The Apocalypse.
That is what many people have come to call the bloody nuclear war that ended most life on Earth as we know it.
And with it, went everything humanity has worked for.
With the end of the world, humanity had to piece itself back together. Many countries were wiped off the face of the Earth and new ones were forged from the fires of the aftermath. I should know. My country was one of the lucky ones, though. Aside from Britain and Switzerland, of which both suffered very little damage.
The rest of the world was not so lucky.
During the course of the war, many people from China, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Russia, and even Germany fled to our borders. Even Americans came, bringing with them several ships to try and save them for historical purposes. The most people who came though were primarily Chinese, fearing the fallout from the war. And they had good reason, too, as China took the brunt of the impact from the bloody missiles. We finally had to slam the borders shut after we suffered a 300% increase in population. But we did at least allow some remaining families to come before they were closed for good.
After the war came to an end, the climate shifted drastically, altering in ways we're still trying to adapt to and understand. That included increasing the amount of rain in the bush territory, or what outsiders refer to as the Outback. Surprisingly, contrary to popular belief, while we are vulnerable to flooding and loss of territory from it, we gained a much greener and plant-rich environment.
But with it came heavier rains and more bushfires. We had no choice but to ramp up firefighting recruitment. And we had plenty of manpower to draw from.
The sheer number of people who enlisted of their own free will was what made all the difference to those who were already strained by the work. It also allowed us to have more experienced personnel for the military.
It also came with a harsh price: we now had more trees with which to build houses, but in the aftermath of the war, there wasn't much else to use. So, we had to make a choice: use the trees to build houses, or save them so they could reduce CO2 in the atmosphere.
It was a hard choice. But in the end, we decided to spare the trees, and well, we had to make do with other materials. What did help was a breakthrough by a German and Chinese scientist team at the University of Technology Sydney: a new nanotechnology that revolutionized the development of materials for homes and buildings. These "nanobuilders" as we call them are able to produce synthetic materials that act just like natural wood and tree fibers, along with 3D printing. This meant we could literally print new wood from a standard printer, without cutting down trees.
That was just the first step though.
A newer technological breakthrough came around the year 2059, forty years after the Apocalypse broke out. This technology had been in the works for years, but was lost once the war came. The technology's creators fled to our shores to prevent it from being lost, but sadly not all of them made it in one piece. Those that did died from radiation shortly after reaching shore. But they used what little time they had left to educate us on how to create the ultimate form of energy on the planet, allowing us to craft and harness the very power of the stars themselves: nuclear fusion reactors.
The first reactor came online around 2062, just three years after the prototype was first tested.
It turned out the prototype reactor produced more power than it took in, so after a few months of testing, it was declared a success, and well, more reactors were built over the course of the years, becoming more powerful and more efficient. These reactors meant we no longer needed dirty coal or oil to power our cities, and what fission reactors we still had operational were shut down.
Yet we still needed to go greener.
See, in the aftermath of the Apocalypse, most nations have reverted back to old coal and oil facilities for power. And we know of the recent change in climate brought about by such things. So, our government elected to go green after the borders were closed, not just for our future, but for the future of the world as well.
What happened next was nothing short of astonishing.
A Russian and Japanese team working with an American engineer was able to develop a fully working algae farm, which meant our cars no longer needed oil and gasoline to run. Electric cars also became rather popular after a new battery was invented. This new battery was able to hold a charge much longer than usual, much like the old Tesla batteries; we even set up our own hyper-factory to mass produce them.
Solar panels became more widespread in the bush country of the Outback, and wind farms became a favorable choice for cities on the coasts. Also due to the need for more development within the center of the nation, geothermal wells were drilled and tapped, allowing the population to grow up around these locations. (The ecosystem has also greened up there, leading to more lush plant life and more fertile soil.) Wave energy really took off further near the coastal cities, including a few of the islands within our range. (The system used is actually very efficient. Much like a car's pistons in its engine, the buoys that make up part of the pump system are tethered to the pumps themselves. The waves move these up and down, allowing high pressure water to be generated. It is then pumped on shore to drive a turbine and to create desalinated water all at once. It was initially called CETO, after the Greek goddess of waves. Some of us wished to alter the name, but the government said no, so they kept it.)
