Gloriana - Prologue

They call it Technological Symbiosis. The very nature of man has changed over time. The skills of the Ancestors have passed away, along with so many other inventions and myths. It’s been happening for thousands of years, but has greatly accelerated with invention of artificial intelligences.

When an ancestor’s feet became too cold, the sock was invented to keep them warm. Over time, soles were added and the shoe became the greatest invention of its time. Humans now had the ability to travel farther, brave climates, and expand around the world. This was one of the first times technology and biology joined together to advance the race.

In latter times electricity and automobiles changed the way humans interacted with the world. Where masses of men were required to harvest a crop, now a single man on a machine would handle the same work. With so much manual labor being handled by machines, this left a lot of men seeking a lively hood in another way. New industries were created requiring fewer practical skills and more intellectual skills. Men had to prove their worth to society in creative ways. These skills weren’t necessary except to expand the luxury of life for the already detached.

A crisis of gender came as fewer and fewer men were required, while the population grew at unprecedented rates. Disaffected youth skipped college education expecting no worthwhile employment in their future. A slacker culture metastasized around colonies of young people who ideologically throw off the demands of culture, while developing their own counter-culture which devours culture and repurposes it as a display of nihilist futility.

These colonies were dependant on the culture they presumed to hate, even while developing their own economies within the shell of the decaying world they adopted. They craved the advances of modern technology, and embraced it to pursue their own self-determination in a society that has no use for them.

But when the entire façade came crashing down, the skills of the Ancestors long forgot became the utmost necessity. The 22nd Century human became so dependent on electricity, running water, wireless communication, automobile transportation, and digital information than when it all came to an end, nobody knew how to respond.

It wasn’t like you could take your mobile computer out of your pocket and look up how to find clean water supplies, or how to hunt, kill and prepare animals. Once the battery died on the pocket library, you couldn’t determine which plants were edible without trial and error. It was tried, but at first instantly rejected as the palette had been used to commercially prepared foods. But as times became more desperate, and the last of the grocery stores were plundered, hundreds of millions of people became migrants looking for the very basics of life.

Those with the ancient knowledge had great power. With time, men had moved from working outside all day to getting physical activity in air conditioned buildings on machines that didn’t train any muscles to do anything required of those men who eschewed the modern way for the way of the Ancestors. These men may have used manual labor for profit, or as a hobby, but it gave them a great advantage over those who had not.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The last drop of oil was squeezed out of the Earth on a sweltering hot August day in 2112. The wars began years before then. At first, there was widespread debate over the fossil fuel reserves; but the politicians didn’t take it seriously. But when the reality of wells drying up came to the fore, it was unavoidable. Our society had become so dependent on petroleum that each nation was soon strategizing on how to control the remaining supply. Alliances were formed. Allies were betrayed. Before long, the world was ablaze in bloody battle.

The majority of citizens had no clue any of this was going on. They heard about the wars, but they mostly just heard about how the enemies were hell bent on defeating us, and we had to protect our way of life. Little did we know how much petroleum we used on a daily basis – everything from dish soap to the bottle it came in. The machines of industry fueled and lubricated by petrol by-products.

Some nations fared better than others in the perpetual conflicts, hoarding surpluses of oil. They were able to transition some industry to coal, ethanol, nuclear, and hydrogen, but these sources would soon run out, which was preceded by even more bloodshed.

By the time the majority of world governments collapsed, half of the world population would be wiped out. The remaining societies were those born out of necessity in alcoves away from the conflicts. But the rest of humanity was left to wander, making loose alliances to protect food and water supplies.

It would be a long time before the warfare died down enough that separate collectives, bound to the traditions of the Ancestors, would begin trade with one another.
And that’s where I come in.

The Elders of Western Gloriana were concerned about protecting the trade caravans between the colonies. Groups of roaming marauders had been attacking and confiscating goods, and something had to be done. A council was convened, and an Order of Marshalls was established. I earned my commission from Elder Hillary, and sent on my way.

My goal was to track down and capture E. Albert Hatswell, leader of the criminal organization Askatasun. And that is just what I intend to do.

To be continued.