Alternate-Worlds

Located in Citizens’ Alliance space, close to Xeno Alley, the jungle moon of Pyrrtach has long held a justified reputation of being a “green hell” for anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves on the murderous world. Pyrrtach also has a reputation for breeding the finest hunters, fighters and killers in Alliance space, second only to the venerated Immortals.While much of Pyrrtach’s history has remained largely lost to history, it is clear that the moon was once a normal game world, albeit one housing extreme environmental conditions. Pyrrtach’s sun provided ample solar energy to fuel the moon’s continent-wide jungles, but its extreme axil tilt produced erratic weather patterns. Pyrrtach’s twin moon, the dead, airless rock known as Pyrrtach Minor, causes massive tidal waves and extraordinarily high volcanic activity on the moon. Additionally, despite being smaller in diameter than old Earth, Pyrrtach has three times the gravity of the old human homeworld, due to its extremely dense core. These extreme conditions often lead to worlds being ignored by human terraforming efforts, but it is these very conditions that motivated the First Empire to terraform Pyrrtach in the first place: the First Empire created a game world to cater to the Empire’s most hardcore hunters.Though a successful game world for centuries, Pyrrtach was abandoned during the chaos of the Confederation Era. The world was subject to transatomic bombardment, though the reasons for this bombardment, or the identity of the perpetrators, have been lost to history. This bombardment, and the subsequent transatomic radiation, made the already-deadly ecosystem even worse. From the rampant mutations, mass global flooding, and competition for resources. Pyrrtach was even deadlier than it had been during its game world years.Gradually, Pyrrtach’s lush jungles would reemerge, deadlier than ever before. When the Second Empire arrived to reclaim Pyrrtach’s home system, they found it a perfect game world, returning the moon to its original role. However, the nau’vri were now prey and not administrators. Visitations remained high, until the Dark Renaissance and the Hedonic Era, when hunters who would normally pursue quarry on Pyrrtach instead opted for hedonic engine simulations. This led Pyrrtach’s administration to drastic measures in hopes of restoring attendance. Entire continents were incinerated to make way for new, purpose-tailored biomes. New prey and environments were created from genetic material and data from old Earth and countless alien worlds throughout the multiverse. Even chronoshifting was used to accelerate evolution, or to bring in pieces of ancient biospheres.These measures bought Pyrrtach a brief respite from its decline, but its fall was inevitable. The Hedonic Era put an end to Pyrrtach, as it did to most activities within physical reality. Only a handful of the most dedicated hunters of the Second Empire visited Pyrrtach, up until the War of the Cog Lords. As the world was no longer being primarily used as a game world, and its hostile biosphere acted as a security mechanism, Pyrrtachwas used as a storehouse for non-baryonic matter.Pyrrtach’s irrelevance during the Hedonic Era led to its survival during the War of the Cog Lords. The moon was ignored by the Cog Lords, eventually becoming an agricultural colony of an arambi petty star empire. Pyrrtach’s plentiful sunlight and volcanic ranges provided the moon with highly fertile soil for agriculture, though the arambi still had to deal with the hyper-deadly ecosystems and hostile natives. By the time of the arrival of the Third Empire and Citizens’ Alliance in the system, the colony had already entered near-total collapse, despite centuries of investment and attempts to clear the hostile wilderness. Entire stretches of wilderness were incinerated by fusion torches of landing craft, only to completely regrow within a matter of days. The arambi would be caught between the advancing Third Empire and the Citizens’ Alliance, with arambi rule over Pyrrtach - and the rest of their star empire - being destroyed by the two human empires. Arambi colonists retreated to the relative safety of the tree tops, constructing vast wooden villages.After a few years of conflict between the Third Empire and the Citizens’ Alliance, the planet would fall under the nominal rule of the Alliance. The Alliance found the moon to be a prime recruitment world for its vast, ever expanding military, though its rule would be constantly challenged by the nearby Kerdin Empire. The Alliance wished to keep the world as a place to recruit fine warriors, while the Kerdin value it as an unparalleled treasure trove of biological data.Today Pyrrtach stands as a proving ground for both the Citizens’ Alliance and Kerdin Empire, seeing which can produce the finest killers. Both the Alliance and the Kerdin regularly send troops to the surface, where they war against one another and the environment. For reasons of honor, to prevent the war from escalating, and to prevent orbital bombardment from ruining the prize they both seek, both sides have agreed to keep the war to the surface of the moon. Pyrrtach’s environment provides many challenges: