Rebirth at a Cost
Everett Yau
From afar, the world of Anidus looked a lot like Earth. Large areas of land were separated by a vast ocean, and wispy white clouds scattered across the skies. But when you get closer, the continents were deformed and misshapen, and the lush green color of the Earth was replaced by an unhealthy yellow. But when you actually entered the atmosphere, the difference was obvious. The planet was ruined completely in large areas of land, with little existing vegetation. The basins of the oceans contained sludge instead of water, and the air hazy with pollutants. Yet, some regions of Anidus looked lush and fertile, just like its twin planet of Earth. The strange thing was that, unlike Earth (which was polluted with garbage), Anidus looked immaculate. The planet just seemed dead in some areas.
But what was even stranger about this planet, was how this world seemed to be molting the wasteland away. Hundreds of flying machines hovered over the barren soil, methodically cutting cubes of scorched dirt out of the ground. The soil would go into the belly of the machine, and after a little, it would produce a fresh cube of fertile, clean soil. These machines were sweeping across the whole planet, slowly rebirthing the dead planet. But what was visible from the atmosphere was only the tip of the iceberg.
Under the ground, different variations of the machine on the surface were burrowing, ingesting the corrupted soil and renewing it like a worm in a farmer's field. Above the ground, water was being refreshed and plants being regrown. But the question was, where did all of these materials come from? It seemed almost impossible to invent a machine that could grow plants instantly, or refresh soil.
The world of Anidus was similar to Earth in many ways. Since this world had such a similar natural history and climate, the evolution process was very similar. Even the dominant species was very similar, with a creature akin to humans in many ways, having a very similar culture, and a common language composed with a recognizable grammar structure similar to several languages of Earth. The history of the Andusians also had the same basic events, with both having long time periods of similar conflicts and exploration.
The most significant differences between the humans of Anidus and Earth was that the Anidus humans could survive with lower levels of oxygen, due to the atmosphere being thinner, and they lived longer on average. Higher intelligence was prevalent, and racial divides had become almost non-existent, due to the longer existence of Anidus humans. At one point, there was a racial segregation period, but the world had evolved to become more accepting. In fact, most of the social justice issues had been abolished, and the world was accepting of whomever you wanted to be. The Andusians could go to space if they wanted to, and colonize other planets. But this planet had so much of their history, and they couldn't just leave the other species of the planet for a slow extinction. They prided themselves in being steward and caretakers of the environment, and abandoning their planet instead in its time of need admitting defeat.
Climate change on Earth was an interesting phenomenon. The planet was getting warmer, therefore ice caps were melting, the sea level was rising, and species were going extinct. But, many people suspected something else was going on. No one dared to endorse the theories that climate change was a hoax, or this was a natural heat wave. Everyone had come to accept the science, and Earth had made significant changes because of the imminent threat that Climate Change posed. The government of the United States was almost entirely composed of the Green Party, and other countries and saying anything against the fact that global warming existed was akin to blasphemy. The year 2050 on Earth was marked by a crisis. Most of the governments were devoted to stopping climate change, which seemed impossible to avert. Earth had either opened its eyes, or closed them. Only time would tell.
Climate change had progressed a lot faster than humans could have ever predicted it, with plenty of unaccounted for factors. Hawaii and Venice no longer existed, and became legends almost like the lost city of Atlantis. The cities of New York and New orleans were half submerged, and the locals had adapted to swimming and using boats to get around in some neighborhoods. Almost no species existed other than the ones that were extremely adaptable, such as crows, rats, and raccoons. Most of the exotic biomes were nonexistent, as they were completely transformed to make way for cities or farms. Even some sicknesses were fostered by the new climate, and humans were even facing the effects directly. Earth was dying.
There was a constant stream of spaceships arriving at Anidus, which often carried very peculiar objects. Some transported entire arboretums of living plants, and others ferried what looked like just compressed soil. There were even animals on some ships, what looked like whole zoos. Everything was completely natural. The first ship on this particular day is a large cargo ship with two large tanks. One of them held fuel, but the other held an unconventional material. The ship was shaped like a disk with a small orb on the bottom of it, attached to the top. Although it was painted green, blue, and white, the colors of fertility and peace, the contents of the ship completely that. It contained dirt with a toxicity level that would kill even the most hardy of plants. As the ship got closer to the planet, it cloaked itself, disappearing completely from view. The colors got sharper and the shapes of the land below became more defined. This area looked almost like a crack in the planet from afar, and the river in the basin of the scar shimmered and danced under the light, reflecting the red and yellow hues of the clay and sand that colored this ravine. The area was bald, and there was a lack of vegetation, but yet it was beautiful in a breathtaking way. Although the spaceship contained no living pilot, many Andusians had seen this landmark before. They had marveled in awe at the resemblance to their own version of it, and concluded that they were the rightful owners of it. After all, they were the caretakers of the Anidus, and the planet depended on them to survive. It had helped them in their weak early stages, and they had to repay it. The drone descended onto the planet, and replaced an especially vibrant bit of clay with the toxic dirt, which happened to match almost perfectly. It then lifted off with the newly obtained clay, to the spaceway traveling back to Anidus. As it came back to Anidus, thousands of ships followed in its tracks, and thousands more flew in front of it to their home planet. This pathway went both ways, to Anidus and away from it. More drones were constantly being sent to this poor planet that was being repurposed. One planet's life for another.
