The domes

The domes ~ A New Age

 Thank you shadowspinner for making the wonderful cover you see to the right of this story you read now. :)

This world ... founded on blood in a dark time.  Three thousand feet in the air. The frigid air froze me. I leapt forward but it wasn't possible to reach my beloved dome.  This was the day I knew I'd die.  In fact, I knew that all of us would die if I couldn't do this job.  Overcrowding was an awful concept, but I had more immediate concerns on my mind.  Falling, it was such a terrible feeling.  I had not even been falling for more than a second, but it felt like hours.  It was awful when workers fell, and now I'd be experiencing the same.   It would crush the worker's spirits.  I'm the one they look up to as a leader.  I looked up at the beatiful, thick acrylic panel walls.  I knew they were completely soundproof, so there was no use to scream.  Suddenly I saw a hatch swing open, and an arm come out.  I grappled the arm with all of my might.  Well, let's leave that there.  Let me explain exactly what was going on, and why it was happening, I understand this message that I'm sending is traveling through time!  You see, I live in 2276.  If my calculations are correct this is going back about two hundred and sixty-two years.  These events will happen.  These events always happen.  We've sent things back in time to warn people, but they never believe us.  Alright ... want to know what the future holds for your children?  For your grand-children?

In the year 2060,  the United States had an idea that they would build a dome, thousands of feet above the ground, the rich would live there, and the U.S would be on top of the world- literally.  They would take plants from all different countries, and have self sustaining eco-systems.  About ten or eleven domes would be for housing different types of plants.  One dome would be devoted entirely to the ruler who would be called, "The Emperor".   Twelve domes would house people, only the richest would live there, the plan was to take ten million people to the domes.  Four domes would house different types of animals.  The design would be each dome with a short tunnel leading to the next.  After the ten million rich people came, about one hundred people would come to take care of the domes.  The only problem was ... it would take two hundred years to complete.  So president Tori Thatcher went to congress, and they agreed that the next 25-50 presidents were bound to this plan.  They had to continue this project until it was done.  Okay, I shouldn't have said the only problem because one hundred sixty years later world war three started.  The United States  Japan, Indonesia, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Russia, China, and Italy were the participants.    The war raged on.  The United States of course had to devote money and resources to the war, and had to cut back on what they had devoted to the domes.  About five years into the war three alliances became painfully clear.  The United States, Germany, and China formed an alliance.  Seeing what had happened Sweden, Indonesia, and Japan followed suit.  Being the only countries that were left standing on their own, Italy, Russia, and Norway joined together.   Clearly the strongest alliance that had been formed was the first, China, the United States, and Germany.  After all though, this one was formed because it was seen as an advantage, the others were formed out of need.  My mother told me that it was sad watching Sweden, Indonesia, and Japan try not to be destroyed with the other two alliances being much stronger, eventually their alliance broke up because Japan felt they were being cheated.  The alliance between Italy, Russia, and Norway decided that they were going to try to win the war by using their intellligence and developing new weapons instead of brute force.  Mother told me that it was the Italians who came up with the idea to use Botulinum Toxin (An ingredient in Botox) as a weapon.  That was bad, but that wasn't when the trouble really started.  Because yes it's true that if the spores find their way to food or wounds, they will begin to release the toxin which leads to poisoning if eaten, but they were dropping it in liquid form, all anyone had to do to stay safe was stay indoors.  Unfortunately for under-developed countries, people would cut their feet, and then the spores would get into their rudimentary buildings and poison them.  What was really bad however, was when the United states decided that their alliance needed to "improve"  this weapon, in other words kill more people.  A German scientist named Ada Hitzig figured out how to convert botulinum toxin into a gas.  Only one and a half billion people survived those attacks, add to that  the fact that it was killing all of the plants and animals on earth.  The U.S realized what was happening.  They backed out of their alliance and the war and devoted nearly all their resources to the building of their domes.  Finally it was complete, but not for the reason Tori Thatcher had envisioned.  Instead it was a place of peace.  Anyone who could make it there would be accepted into their community and kept away from all poisons.  The domes were made just as they were designed, they were beautiful,  they were built to only hold ten million, but they could hold fifty million if they had to, that's how big it was.  Still though, they couldn't save everyone, only one in thirty people could live, and that's if all fifty million people were able to make it.  Sadly, many died trying to get to the domes.  Only a few outside of the United States were able to make it there.  About six million were able to make it to the domes, but that was only half the challenge.  Everyone coming from a foreign country had to bring some sort of foreign plants that would be useful, the rarer the better.  Some from South-east asia brought Durian, Mangosteen, Langsat some from South America brought Physalis, some people from Africa brought the African horned cucumber, Miraclefruit, some people from central America brought Monstera deliciosa,  which sounds like a ridiculous name to me.  There were many others brought, but they would take far too long to name.