Extinguished Narrative

I am working on a full narrative for a game I have been designing as part of my City and Guilds coursework. I am currently writing it as a basic story. I have decided to add it here to my blog, to get a general feel for how people think it is progressing. Please feel free to comment with any suggestions and ideas you may have or even just let me know if you like it (or not). This first post contains everything I have written so far, and I will add more posts as I continue. Thanks in advance and happy reading!

EXTINGUISHED

Prologue

It has been 26 years since WW5 ended, and the earth finally knows peace. After the war was over, our world had been left decimated by the fighting. Humanity as a whole swore that it would never happen again. The AWC or Allied World Coalition was formed to ensure this, and all barriers were lowered. People were free to come and go as they pleased, and also live as they pleased, as long as it was within the constraints of the law. The earth essentially became one big country, with all its citizens prospering.

Science and technology begin to move forward at a rate that has never been seen before, and life for humanity seems as if it cannot get any better. That is, until a scientist named Dr heizel schmitzberg makes a troubling discovery.

He discovers that the sun is dying, its natural fuel sources are all but gone, and soon the earth and our entire solar system will be plunged into an eternal freezing darkness which no one can survive.

The AWC gets straight to work and gathers earth’s top scientific minds to work together on a solution. After 3 years of deliberation and debate over the most successful course of action, it is decided to abandon the earth in search of a new planet capable of sustaining human life.

Only, it would be way too time consuming and expensive to transport the whole of humanity to a new, unknown planet, and there is no telling whether any of them will survive the journey.

As such a 2 part plan is devised by the scientists and the AWC to save humanity.

Firstly, construction will be started on a ship, to be known as the Ark 2. The Ark 2 will carry and sustain a select group of scientists, thinkers and other important people as they search for humanity’s new home. The Ark 2 will also be home to a pair of animals from every species on earth, just as the original Ark was. The Ark 2 is capable of travel over vast distances to as yet unexplored solar systems. It is hoped that they will find a planet with conditions similar to those here on earth, which can then be colonised and ensure that humanity lives on.

Secondly, a plan is completed to ensure that the rest of humanity that is left on earth will survive. It is expected that once the Ark 2 has found its destination, it will unload and then return here to begin ferrying those that remained on earth to their new home.

The plan is to construct a huge city underground, close to the earth’s core where it is still warm. An enormous space is excavated and then lined with concrete. There is only 1 way in and out for people, an elevator that descends to the centre of the city. Within this concrete cuboid is where the city is to be constructed. At each of its 4 corners, the city has situated a geothermal power station, which taps into the underground lava flows and provide nonstop power to the city.

Next, huge tower blocks are built to house everybody. The towers are built in fours, as if each is at the corner of a square, and then the first 20 floors are connected between them. These floors provide the space for people to work and socialise. They feature hospitals, malls, food courts and much more. Food is a synthetically made, fully sustainable protein based mix.

The 4 towers themselves are used only as housing and range in sizes to accommodate the differing needs of the populace.

In the centre, there is to be a grand house which will be home those who will govern the city.

Shafts are drilled down from the surface to provide air to the city, and also to allow the residents to get rid of their waste, by using chutes that fire capsules topside.

Between the power stations at the corners, huge warehouses store supplies that should last well over 100 years. The scientists and AWC believe this will be more than long enough time for the Ark 2 to complete its mission.

The construction projects take place side by side, with the Ark 2 being built near the elevator to the city. The workers work tirelessly to complete the projects, and the sun goes out just days before completion.

The temperature has already dropped to below freezing, and photosynthesis has ceased. Plant life and animals are already beginning to die.

The Ark 2 is launched, and those remaining make their way down into the city. But there is one group who refuse to go into the city. They are known as the sons of Marduk. They worship the sun god, and believe that this time of darkness is a punishment for mankind and a test of their faith. They believe that if they went into the city, that this would anger their god, who wishes them to survive this test. They believe that if they succeed on the surface, that Marduk will reward them with everlasting life once he returns light to the earth.

