A Dead World

In the first year of the third decade of the Resource War, Nathaniel, along with his wife and son, Nathan, visit a hangar where several spaceships are under construction. Nathan is fascinated by the ships.

—What do you think, son?— Nathaniel asks Nathan as he bends down to talk to him.

—That's great!— Nathan replies enthusiastically.

—Excellent— Nathaniel says—. Because now you'll be studying here.

Noah explains to Nathan that he will now learn to pilot a spaceship for the next five years. Nathan, curious, asks why he can't study in a regular school.

—Because of the Resource War, regular schools and colleges have ceased to exist, and many of these have become shelters for people affected by the war— Noah replies—. Universities and other educational institutions are going the same way. Even teaching reading and writing has become a challenge.

—I see— Nathan says with a serious attitude, then takes courage—. Then I will study here.

After this conversation, Nathaniel lets his son explore the hangar alone while they walk around the place with Noah.

—It's good that your son wants to learn to pilot a spaceship during the five years that the planet has left— Noah mentions. Nathaniel and his wife are curious while the former asks him what the last thing he said refers to.

—This process was supposed to have taken fifty years to complete, but the effects of the war have hastened it— Noah answers with a serious expression—. There is not much time left for the planet's soil to be completely sterile and dry, and the plants will never grow again. You could say that we are witnessing the death of the Earth.

Nathaniel and his wife wonder how this is possible with a surprised expression. Noah explains that since freshwater sources stopped generating water resources, it was known that this would happen, and that, although humanity has tried to purify seawater to consume it and use it for farming, this action has advanced at a pace too slow to revitalize the planet.

—We would need more advanced technology and infrastructure to be able to purify all the saltwater on the planet immediately— Noah continues—. However, there may still be hope.

—Hope?— Nathaniel asks curiously—. What do you mean?

—Nathaniel, you have seen that even though seawater is also running out, its level has not dropped significantly, right?— Noah continues.

Nathaniel answers affirmatively, nodding his head up and down. Noah explains to him and his wife that this is because the Resource War has caused the glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctic to melt more quickly, freeing up virgin land that humans have not been able to alter for millions of years. An environment that comes from the time when those areas were a tropical land dominated by dinosaurs. Noah invites them to go with him to the place, where his son is researching it.

Days later, Noah, his granddaughter and the others arrive in Antarctica. Nathaniel's family is amazed by the natural tropical jungle environment they see there while they are walking. Shortly after, they all meet Noah's son and his family; and they greet each other.

—Hello, son— Noah answers his son—. I came to show Nathaniel and his family this place.

—I see— his son says, then turns to Nathaniel's family—. Welcome to New Atlantis. A land that was beneath the glaciers for millions of years. Due to the melting of the glaciers caused by the war, it has been released, revealing a prehistoric rainforest that has remained out of human reach.

—This is the place where we plan to bring the humans who have survived during the war like you— says Noah addressing Nathaniel's family—. Here humans will be able to subsist and prosper for several years even after the death of the planet. It is a place that as more glaciers melt, it will offer us enough resources for at least a million years, while we develop the technology to move humans to other habitable planets.

Nathaniel is amazed, but wonders if New Atlantis has enough space to let the entire human race live in that place, to which Noah responds by asking him what would happen if they gathered all the humans to live together in a certain area.

—In that case we would all fit in a place that is equivalent to the territory of the countries of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador added together— answers Nathaniel.

—The land freed up here and in the Arctic is five times the sum of that sum— says the wife of Noah's son—. We have enough land to relocate all the people in the world. And if the war continues, more territory will end up being freed up.

—It's incredible— says Nathaniel while still looking at the place.

—We're thinking of holding a press conference and broadcasting it to the whole world so that they find out about this, and thus convince people to bring them here— says Noah—. And we'd like you to participate and give your opinion about New Atlantis. What do you say?

Nathaniel and his family think about the idea for a while and then agree.

Everyone prepares the press conference and broadcasts it to the world. During this, Noah explains to all the human beings who listen to the conference all the information about New Atlantis. The rest of the world's human beings listen attentively to the conference, some with happiness to be able to continue prospering, others with curiosity and also some with expressions of rejection that think it is all a lie.

A week after the conference and for the next five years, airports around the world took several human beings to New Atlantis in special planes built by the people working with Noah. Ordinary citizens, people who have lost everything during the war, soldiers retired from the conflict, people of high rank, all kinds of people were taken to that place, the only ones excluded being people still fighting in the Resource War. Unlike the Human Photosynthesis project, in this one there was no involvement by the armies participating in the war, which made the transfer a complete success.

Five years later, all the human beings who now live in New Atlantis watch with anger huge holographic screens spread throughout the area that show a countdown to the death of planet Earth. As the countdown ticks down to the end, in a medical room Noah is found lying on a stretcher just seconds away from dying while his daughter-in-law holds his hand accompanied by her children and Nathaniel's family. Noah's son is the only one absent there. A few seconds later the countdown comes to an end, definitively announcing the death of planet Earth. Noah also dies at the same time without first telling the people who were with him that now the future of the human race depends on them. His daughter-in-law breaks down in tears as she continues to hold Noah's hand, already stiff and cold. Not only has the planet died, but also a human being who did everything possible for the human race to survive and prosper after the total depletion of fresh and drinkable water. Now there is only one land within the South Pole of the Earth that will allow the human race to subsist at least one more million years on that planet.

Shortly after, Noah's son arrives running to the medical room. Seeing his wife crying, he asks everyone if his father has died, and everyone answers affirmatively with a deep expression of sadness.

—Dad, thank you for everything. If it hadn't been for all your effort and sacrifice, we wouldn't have achieved this. Not only us, but everyone is grateful for what you did to give the human race more time to live. And you have gone to the afterlife fulfilling your goal. Farewell, Dad— Noah's son dedicates to his father, letting a tear fall on his body.

He then asks for the attention of everyone present in the medical room to show them a tube that generates a kind of holographic tablet that shows all the information about Noah's project for the prosperity and subsistence of the human race in the future. Noah has left them his legacy and the future of the human race. A future that will not last long.