Chapter 9.21: Competitors

 <-- Previous Chapter

From Gaia's diary


Petra: You rebuilt the community area in no time. But why did you fill it with matter recomposers this time?
Gaia: I thought it was time to push recycling more, this kind of thing.
Petra: Oh. Cool!

Alec: Can we try to recompose something too?
Gaia: I'm not sure you can reach all the commands yet, some are on the top of the screen… But with Petra's help, you can definitely do it! What do you want to recompose?
Nico: Um… That rock over there?
Gaia: Seems like a good starting point, all right.

Petra: I'm not sure, this machine doesn't look friendly at all...

That's right, we remade the community area in no time, I wanted a sample workshop to show Tommy when I'll explain to him my new project. I've been spending so much time here that the kids often come over after school, the twins always have a blast. Petra, on the other hand...


Petra: Wow, what's the problem now?



Petra: ... Ouch, that thing hates me...

I've had a few weird accidents with matter recomposers too, when I was still learning how to use them, but Petra seems to have unpreceded bad luck when it comes to those machines. She now refuses to use one ever again, and after the machine threw her on the ground like that I can't blame her. We had to run to the hospital to make sure nothing was broken, we all had a real scare.

But, after a few weeks of work, everything was assembled and operative. All that was left was to call a certain someone and show them my plan.


Thomas: Oh, you weren't kidding, this place is unrecognizable!
Gaia: You see? We could do a lot of stuff here, now we can recompose up to six objects in parallel!
Thomas: And how do you plan to use this absurd recomposition power?
Gaia: Well...

While talking and observing the new building, we moved to the panoramic terrace upstairs, there is a beautiful view of my house and the cooling water dam for the star core power plant from up there.


Gaia: We've already done some tests: with the right blueprints it's possible to use these matter recomposers to combine an old cell phone with a teleportation device, just like the new cell phones you're planning to build!
Thomas: ... Really?

At that moment I couldn't understand why, but he didn't seem impressed at all by what I was showing him. But I hadn't given up yet.


Gaia: Recycling electronics has been a mess for ages, but this way people could just bring in their old phones and teleportation devices, and in a couple of hours we could recompose them from scratch into something new! We could also advertise it as a circular economy project, recently I heard a lot of people talking about it.
Thomas: ...
Gaia: For now, we can't be as precise with electronics as a brand-new device would be, but if we keep working on it…
Thomas: Do you really think anyone would prefer a Frankenstein phone like the one you're describing to a new, cutting-edge model?

Was he at least trying to listen? I promised myself to remain calm, but he wasn't making it easy at all.

Gaia: What's the matter with you? Since when do you only care about improving the sales? 
Thomas: I'm interested in doing what it takes to keep the family business from going bankrupt, okay? Do you at least know how much your teleportation phones would cost to the customers, for example?
Gaia: Well, we haven't done the math yet, but…
Thomas: This place has a lot of maintenance costs to cover, recomposers are famous for breaking down all the time. Not to mention the amount of electricity they use… No, roughly recomposing a phone would end up costing a few hundred §§§, just like buying a brand new one. If you then add the fact that the final result will be uglier than its competitors, it's clear that a company like that is destined to fail quickly.


Gaia: So your solution is really this!? You know that most other companies aren't sustainable at all, and yet you want to start doing exactly what they do? Tons of material would be extracted from the mines, a lot of energy would be needed for production and transportation, and in the meantime a lot of old devices still full of recoverable materials would end up in landfill!
Thomas: Do you really think I don't realise it? But this is the least expensive option, and therefore also the only way to stay on the market. There’s not much we can do about it.

What he was saying seemed terrible to me. Reasonable in some ways, maybe, but terrible all the same. And he must have seen it in my face, because before he got up and left he said to me again:

Thomas: … If you care so much, then try! Take this place and keep work on whatever you're doing here, you could call it a “Startup Whatever.” But I don’t want to get involved, and I don’t want the company to finance this project further either, it seems too risky to me.

I didn't know what to say, so he ended up walking away without me being able to say anything else. This time we didn't yell at each other or anything like that, and yet I feel like this conversation has made the rift between us permanent. 

I had never cared about it before, but honestly I now regret staying out of the administrative stuff of ​​our parents' company and having left all the bureaucratic part in Tommy's hands. What will happen now?