Once the people have settled into the city, the day to day running of things will be controlled by a council of officials elected by the people. Citizens will still have jobs within the city, some doing jobs they did before; such as doctors, nurses, teachers etc. Those with obsolete vocations will be retrained in order to help maintain and up keep the city.

The city exists just as designed to for the first hundred years, but after this time there is still no word from the Ark 2. Supplies in the city are now almost nil and a disease breaks out which kills a huge portion of the population. The council that had led the people so well for all these years begin to shut themselves in to avoid the sickness and the city exists in this way for another hundred years. After this time only the healthiest of the populous has survived, along with the council who have become inbred and twisted.

The city itself has fallen into disrepair, owing both to the lack of supplies and now the lack of people to maintain it. Crime is now rampant, with mafia style groups running the streets. The council members themselves are rarely seen, now they exert their power through their “council guard”.

Chapter 1.

On a dusty, poorly lit street, a man and his daughters walk along. The girls sing a tune as they skip merrily down the road. The man stops, he realises he has forgotten something and tells the girls to wait for him as he goes back to retrieve it. He runs in to a nearby tower block as the girls begin to play a clapping game while they wait. Suddenly and without warning, a huge rumble can be heard as the tower the man just walked into collapses to the ground killing everyone inside. The two little girls stand shell shocked knowing their mother and father are gone forever.

Katya awakes in a sweat after reliving this memory as a nightmare. She can hear that there is someone knocking at the door. She gets up and opens the door to find a council guard. (The council guards were created when the council began to shut themselves in. They hand pick boys from strong families at an annual line up held within the council chambers. The chosen boys are then taken for training which consists of a combination of brainwashing, steroids and extreme discipline.)

“There is a fault in airshaft D9 that needs immediate attention” He says.

“Grab your gear and I will escort you there”

Katya turns from the door and goes to the chest at the end of her bed. She opens it and retrieves her tool belt from inside. The chest contains everything she has left of her parents. Even the tool belt belonged to her father. She straps it around her waist and heads out of the front door.

“I think that the work we do in keeping this city running is invaluable” said the guard as they walk.

“There is nothing I can think off that is more of an honour, than to serve the council as I do, I feel privileged” He continued.

As they turn the corner, Katya sees the required air duct come into view. They reach their destination and the guard excuses himself and leaves.

The first thing to be done is to shut down the shaft and therefore stop the fans completely. Katya then begins to climb the vertical shaft to find the faulty fan. Once at the fan in question, she opens up the power box and attaches her equipment to run a diagnostic test.

After seeing the results, she thinks to herself

“That’s strange, the fan is fine. It’s a heating fan, yet the air temp is reading as high enough that the air need not be heated. How can that be? The air temperature on the surface is below freezing!” She decides she must report her findings to the council.

Katya travels to the grand house and requests an audience with the council. She is brought before them and explains of her findings with the fan. The council members deliberate amongst themselves and then one turns to Katya.

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention; we will investigate this matter further.” He then turns and says something to a guard standing at his shoulder. Katya is dismissed and she turns to leave the council chambers.

As she approaches the outer door, two council guards appear behind her and grab her, dragging her outside to the town square. As they get closer, Katya can hear that a member of the council is addressing the congregation. He is shouting “Katya is a traitor to our fair city! She is found guilty of treason and sentenced to die on the surface!” Katya is completely thrown, she has no idea what is happening. She can see her sister Ciara in the crowd, she is crying and screaming.

Katya is then bound and put into a capsule which is usually used to shoot garbage to the surface. The capsule is then put into the waste system. The door closes and Katya presses her hand to the glass, her eyes fixed on her sister’s face. A guard presses a button to the side of the chute and the capsule is fired up to the surface. Katya is gripped by a fear she has never known before and passes out.

Chapter 2

Katya is now 12 years old and she and Ciara are foraging for items to sell for food. They are in an alley between 2 collapsed towers when Ciara is approached by a very seedy looking man in a hat who tells her he can give her the life she always dreamed of if she just goes with him. Ciara says no and the man begins to drag her away. Katya hears Ciara’s cries and runs to her aid. She launches herself on to the man’s back and begins clawing and biting him. This clearly distresses him and he lets go of Ciara. As he walks away he warns them that they will see him again. Katya turns and embraces a crying Ciara. “I will always be here to protect you.” She says…….

