Eden and The Digital

Welcome to Eden. It wasn’t always like this. There used to be spires that stretched to the heavens. There were cures for every ailment – humans were immortal and varied. Our Golden Age.

We were immortal, but we were addicted. As I’m sure you know, we were addicts to the Digital and something else much more sinister.  We were addicted to the plans of a select few leaders, and that is what lead to our downfall.

Fighting over resources was how it began – our fall. The oppressed rose up and did something terrible. They unleashed a plague intent on wiping out all others but those of their tribe. It nearly worked.

When things became so bad and all hope was lost, the world’s leaders came together and formed a plan to isolate the peoples – to stop the spread of disease – or so the history books say. In the interest of averting human extinction, they agreed to launch and ignite their nuclear bombs in space.

The leaders knew the ramifications of their plan. Electro-magnetic waves would bathe Earth – an enormous EMP blast worldwide. Most Digital artifacts would be destroyed. The entire electrical grid would explode. Trade routes would collapse. A greening apocalypse would ensue and after some years of forced segregation the world could reunite – civilization would rise again stronger. That was the plan at least.

The plague had sparked a rage in people. This rage ignited the Silent World War. Like-minded men came together for protection, and sadly, for revenge. Though the original records have been outlawed and are assumed lost to time, copies do exist. This really happened and it happened worldwide.

The purists rose with their stockpiles. With fewer weapons for defense and an immobilized military, those who believed in unity quickly either converted or were silenced. In short order, different “pure” pockets rose around the world. The multi-racial were pushed to the margins and eventually extinction.

As this madness began to unfold is when they struck. They gave no warning. First they shut down our nuclear plants. Then they launched their bombs into space. A few fell back, but we were spared the worst.

The Light was terrible. Electric lines worldwide exploded with energy. Houses burned down. Transformers burst. Society crumbled in an instant.

Those that died following the Light mostly died of starvation. They didn’t know how to live off the land. After their crop factories stopped shining, there wasn’t enough food. The planet had been stripped near clean of its minerals and oils. Radiation rained down from the heavens for years. Food was scarce. Most species went extinct. Humans came close.

The survivors were those that could defend themselves first, but also those with resources and services to barter. Survival was impossible. Some managed it.

Communities formed and we shunned the Digital.  The plague was stopped, but the price was everything. We adapted. We learned how to survive and thrive without the Digital. We saw the demon and we banished it. But here we are, in “Eden”, playing with it again.

Copyright © 2019 Nathan Washor, All rights reserved