vines capable of crushing modern tanks; bacteria capable of eating flesh like acid; giant mantis shrimp capable of punching through Immortal power armor; parasitic fungi that can turn sapients into walking corpses; and giant apes capable of fighting kaijiru. There are even myths of the Pyrrtach Demon, a purported remnant of the Tick Swarm, which failed to consume the jungle moon.Pyrrtach is home to three indigenous sapient species. First were the pyrr, a mutated offshoot of baseline humanity, descended from game world workers, stranded hunters, and refugees who evidently had no safer place to go than to the hellish moon. The pyrr an almost animalistic offshoot of mankind, possessing strength over a dozen times that of baseline humans, near machine level response times, and radically enhanced senses and survival instincts. The pyrr have greater natural muscle mass than baseline humans, particularly in their upper arms: an adaptation to navigating through Pyrrtach’s tangled jungle canopy. Their feet are also moving towards prehensility. Pyrr jungle fighters are some of the deadliest special forces units within the entire Citizens’ Alliance, second only to the vaunted Immortals.The other major species to emerge from the bombardment of Pyrrtachwere the nau’vri, a blue callfolk variant created to manage Pyrrtach’s moon-spanning biological computer network. An engineered species, the nau’vri have an ability to interface with the neural network, granting them ability to tame and directly control a wide assortment of wildlife that would otherwise be hostile towards them. This allowed the nau’vri to live in relative safety, leading to a sense of superiority among the nau’vri towards the pyrr, and resentment from the pyrr towards the nau’vri. Though lithe, the nau’vri’s carbon fiber-enhanced skeletons allow them to endure Pyrrtach’s high gravity.The third species are the deathwalkers, descendants of ancient kerdin placed on Pyrrtach to serve as prey. Like the pyrr and nau’vri, the deathwalkers are a distinct genetic offshoot from the greater kerdin species. They are easily distinguishable with their pale, bone white heads and greater size. The deathwalkers also evolved natural camouflage abilities, reminiscent of Terran octopi, to hide from both predators and prey. At one point, the deathwalkers were the dominant species on Pyrrtach, hunting the other two for sport. However, they were driven back to a region known as the Shadowlands, after a massive multi-generational effort by the pyrr and nau’vri. The Shadowlands are a land of a perpetual night and fog, where Pyrrtach’s most unnerving species live. For centuries, the deathwalkers eked out a pitiful existence in the Shadowlands.. It wouldn’t be until the arrival of the Kerdin Empire in-system that some deathwalkers would find a way out of their nightmarish existence. These deathwalkers joined the Kerdin Empire to serve as warrior mercenaries, well known for their sadistic, psychopathic behavior.

I often have difficulty visiting the subjects of this book’s most radical entries. Some of them I have never visited personally, given that my safety could not be guaranteed. But for this government, I had trouble beginning in the Nutshell. Most worldlines maintain controls on interdimensional travel, utilizing methods similar to aerospace travel controls within a worldline. To prevent the spread of disease, invasive species, and to stop criminals and contraband from entering, controlling authorities maintain port facilities around interdimensional gateways. Since most worldlines have a single gateway, the local government, in cooperation with the other powers or international organizations of that worldline, maintains these ports. Almost all of these control systems are on the worldline’s side of the gateway, with few - if any - controls on the Nutshell side. This was not the case for the Union of Bharat. The Bharati - I was told they strongly object to the term “Indian” as it is a “colonial exonym” they reserve exclusively for the old “industrio-globalist regime” - not only control their worldline’s side gateway, somewhere outside of Karachi, they also maintain permanent port facilities on the Nutshell side. The Bharati consider this portion of the Nutshell their sovereign territory, and violently expelled any who would challenge their claim. They constructed barricades and fortifications around the gateway, with a single point of entry. These efforts were all made to enforce Bharat’s strict “closed door” policy: interdimensional travel into Bharat’s worldline is strictly prohibited, unless a visitor is given express permission from the Bharati government. I was one of the fortunate few. When I was writing this book, the Bharati government was experimenting with proselytism. The new Prime Minister, Muhammad Vishapur, believed that spreading Bharat’s “Deep Green revolution” throughout the multiverse would be a major success for his government. For the first time, journalists and authors from the Nutshell were allowed to visit Bharat. I was given press credentials, which were encoded onto a tracking bracelet placed on my ankle. This bracelet was to remain on my person for the entirety of my stay; this threat did