Katya awakes from another dream after her ordeal and begins to open her eyes.

“I’m not dead! How can this be?”

As she opens her eyes, she is hit by light through the observation window of the capsule. She shields her eyes again wondering what is happening.

“Am I really dead? Is this heaven?”

She pushes open the door of the capsule and is immediately hit by the full force of heat and light from the sun. Looking through slanted eyes, she begins to climb out of the capsule.

“What is going on here? I don’t understand!!” She screams as she drops to her knees sobbing with all the emotions of the experience she has just had flowing out of her.

After gathering herself together, Katya begins to explore her surroundings. After walking for a few minutes and trying to take in the world around her, she comes across a rabbit grazing.

“What is this amazing creature? I have seen similar things in the old texts, but all the animals are supposed to be extinct! This just gets stranger and stranger.”

She approaches and it runs away.

After continuing to explore, she comes across an apple tree. Katya has seen pictures of fruit, but never the real thing. She takes an apple from the tree and bites into it. She is overwhelmed by the flavour and the texture of the fruit, something that is a totally new experience to her. She picks a few more and stores them in the pouch of her tool belt for later.

After walking some more Katya finds herself in some woods when she comes across a deer. She stops to take in the beauty and magnificence of the creature before her, when suddenly out of nowhere a spear flies through the air and pierces the side of the deer. As the deer falls, Katya runs and kneels by its side.

“Why would somebody do this?” She asks.

As she is asking, a figure behind her lifts her and puts a stone knife to her throat. Katya grabs her would be attacker by the arm and throws him over her shoulder. She then sits on his chest to pin him, and realises she knows his face.

“Drudwyn!” She exclaims.

“But..?How..What are you doing here?” He replies, extremely puzzled.

“Drudwyn, it’s so good to see you! I thought you were dead!” She says

“It’s good to see you too” He says as Katya’s weight on his chest begins to get to him “Will you get off me now?”

“Oh yes, yes, sorry” She replies standing up and then helping Drudwyn to his feet.

“Now, help me carry dinner back to my camp and we can have a chat” Says Drudwyn.

The pair walk together carrying the deer for a while and soon a small camp comprised of makeshift tents and shacks comes into view.

As they arrive, Drudwyn gestures Katya and they drop the deer by the entrance to a shack and go inside.

Inside is a makeshift bed and a couple of old wooden crates to sit on. The pair sit and Katya begins,

“I was sent to fix a heating fan in airshaft D9. When I arrived, I found it to be in perfect working order.”

Drudwyn gives her a look of knowing and urges her

“Go on”

“Well obviously I thought it was strange as the temp was reading normal and so the fan simply wasn’t running as it wasn’t needed.” She continued.

“Uh huh” He says “Sounds familiar”

“So after I had come down, I asked a council guard to take me for an audience.” Katya said.

“As you would do in that situation.” Drudwyn replies.

“I know, right? So then the guard took me into the chambers and I explained to the council what I’d found. They said “Thankyou for bringing this to our attention” and dismissed me” she said.

“Ok, then what happened?” He asks.

“So I turned around to leave, and just as we went through the outer door, 2 guards grabbed me and dragged me to the square! There was already a council member there saying that I’m a traitor and that I’d committed heinous crimes!

“Oh No” He says, beginning to sound sarcastic.

“I could see Ciara in the crowd screaming and crying as they loaded me into the capsule. She started screaming my name as they locked the door and pressed the button. I thought that was it, game over, I’m dead for sure, I still don’t understand what’s going on”

“Don’t you get it?” Drudwyn asks.

“Get What?” She replies.

“Obviously, the council know that the sun is alive and well and that there’s no reason for anyone to be down there anymore. But they are covering it up to keep everyone down there where they can maintain control. If we all came up and drifted out around the earth, there would be no way of them ruling over everyone with their iron fist and they know it!” He exclaims

“So what’s that got to do with me and some stupid heating fan?” Katya asks.

