Chapter 7: The Legacy of One Individual

Who is Gabatrix...?

Is he a man, and is he a hero?

What is the legacy that such a man could create for the human race?

The only way that we can answer this question is to learn about your past.

When we sit down and observe the history of humanity in the last two hundred years, you end up learning about the amazing accomplishments that we, the ones that call ourselves “Homo sapiens,” have conquered. We were on the brink of extinction, yet we remain alive because of the sacrifices of our past descendants.

You look upon a projection of Earth. This is the home of where humanity would come from. Earth is that blue and green planet with white clouds that hover in space. That beautiful glowing star in the distance is the sun we call Sol. Not far from it is the moon that we call Luna. It happily orbits the Earth, and Earth happily orbits Sol. In this remote little star system, life would develop that would lead to the human race.

Life was abundant during the time that it prospered. More wildlife existed on it than on the other planets we had explored. It was apparent why humanity would develop in this world. It was located in the best area. It was a planet that was isolated from numerous star systems that posed a significant danger to Earth. The nearest star that, we called Proxima Centauri was located four light-years away. We were safe from supernovas, pulsars, black holes, or any type of natural phenomena that could prevent life from developing in this world. The human race would evolve from a long line of animals and wildlife. Our recent history has been recorded as long as 10,000 years and beyond.

It would not be until the last 500 years that humanity would see great strides in its future. The inventions, such as the steam engine, would propel the human race to develop machines that could push them great distances. It would advance the human race to reach a staggeringly high population density. No longer were we in the thousands or millions, but that of billions.

Of course ... there was a price for such progression. The universe is a system designed to experiment in itself. It is aware of its own existence, but sometimes it doesn’t know what to do. We are made from stardust. Countless stars would explode and form into balls of matter. It creates the elements that support life. We have Earth to thank for our existence. Much like the universe, we are designed to operate on a system of gathering. We are a social people. We depend on each other to survive because life is harsh in this world. In the end, only by banding together do we survive. We learn that being close brings great pleasure and leads to the success of the group as a whole.

The stars operate in a similar role. Hydrogen gathers together, and a star is born in countless years. Light is emitted as if the hydrogen enjoys being together. It can point to the universe and tell everyone that it exists. The bigger the star gets, the brighter and more immense that it becomes to the rest of the objects of the universe. The biggest stars are the ones that gather the most attention.

But ... they are the first to fall...

The most massive stars are the bleakest life spans. So much hydrogen and mass ... it consumes its own material so hard and so quickly that it can’t handle itself. They are the first to collapse under their own weight. The one that glorified itself to the other stars explodes in a supernova. The smaller stars simply live on and laugh at the giant that fell to the ground. We operate on a similar idea and concept. The human race worked as nations of strength and dominance. Ideas, religion, and evolution become all mixed to create humanity. The most prominent countries, the biggest societies, and the most significant resources could dominate the other cultures. We operated on a similar idea.

Greed is eternal in human society. Without greed, we personally wouldn’t have survived in such a harsh world. It doesn’t have to be greed from a personal point of view but greed as a society or group. Nations can have more greed than other nations. Almost like the stars, we want more hydrogen. The more we gather, the brighter we become. The human race knew that more was better. That was what could be defined in the last 500 years and even today. It was built in human nature, and we had to carry it out. The results would be staggering...

It could be described that humanity was on a collision course with itself. “More was better” was turning into a system that would implode. By the early 21st century (Over three hundred years ago), the population had reached 7 billion individuals. Technology was advancing, but it could not beat out the “More was better” idea. Greed was running the human race, even in the best of moral individuals. There was a disregard for the environment. The fragile Earth was designed to operate under a system that couldn’t handle rapid changes, such as a vastly growing human population. Resources were either there or weren’t there for the individuals to have. Seven billion was a lot. Many mouths to feed ... water, fuel, homes, ... but could Earth handle it?

The end result was that humanity couldn’t operate this way forever. Within less than twenty years, the population reached 8 billion. Waste became an issue. The technology offered solutions, but it wasn’t enough. Humanity was progressing faster than its basic instincts told it what to do. More was better, and it reflected the idea that we wanted to live in that system. Earth’s resources were being pushed to the limit. Greedy nations of Earth all fought to have the most resources. Even with diseases, war, and natural disasters slowing down human population growth, the world was being altered. Nature was seeing such vast changes that it couldn’t handle it.

At least the planet didn’t really seem to care, though. Humanity was living on Earth in a flickering time span. The planet would live as long as the sun would. Four billion years, the sun would become a red giant and simply eat Earth like a fresh meal. The typical human would live for as long as they could, but carelessness leads to disaster, especially when done as a group. When the group does it as a whole, it multiplies the issue more. If the entire planet’s population does the same thing, then the results are more than obvious.

