From Gaia's diary
Nico: Our grade in the last test was really terrible. This way, we'll never be allowed to join the team!
Alec: Hey, we'll just have to study better for the next one. What's the deal?
Both Alec and Nico have been in high school for a while now. Unlike Petra, they've never really liked to study (and their grades show it), but this doesn't bother me too much. I remember well how, at their age, I used to hate school and homework as well, I don't want to ruin their adolescence.
But they were the ones who decided to improve. From what I understood, their school only allows those with good grades to join the football team, and they would both really like to be allowed in. So, in the afternoon, I always find them together studying, or asking me, Techna or Petra for help with this or that subject.
Petra: C'mon, it's not complicated! It's the same formula as the last exercise, just on reverse, you just need to...
Nico: What a headache!
Petra has never been very patient with her brothers, especially when (according to her) they made her waste time with stupid questions. And yet Alec and Nico continue to ask her for help, knowing that after huffing and puffing a couple of times she'll just sit there with them until their homework is finished. The three of them are very different, but I'm sure that down deep they really care about each other. Don't you agree, my dear diary?
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From Petra's diary
This afternoon I wasted a lot of time helping Alec and Nico with their homework, and considering the time I spent finishing my math exercises I didn't have time to go out. So I ended up, close to dinner time, watching TV with Techna. The news always reports a lot of disasters, but I certainly didn't expect to hear this.
TV: "A typhoon of extraordinary intensity is hitting the Sulani archipelago, right in the middle of the monsoon season. Most of the inhabited centres are currently flooded and lashed by very strong winds, while the coasts have been submerged due to strong storm surges. The damage evaluation hasn't started yet, but it's not difficult to assume that the response will be disastrous for the locals. Several missing people were signaled already to the authorities, who..."
Petra: What a disaster!
Techna: Sadly, in line with the current statistical trends.
Petra: You say that this is related to climate change too?
Techna: Well, an event of this intensity would have had a probability lower than 0.0001% until just 25 years ago. If I had to look at a possible source for this discrepancy, I would point out that the temperature has now risen by 2,401°C compared to pre-industrial levels, and this provides more energy to the winds and allows for more intense precipitations. Not to mention the rise in sea levels, even if the current increase is limited to half a meter on average, coastal areas like Sulani are being severely affected already, especially during storms of this magnitude. And the continental glaciers just started to melt...
Petra: I know these things… But if the problem is so clear, why no Government is doing anything to prevent this?
Techna: I would rather say it's now time to make plans to face the effects of climate change, it's too late for prevention at this point.
Techna memorised tons of data about climate change and ran several simulations by themselves, but they also seem so terribly resigned to the situation. We all know that climate change is advancing inexorably and that sooner or later it will hit us too, but I don't want to believe that we can only resign to the situation.
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The more hours passed, the clearer the severity of the Sulani's disaster was. It was so severe that soon even the inhabitants of our region had mobilized to try to help them as we could. In the following days, many evacuees from Sulani reached Sim City, and many students my age joined the volunteers who mobilized to provide them with what we would need. Obviously I decided to participate too, I don't like to stand by and watch when certain tragedies happen, and Michael and Emma did the same. At breakfast I also managed to convince Alec and Nico to come with us, they are certainly better than me at moving heavy stuff. So, after school, we quickly got ready to reach the city centre.
Protester: The planet is crying, and it's our fault! We have to…
Michael: That's where you were hiding! What are you doing down there?
Petra: I was wondering if the sea level has always been this close to the edge of the platform, it looks like it could overflow at any moment!
Michael: (Resigned) Well, there is little doubt about that. With high tides the sea is even closer to the houses, and we're talking about Sim City! If they don't decide to do something soon, we'll all be in big, big trouble.
Mike is always brutal with his analyses, and also very fatalistic. Sometimes I'd like to tell him he's wrong and that there's no need to be so pessimistic, but I have yet to find a flaw in his reasoning to leverage.
So, thoughtfully, I followed him towards the other volunteers. We had a lot to do that afternoon, it was time to work!
A few hours later...
Before today I didn't imagine that distributing food and blankets, or even just trying to bring a little comfort to people who've just lost everything, could be so tiring. When our shift ended and we were told to go back home, we were all tired and hungry, so we decided to go to a nearby restaurant for a quick dinner before riding back home.
Nico: I'm starving!
Alec: Let's all grab a burger and hurry up!
Petra: Actually, I'd rather have a salad.
Alec: Are you still in your vegetables phase?
Petra: (piqued) That's not the point!
My brothers just don't get it... I've been doing a lot of research recently, it seems that our food choices have a big impact on our ecological footprint. So I decided to go on a vegetarian diet for a while to see how it goes, but they don't support me at all. I was about to answer them back, when Emma put down the menu and said to the waitress, without hesitation:
Emma: A salad for me too, please!
As the waitress wrote down an order for two salads, I couldn't avoid smiling back at Emy. She understands well I don't like arguing with my little brothers even over trivial things like this. For sure she knows me very well...
Alec: I didn't expect to see so many people from Sulani... Are they really all homeless now?
Petra: Well, yes. That's what happens when a huge typhoon hits your island, you know.
Alec: That's really unfair, though...
No one said anything, and we all pretended to be completely focused on what was on the plates in front of us. It's obvious that what happened in Sulani is unfair, but who can we blame for it?
Some people called this an unpreventable natural disaster, others say it was surely due to climate change. I feel it's something in between, but tonight I don't have enough energy left to think further about it.