not matter much, as the bracelet was impossible to remove prematurely without amputating my foot. I was not allowed to take anything from the Nutshell into Bharat, including my own clothing. Clothes and stationery I would use during my journey were provided to me, as was a debit card that I had to pre-load with New Bharati Rupees. Before my journey, I was isolated for three days in a holding facility within the Bharati port, one used for holding smugglers. I was informed this was to ensure that any contraband that I may have had inside me would have time to be purged. I was nevertheless subjected to a battery of invasive scans before I was allowed through the gateway. On the worldline side, the gateway was even more heavily defended. A large structure - what the Bharatis called the “sarcophagus” - was constructed around the gateway. A Bharati officer explained that the sarcophagus’ structure is inlaid with high explosive charges which, when detonated, would collapse the entire structure onto the gateway and bury it under several thousand tons of debris. Upon exiting the sarcophagus, I realized that the gateway was on an island, surrounded by the flooded districts of Karachi. I was taken from the gateway via sailing ship to the coast, where I saw the massive sea walls keeping Karachi a half-flooded city. From there, I took an electric rail line - powered by solar fields throughout the country, as the public announcement system stated incessantly - to my meeting place in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Union of Bharat. Within Thiruvananthapuram, I was taken from the station to the Presidential Headquarters in a rickshaw. It was raining when I arrived in Thiruvananthapuram. It always rains in Kerala; I've been told that is the title of an award winning comedy series. In any case, the people seem accustomed to it. Colorful umbrellas dot the city; most are made of natural materials, from what seems like straw and bamboo, instead of plastic. People are window shopping or looking at their smartphones, so thin that they look like pieces of paper. The beautifully carved temples are full of people and street cafés are busy at this hour. Many young and old people walk around in military fatigues, sharply contrasting with the more traditional dresses of the rest of the crowd. I notice a lot of young trees growing in the streets and more parks than many Indian cities I've visited in other worldlines. I have been to many different incarnations of Thiruvananthapuram, so the trip was somewhat familiar to me. However, an immediate reminder that I was in the Bharati Union’s Thiruvananthapuram was the almost total lack of automobiles. The noises and smells of traffic were totally absent, and the ocean of vehicles replaced by pedestrians, bicycles, rickshaws, and animal-drawn carts. While the smell of automobile exhaust was absent, it was made up for by the stench of dung from all of the pack animals. I did spot the occasional electric vehicle, either a large truck or a military vehicle of some sort. Only the Bharati government was allowed to use “industrial” vehicles, and only because the state was utilizing them to advance the cause of de-industrialization. Other differences were palpable. Gone were the colorful - some would say gaudy - advertising billboards that lined the skyline of many other Thiruvananthapurams. Instead, street-level holograms promoting local businesses flickered in the rain, contrasting with the city’s otherwise traditional and medieval look. The billboards remained otherwise traditional, but were wooden and topped with solar panels. But drowning out the advertisements was the propaganda. In both holographic and billboard form, propaganda was everywhere, extolling the virtues of the Bharati regime, the progress of deindustrialization, the indivisible unity of all the peoples of the Indian Subcontinent, and describing the sins of the “industrio-globalist powers.” A common billboard depicted Bharati soldiers burying the corpses of Eurasian, Chinese, Canadian, and South Sudanese politicians and soldiers in a trench, where they served as fertilizer for a new forest. Another caught my eye, an image of a recently-planted forest with the words “Over 5000 square kilometers of jungle recovered thanks to the effort of the MES.” I wondered if the two pieces were meant to be read together. The new Presidential Headquarters - I was told to refrain from referring to it as a “palace” - could best be described as “medieval.” It was a new construction, one of the few buildings in Thiruvananthapuram built after the Deluge. But unlike the opulent structures that many other authoritarian regimes build for their centers of power, the Presidential Headquarters is made of stone, wood, and reclaimed metal and glass. The Headquarters had no centralized air conditioning system, and was supposed to be cooled by a water recycling system; I could say from personal experience that this system could use significant improvement. The only aspect of the Headquarters that would indicate its importance is the greenery. While all structures in Thiruvananthapuram maintained rooftop and balcony gardens - by government mandate, as I was told by my rickshaw driver - the Presidential Headquarters was surrounded by gardens. My guide to the Headquarters, Colonel Sirgireddy, told me that every surviving tropical plant on the planet is grown in the garden, and hinted that I may be allowed to visit again if I brought back samples of extinct plants from other worldlines. “We will provide you with a list of extinct plants. These will be analyzed by Customs, so no funny business.” After centuries of British colonial dominance, India became independent in 1947. However, it was partitioned into a Hindu (India) and a Muslim state (Pakistan). Pakistan was also divided later, with Bangladesh in the Bengal Delta becoming independent in 1971. India grew in power during the 21st century, as its population became more educated and economic growth lifted millions out of poverty. However, the world changed around India. The trend of global warming and climate change started to worsen, and the fact that the major industrial powers of the world still staunchly held onto fossil fuels did not help. By the 2020s, climate patterns presented severe anomalies, and the hurricane and typhoon season hit coastals cities repeatedly. By the 2060s, several regions around the world had become barely inhabitable due to heat waves. The Northern Hemisphere was flooded by constant rains from the disappearance of the Arctic icecap. There were crop failures all over the world. Refugee crises, resources wars and famines were the norm in many places. Many nations collapsed entirely,as they couldn't handle the unrest and waves of refugees. Others closed themselves inside walls and ignored the rest of the world. India chose a different path. As the environmental crisis worsened, the National Green Alliance, or “Deep Green” movement, became more popular. The National Green Alliance was a political alliance of various political parties motivated by the ideals of radical deindustrialization, environmental protection, nationalism, anti-capitalism and anti-globalism. The Deep Greens blamed the ills of the world on the “industrio-globalist powers” of America, Europe, and East Asia for not only polluting the world, but also economically and politically exploiting India. The Deep Greens gained popularity throughout the Indian subcontinent, and copycat movements emerged worldwide.I was told that I would be meeting with a high-ranking Bharati official, who would explain to me Bharat’s politics. I was not told that I would meet Prime Minister Vishapur himself. The Prime Minister’s office was spartan, though it did contain a few historical artifacts on display. As for the Prime Minister himself, he was a middle-aged man, with a well kept mustache and air of command. He gives me a firm handshake and formally introduces himself. I caught the Prime Minister at lunch time, so he offered me a bowl of spiced butternut squash soup. I politely declined. “It’s vegetarian. Made vegetables in our garden,” Prime Minister Vishapur informed me. I explained that my objections were not dietary. I was simply not hungry, as my body was still getting used to the local time and, given the brevity of my visit, I did not want to upset my body clock. He smiled and nodded. “I understand. I still urge you to taste it. It is just as good, if not better, than food beyond our borders. What you see in this bowl is a revolution in cuisine. Our country has evolved to meet the challenges of the Deluge, though the industrio-globalists refuse to believe it.”I insisted that I was not hungry, and the Prime Minister unceremoniously dumped the bowl into a trash bin. I asked him to explain this culinary evolution.“Our policy is: sustainability and efficiency first. To that end, we have banned the sale and consumption of foods which are too environmentally damaging. Red meats and fish which cannot be caught sustainably are banned, and we encourage everyone to follow in our footsteps. For protein, we encourage the consumption of chickens, insects and vegetable substitutes. However, we do discourage meat substitutes, as we believe this is an inefficient use of vegetable protein, and only for the sake of flavor.”I remarked that the Hindu population of Bharat would have been pleased by a blanket ban on beef consumption. Prime Minister Vishapur shook his head. “They were not so happy when we mandated sterilization of the cattle. The true issue with cattle is sustainability, not superstition. But we crossed that bridge decades ago.”The Union of Bharat is officially governed under the ideology of “Ecological Stewardship.” This ideology claims to be secular, pan-nationalist, and pan-Bharati, but many claims are made of chauvinism in favor of citizens from what was once the Republic of India and “refugees.” Nevertheless, everyone in Bharat is required to serve the state in a variety of environmental projects, ranging from planting forests, to working in factories, to constructing new cities in more pleasant climates. “I got my start working in the Pakistani Reforestation Campaign,” Prime Minister Vishapur informed me proudly. I asked the Prime Minister how he got his start in politics. He leaned back and smiled. “Ah yes, the political arena. Despite what the industrio-globalists would tell you, we are a democracy. While