own turf. Half already lived in the future temperate zone, or at least had vacation estates near the highlighted band. He went for the close, “People, let’s focus on the positives here! We are talking about the opportunity for a giant leap forward!”
“Okay, I’m with you. So how do we ensure the survival of those we want to keep?” Talal asked. “Won’t all of us stand the chance of perishing? Unless you have some way to hide from the chaos, desperate masses will overwhelm even our most loyal household troops.”
“Indeed, Prince Talal. We will all need places to ride out the initial shock and the immediate aftermath. Then, once the worst has passed, we can reemerge and set to work recreating a sustainable future where our species is a part of nature, not an adversary.”
“Yes, yes, sustainability is wonderful,” Talal replied impatiently. “But where will we stay safe until then?”
“That’s the benefit of knowing ahead of time. I suggest that all of us make it a priority to get to work immediately. My engineers say that underground is really the only option for long term safety. We’ll need to know where each of you are, so we can stay coordinated after the event,” Marburg instructed.
“With such a massive undertaking, how will we keep the public from figuring out something is going on?” Dubois asked.
“In the United States we’ll mask our building efforts as part of a new infrastructure program designed to counteract the solar storms. We’ll rally the public around the project by showing how we can keep the storms from affecting their precious electronic devices,” Marburg said.
“But Rice just said the solar storms are slowing down. Why would you spend trillions to save what will be useless in a few years anyway?” Dubois replied.
Marburg’s patience was fading. “Think it through, how would you shut off the power all at once? I mean, what would cause each power plant and electrical grid station to stop working at the exact same time? Won’t some ingenious citizen figure out a way to save the day for humanity if there’s still some parts of modern society functioning?” he said with uncharacteristic sarcasm. He was already making note of who wouldn’t make the final selection.
“Killswitch,” Guangwu said quietly. “He’s speaking of a global killswitch.” Marburg watched the man picturing the process in his mind; electrical engineer training at an American university preceded his life in politics. “You will provide everyone the chance to download this saving technology. A benevolent savior program somehow bringing relief to the troubled masses. In reality it’s a Trojan horse that can be used to control…well everything is electronically controlled now. So you can shut off everything all at once, with just one simple command.”
“Thank you, Premier. I knew you would quickly grasp the concept. May I count on you to lead our connectivity task force so we can ensure this happens simultaneously?” Marburg asked.
Guangwu graciously bowed his head.
Prince Talal spoke again. “What’s our timeline? I don’t want anyone to get behind, timing will be crucial!”
“We will throw the switch on the Winter Solstice, three years from now,” Marburg replied.
Nervous murmurs from the assembly returned but Marburg cut them off with a wave. “I have assigned each of you to a task force addressing specific obstacles to our goals. Each will receive access to our new artificial intelligence and communication network. We don’t have the time to physically travel to meet anymore.”
Marburg waited for anyone to raise further questions. “Everyone please remember, this is not the end of the world, just a Great Reset. It’s happened before, but for the first time we have a chance to guide evolution’s results instead of just surviving. We can actually enhance natural selection, and still retain the gains we’ve cultivated over the last 5000 years. Obviously, there is a great deal to accomplish in a short time period so the season for debate is over. The clock is ticking people.”
*****
Less than an hour later the conference room was empty, the attendees already in helicopters headed for the airport where private jets awaited. Marburg smirked, he imagined it would be a sleepless trip home for most. A soft as velvet voice broke him out of his daydream.
“Should we have told them about the earthquakes?” the voice asked.
Marburg shook his head. “That’s still unconfirmed. The whole thing is already over their heads. We gave them a simple, if catastrophic, problem. Then we offered them a way out.”
Pina Bastet alone remained with him in the inner sanctum. Even the guards had been sent away for now. Brilliant sunlight pierced through the shatter proof glass, irony warming their faces with its touch. Twenty stories below, New York City teemed with life. Little ant sized people scattered and scurried on their daily routine. None suspected their fate or who was deciding if they lived or died.
“Do you think Aguilar suspects anything?” Marburg asked, raising an eyebrow to the President’s Chief of Staff.
“Pfft,” she said with a wave of dismissal. “I’ve got him busy tormenting cabinet members who still think they can make decisions on their own. I would suggest you make the occasional appearance though. He needs to feel like he’s in charge or he can throw major tantrums. That’s something we certainly don’t need right now.”
“Oh, I’ve been in touch with your golden boy President. In fact I’ve already turned him,” Marburg said with a smirk.
“He converted? He’s been Catholic his whole life. Not like a practicing Catholic, but still it’s part of his family’s identity,” Pina said with surprise. “I’m his Chief of Staff! I’m supposed to be the person closest to him, and you convert him without me knowing?”