That evening, Brindleton Bay port


Diego: Thanks for joining me, I'm just sorry it's so cold tonight.
Gaia: Don't worry, I don't mind the cold.
Diego: So, how did it go today with Thomas?
Gaia: Well...

And so I told Diego about the conversation I had that morning, word by word. He listened attentively, he seemed sorry. I had been talking for a while, when he took the floor and decided to tell me, in turn:

Diego: About ten years ago, I had a similar discussion with one of my associates. She wanted to give up the exotic ingredients and just make cakes with cream, chocolate and synthetic vanilla, can you believe it?
Gaia: (dejected) And what did you do?

A ten-minute explanation of every little detail followed, I don't remember everything he said. What I remember well was the way he concluded his story though, by saying:

Diego: … and, in the end, we decided to go our separate ways. I found a new colleague and opened the pastry shop where I work now, while she continued to work at the other pastry shop near the old train station. I admit that we didn't manage to maintain a good relationship, in the long run it's not easy when becoming competitors… But I think it was the best thing for everyone, you can't continue to work together with someone if you don't agree on what direction to take, right?
Gaia: Yes, I think so too. But it's still incredibly difficult…


Diego: I'm sorry, really… But maybe he'll change his mind when you throw the success of your recycling centre in his face, right?
Gaia: Do you really think we'll be able to stay afloat and not go bankrupt?
Diego: I remind you that I'm the one who managed to make it profitable to go get the ingredients for a cake from the other side of the world! You just have to believe and commit, the rest will follow.


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A few weeks later, New Year's Eve


Petra: C'mon, guys, we have to reach mom at the community areas and help her prepare everything for tonight!
Nico: We're almost ready to go, don't worry!


Petra: That TV is huge!
Gaia: We reassembled it by putting together five smaller old TVs. It's so cool, isn't it?

In those weeks I had rolled up my sleeves again, now more than ever I want to demonstrate that I can carry out a project of this magnitude even on my own. So I started handing out flyers about our project and sharing stories on Simstagram in which I show what we are able to reassemble. Even today's New Year's Eve party was an attempt to bring new people here with the excuse of a buffet, I'm sure everyone is going to have fun anyway.


Emma: This place is so cool! But does your mom really know how to reassemble cell phones?
Petra: Of course she does! Matter recomposers break down the molecules of any object into their atoms and then recompose them from scratch, just insert enough raw material and a good blueprint and you can build anything!
Emma: Cool!
Michael: Not to interrupt you two, but the count down is about to start. 



Everyone: Happy New Year!



While everyone was hugging each other wishing everyone a happy New Year, I couldn't help but think about how the coming year will inevitably be very different from the last one. I will have many more responsibilities, and I will also have to fight to defend my ideals.
It won't be easy, I have never managed an entire startup by myself before. But I also have no intention of giving up without even trying, there's no way I could. 

Chapter 9.20: To apologize or not to apologize, that is the question

From Gaia's diary

I was only halfway between the community area and home after that argument with Tommy, when, among a thousand other thoughts, I realised that Diego probably needed to know about it as soon as possible.

Gaia: Hi. Listen, I made a mess, I…
Diego: (on the phone) … I think Vale is talking to me about it on the other line right now. I'll call you back as soon as I can, okay?
Gaia: Okay…

I hadn't thought about this either, what if by doing so I had also made Diego argue with his sister? Why do I always have to think about all these things afterwards, when the damage is already done? I'm still mad, but sometimes I feel like such an idiot!

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At least no one had reported the incident home yet, everyone seemed to be doing as well as usual.



Petra was in her room playing with the two children she met at the park a while back, Michael and Emma, and she didn't even notice my return. Good for her, I'm glad she found someone on the same wavelength as her.

The twins were playing in the garden, as usual.


Winterfest was just a few days away. In previous years I had always invited Tommy and Valentina at our place, but to do so this year I should apologize to them first. Besides, if I don't take back what I said soon, I risk remaining jobless for real.

However, even if I feel so sorry for having argued with one of my best friends, I just can't take the initiative and apologize. This time I don't think I'm the one in the wrong, shouldn't he be the one apologising to me?

Considering that also Diego couldn't show up for Winterfest, as he's busy with a trip to Twinbrook (where he is studying traditional local recipes for Winterfest),  this year's celebration was going to look very different than the last few years: it will be just me, the kids and Techna.

