light filled the room and shaped itself into three-dimensional images so real you could almost touch them, spheres floating in the air above us. A woman’s voice out of nowhere began to describe the spheres, one small and green, the other a fiery ball of orange.
“Earth, our home as you know, is millions of years old,” the woman’s voice said. “Its star, known to you as Mother Sun, provides the necessary amount of heat and light to support life on Earth. This star consists of hot ionized gases, constantly exploding, releasing the heat and light on which we rely. The magnetic waves from the star collide with Earth’s magnetosphere, creating the phenomenon we know as Mother’s Love. It is not malevolent or benevolent. It just is.”
I looked at the two boys next to me. They were staring, agape, at the images swirling before us as I did. The younger of the two, who was perhaps twelve years old, hugged himself tight. His face was a kaleidoscope of confusion, anger, and wonder. I’m sure he wanted to know about this magic and where it came from, fearing Mother’s wrath like we’d always been taught. The woman’s voice continued.
“In 2112, the star entered an extremely active phase, emitting an unusual number of explosive bursts. The phenomenon known as Mother’s Love, or Aurora Borealis, is created when electrically charged particles from the sun collide with the gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. On April 18, 2112, the sun emitted an explosion so vast, the Earth was showered with energy.”
The fiery ball floating above us churned and a fountain of flames shot out from its surface. Suddenly the image of the Earth became huge as we watched the wave of energy reach the planet.
“At that time, the human population of the Earth was as plentiful as birds in the sky. They’d become so because of the technology they’d created.”
The scene above us became a farm with miles of corn—more than any human could possibly plant. Wheeled machines plowed the dirt and planted seeds, and other machines watered the crops.
“Their technology allowed them to grow vast fields of food. The efforts of one person fed thousands. Technology gave them the freedom to spend time doing things besides growing food. It kept them warm in the winter and cool in the summer.”
The scene showed us elaborate homes, factories, and buildings so high they seemed to touch the clouds. And there were people everywhere, hundreds of millions of people.
“Technology provided the means by which to communicate and travel great distances in a short time, to exchange and store information in great quantities.”
I thought of Kinder. This is exactly what he wanted to know. But why were they telling us? The light showed us people using machines both big and small, doctors using machines, people traveling in machines, even machines that flew through the air. The boy next to me sat down. It was all too much.
“They accumulated vast amounts of knowledge, recorded first in books but later in machines. As their natural resources were depleted, they recorded more and more in their machines. These machines were dependent on a power source called electricity, which could be generated in different ways, many of which were destructive to Earth’s environment.”
The scene showed us acres of trees felled, giant holes gouged out of the earth, and thick black smoke in the sky.
“Humans did their best to solve these problems with technology as well, but on April 18, 2112, all that changed. The solar superstorm wave washed over the planet, destroying 76.4 percent of all electronic equipment.”
As we watched the scene, the machines stopped. Flying machines crashed. Lights all across the planet went out.
“The remaining technology was unable to support the 76.4 percent of the planet without electricity, and humankind began to die. Most had no way to obtain food, no way to grow it, and no transportation to get it. Medicine could not be mass-produced, let
“Earth, our home as you know, is millions of years old,” the woman’s voice said. “Its star, known to you as Mother Sun, provides the necessary amount of heat and light to support life on Earth. This star consists of hot ionized gases, constantly exploding, releasing the heat and light on which we rely. The magnetic waves from the star collide with Earth’s magnetosphere, creating the phenomenon we know as Mother’s Love. It is not malevolent or benevolent. It just is.”
I looked at the two boys next to me. They were staring, agape, at the images swirling before us as I did. The younger of the two, who was perhaps twelve years old, hugged himself tight. His face was a kaleidoscope of confusion, anger, and wonder. I’m sure he wanted to know about this magic and where it came from, fearing Mother’s wrath like we’d always been taught. The woman’s voice continued.
“In 2112, the star entered an extremely active phase, emitting an unusual number of explosive bursts. The phenomenon known as Mother’s Love, or Aurora Borealis, is created when electrically charged particles from the sun collide with the gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. On April 18, 2112, the sun emitted an explosion so vast, the Earth was showered with energy.”
The fiery ball floating above us churned and a fountain of flames shot out from its surface. Suddenly the image of the Earth became huge as we watched the wave of energy reach the planet.
“At that time, the human population of the Earth was as plentiful as birds in the sky. They’d become so because of the technology they’d created.”
The scene above us became a farm with miles of corn—more than any human could possibly plant. Wheeled machines plowed the dirt and planted seeds, and other machines watered the crops.
“Their technology allowed them to grow vast fields of food. The efforts of one person fed thousands. Technology gave them the freedom to spend time doing things besides growing food. It kept them warm in the winter and cool in the summer.”
The scene showed us elaborate homes, factories, and buildings so high they seemed to touch the clouds. And there were people everywhere, hundreds of millions of people.
“Technology provided the means by which to communicate and travel great distances in a short time, to exchange and store information in great quantities.”
I thought of Kinder. This is exactly what he wanted to know. But why were they telling us? The light showed us people using machines both big and small, doctors using machines, people traveling in machines, even machines that flew through the air. The boy next to me sat down. It was all too much.
“They accumulated vast amounts of knowledge, recorded first in books but later in machines. As their natural resources were depleted, they recorded more and more in their machines. These machines were dependent on a power source called electricity, which could be generated in different ways, many of which were destructive to Earth’s environment.”
The scene showed us acres of trees felled, giant holes gouged out of the earth, and thick black smoke in the sky.
“Humans did their best to solve these problems with technology as well, but on April 18, 2112, all that changed. The solar superstorm wave washed over the planet, destroying 76.4 percent of all electronic equipment.”
As we watched the scene, the machines stopped. Flying machines crashed. Lights all across the planet went out.
“The remaining technology was unable to support the 76.4 percent of the planet without electricity, and humankind began to die. Most had no way to obtain food, no way to grow it, and no transportation to get it. Medicine could not be mass-produced, let
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