Microstory 728: Credos, Convention Three: Cooperation, Chapter Two

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The couple left the lower neighborhood having learned a valuable lesson. They went into the upper neighborhood and bought nice clothes. Then they sought new jobs as uppers. No one would hire them, for though they wore nice clothes, they still behaved like middles. They still did not carry themselves with a sense of entitlement that uppers had come to expect. “That man in the lowers has ruined our chances,” one of them said. The other replied, “he has made us question our choices, and now we do not exude confidence.” And so they returned to their home, saddened and angry, and gave up on their dreams of moving. They did, however, still have all this lottery money they needed to spend. So they worked on the house they already had, remodeling it and expanding to an extra floor. They were hoping to rent out the extra space so they could make even more money. Weeks later, a tornado formed on the edge of town. It rampaged through the upper neighborhood, tearing apart the buildings, killing many, and injuring many more. In but a few minutes, the upper neighborhood was gone. Out of the surviving uppers, some still had places to live, but many did not. They sought refuge in the lowers and the middles, but were refused by all. They had been so unkind to those less fortunate than them that no one wanted to help them. The couple from before, however, having however reluctantly learned from the charitable upper man, opened their doors. They provided shelter to many uppers whose homes had been lost, and became an example for the entire town. Seeing this, other middles opened their doors as well, and even some lowers with room did the same. The couple became leaders in their community, using what they had learned from their time remodeling their own house to form a new construction company. This provided jobs for lowers, middles, and even uppers, who were not used to manual labor. Together they rebuilt their town, but they did not simply rebuild what they already had. They improved the living conditions of all. In only a few years, the neighborhoods no longer existed. They lived in a town of harmony and camaradery, with everyone afforded the opportunity to live happily. They were still not the richest of the rich, but they were thriving, and the rest of the world saw this, and were inspired to rethink the structure of their towns too.

Microstory 534: Cause of Strange Weather Events in Bellevue Found

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The day that the computer was officially invented is hard to pin down. It was a long and difficult process, with little solutions happening in succession. Most historians and other authorities on the matter agree, however, that the most vital breakthroughs occurred in the year 1724. And what everyone can agree on is that it changed everything. Not too terribly long after, the personal computer was invented, which allowed the common person to learn at literally the speed of light. After that, we started connecting these machines to each other, further allowing data to be transferred instantaneously. Suddenly, you didn’t have to live near Deko Garden Library to read anything you wanted. Philosophers and economists refer to this as the flatworld phenomenon. Whereas before you were limited by your geography, financial station, and access to education, you could now become anyone. Entire nations were lifted up to the level of prosperity previously relegated to the elite few. This was a slow and treacherous journey; one that we are still on, but for the most part, things have become better.

Unfortunately, the simplicity of data-sharing comes also with danger. Yes, if you aspire to become something greater, you can find the resources you need, even on your own. But this also means if you aspire to become something wrong, it’s difficult for anyone to stop you. For the last few months, the city of Bellevue—the so called heart of civilization—has been experiencing erratic, and sometimes deadly, weather events. Miniature tornadoes have appeared out of nowhere in the middle of a busy city street. Lightning has struck the exact same spot hundreds of times. It has not stopped raining in the Meltousey District for four weeks. The situation grew so out of hand that residents and visitors started evacuating. In fact, the more people who left, the more the weather calmed. There seemed to be a positive correlation between the number of people within Bellevue’s borders, and the intensity of the weather. This meant that the weather wasn’t so unpredictable...it was actually being controlled, by someone. Now all that was needed was to find out who these people were. A brave team of Detectives of Science reentered Bellevue. Apparently sensing their presence, the weather events increased to the highest magnitude than ever before, presumably in an effort to force the SDS back out. Yet they, equipped with specially designed protection, persevered. They were able to trace the source of the weather problems to a location, and quickly made an arrest. What they discovered was that the machine causing all this havoc was being operated by a single individual. Little is known about this person, or her motivations, at the moment. The only information on her that has been released has been a name. She calls herself...Meteora.