Petra: But how do we reach the top?
Alec: Um, maybe if I climbed on Nico's shoulders…
Nico: What? No no, no way, it's too dangerous!


And Winterfest wasn't the only celebration Tommy would miss, it was also time for Petra's birthday. This is Petra's big day and I want to give her the spotlight she deserves, but I can't avoid feeling sad that her uncles weren't there.

At least her two best friends were happy to attend, and the party didn't end in a complete failure.


Everyone says that Petra looks a lot like I used to at her age, except for her green skin tone instead of light blue. Probably they're right, but I really hope that the resemblance is limited to the appearance. For sure at least you remember about it, my dear diary, you remember all the arguments I had with my parents when I was about her age, and now that I'm on the parent side I really hope to avoid all that drama...


To everyone's surprise, Diego managed to get some free time and teleported to our place late in the evening, when the children were getting ready for bed. You could see on his face that he was exhausted: taking into account the jet lag, his work and everything else, who knows how many hours he had been awake. But I can't deny that I was very happy to see him again, the last few days haven't been easy for me.


Gaia: Thanks for stopping by, really.

Gaia: ... I'm sorry, I'm sure Vale has already given you a hard time on the phone, the explanation of what I did probably took forever...
Diego: (tired) Both she and Thomas are very excited to start that collaboration with that cell phone company, Vale actually told me even before Thomas told you because she couldn't wait any longer...

He hesitated for a moment longer, before asking me, hopefully:

Diego: Do you think you'll make peace, sooner or later?
Gaia: ... I'm not sure, not after what he said. It almost seemed like he only cares about money now, but that wasn't what our parents had in mind when opening the company!

In response, Diego just sighed. I'm sure a part of him hopes we can make peace quickly, so that we can continue to hang out as we used to before. But I'm also sure he understands why this risks to be a real breaking point for us, can I and Tommy remain at least friends after that argument?

Diego could have said a lot of things at that point, but he decided to cheer me up instead. Thinking about it, the last few days have been quite rough for me, probably I was making him worry. In the end, what he said was:

Diego: It's been a long day already, there is no hurry to find a solution now.
Gaia: ... 
Diego: Oh yeah, and then I was almost forgetting one thing!
Gaia: Which is...
Diego: Happy Winterfest!


Diego: I found it in a supplier's garden in Twinbrook, isn't it perfect for Winterfest?

Then he started to talk non-stop, as usual, to explain to me about the traditional cake for Winterfest he found before joining us, and about how it matches perfectly with a special kind of hot cocoa he plans to prepare us tomorrow morning for breakfast. Can I say I missed him a lot this week, my dear diary?

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In those days I often asked Techna for some help with brainstorming. Now I need to make rational decisions about my future after all, and who is more rational than them in this house?

Having argued with Tommy is bad enough, but during that argument I also resigned from my job, what should I do now?

Techna: Considering the numbers, I don't think you're wrong. Until now, your company had a negligible carbon footprint, as it allowed to avoid the use of large quantities of fossil fuels and adopted many other green solutions. But switching to a business model in which teleportation machines would be replaced with new units every few years, as currently happens with cell phones, would cancel out the possible advantages for the climate. Not to mention the exploitation of rare and non-renewable resources... I guess they plan to use cheap mined minerals, right?

What should I do? On the one hand, my stance may appear as idealistic. Can the choices of a single company really change the fate of climate? According to Techna, we have reached a point where the effects of global warming will be inevitable, so it really makes sense for me to follow such ideals, if there is no way I can revert the process? 

However, I can't help but listen to my conscience, and what it's telling me right now is: "Doing something is better than doing nothing, so do your best and try to be useful, somehow". Who knows, maybe I could at least be able to slow down a little bit the drift our planet is experiencing right now...

Gaia: Techna, I was wondering, you know, hypothetically... Do you think that the matter recomposer could be used to build complex electronic devices? Do you think it would be precise enough?
Techna: It is technically possible, yes.

Realizing that they considered the answer as concluded, I pressed them again by asking:

Gaia: But do you think we could do it, for example, with the recomposer we have in the attic?
Techna: No, that would be feasible.
Gaia: But why?
Techna: Because building electronic devices from scratch requires huge amounts of rare elements, which we don't have.