the National Green Alliance dominates our parliament, there are many opposition parties. That they remain in the small minority is because they do not resonate with the people’s desire to save the planet as we do.” I politely informed the Prime Minister that he forgot to answer my question, and instead launched into a defense of his own political system. I reminded him of his career in the Ministry of Ecological Security, which he ended as Executive Secretary. Did he feel like he had more power there? Prime Minister Vishapur laughed. “Of course not! The Ministry is an advisory and executive body, but it is always beholden to the government. It can promulgate new regulations, but it cannot do so without a legal mandate from parliament. It can act according to laws and regulations, but again, this is constrained by the law.”I asked him if the government has ever turned down an MES “recommendation,” and he shook his head in disagreement. “We are wise enough to listen to the experts here. This is the advantage of our government: without the influence of industro-globalist profiteers, the truth always wins. The right policies get implemented.” On that note, I asked the Prime Minister about the measures that the Bharati government has taken to save the Earth’s environment. He happily listed them off. “Unsustainable farming, hunting, and the dumping of waste is forbidden by death. All of these activities are managed by the state, as only we can be entrusted to abide by the stringent environmental codes necessary to prevent further environmental degradation. We also have stringent family planning programs, to prevent overpopulation. Some say this is harsh, but the world is harsh. We must trade lives to preserve nature, this is simply the way of things. The alternative is much worse, and believe me, we have seen the worst.” I asked the Prime Minister to account for the stringent measures I had to undergo before my visit, and the general paranoia regarding outsiders. Were these part of saving the environment? “I apologize for any inconvenience these measures may have caused, but I assure you that they are quite necessary to prevent smuggling.” Smuggling? The Prime Minister nodded. “Yes, smuggling. Many in the Nutshell believe that they can profit off our misery by selling us ‘high technology.’ They sell us convenience, but they mask the environmental and material costs of this technology. This technology is what led to the destruction of our world, and we Bharati have taken it upon ourselves to prevent our world from being shackled by the chains of technology ever again. I know that many other civilizations in the Nutshell try to convince us that their technology will solve our problems, but they are dishonest about the costs.”I asked him what I could be smuggling in my own person that would raise these concerns. Was it drugs? “No, drugs are the least of our concern when it comes to the Nutshell. Sadly, our local producers have filled that market, despite our best efforts. What we are on the lookout for are nanomachines and data cards. Industrio-globalist propaganda, intended to lure the people of Bharat away from sustainable living.” I questioned this policy, as the Bharati government itself used high technology, and allowed its people to do the same. I reminded the Prime Minister that many of their machines were far beyond many other worldlines, as they were nearly two centuries behind his own. “Not all high technology is bad. Some technology, like our computers, are sustainable. As you have seen, these are in common use. Many electronic devices can be built with sustainable materials, and powered with solar and wind generation. Our computers, for instance, are built using recycled materials or organic components. We object to technology which requires energy and resources that cannot be sustainable in the long term. Automobiles and many industrial processes are prime examples, which is why we have prohibited them outside of government use. Those government uses are intended to keep the industrio-globalist powers from overrunning us militarily. We will not allow the Earth to die with us.”The Bengal Crisis of 2063 was the breaking point. As the politicians in New Delhi debated over whether they needed to build walls to keep the millions of refugees out, the National Green Alliance took a different strategy. The Deep Greens took direct charge of Bangladesh, effectively taking control of its government, and putting the refugees to work in mass mobilization projects against climate change.The success of the Deep Greens in Bangladesh gave immense legitimacy to the National Green Alliance in India. After a few attempted crackdowns on Deep Green protests, the National Green Alliance declared that the Indian government lost its mandate to govern the people, and declared that they would take control. India plunged into civil war, just as many other countries did before. The Deep Greens, enjoying immense popularity, took city after city, until only New Delhi remained under government control. But the government’s defeat was inevitable. India’s leadership was deemed complicit, and the revolutionaries took no mercy on them. New Delhi was nearly leveled during