Humanity does have its hopes. We watch as Earth spins. When we look into the darkness of night, we see the glowing lights generated from electricity. Progress is being made. Humanity knew that one day, Earth wouldn’t be habitable. There was only one inevitable conclusion that human society had as a goal. The old rules of empires long ago were “Expand or Die.” We needed to listen to this rule and begin finding other places to live. When we look at Earth spinning, you will note the moon that we call “Luna.” It was our first stepping stone to leaving our planet. It wasn’t easy, and the resources to reach it were extensive. It was the price of a person’s weight in gold to send a person from one place to another. The human body evolved to live on Earth. To leave it would warrant certain death. This made the idea of leaving Earth, a very hard choice to live under. Most of the population simply choose to live their natural lives under the rules of society, economics, and governments. Space was out there, but ... why bother? If it kills you, then you have no point going out there to begin with.

We watch as the population of Earth reaches 9 billion individuals. Waste continues to become an issue. Carbon dioxide and other gases that create the greenhouse effect are rising. Technology, greed, scarce resources, and disregard for the environment are a constant issue. We watch Earth as we switch over to thermal imaging. We observe as the poles, the place where there is much ice frozen, gather heat. People see that the temperatures reach 22 degrees Celsius in the coldest location on Earth. The machines, people’s habits, and altering the environment had warranted its toll.

It wasn’t as if the people didn’t care, far from it. For every person that did care, ten others didn’t. Individuals made a public outcry. Failure to acknowledge these changes would result in a severe alteration in the environment. Nature has its way of handling such rapid changes. Humanity would only be along for the ride. The question is, how many of us will be left when nature finishes its changes?

We watch as the population reaches 10 billion. Some changes are made in society, but greed is a powerful thing. The reality was that there were too few changes and that it was utterly too late. We watch as the polar ice caps melt. The few individuals that cried out were ignored, and the results were as it was shown. We switch away from the thermal imaging and watch as the water levels rise.

By the 22nd century (Two hundred and fifty years ago), you now see a changed Earth. Remember those lights from the dark side of the planet? There are fewer far in some areas and more concentrated in other areas. The reason why is apparent: the human population had to relocate. This place that you see is what was called “North America,” areas such as “Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana” are all gone, along with all the coastal regions and cities. The rising sea levels had eaten away suitable land to live.

It doesn’t end just there. We turn the Earth so you can see the bright side. This is Europe, another known location on the planet. Many of the coastal cities are gone. Powerful nations such as Russia have most of the largest cities all swallowed up by the waters of Earth. Asia is another place. Powerful countries such as China have had to move their populations to higher ground. Other island nations had to move their communities away from their homes entirely. Places like Africa, seen below Europe, are still mostly intact. It would have to become a new home to many lost nations and societies. Australia and South America would also have to face the challenges of moving their populations over some time.

It didn’t happen overnight. The rising waters were slow, and it allowed more than enough time for people to evacuate. This wasn’t the only problem that humanity had to face. Temperatures were getting hotter. Water was getting scarce in some areas, causing droughts. The weather was being altered, and it had its effects on the human population.

What was the reaction? Some cared, and some didn’t care. Some of humanity wanted to go into space to fulfill their dreams of the shows they watched. By the 22nd century, we see the lights from Luna. It had people from Earth living on it. They accomplished the unthinkable. Death was always a possibility, but they had done it. Living off Earth was possible, even if it was only to the slightest. On Earth, people continued to cry out that nature was being altered too much. Past homes were swallowed up by the oceans. The results on how to fix it were too little and too late. Waste continued to become an issue. More and more factories were spilling out toxic fumes and waste into the atmosphere. People’s habits do not change, and seemingly, there isn’t enough to warrant such alterations. Why bother? I can live a full life. How about you?

The reality by the 22nd century was appalling by 20th-century standards. The air quality was poor. Notice that huge tint of gray in the atmosphere on Earth? That is the pollution of humanity’s machines. Notice the ocean turning a darker blue? That is the waste dumped into the waters. It is said that the human population reached 11 billion. Some say it was 12 billion, and others even claimed it was 15 billion. The truth was simple ... those same resources were needed to care for the population. The technology was continuing to improve, but it could not fix the environment. Humanity was starting to reach a death spiral. Nature would continue to throw new problems toward the growing human population, and it would end up having to try to handle these issues. The air quality was so poor that living on the surface lowered people’s life expectancy by twenty years. Masks were common. Walking on the surface and living in the mountains was becoming a regular thing.

Why is Gabatrix important? It is too early to say. The only way to answer this is to continue this route. We must watch as the worst is yet to come.

