Chapter 4: The Great Catastrophe

At dinner, that night, Hana’s right-hand man, Fiori, asked me: “What do you know about the tilt?”

Of course, I knew nothing about the tilt. In fact, I knew nothing about the outside world. The only knowledge given to us at the orphanage, was the knowledge needed to perform our specific work task. While I long suspected our captors liked to spread rumors about the outside world to instill hope and give us something to hold on to, it would have been impossible for me to decipher reality from fiction. Regardless, never had there been any mention of the tilt.

Eli took a seat at my side. I could tell she didn’t care about what she was about to hear. She probably had been given the exact same talk after her rescue. The girl had no subtlety in her manner. I could tell she was there for the handsome Fiori. Sitting right across from him she was grinning ear to ear, hanging on to every word he was saying.

What a peculiar girl, she is, I thought.

Together, we listened to Fiori’s story.

“It was just over two hundred years ago. Life on earth was rocky at best. There were wars, pandemics, financial crisis, weapons of mass destruction, governments being toppled over: coups d’état and uprisings. Half the planet enjoyed a lavish lifestyle of excessive consumerism, with food being wasted at an alarming rate. While the other half starved to death and suffered through widespread epidemics of completely preventable diseases, that killed millions. People were being judged by their gender, skin color, religious beliefs or social class. Equality was an illusion being maintained for the sake of democracy. Capitalism was the new oligarchy. Scientific advancements were often deterred or blatantly forbidden if they did not profit private interest. Scientists were muzzled. Social media was a dangerous cancer allowing the propagation of fake news and pushing ideological agendas. It was a scary time to be alive.

Amidst all that, the biggest threat wasn’t the one that humans posed to themselves. The biggest threat was right under their nose. But most were blinded by greed and refused to acknowledge the imminent disaster.

It started with a particularly violent earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami decimating entire cities in the north east hemisphere. What followed was a chain reaction sending ripples of destruction all through the planet. With the sudden movement of the tectonic plates, volcanos erupted all over the world, more earthquakes rattled the seven continents and cities fell like tea cups knocked from a shelf. Experts, scientists and government officials scrambled to come up with a plausible explanation for this sudden outburst of natural disasters. And just when they thought the worst was over, the great catastrophe hit.

It was a young Swedish scientist, Eleonora Nordström, who was the first to warn the world. All her data pointed to one culprit: global warming. What humanity was experiencing was the side effect of a weight shift caused from the melting ice sheets. It was what she called the “tilt”. The planet’s axis was changing at an alarming speed. The sudden influx of fresh water from the shrinking ice caps was causing the planet to tilt. That same added weight was putting stress on the tectonic plates, while the accumulated humidity in the air resulted in widespread flooding. The young scientist warned that this was only the beginning. The process was speeding up. The tilt was happening faster and faster. According to her, within fifty years, the prime meridian would come to rest where the Equator currently was. The extreme change of climate in all regions of the world would destroy life as they knew it. And it was already too late to stop it from happening.

There was no point in dwelling on the past. It was too late to prevent it but still, the young scientist was optimistic. On November 5th, 2019, in a public address she said: “If you could start your life all over again. A second chance. Would you do it? Would you make the most of it? What would you keep? What would you change? Your values, your ethics, your morals, would they be the same? What choices would YOU make? Mankind has been given an opportunity. As we face imminent destruction, we are given a chance to do better. A chance to start over again. It will not be easy. Many great challenges lay ahead. There will be catastrophic losses and difficult decisions to be made. But as a species, we will come through it. We will adapt, we will change, we will transform and recreate ourselves for the better. Following the lead of Mother Earth herself, as she strives to find her new center, so too then shall we.”

It was a moving speech she gave. But people chose to ignore her. They chose to ignore her warnings. Instead, they blamed fate, blamed the gods, blamed the poor, blamed the rich. But no one wanted to admit they were part of the problem. So, humans did the two things they did best: they prayed, and they fought.

Of course, it did nothing. Natural disasters and extreme weather became a part of everyday life. People in Northern and Central Africa started freezing to death, while most of Europe, Asia and Canada saw temperatures rise upwards of 60 degrees Celsius. Those lucky enough to be in the new temperate regions, battled heavy flooding leading to complete starvation. There were mass exodus’ as people scrambled towards Antarctica, Australia, the southern tips of Africa and South America. The axial tilt was happening.