We were about to leave the diner and go home, all a little under the weather after that difficult day, when Emma signalled me to follow her for a moment. Usually when she does that it's because she wants to talk to me about something, but she's ashamed to do it in front of everyone else.
Petra: Hey, did something happen?
Emma: I just wanted to tell you that, well... I think you were really good at leading the team today, we worked much faster this way!
Petra: Oh.
I hadn't even thought about it, when they gave us that list of things to do I immediately took it and then started giving directions left and right. It didn't seem like much to me, especially compared to what Emy did all day long instead.
Petra: You did great while welcoming all the people who arrived, they all seemed at least a little reassured after talking to you.
Emma: Do you really think so?
Petra: Well, yes.
I'm not as good with words as she is, I really wouldn't have known what to say to so many people who suddenly found themselves in that situation. She's always been this way, she only needs a glance to understand what her interlocutors need, and then she always goes out of her way to help them as much as she can.
But then she surprised me again, coming close enough to hug me tightly and whisper:
Emma: I'm really happy we're best friends, you know?
Petra: … I know.
I know already she considers me her best friend, but I'm never in the mood to answer when she says it out loud. Still, Petra, c'mon! Couldn't you really think about anything better to answer than "I know"? I really don't miss any chance to look like an idiot...
Suddenly feeling all the exhaustion of the day falling on me, I did my best to keep smiling while saying goodbye and going to pick up my bike. Today has been like a punch in the stomach, I just wanted to go back home as fast as I could...
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From Gaia's diary
The disaster that hit Sulani left me speechless. My dad always talked to me about that archipelago and its climate, yet I had never heard him speak of events of that magnitude. I am not even remotely attached to those islands as he was, yet just thinking about the situation made me feel so sad I can barely describe it. Those people need help, that's what.
So, in the days when my kids were busy in the city welcoming the evacuees, I teleported straight to Sulani and offered to help with the reconstruction. Thanks to Techna we have some new compact matter recomposers prototypes: I intend to give them to the locals and teach them how to use them to rebuild their homes. From what I heard, the storm surges eroded part of the coast, and now they are planning to move many houses higher up the mountain than where they used to be. There will be a lot of work to do, that's for sure.
When we reached the archipelago, I immediately noticed that the good weather had already returned. Yet the signs of the recent disaster were evident, from the debris of the houses to the waterfalls still swollen from too much rain.
And I'm not the only one who went all the way to Sulani to lend a hand. Around lunchtime I followed the locals towards the volunteers who were preparing food for everyone, and who could I meet if not…
Gaia: Hey, Diego! I didn't know you were here!
Diego: (surprised) Gaia! I changed plans at the last minute, this seemed more important than looking for shellfish in Komorebi!
We were both pleasantly surprised to meet in there. In hindsight we might have expected it, we are both a bit impulsive and tend to make rash decisions sometimes, yet I found the coincidence very funny. The world seems so small sometimes, don't you agree, my dear diary?
After a long explanation of what we had done so far, he then said to me:
Diego: Well, the grilled vegetables seem ready. Do you want some too?
Gaia: I'm really late now, I think I'll grab a plate and then run back to continue helping with the building.
Diego: Okay. Can you let the others know that lunch is ready while you go?
Gaia: Sure.
Gaia: See you soon.
The next few days were really chaotic. I couldn't leave my new startup for too long, if we want to make enough money to stay afloat both Techna and I need to work there full-time. And yet, I would use any free moment to briefly pop up in Sulani to see how Diego and the other volunteers were doing and help them as I could.
Client: Are you almost done?
Gaia: It'll take about half an hour... Why don't you take a walk in the meantime? The weather is so nice today!
There's so much to do that even Techna is struggling to keep up, I've never seen them in trouble before.
Techna: Hey, no need to be offended!
They were still covered in paint when a customer approached them with an unusual deal.
???: I'm from the Sim City Council, we're about to put out a big project. Can I talk with the owner?
Techna: I can take the message. What kind of project?
The guy seemed a little puzzled while talking with Techna, as if he didn't expect a machine to actually understand him. Yet, he eventually said:
???: I see... Please, report this to Ms Miller. The Sim City Regional Council is preparing an emergency plan to secure the bay. It's to prevent disasters like the one in Sulani to also hit the city, you know. We plan to build a large barrage to the bay entrance, as you probably know it's here close to Evergreen Harbour. We would like to ask this company to provide us with custom made elements, to complete the project as quickly as possible.
Techna: The message will be reported as soon as possible.
So, this is the plan the Regional Council elaborated to avoid the progressive submersion of the Sim City metro area: building a large barrage at the entrance of the port, to be risen on the day of very high tides or during storms.
The project is relatively simple, yet it includes the rebuilding of most of the current seaport and the construction of a very complex mobile barrage system. It's a huge and extremely expensive project, and even for a rich area like Sim City it could put the regional budget under strain for a while.
If the Council took this decision, it's because even they start to fear some natural disaster can hit this coast and people would start to move away, I'm quite sure about it. What about all those other coastal areas that also risk being washed out by the next storms, instead? In particular, what about those without the finances to pay for such large engineering works? I'd rather not think about it, it would be demotivating...
What I can do instead is to focus on this project, of course I want to participate in any plan aimed to improve Evergreen Harbour (even more so if the plan is to make the area more resistant to natural disasters). It won't be easy, we'll need to adapt our equipment to produce much larger components than we're used to... This makes me think, my dear diary, that probably for the next few months I won't write as often: it's time to work!
