Midlogue 2: Seven Months of Silence

THE ORIGIN - NOVEMBER 15, 2525 - 31:15OT - BRILLIANCE LABORATORIES

“…Throughout America and across the Globe, civilians were pushed out of their homes and cities by invading forces. As war spread they fled to wherever they could. As mammals do, many formed small groups of various sizes. Many of these groups failed due to starvation, lack of planning, corruption, civil dispute or being taken over by hostile forces. Only a few groupings were successful. One such grouping took place at the Biosphere 2.

The camp at Biosphere 2 was successful for a number of reasons. The Biosphere 2 was built in the late 1980’s as a man-made, materially-closed ecological system. Basically it’s a 3 acre structure that has an ‘ocean’ with coral reef, a rain forest and a human habitat. Most important of all it has a self contained natural gas power plant and a 2500 square meter agricultural system. When it came to food and supplies potential, this place was the Garden of Eden.

The Biosphere 2 is located in the harsh Arizona desert, though it isn’t hidden, it’s hard to get to and there isn’t anything worth while near it. Enemy forces only focused on Arizona because of its vicinity to other parts of the country. The key was the destruction of Davis Monthan Air Force Base. That one Ion Blast alone eliminated 98% of American military forces in Arizona. The other 2% were steamrolled at the boarder by the massive Korean invasion force. After flowing through Tucson to Phoenix and beyond they no longer had reason to concentrate forces in Arizona. Quickly the enemy forces were spread from California to Texas via their Tucson stronghold. Even with an extremely close proximity to a major Korean stronghold, the Biosphere went untouched and unnoticed.

There was a very healthy social structure at the Biosphere. Cano and his team were not the first to arrive but they were the first to bring fuel, major vehicles and supplies. They brought security, democracy and closure. They expressed their willingness to survive and it spread to the others. Some had been working there; others arrived the day before, the rest came after. They sent out missions to collect supplies and find others in need. They made sure their community grew and prospered. They protected them and in turn were admired and appreciated by them. Everyone had a role in the community, everyone worked together.

The camp not only grew but thrived. The top notch planning of Cano’s group secured the survivability of the camp. The expansion of the electrical grid and refrigeration units was key to their survival. The installation of guard posts and a perimeter watch saved them more than once. To be accepted at the camp a person had to complete weapons training and become educated in plant life cycles and gardening. There were three rules at Camp Biosphere. Everyone has equal rights and say. Everyone must learn to use a weapon. Everyone must help produce food. Because of the cooperative structure the camp was unified.

Tucson, on the other end of the spectrum, fell from chaos to desolation. Those who were left lived like rats in the shadows. To the enemy it was nothing but a freeway and a target range. Buildings were constantly shot at by passing heavy armor, fires were never extinguished, and civilians who were captured were put to work or death. It was hell. The invasion force moved through Yuma, claiming most of its crop land, to California where they flanked America's defenses for the invading naval forces in the Pacific. Other forces moved North through Tucson and destroyed Phoenix, the surrounding area, and then headed for Nevada. They moved East as well, through New Mexico up to Colorado and over to Texas. With Davis Monthan gone, the floodgates had opened.

The camp grew into a small town as time passed by. Unsuspecting and out of the way enough, the Biosphere remained undisturbed. Because of the close by town of Oracle, people continued to either stumble upon the Biosphere. Often, during missions to Tucson or Casa Grande, people were rescued and brought in or told about it during supply gatherings. The Biosphere was safe and self sustaining. At it's max there were around 300 people living in or around Biosphere 2. They depended on it to keep them safe, alive and hidden. With Tucson under complete Korean/Russian control, allied communication was never directed toward the Biosphere, it was considered lost territory along with the rest of Arizona.

Monsoon season in southern Arizona is unlike all other weather events seen across the globe. The amount of electricity laid down per evening via lightning storms doubles humanities yearly consumption rate. Many times the monsoons will be only clouds and lightning. The hot and dry summer weather causes rain droplets to evaporate well before they ever hit the ground. This allows a blanket of brittle dry brush and dead plants to take over the desert surface and ignite rapidly from lightning strikes. Multiple massive brush fires start every year, each of which potentially can grow to hundreds of square miles in diameter. The winds that bring the monsoons in also blow the fires around, making sure nothing survives. The rains eventually come, and when they do it's hard, hot and to late to change the fate of the desert floor. At the very least, the seasonal storms will eliminate power, communications and flight capabilities.

As the Monsoons hit and fires raged across the land, those at the Biosphere were used to worrying about defending themselves against the elements and not against enemy forces. It was a relieving to worry about something else for a change. A huge circle was cleared of flammable objects and debris to protect the Biosphere from brush fires. Grounding poles were erected around the generators and buildings to divert lightning strikes. There was only one thing they weren't prepaired for. During one of those dark and stormy nights a military caravan was spotted barreling through sheets of rain and lightning toward the Biosphere…”

“A Complete Human History, Vol. 2: The Earth System” Crabtree, R, ©2525, 8.17.3a

Chapter 6: Slipping Away - Chapter 7: Situational Reformation