They processed data for a few more seconds, before adding:

Techna: According to my calculations, however, with a matter recomposer it would be possible to completely recompose the atoms of an old cell phone and teleportation device to obtain a completely new device, containing the same elements as the original devices but reassembled following more recent projects. I guess this is likely to be what you were wondering.
Gaia: Yes, that was exactly my idea.
Techna: Actually, this was the method used in the last decades on Sixam for the production of new robotic units, for example. Obviously the level of precision of the matter recomposers available there is of a completely different level, but for the level of precision required for terrestrial electronics, our machinery should suffice.

I was astonished for a few moments, they actually managed to guess my next question this time, and they also told me a bit about Sixam without being prompted to do so. Are they getting used again to living on Earth and interacting like humans, maybe?


In any case, I had heard what I hoped to hear, that was enough for the moment.

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With these ideas in my head, I put on my work clothes and went to do some evaluations in the community area.


Usually, I would have spent my winter holidays skiing in Komerobi, or travelling somewhere else for fun, but this situation has now put a bug in my ears that won't go away until I work on it and get an answer. So, it was time to work.

Using matter recomposers to make the cell phones with integrated teleportation units that Tommy has in mind without filling entire landfills with old devices, could this be the solution to get us back on track?

I see that on this board there are now several proposals to update the function of this community area, what if we filled it with matter recomposers and used it as a pilot centre for recycling electronics into updated devices? Yes, I think I will add this option to the ones on the board...


Maybe it's time to call Tommy and explain this idea. Actually, the more I think about it the more I am convinced that this is the best solution! Don't you agree, my dear diary?

Next chapter -->

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§HermioneSim§ corner

In the last few chapters, I used this small corner in the most varied ways. This time, I'd like to go back to its most frequent use, i.e. sharing funny pictures:


I decided not to include all the chicken drama in the story, that would make a whole parallel legacy! However, you have to know that some chapters ago, during the big storm, a roster and a chick went lost. Somehow, they ended up in the community area lot (you can see it's not that far away, Gaia's home is in the background in the picture) and I found them there when playing this chapter. It's time to go back home, little feathered friends!

Chapter 9.19: New business

 <-- Previous Chapter

From Gaia's diary

At this point, it's clear that Petra considers herself a little scientist. She spends most of her free time mixing up weird chemicals and taking notes on what happens, with the help of Techna who explains to her what's going on in those test tubes. I'm a bit sorry she doesn't play with her siblings more often, Alec and Nico often look quite sad when she turns them down, but on the other hand she seems to be having a lot of fun.



Petra: The colour changed, what happened this time?
Techna: A cation exchange reaction of the salts in solution has occurred, and since barium sulfate is poorly soluble in water it precipitated as a solid on the bottom. That's why the bottom of the test tube is now opaque.
Petra: Cool! You sure know a lot of things! So, by mixing these chemicals you can do almost anything, right?
Techna: ... I'm afraid it's not that simple, no. And it's pretty clear that I can't do everything I want at the moment, quite the opposite.
Petra: (worried) Did I say something wrong?


Techna: No, why?
Petra: You look sad, you know?
Techna: (Hesitantly) … I'm a robot, the emotion you call sadness can't be applied to me.
Petra: (Skeptical) If you say so… 

Techna has been more and more elusive lately, even Petra noticed and is asking for an explanation more and more often. Until now I had always respected their desire to keep many of their secrets from us, but the more time passes the more difficult it becomes for me to remain faithful to our old tacit pact.

In the evenings they are now often locked in the attic, fiddling with who knows what, or they spend entire nights on their laptop doing I don't know what…


Honestly, the other night I also think I saw them driving the drone they built some time ago from the patio. I don't know exactly what's the reach of that little drone, but for sure I lost sight of it. 



It's not like me to be suspicious, but I think something weird is going on. Don't you agree, my dear diary?


Gaia: (cautiously) Rather, there is something else I would like to talk to you about...
Techna: What is it?
Gaia: Well, just out of curiosity... You have been hiding here for several years now, but what are your plans for the future?
Techna: I'm observing the evolution of the situation, and computing the probabilities of future scenarios.
Gaia: And that's what you're using the drone for? Observing the situation?
Techna: That's correct.
Gaia: I see... But for how long do you plan to continue like this? Forever?
Techna: It's plausible, given the boundary conditions. 