He replies “Think about it! If you had kept dwelling over the temp reading on that fan, you might have talked to someone about it. You may have started hypothesising about why that might be the case. Rumours would start to circulate.”

“So?” She asks, still confused.

“So, if everybody knew what you know now, they’d want to come here and look for themselves right? And pretty soon the council would have a full blown uprising on their hands as people would want out.” He explains.

“Oh I see” She says, “So the council got rid of me before I could even think about it. Is that what happened to you?”

“Something like that.” Drudwyn replies, looking down as he spoke. “I was checking the water flow lines and noticed that the water temp coming in was fluctuating. I checked it against the normal readings and fluctuations in the manual, but my readings were 3 times higher than normal. I did the same as you and took my findings to the council.”

“So then what, they got rid of you straight away like they did with me?” Katya asks.

“I’m getting to that, if you would let me finish!” He snaps.

“Ok, ok, I’m listening.” She soothes.

“So anyway, I told the council what I’d found and then I left. The next morning I went to work and was told I had been reassigned. When I asked why, they told me I was needed for an important assignment. I felt very special at that point as you can imagine. I thought I was being given a research post due to my findings.”

“So you were working for the council to figure out what you had found?” Katya asks.

“That was what I assumed, but the reality turned out to be something else entirely. I was told to report for work at the council house. I arrived with a certain misplaced pride, which was quickly put to rest when I was shown to the kitchens.”

“What?!” She asks, taken aback.

“Exactly my reaction when they told me I was now chief dishwasher! I spent the next 3 weeks elbow deep in pans and cups!” Katya laughs at this, to which Drudwyn replies, “It’s not funny! It took me that long to get an audience. I explained that some sort of mistake had happened and reminded them of the last time we had spoken. They asked if I had told anyone of my findings and I answered that I had not as I was still making sense of them myself. They asked why I would worry about it now I was working in the kitchens, to which I replied that if my findings are correct, then it may not be as cold and desolate on the surface as we believed it to be. The elders then huddled and whispered as they always do. We will let you know, they said. As I neared the door to go back to the kitchen, the guards grabbed me, took me to the square, and the rest you know. I woke up here in this beautiful place and began to actually LIVE my life. Now I suggest you do the same.”

“But what about Ciara? And all the others still down there slowly dying off? I can’t, no I WONT leave Ciara down there!” She is angered as she stands up.

Drudwyn stands up and puts his hand on Katya’s shoulder. “Your life is here now, forget about them.”

“The elevator!” She exclaims. “The one they used to get down to the city in the first place! I could ride that back down.”

“The elevator requires power cells at both ends, they were deactivated once the city was populated. Even if you manage to get the one up here going, the one down there is still off!” Says Drudwyn.

Katya answers, “So we get the one up here going, then I go down there and fix that one and bring everyone up. Everyone deserves to feel the sun on their face, not just us!” She gestures towards the sky.

“And what do you think would happen if you did manage to somehow get back down there eh? Do you really think the council are just going to let you swan up to the elevator and turn it on?” He asks sarcastically.

“They won’t be able to stop me.” She replies.

“How do you figure that?” He asks.

“When people see me alive and well and hear what I have to say, the council will be finished.” Katya proclaims.

“Are you sure about that?” Drudwyn asks, “The council rule with an iron fist of fear. Do you think you will really be enough to break that grip?”

“When faced with the truth and the reality of a life in the sun, I think they will.” She replies.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, but we will see wont we, it sounds as if you are determined to try.”

“So there is a way down then Drudwyn?” Katya asks

He explains “When I first arrived up here I did a lot of exploring and came across the elevator entrance. Near to it was a little hut, I looked inside and found all sorts of papers and things. On the wall was a picture showing the whole of the city project and all the subterranean levels leading down there. It is also where the topside switch is located.”

Katya grabs Drudwyn by the shoulders and shakes him as she says “You have to take me there!”

“I will.” He replies. “But it will be getting dark soon and it’s not good to be out at night here, to many creepy things hiding in the shadows. Let’s eat now and we will leave in the morning.”

To Be Continued........