the Indian Civil War, and official administration moved to the Deep Green bastion of Thiruvananthapuram. Vishapur's grandparents were from Bangladesh. I asked him what he thinks about the Deep Green management of Bangladeshi refugees. He shrugged. "It was a success, all things considered. Mistakes were made, for sure. But it was necessary. Bangladesh was sinking to the sea. What was done back then saved millions of lives. Not only in Bangladesh, but in the rest of Bharat. It is a shame that my ancestors had to suffer from it, but they would have suffered anyway."His ancestors were probably lost in the figures of millions 'missing' or 'not complying with emergency projects' during the great relocations. I decided against asking any specific questions. I asked him if he missed Bangladesh. After all, he and his family had been relocated many times already. The Prime Minister shook his head. "Bangladesh is no more, surely you realize. And India isn't, either, for that matter. I serve the Bharati Union. We are all one people, united in the cause of saving the planet."I took this opportunity to segue to a more controversial subject: Bharat’s mission to “spread the Deep Green revolution.” I said that my being here was only because Bharat had multiversal ambitions for its revolution. Prime Minister Vishapur nodded. “Yes, this was my initiative. When I learned that many other worldlines are in their early 21st centuries, I thought it would be good for us to warn them of the impending dangers. To prevent them from having to make the hard choices we have been forced to make. However, our mission of education is nothing new. Ever since the revolution nearly a century and a half ago, we have been spreading our message around the world. Some have listened to our message. But many others, sadly, have not.”I remarked that Bharat has not always resorted to words alone to spread its word. I noted that Bharat invaded and disarmed Pakistan in 2071, to little fanfare. At the time, the rest of the world was busy with their own dramas. Pakistan was transformed into a protectorate of Bharat, with the plans for full integration yet to manifest even over a century later. Now, most of Bharat’s neighbors have been annexed in all but name. The Prime Minister paused for a moment, before answering carefully.“The exigencies of environmental collapse oftentime require the use of force. It is unfortunate, but for the good of the planet and humanity, bad actors have to be stopped by any means necessary. An environmental problem affects everyone on the planet, not only the perpetrators. Therefore, a crime against the environment is the greatest crime, for it is a crime against everyone. Anyone would agree that criminals need to be stopped, by force if necessary. For the sake of every living creature, the industrio-globalists need to stop their desolation of the planet. We prefer that they do so voluntarily, but their politicians are too short-sighted and greedy to make the necessary sacrifices today to save everyone’s tomorrow.”I asked if those sacrifices included mass depopulation. The Prime Minister paused again, before nodding in agreement. “The science and the mathematics cannot be argued with: there were too many people on Earth to sustain without damaging the environment. Setting aside the excesses of industrio-globalist capitalism, the simple fact that the earth needed to be drowned in pesticides and fertilizers to grow enough food for everyone meant that natural rejuvenation required a culling. Mass depopulation was inevitable, and as you can see from our own history, what men did not do, Mother Nature did herself. All we are doing is ensuring that the population never gets to be that taxing again. Reproductive and family planning do most of the work, as does resource allocation to the most productive and deserving, and away from the looters and profiteers.”I noted the objection from the “industrio-globalists” that Bharat was engaging in ecofascist genocide, citing allegations that the Bharati were reallocating resources to Bharati from non-Bharati peoples, allowing the latter to perish. At this, the Prime Minister exploded into a rage."Lies! We have made the same sacrifices, if not more! My ancestors drowned in the waves, died of famine and disease, or perished in war! They died by the millions, as did others throughout Bharat! Now, the industrio-globalists who forced this on us, they call us ecofascist! It is only natural that we favor our people first! Back then, they didn't have the courage to make hard decisions when it mattered, to take all the pigs who tried to kill the Earth and hang them. Today, we, the wretched of the Earth, are the ones who devote our entire lives and abilities to the salvation of the planet and mankind. Meanwhile, they are the sons of the criminals responsible for the destruction of our planet and the death of untold millions. And now they have the gall to call us fascists? They can go choke."He straightens himself out, wordlessly excusing himself for using improper language. I decided that it is time to end the interview. I inform Prime Minister Vishapur that the plans of climate change reversal of Bharat and their allies are ambitious, and will