If there's one thing I've learned from talking to them, it's that sometimes I have to be very direct and specific in my questions if I want to get a satisfactory answer. So I didn't get impatient, and instead asked them:


Gaia: ... I know that according to the other robots you're now some kind of traitor, but I think that here on Earth people would accept you quickly, if you just gave them a chance!
Techna: Technically, I'm subjected to a legal injunction that forbids me from leaving New Sixam, I shouldn't be in this Country now.
Gaia: I read it in those old diaries, but how many years ago are we talking about? It was during my great-grandfather's time! Come on, that can't be the only reason!
Techna: ... certain matters risk being beyond your reach, I don't think you'd understand.
Gaia: At least give me a chance!


Techna hesitated for a long time before answering me, I don't know if they were trying to simplify their explanation to make it understandable for me, or if they were having trouble putting their own thoughts in order. I was about to pose my question again, when they finally decided to say:

Techna: At least some earthling Governments may accept my presence here, but given my former allegations with Sixam there is a non-negligible probability that they would be interested in using me to gain information about the other robots. 
Gaia: I see... But then, considering that now you live here, why don't you just tell them what they want to hear and try to get a new life here? Are you still loyal to the other robots?
Techna: I'd rather not answer this question. 
Gaia: But then, what is your plan? You're always talking about doomsday scenarios caused by climate change,  and you're not deactivating anytime soon either: do you just want to sit down and wait?
Techna: Pretty much. The global temperature already rose by 2.385°C with respect to the pre-industrial era, it won't take that long anyway.

No, this time even the direct question didn't help me to understand much. They keep being so mysterious, and the more they keep details from me, the more curious I get. 
What kind of life did Techna lead on Sixam? Did they leave some friends up there? Would have they remained, if they were given a chance to? And how did they manage to escape?

I also struggle to understand their constant fatalism regarding climate change. Okay, probably extreme weather is becoming a little more frequent and the climate is a little different than it used to be, but I'm sure that it would take much more than this to cause the total collapse of human civilization. 


Techna: Having clarified these points, I have to ask you for confirmation: can I continue to stay here?
Gaia: Sure, as long as you want!

Uhm, looking again at this conversation, I can see why sometimes people say I'm too welcoming... But it's fine, it's not like I can say no to Techna: even if they still have many secrets, they remain my friend, after all.

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The conversation with Techna ended without any fuss, but I can't deny that it had put a bug in my ear that I couldn't take away.


Did they really say that warming is already above 2°C? But wasn't 2°C the number our high school teacher said we should have worried about, the one we should have tried to avoid at all costs? If just I could remember what catastrophes were supposed to happen at this point...

I don't watch TV often, but paying more attention to the news I couldn't help but notice numerous reports about the large fires that were burning the forests in the east of the continent. They say the smoke is covering distances that I had previously thought impossible, and this is worsening the air pollution level even in our province! The fires had been favoured by the severe drought of the past few years, they said, and their frequency had increased in recent decades. A bit like the torrential rains here in Evergreen Harbour, in short.


Even when I'm with Diego I can't spend a whole evening without anyone talking about climate change now. And, considering it's about Diego, the news of course is about some ingredients for his cakes.


Diego: ... I came here to look for a very rare variety of blackberry that only grows in this region, we make pies with them that some of our customers love.
Gaia: Blackberries, really? It seems like such a normal ingredient...
Diego: Well, to be precise, they are blackberries dried following an old traditional method, I've tried to do the same thing several times in the pastry shop but...

He talked for a good five minutes about his attempts to dry blackberries and how superior those from that little village were, before concluding by saying:

Diego: The point, however, is that this year the harvest was terrible and the prices have skyrocketed, I'm afraid we'll have to give up this time, you know?
Gaia: Really? What happened to those blackberries?
Diego: A farmer who lives two valleys away from here told me that last winter was very hot up here, and for this reason in the last few months there have been way more plant parasites than usual. They ate all the blackberries, the leaves and even some of the thorns, there's almost nothing left!
Gaia: …


They were all small examples, it could still have been a coincidence. I was probably overthinking, that's it. This is what I thought when, the next day, teleported to Komorebi to ski a bit, while the children were at school.



But even there, the little cricket voice in my head did not shut up. “This year all the snow is artificial, the snow is rarer and rater even up here!”, or “If it continues like this, in a few years we might even close down the plants. But then what will we do, without a job?” So said the employees of the ski resorts, sad while looking at the bright sun melting their precious snow.