Marburg shrugged. “I was able to show him how our faiths could merge together. He’s vain enough that if you tell him he’ll live forever he’d do just about anything. And don’t pout Pina, it’s not in your nature.”
“Anyone else I should know about,” she asked, still smarting.
“Reed came right along with him,” Marburg answered.
“Well that doesn’t surprise me. The guy idolizes Aguilar. So you’ve got the President of the United States, the Speaker of the House, and you already had the Head of the Joint Chiefs.”
“Don’t forget the real power brokers of Europe and Asia. Plus London, Ottawa, New Delhi, Mexico City…their ancestors had a hand in this sort of thing for thousands of years. Americans are just new to the party,” Marburg told her.
“This is quite a web you’re spinning you know?”
“Can’t be helped. If we’re going to do what’s necessary, we’ve got to make sure all decision makers are invested,” he replied.
“Invested is right. The money needed is astronomical. You sound so confident that we’ll get this bill passed. Most of the other nations don’t have to go through the democratic motions like here in America. There will be a huge uproar over the new spending,” she said.
“At first perhaps, but no politician can resist bringing home big pork for voters. We’ll focus on the cities, promise electronic utopia. Who knows, it might actually work for a while. I’m sure we’ve already got the votes lined up. Aguilar and Reed will keep both sides of the aisle on board. Already got a clever name for it, which is more important than the content. Calling it the New American Reboot. Clever, right?”
Marburg c
ould tell she didn’t agree.
“Relax. Americans love a good comeback story. Worst case scenario we do it through executive order and regulations,” he continued. “Besides, we’re not talking about real money, it’s all just electronic digits on a spreadsheet. We can spend as much as we need and then poof! - it all goes away with a key stroke. Most intelligent people realize that now.”
Pina shook her head. She felt overwhelmed with the complexity of their task. “How are we going to keep this quiet?”
Marburg thought as he watched a jet suddenly veer up, gaining altitude from the executive airport. The metal bird seemed to elevate like magic over the city below. Civilization stretched out as far as the eye could see. I’ll hate to see it all go. But who knows what we can build with a clean slate? Besides, I’ve still got a few years to enjoy it.
“Use distractions. Have the reporters generate some conspiracy talk. Vary the storylines, make things so crazy that everything gets discredited.”
“You mean crazier than us building underground shelters to ride out the end of civilization due to a coming ice age?” Pina laughed. “Oh, and we’re going to kill off 90% of the world’s population so that the chosen few can survive in comfort! How do you expect to get crazier than that?”
Marburg shrugged. “People are too stupid to care now, Pina. As long as they’re entertained or doped up they’re complacent. The NSA can pay a visit to anyone getting too close to the truth, if needed. Besides, anybody with the power to stop the project will be on our list. It’s in their interest to keep things quiet,” Marburg answered.
“What about Julia Ruff and her Owls? What if they get wind of what’s happening?” she asked. “If they find out, they’ll ruin everything.”
All Marburg and Bastet knew of the Owls was their ideology, no details about membership despite a long list of suspected associates. The Owl label was something intelligence services had given to those operating in the dark outside the Beltway, ideologues who fought against those considered the Deep State. Rumors of Ruff’s allegiance to the secretive organization filtered back to DC.
“I’d be surprised if the Owls don’t already know something is happening to the climate. Most are from farm country, they’re fanatics about how the weather reacts day to day. Their scientists likely warned them by now. But they aren’t organized like us,” Marburg replied.
“I know, but I can’t imagine they’ll just give up on America. They’ll be furious at the idea of us not even trying,” Pina said.
“We’re not talking about winning an election, Pina, we’re talking about survival of the species. Chances are they’ll do the same thing we’re doing, hunker down with family and close associates. Owls think they’re martyrs, like they’re all about helping the common man. But they’re too independent to really cooperate. In the end, they’ll act in their own self-interest, people always do.” He sighed at the belief, well formed from a lifetime of experience.
“But you’re right,” he continued. “We’ll have to decide how to handle them if they get too close, root them out right away.”
He drifted back into his mind, where his plans for humanity wrestled with practical application.
“Grapevine can find them,” he said quietly. The name of Elias’ true love gave Pina a cold shiver. Artificial intelligence had been a real thing for some time now, but nothing was like Grapevine; the ultimate electronic brain already had Silicon Valley and all of America’s social media in her embrace. Every millisecond brought a higher level of power for the all-seeing entity. Grapevine was the Holy of Holies for Continuity, the faith of the elite of the elites. Worthy Profiles would live there for eternity, to be downloaded into whatever vessel might be most advantageous in the future.
Marburg’s Continuity faithful in Silicon Valley made sure Grapevine’s branches were taking root all over the planet, but that wouldn’t stop until the entire electronic world was her domain.