It took just over forty years for the planet to find its new axial tilt. During that time, where the ice sheet of Antarctica once stood, new land had opened. But only a small percentage of the richest people, and a few select individuals, had been able to settle there. As humanity had started its impending collapse, the most eminent scientists, including Eleonora Nordström, gathered in Antarctica. And on September 24, 2020, also known as day 1 After-the-Tilt, they established Ortus University, where they put all their knowledge and resources together to devise strategies that would allow humanity to survive the extreme weather.

It was in a last-ditch effort that you were created. On the surface, you very much resembled humans. But deep inside the core of your DNA, there laid a much darker secret, and as scientists argued over the ethics of the creation of a new species, not one but two subspecies came to be. One would thrive and create wonders never seen in the world. The other, would find no land to call their own, and would survive merely by hiding their true selves.

From the outside, no specific characteristics could serve as a marker for the two subspecies. Humans had until now, demonstrated very little genetic variation with a rate of similarity reaching 99.9%. Most of the scientists had agreed that a selection of strong genes would suffice in ensuring the survival of humanity.

It wasn’t for them to play God.

They had no business engineering a superhuman.

They would merely select adaptive traits and make them heritable. In other words, they would simply facilitate and perhaps expedite natural selection. Hence, 15 years into the tilt, the first generation of Meliors were born. Their genome remained that of a human, with a slightly wider genetic variation at 99.7%. They demonstrated greater resistance to extreme climates, and some enhanced physical abilities.

But a handful of scientists saw the great catastrophe as an opportunity to perfect the human body, making it more resilient to disease and trauma while optimizing brain function. They further manipulated the human genome and unknowingly awakened powers never seen before. These special traits came to be known as aethereusian characteristics. At first, this subspecies was kept secret by the four scientists involved. But soon rumors of super humans, with war machine like powers started spreading in the halls of Ortus University.

We know, now, that these rumors were greatly exaggerated. No such thing as a human weapon had been created, at least not yet. But the basis of them was true and the new government that had just been put in power found the idea particularly interesting. Twenty years After-the-Tilt, a top-secret department was created to explore the future possibility of genetic manipulation and an affiliated Research Center on Life Design was chartered at Ortus University. The core of the research body comprised the four scientists responsible for the new super humans. They were to report all findings directly to the government and continue their research and development towards the creation of a human weapon.

But, the Research Center on Life Design was not widely accepted in the scientific world. Many were quick at questioning the government’s involvement. Those who had been particularly vocal against extensive genetic manipulation, found themselves completely cut out of any funding allocation and in some cases, were unexpectedly relieved of their function at the university.

While the experiments on aethereusian characteristic’s development continued, the remaining humans and Meliors started to mix. It didn’t take long for the Melior genome to take over, and soon, humans and Meliors were the same. Aethereusian specimens were kept within the confines of the Ortus University’s labs until the government, thirty-seven years After-the-Tilt, in a trial phase, started integrating the first yearly batch of twelve children into civilization. These children were kept under strict surveillance and belonged to the Department of Life Design. The goal was to have them lay dormant within the new society and be ready to use their enhanced composition, if needed, to defend the government and the population. These children had all received full military training during their stay at the first established orphanage located within Ortus University.

What these “enhanced characteristics” were, the government never elaborated. The fact is, they didn’t quite know themselves. But the masses didn’t need proof or explanations, and soon, the most outrageous rumors started circulating. Aethereusians could spit fire, could breathe underwater, could fly, could kill you with one touch…. the government never denied any of them. Instead, they seized the opportunity to foster these rumors into a fear mongering propaganda. After all, there is no better way to control the masses, then to give them a potential common enemy to fear.

On paper, the program was highly successful, but in practice, the government knew very little about the physical and mental capabilities of its new underground army. Scientists had, to the best of their knowledge, documented all the characteristics uncovered, but in such a short period of time, there was no knowing how this new subspecies would further evolve. Safety concerns started surfacing as some of the children, now teenagers, went off the grid to escape the intense scrutiny they were kept under.