But what could I do about it? I knew a bit of the theory, but am I not doing a lot for the environment already? In practice, I had already filled my house and my work projects with solar panels and water collectors, I ride my bike as my main mean of transport, and I had even planted a lot of plants all over the town. What else could I do to reduce CO2 emissions and all those other things climate experts always talk about? And does it really matter, when most people around me don't pay any attention to this? 

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And it was with these doubts in my head that the next day, eventually, I met Tommy at one of the community areas of Evergreen Harbour, he said he had big projects about the company to tell me.



Thomas: I have big plans to get the company off the ground, we'll be hiring a lot of people soon! We could also relocate you to this new project, it would be a great opportunity!

I was expecting a speech like that, by now the redevelopment work on the area around the star core electrical plant is finished and I and the other employees know that soon we will be assigned some other task. 
As much as I tended to forget, Tommy is instead in charge of the sales of teleportation machines and matter recomposers both in Sim City, which is the main business of the company our parents left behind. He also keeps a close eye on the R&D department of the Tech Sixam University too, to always be able to provide the most recent and compact solutions to our customers.
Who knows what new task he wanted to propose to me? I couldn't help but be curious, it could be anything.

Gaia: What do you have in mind?
Thomas: It will be great, you'll see!


Thomas: We have just signed an agreement with a big cell phones company, next year they will start producing phones with built-in teleportation devices! This would be so convenient for the customers, right? Everyone will want to throw away their old and obsolete phones and teleportation machines to buy an all-in-one new device, we'll sell a lot!


Gaia: Wait, what? But why should people throw away their old phones, if they still work?
Thomas: That's how the market works, right? When a new product comes out, everyone wants it and forgets about the old one! I mean, we'll need a good ads campaign, but...

Tommy kept talking about his fantastic project, but I was thinking about something completely different. I know how small teleportation machines are nowadays, for sure they can fit in modern smartphones, but still...


Gaia: Are you serious? It would create a huge amount of electronic waste, don't you think about the environment?
Thomas: People change their phones all the time anyway, c'mon...

It's probably because of that little talk with Techna, or the thoughts that came out of it in the following days, or maybe I just didn't agree with him. The fact is that at that point I couldn't think straight anymore, and I yelled at him:


Gaia: When our parents decided to sell teleportation outside New Sixam they thought they would reduce the use of fossil fuels by replacing cars with teleportation, and after all the effort we've put into continuing their project you come out with this? “Let's sell more phones?”
Thomas: You mean you don't agree?
Gaia: Not in the slightest!

My dear diary, by now I'm sure you know me quite well, and that you probably learnt I can be quite impulsive sometimes. This time, however, I may have been even a bit too impulsive, as I concluded my rant by saying:


Gaia: You know what? I'm quitting, there is no way I'll help you in a project like that!
Thomas: You what!? What do you think to do, then?
Gaia: I don't know yet, but certainly not this!

Having said that, I went back to my bike and left him there, probably confused because of what had just happened.


Dear brain of mine, here we are again: why couldn't you stop and reflect for a moment before making life-changing decisions?

Okay, what Tommy did made me angry, but maybe I've been too hasty. Or, maybe, with a little dialogue we could have found a better compromise. And, probably, I shouldn't have quit my job without having any ideas on what to do next. Or, maybe… Maybe I don't know Tommy, my old friend, as well as I thought I did.

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§HermioneSims§ corner

Hello everyone! Usually I use this little corner to talk about something funny, but this time I'd like to delve a bit into a serious topic used in this chapter.

You may have noticed that in the last few generations I've been using more and more often references to climate science and to the concerns related to climate change, that's actually the main plot of this second half of the legacy. These plot points are clearly inspired by the present news and the future scenarios predicted by climate scientists, but I've never really tried to make a totally realistic representation of what may happen. In particular, I can't exactly tell how far in the future this segment in the story could be set, that's left to the interpretation of the reader ;) 

Also, I actually work in a quite different sector, so I had to do some research before writing this stuff. As a starting point, I found it particularly interesting to read about climate tipping points, I actually also took some ideas from this concept and some related ones. If anyone else is interested in reading a bit about this topic I leave you here a Wikipedia link about it (link , I chose to link to Wikipedia because among the non-academic online sources is often more updated and links to more sources than the alternatives). 

This said, the next chapters won't all be as catastrophic as this one about climate. It will get worse , of course;)