Sord in Prosperity - Hope Beyond the Apocalypse

EP. 141 - UMBILICALS

THE TWO FOLLOWED A crude trail leading to the first building at their left. Heavy digging equipment, brought-in from outside the dome, had mangled the bioplas slabs that were originally constructed there, cracking most of them and pushing them deep into the ground.

"Lots of red dirt around here," Daisy observed. "I assume the hill this was cutout from is mostly comprised of that red sandstone around Durango. Think I see some mudstone and trace amounts of coal as well."

As they came upon the first damaged building, Sord halted to survey the surroundings from this new angle. "Holy crap. Judging by this mess, they must have used everything in their toolkit to excavate this area."

"But didn't you say it all collapsed within itself? The buildings surrounding the lab?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, which explains why they had to bring in all that equipment we saw. I assume they focused on digging through the rubble to try to find . . ."

Sord stopped, hesitating to fully realize the thought emerging in his mind. "To find the body, or bodies."

"You mean they aren't sure if it was just your dad that disappeared or others as well? Surely they would have discovered other people missing, too."

"Well, I never asked for detail. Honestly, I don't think my mom wanted to talk about others dying in this mishap; not in my presence, anyway. It's a blur. I simply recall she let me play video games constantly for a week, and she rarely ever has allowed that little pleasure otherwise. I assume she let me do that to lessen the impact and give me time to digest the situation."

"Wow, you know, I've never played video games. My dad never would allow it. That Prosperity Stoic ethic to live within your principles and carefully manage your pleasures. Do you think it worked?"

"I'm not sure," he mumbled. "No video games or other distractions can take your mind away from an unfortunate event like that. Personally, I'd now prefer to go for the adaptive shock of taking it in all at once, the whole thing. Grieving and getting it past me. Plus, I guess it's easier to move beyond any doubts about the realities of death when a body is identified. When the person you cared about is obviously dead, never to return, you are left with no other options with that type of shock. No hope. No chance to turn back time. Forced to accept the circumstances. The certainty."

"But she didn't . . ." Daisy interjected, tears dropping from her eyes. "I mean, he didn't go like that, all at once?"

Sord put his arm around her. "Sorry to get so deep. Guess I was going way beyond that 'one second of self-absorption' principle."

"No you weren't," she countered. "You're just describing that it's more difficult when you don't know the circumstances or outcome."

"Yeah," he replied, wishing he had brought tissues with him. "Shouldn't have brought it up."

"This is exactly why we're here, no? To uncover the mystery of what happened at this place, right under our feet. This red-hued amalgam of bioplas chunks, dirt, buildings, excavation, and sunshine. I just love being here with you," she said, wiping her eyes, "and the scientist in me screams out to examine the evidence. So let's get moving, Sherlock, because we have much to discover."

They climbed the slight incline to reach the open floor of the structure beside them. Biopolymeric walls were curled outward in contorted shapes.

"What could cause that?" Sord asked. "Have you ever seen bioplas do this? I mean, I've seen the stuff melt at very high temperatures, but it looks just the opposite. It curls inward." He grasped the wall and slowly ran his hand downward. "This is almost as if it was a backward burn, what would happen if you could reverse the melting process beyond the original state of the substance."