What is that orange spot that you see near the poles? Remember all that ice? It is long gone. This was spotted as far back as two hundred and twenty years ago. The orange is expanding. You are watching as months go by. Public outcry is in a panic. What is that orange material? It is growing and expanding. New spots are appearing throughout the Earth. They are concentrated in areas where there are vast amounts of dumped plastic and waste. Oil pollution has created pockets of black and brown. Much of the marine wildlife was already wiped out and extinct, but this sickening orange would continue to grow.

It would all be identified under a name that everyone would call “The Orange Muck.” It was a bacterium known as 23-9. It operated similarly to other bacteria known as “Red Tide,” which consumes oil pollution and turns it red as a result. The toxic poison that it creates would wipe out fish and other marine wildlife. Red Tide had already been growing more and more by this time span. It was part of the reason why you see the oceans a different color. Bacteria 23-9 were believed to have been released when the polar ice caps melted. Frozen in the ice, it was released back to the living world to find a food that it had an abundance of. It fed off of pollution, and it had an entire world of nourishment. It began to grow in the oil clouds and waste rapidly. The bacteria were everywhere, and it couldn’t be stopped. All efforts to clean the waters and oceans were gone. We watch as Earth gets more and more dots of orange coloration. It isn’t entirely orange, of course. The bacteria seem to get along with Red Tide just as well. The muck was thick. You could hold it in your gloved hand and watch the thick paste fall to the ground.

It would get only worse. It couldn’t be stopped, and it was in the water table. The bacteria produced a toxin so horrific that it is believed that 70% of Earth’s species died in the following years. It was difficult to purify the waters, and filters would be gunked with the orange residue. It is believed that within five years, over two billion people died from drinking the contaminated water. Food was becoming hard to find, and governments were teetering on collapse.

But ... it does not end there. We watch as more is yet to come. We watch as near North America, there is a massive eruption. This location was called “Yellowstone National Park.” It is the location of a supervolcano. It was believed that the eruption would be so big that it could block out the sun for years. The timing of it was terrible. The air quality was already at its worst. Now, vast amounts of ash and sulfur are dumped into the atmosphere. Earth is used to these things, but can humanity handle it?

By 2140, we see Earth as a completely different place. Two hundred years was all that was needed to reduce it to this new state. All that orange and red in the oceans and all that gray in the atmosphere, how can humanity handle it? The answer was that they couldn’t. It was said that the population fell to five to six billion individuals. They were all that was left after the arrival of the Orange Muck. In the next ten years, it could be one billion, and then after that ... in a hundred years, the human population could be close to extinction. How does humanity respond to it?

There was no perfect answer. Some said that it was best to move to Luna and try living there. While the idea would be laughed at by the 20th century and early 21st century, the fact was technology would be humanity’s saving grace. It was way cheaper to send a person from Earth to Luna than it ever was. The world government was faced with a terrible choice. 90% of Earth’s wildlife was gone. It was a shell of its former glory. Some argued that the Earth would naturally recover if it were left alone. A few thousand years and whatever that survived would bounce back. The idea was considered crazy but one that would ultimately succeed. How do you save what’s left of a human population from the inevitable? Do you stay and try to change it, or do you find a new home to live in? In 2140, it was decided to announce the most shocking word ever to be called out...

“Evacuate” ... Earth was lost, and it was up to everyone to work together to survive. Failure to do so would only result in the extinction of the human race in the world that gave them life.

But where do you go? Luna has a colony, but it can’t handle the influx. Venus, the neighboring planet, was considered for a time. A settlement of floating gas balloon cities could be built, but it could not handle the massive number of people on this scale. The final decision was made ... Mars.

You now look upon Luna. Here, you see the colony expand in size. Spaceships are being built on Earth and Luna. Some are being developed in pieces to be assembled together in orbit. The spacecraft are big and small. Super Direct Fusion Drives allow the trips that initially took nine to eleven months to be reduced to less than a month. Mars was within grasp, and technology would allow the neighboring dead planet to be acceptable to human life.

It is logical to argue against this. Mars is a world where there is little atmosphere. Radiation pummels its surface, and there is no oxygen. Water seemed to be scarce, and the human body was not able to adjust to that sort of living. To this day, some historians argue that the abandonment of Earth was unnecessary. The reality was that something had to be done. Overall, human morale was at its lowest, and it was argued that working together towards a common goal was necessary to keep everyone in line. The evacuation of Earth was one that was optional. You could stay and watch as the other ships are prepared to launch. No one was forcing you to leave. It is believed that 400 million decided to stay on Earth. The rest of the five billion had had enough. The need to accomplish a common goal was necessary. Companies closed up and funded their resources in building the ships needed. Countless ships were constructed and launched.