It was 24 years ago, or 176 years After-the-Tilt, that things really took a turn for the worst. Back then, it was estimated that Aethereusians made up about 25% of the population of what was now known as Antarticum but represented 90% of the operational military personal. Yet, none occupied a high-ranking position. They were held to lower ranks and kept out of the chain of command. For the Aethereusians assuming civilian duties, a passport system was put into place. Travel between cities was restricted, and protocols were in place to discourage interspecies reproduction. There too, they were kept in low profile jobs and were not allowed to operate their own businesses. There was a general fear that these super humans could soon overtake what was left of humanity.

So, it was 24 years ago that the great divide shook Antarticum.

As the population started to grow, new settlements were being planned. It was just a matter of time before the Aethereusians would demand to be given their own land. Their congressional request, albeit modest, was unanimously rejected. It was the rejection of that request that kick started the rebellion. Some Aethereusians accepted the decision and resumed their daily lives, while others started using their characteristics to forcefully obtain freedom. The government was attacked and there were great casualties on both sides. In the end, the Aethereusians were made to fight each other as the military forces were called to exterminate the dissidents. The battle lasted ten days. The Melior’s government was restored and the Life Design’s prevailing project officially terminated. Aethereusians were rounded up and assigned to various military training orphanages that had been transformed into different resource centers from farming to mass production manufacturing facilities.

From now on, all Aethereusians were to be inked on the cheek with their identification code and would no longer be permitted to perform civil duties. New rules were put in place. One of which stated that all babies born with Aethereusian characteristics were to be aborted or donated to the government to be raised at one of the many established orphanages. Hoping to keep their hands clean, the government was simply waiting for that species to naturally go extinct.

What they hadn’t realized though, is that even as far removed as 4 generations, aethereusian characteristics could possibly resurface. That was highly problematic for Meliors who could not guarantee the pureness of their lineage. And this is precisely what happened to one high-ranking officer. Unexpectedly, his wife gave birth to a young girl who tested positive for aethereusian characteristics. It caused quite the turmoil as the new father refused to hand over his daughter. The family of three ended up fleeing to the city of Nova Centralis where Centralis University had just started a research project on species reunification. But the government of Nova Centralis wasn’t as progressive as they claimed to be and upon arrival, the baby girl was taken into custody and put into the Senex Centralis orphanage, where she became a test subject for the Centralis University scientists.”

Fiori stopped and looked at me, straight in the eyes.

He said, “And do you know who this young girl became?”

I swallowed hard.

I had no idea.

Perhaps she was now famous, perhaps she had done great things for our species.

But I had no idea.

He asked again, “So any idea, who this young girl could be?”

He paused.

“Well let me tell you, who she grew up to be!”

He took a long deep breath and very solemnly whispered: “No one. She became no one. Her body was used for horrible experiments. Everyday. She didn’t become anyone. She didn’t even get to grow older. She died at the age of 4. When her little body gave up and was finally allowed to rest in peace.”

Fiori had a frightening look on his face as he said these last words. The intensity in his voice scared me. It was like being given a warning. Like being told: “Do not betray me!”

Then he smiled and nudged me on the head.

And he was gone. Leaving me there hanging.

Eli was still by my side. She had teary eyes. I stuffed a cucumber sandwich into my mouth trying to chase away the sudden image of a young girl strapped to a table in an operating room. Was that the girl from Fiori’s story? No this was different; this girl was older than 4. This girl looked vaguely familiar. People in medical gowns entered the room. The little girl was sobbing quietly, resigned. They put an oxygen mask on her. She kept on crying. I tried to get closer to her…

…Hana walked in and I lost track of my thoughts. I suddenly noticed how tired I was, and how much pain my cheek was in. So much pain in fact, my whole head was pounding.

Hana was coming towards me, for some reason I wanted to avoid her. She scared me. I tried to make myself very small. I tried to disappear, to shrink into my seat. She walked right by me and didn’t stop. I turned my head to follow her. She continued towards the teenager I had seen earlier today. They got into a conversation of some kind, maybe an argument. I couldn’t hear anything, but neither looked very happy about it. Eli grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out of the room. I followed her.

She said, “Let’s get out of here. I know a place we can go.”