Earth Overshoot Day

Chapter 4

"Is it true?" demanded a young woman seated near the front of the Meeting Hall. "Do we truly have a code purple situation? Is it really Earth Overshoot Day? Or was Bertie lying to make sure that we come here."

"My dear, Susan. Bertie doesn't even know what code purple is. To answer your question. Yes. We do indeed have a code purple situation. It is Earth Overshoot Day. And before anyone asks, yes. I am very much aware that it is only the first day of the year. "

"But, Nelson, how...?" asked Susan, her green eyes shining in the sunlight streaming through one of the long windows.

"I asked Gerald the exact same question. Apparently the citizens of the world were so excited that we actually managed to reach the next millennium that they partied all the years resources away," replied Nelson drily. "Now if there aren't any more questions, could we please get down to business. We have a lot to discuss."

The muttering died down when Nelson dropped the pile of papers with a loud thump and sat down in his chair at the front of the hall.

"I have read through the procedure for a code purple situation. It is simple enough, even if not so easy to implement.

"To give an incredibly brief summary, we need to gather up the citizens of our respective regions and implement Operation Incapsulated."

"Sir, what is that?" asked Duncan, a man with wispy brown hair and a reedy voice.

"Operation Incapsulated involves putting every citizen of the planet in a self-sustaining pod. They will lie there in a deep sleep, being monitored by the pod until January first 3001 so that humanity does not destroy the earth once and for all this year. The pod will ensure that they are sufficiently nourished and hydrated and that they won't wake up before it is time."

Several hands raised in the air. Many had questions.

"Yes, Duncan? What is it now."

"But sir, how is that possible? Those damn bombs destroyed all technology. You know that. Is this considered enough of an emergency to use the emergency rations? Are there even enough materials in the storeroom to build one pod let alone the million needed to encapsulate the whole world?"

"Luckily these pods have already been built and have been orbiting our planet for when they were needed. It is simply a matter of pressing the release button, which was carefully stored in a bomb shelter and was therefore not destroyed by the Technanobombs.

"The pods are safe. They were far outside the blast radius. They were originally made to protect only the important and the incredibly few who could afford it. They were going to auction off the unused ones in the event of a disaster such as this to preserve humanity. With how much the population of the world shrunk during the fourth world war, there are enough for every citizen to get one."

Most hands dropped, their questions answered but a few remained in the air.

"Yes, Susan?" Nelson gave the intelligent blonde woman a small smile.

"But how are we meant to get people to voluntarily miss a year of their lives. I doubt that most people would willingly be encapsulated."

"That is indeed a problem," sighed Nelson. "That is why we are holding this meeting. To discuss our options. We will have to encapsulate them by force if necessary, and only after we have caught all the inevitable runaways we will have to encapsulate ourselves. I would like to avoid force though. It will make our jobs far easier."

Seeing the shocked faces looking at him, Nelson explained further. "The world needs to be completely without humans for the rest of the year to renew what we need for the next. That includes us."

"Tell me, does anyone have any bright ideas? How can we get people to voluntarily let us encapsulate them?"