It would be known as the “Earth Exodus to Mars.” It is the most massive evacuation and movement to ever occur in the history of humanity. It started as far back as 2140, but the actual transfer of people wouldn’t be until 2145 or later. The colonies of Mars were created using the vast canyons that the empty dead planet had.

We no longer look at Earth. We say goodbye to it as we start to leave the planet. Luna is still there, hovering over Earth. Humanity has made its choices. They managed to accomplish something that could be considered a miracle by many. Some thought it to be downright impossible. It was defying its fate by working together. Space warships that were built by the changed nations were instead helping each other out. Convoys of spaceships were constructed.

We focus on the neighboring planet of Mars. This small, red, barren world supposedly had life in it. Some theories believe that, somehow, during the lifetime of the planet, it would no longer generate a magnetosphere. Whatever atmosphere was there would be blown away from the sun. Instead, it is a place where it has no oxygen and consists of radiation and sand. Deep tunnels were built into the canyon walls, humidifiers that could be harvested from the air itself, and eventually, food domes were created. Spaceships would land to be salvaged and converted into the building materials and tools needed to develop the vast colony of Mars. This did not happen overnight. We are talking about the population movement of billions. The great Exodus would last for over seventy years. It was not easy. It is believed that over 300 million lives would be lost. This was not due to the movement but due to the issues from Earth. The time it took to get everyone off and moved would result in those deaths. Mars wasn’t faring that much better either, but the results were being made.

Do you see those lights that are appearing on Mars? Those are the canyon cities. One by one, a ship would appear. It would land and be stripped down to parts. Whatever livestock that didn’t die before or during the transit would be collected into domed homes or turned into underground basins to be harvested. Not many other animals survived, and it is believed that millions of species, from billions to trillions, will never be seen again. Humanity was a priority when it came to the transit.

The great Exodus would officially come to an end by 2240, but most of the population had been moved at least around by 2195. An additional forty-five years were needed with transiting ships to ensure that other items, supplies, salvageable livestock, materials, and so on could be taken. When 2240 hit, any last humans were given a final choice, and that was to step on the ship and head to Mars or face the possibility that it may never happen again. By then, the population of Earth was just 300 million. Some either died or decided to jump on the last transports to go to Mars. The Martians had one final wish to do before the previous ship departed Earth. A monument was placed, and it was the size of a small building. The large black obelisk had a plaque put in place. The ship leaves as we read the words written on the plate. It says, “You were our birthplace, you gave us warmth, you gave us life, and we failed you. Let this be our testament that any new home we find, we will treat it better than we did to you. This monument is a dedication to those who died before, during, and after leaving this once-great home. Signed, the former people of Earth.”

The adjustment was not easy. A United Martian Government would be created of the former nations of Earth. Surprisingly, though, the changes did not result in the trouble that was expected from it. Mars was a new home now. Further research was put into ways of turning the planet into a habitable world. It was possible, and technology allowed it, but the process would be slow. Massive dust storms battered Mars regularly. The canyon cities were the only natural defense against these events. Humanity was used to this sort of living anyway. Living underground and tunneling to make homes was a tried and true method. Were the humans simply trading one measly existence for another? That is a topic historians will always have to argue. The reality, though, is that the deaths were declining. Water harvested from the humidifiers was cleaner than the water on Earth. At least the Orange Muck didn’t follow the great Exodus, and it had nothing to feed off on Mars anyway.

But ... something unusual happened. We continue to look upon Mars’s canyon cities and humanity’s new habitat. It will change, though, with a single moment in time. In 2233 (one hundred and fifteen years ago), a child in her spacesuit would be with her father. They had made a trip to one of the water collection stations near the equator. While in transit, the rover would pull over, and the father would take a rest to observe the scene. His daughter, using her small spacesuit, would wander off from the rover. She thought she had seen something in the sand. It had been a recent dust storm, and things would get moved around, but what the child found was amazing. Her father would track her down and see what she was playing with. The object was buried in the sand. She tried to move it, but it was too heavy. The father was curious and called in support to check out what they discovered. What had happened would set the next course of events for human history forever.

The debris was artificial in nature. It was not human-made and was not naturally occurring. The family that found it was named Equatis, and the debris would be named after them. It wasn’t just artificial. It was significant in size. Teams were sent to dig out the wreckage and found it was not just a single piece, but something created long ago. Dated over a million years old, the Equatis Wreck is one of the defining moments on Mars. It was proof that alien life existed. Scattered over two kilometers, the debris was left with wonder and questions about life out in the universe. It remained as one of the most incredible discoveries ever made on Mars.