“When the Reboot Bill gives her access to every corner of the world, she’ll track the Owls down, one message at a time.”
“Assassination?” Pina asked.
“Maybe, if necessary. But those attract so much attention. We’ll have Ruff followed, and some of her cohorts in Congress. Even pay them a visit down at the bar where they have their ‘secret’ meetings,” he said with disdain. “We don’t know specifically who the Owls are, but we can certainly harass their puppet politicians.”
“That’s here in the States though, Elias. You know the Owls have friends in Canada, England, Australia…even Germany and Russia,” she said.
“There’s nowhere in the world to hide when the power goes out Pina. Only those we approve will have access to power. With the vast majority of the population trapped in cities when we throw the switch, we’ll easily get the reduction we need. Any left overs will beg for our leadership just to get back some semblance of stability,” he said.
“I still think you’re underestimating how resilient the bitter-clingers are out in the sticks. I grew up there. Our Midwest is a powder keg of resentment, like the ghost of William Jennings Bryan reborn. Central Canada is just as bad, they’re talking about trying to gain independence. They don’t like Ottawa telling them what to do, and they’re certainly not going to go along with DC influencing more of their lives,” she said.
“Nothing like that can make a difference. Not anymore. We’ve already passed critical mass; climate change is just accelerating what needed to happen. Those little towns are barely hanging on right now, how would they survive without the major cities? Sorry but the middle of this continent belongs to the bison again.” He paused and laughed out loud. “Those people think they’ve been froze out of the system before, they’ll literally be frozen out this time.”
Pina shuddered. “I hate the cold. Why couldn’t we have global warming instead?”
Marburg was in a good mood now, enjoying the mental chess. Plotting against enemies always got him feisty. “Pina, Continuity will reincarnate you a multitude of times before the real cold sets in, you’ll have plenty of time to adjust. Of course, I’m always available to help keep you warm.”
She returned Marburg’s suggestive grin, sliding her arms around his waist. She leaned up and whispered seductively, “You don’t have to wait for an ice age for that.”
Federal DC
Capitol Building Conference Room
Three Years Before the Great Reset
“I just don’t think my membership will go for that,” said Mary Matheny, the senior Senator from Ohio.
Speaker of the House Thomas Reed looked at the men and women gathered around the big conference room table. Most were political snakes, willing to do anything necessary to get another two or six years at the greatest public trough ever created. Some, on the other hand, were true believers. People who were willing to do whatever deemed necessary to accomplish goals they considered morally just. Reed wasn’t sure which group he distrusted more.
“What is there to go for, Mary?” Reed asked with a mixture of pleading and contempt honed by years in negotiations like this. “I’m not sure there is anything to discuss. We have already decided what must be done. And the Reboot Bill is the only way to accomplish that.”
He rubbed his temples, wishing what he said wasn't the truth. The Solar Storms (not the proper name for what was happening with the sun, but that’s what The Times had dubbed it) were bleeding an already anemic country dry. If the government didn’t move quickly to find a solution, America was going to plunge into a deep recession or even depression. And his constituents, or more importantly his donors, didn’t want that to happen.
The blueprint for the Reboot had been outlined during the New Deal of the 1930s. Every student in America was taught that FDR saved America with massive public works projects. Then the ultimate public works project, World War II, catapulted the United States into the vanguard of the world’s economies. Though challenged for that pinnacle now by Greater China, the European Union, and the African Commonwealth, A
merica was not going to give up the lead without a fight.
“Most of my voters still remember the Stimulus Bill of the early 2000s. They’re going to flip at the idea of adding more debt with this one bill than all other bills combined in the history of the country,” Senator Matheny continued.
“Mary, you have to make them understand, previous stimulus plans just weren’t big enough. We got good traction with it, but it just ran out of steam. It should have been ten or twenty times bigger and then we would have grown our way right out of the hole.” For support, Reed looked to Representative Maleeka Connor–Williams, representing the west side of Chicago. Harvard educated, attached to three think tanks, she was one of the true believers in her causes. She was also close friends with Senator Matheny, though supposedly from radically different sides of the aisle.
Reed continued, “We all have to make sure we’re on the same page here. With this bill we're going to make history this week. There has never been a coalition like Con–Pro since the creation of our beloved country. We’re going to pass this bill with almost 80% of all members in both houses. Imagine that! Conservatives and Progressives both agreeing the same thing needs to be done! If that doesn’t give you cover back home with voters, we’re all in big trouble anyway.”
I can see the heads nodding now. They’re picturing the money, Reed thought.
Aloud to the room, he said: “The President will sign this tonight on national television and each one of you will stand behind him while he does it. We’ve arranged for each one of your local news portals to headline that were the lead in ramrodding this through. Included is a list of local shovel-ready projects to start immediately.”