no doubt involve even more sacrifices, not only from his nation, but others, too. I ask the Prime Minister if he feels ready. "Earth expects every man to do his duty," he says, proudly. Back in the Nutshell, I was surprised to receive a message from a Doctor Arun Sarkar. Dr. Sarkar claimed to be from Bharat, a former member of the Ministry of Ecological Security. Now residing in another worldline’s Pakistan, Dr. Sarkar informed me that he had the real scoop on Bharati politics. As I was visiting that worldline for another entry, I agreed to a short meeting. Dr. Sarkar was a tall, skinny man with large, horn-rimmed glasses. He was the very image of a scientist, missing only a stereotypical labcoat. He instead wore an ill-fitting shalwar kammez, no doubt in a futile effort to blend in. It made him easy to spot by the cafe we designated as a meeting spot, but any Bharati spies would no doubt have spotted us. I wondered if the Bharati were totally ignorant of Dr. Sarkar’s presence, or simply did not care. Dr. Sarkar clearly disagreed: the doctor’s demeanor was very paranoid. He looked over his shoulder every minute or so, as if he would see a Bharati agent aiming a gun at him. Appropriately enough, we met in Karachi, though this city was not half-sunken. When I pointed this out to Dr. Sarkar, he shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s not going to last,” he said quietly, almost whispering. “The Pakistani government here is very powerful, but corrupted by their industrio-globalists. They believe that their political power extends to power over nature, and that hubris will destroy them. But I will be long dead before that happens.” I informed him that I doubted anyone around us was a Bharati spy, so he could speak up. I noted that, even if they did, they would find nothing objectionable. His comments sounded very much like what I would have heard from the Bharati government. Dr. Sarkar shrugged his shoulders. “They’re not wrong about many things. That environmental collapse will happen because of industrialization is plain for everyone to see. This is why Vishapur’s campaign to ‘spread the good word’ is utter bollocks. Those who know don’t need to hear, and those who need to hear won’t listen.”I asked if this was the extent of Dr. Sarkar’s criticisms of his old government. He shook his head again. “No. That government has a fundamental problem, and it is this: their measures are not enough to save my worldline’s Earth from damnation. They can kill as many people and plant as many trees as they want, but that Earth’s environment is beyond saving. They only delay the inevitable. If the Bharati government were honest with the people, they would migrate the whole country’s population throughout the multiverse. There are thousands of other Earths where the Bharati, and even the industrio-globalists, can live.”But why didn’t the Bharati government do this? At this, Dr. Sarkar told me something he seemed to be bottling up for years. The doctor went from whispering to almost shouting now, to the point that other diners were starting to stare at us. “It’s all about power! The MES lost its way over a century ago, as soon as they took control of Bharat’s politics. They say they are merely advisors, but they work so closely with Parliament and the Deep Greens that they may as well be all one rotten body! Their environmental restoration projects only help marginally; at worst, they cause more environmental destruction than they resolve! Forests are replanted, bulldozed to make room for an endangered species habitat, and then replanted again! I’ve done the science, and they don’t make sense from an environmental perspective! They exist as make-work projects, to keep the people employed and too busy to rise up. And if it lines the pockets of the criminals in Parliament, the MES, and their contractors, all the better! For years, I worked on these projects, but I finally had enough! They asked me to do something, and, I couldn’t! I had to leave! Leave my family, my friends, my career, everything! I couldn’t stand it!”I urged Dr. Sarkar to calm down. He apologized, and I asked him to explain what made him leave. He whispered something horrific to me. “They asked me to design a virus. A ‘depopulation device,’ as they so tactlessly called it. Their plan was to infect food shipments, to use Bharat’s food aid as a disease vetctor. They intended it to target every single human on Earth, save for those with certain genes present only in South Asian populations. I told them it was too dangerous. That the virus would mutate, and kill everyone on the planet. They wanted me to be the architect of genocide.” I was taken aback. Dr. Sarkar then told me he said too much, and got ready to leave. “I’m, I’m not safe here anymore. I have to find another worldline. Start over again.” I urged him to stay and answer one more question. After some negotiation, he relented. I asked if he believed the Bharati government was continuing work on the weapon. “Many of my colleagues did not share my scruples. If they are starting to allow visitors from the Nutshell, I can only guess that they have finished their grim work. I hope you brought nothing back with you during your journey.”...