History, Starting Three Years after Bethany Anne left Earth
TSDA 01/10; TSDA 01/15; TSDA 01/17
Retold by Gerry, werewolf, who had survived into Michael's return, and helped him with the Kraven activities
“Yes, as best as I was ever able to understand, China started a virtual war, releasing code to take over stuff. Before you knew it, we were blind here in America, other nations were blind. Some country threw the first nuke, some say Pakistan, some say Israel. Then a huge EMP burst happened over the central United States, frying all of the electronics. At least, that’s the working theory. Power went out all over the world, and we dropped back into the second dark ages. Sicknesses we thought were beat came back and kicked our ass. Not so much the Weres or the vampires, obviously. But they really messed up the normal humans.In about twenty years or so, something like eighty-seven percent of the world’s population had died.
"So, Bethany Anne left Earth and they committed suicide?” “I wouldn’t think Bethany Anne had anything to do with it, Michael. She was gone three years already when it went down.” “How long ago, again?” Michael asked.“A hundred and fifty years, Michael.”
“Yes, temperatures went up all over the world. I understand you don’t want to try and live near the equator, it’s a death sentence. Hell, even here in Denver it gets way hotter than it used to. The food belt isn’t a food belt. At least, not anymore. The only way they could grow the crops they did was because they pulled water out of the ground. No power? No water. Plus, with the temperatures rising, most of civilization is going back to locations by bodies of water. Chicago and that area around the Great Lakes is pretty advanced, and New York is a big deal.”
“What are they using to fly, airplanes, jets?” “No, anti-gravitic based dirigibles.”
“So, they did get Bethany Anne’s technology?” “No, believe it or not, they’re using technology that can be traced back to World War II and the Nazis.”
“So, we have Nazi or World War II Germans who had technology and the anti-gravitic capabilities?” “Yes,” Gerry confirmed. “The technology works, but it’s very power hungry and the world doesn’t have awesome battery manufacturing capabilities built up. Plus, our nuclear capabilities are substantially burdened. If a scientist was found for many years after the fall, they would be grabbed by powerful people and bartered to others. Now, practically anyone with high technology skills needs to be careful, or they end up kidnapped.” “Knowledge really is power, isn’t it.”
The country had been able to manage to create paper, of a sort, and now printed the basics every morning.
“New York is a tough town. Harder to live, but I understand there’s a lot of money to be had. Lots of people all living in this small of an area. But, the infrastructure from before makes it easy to stay supplied with parts. The nuclear power they’ve run from a reactor up north is almost overkill. So, they expect to continue growing. Their manufacturing is good as is their ability to procure food from the sea.” New York has a wall they can raise and lower.” The buildings, in general, were in a state of neglect. Brick and concrete either broken off or cracking. More than one building had the foundation broken