Biofuel and biomass also became key sources of fuel and power, but due to the huge growth in algae fuel, it has become something of a lesser used fuel. The algae farms are now a number one producer of fuel in the country, and perhaps the entire confederation.
But that was only one part of the issue.
Our biggest issue took place only three years after we became independent of oil and coal.
See, during the war, many nations lost satellite capabilities around the globe. Internet became a relic of the past, only recently brought back via old landlines and cell towers. The "new" Internet is not as fast as the original, and most information has been lost since the end of the war. Instead, what we did was we went one step beyond it and developed a quantum supercomputer that can store all the data we have. The computer took five years to construct and build. But once it came online, it proved to be a godsend. Our country now had a huge amount of space to store all the information we retained.
But as a backup, two more were built and a new network was established for the confederation members. Dubbed the Internet V2, it is designed to eventually take place of the current version. And with these powerful supercomputers, of which more are in development to be exported to other countries, it will be hard to wipe out this Internet.
But what does this have to do with the issue of satellite capabilities?
Plenty.
Some of those satellites lost were spy satellites. And we had five in orbit by the time the year 2065 came around. The year everything changed for us, and for the world.
The day the bloody Hunger Games were created.
Panem, or the Pan-American National Economic Movement, is the one who initiated those Games. What? You thought I was from that blasted nation? Hell no! I'm from Australia. Or rather the Australian Confederation, to be exact.
The Australian Confederation consists of Australia, my home nation, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines. We also have under our banner the former nation of New Zealand and South Korean exiles. The reason why we were formed is simple: to thwart any attempts by Chinese warlords and Korean pirates to invade our lands. The major threat though to us is the damn bloody Unified Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Well, maybe to only the Eastern Hemisphere. They don't have much in the way of naval assets, but their new ICBM program is what makes them worrisome.
It's Panem that is the biggest threat globally. Or rather, it's all of the nations who have been struggling to rebuild.
Our world is basically dying.
Loss of vegetation, resources, and the soot filling the air blocking out the sun, along with polluted water, means we only have a limited amount of time left. Although the vegetation is starting to grow back, in some places it won't return for years, or not at all due to the climate change. We are running out of time, and the only way to prevent this is a return to 21st century ideals, in the early twenty-first century, after the events of 9/11 when we all united.
That is the only way we can save our world.
The Apocalypse did the unthinkable though, and removed any sense of hope for a better future in those who wish to take only for their own gain. The one who started this was the former President of what was once the United States of America, a man whose name has become synonymous with the Day of the Apocalypse. We do not mention it though.
Now this may sound even stranger, but to put it simply, when the war broke out, the government at the time received a last contact from Great Britain, one of our former allies. They said simply that we were on our own, and that all ties had been cut off. The Governor-General back then wasn't sure what they meant. He tried to reach out, but the lines were down.
It was only two days later that they got an even stranger message. One we still can't figure out. The leading broadcasting company, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, was the one to receive the message, and it went out across the nation. It said simply "America's legacy is in your hands now." The voice was feminine, but it had a sort of air about it the leading techheads there couldn't figure out. No one could.
And it only got even weirder.
Fifty years after the Apocalypse ended, and about thirty years after the borders were closed, Chinese warlords got ahold of some nuclear missiles and launched one right at us. And yet…
Three days before the missile was launched, a new message came through over a radio signal.
Thing is, no one could figure out where the bloody thing came from. It was as if it just came out of nowhere. The message contained just five words: Target: Canberra confirmed. Evacuation imminent. People were baffled, as it came over all radio signals, both civilian and military alike. The people weren't sure why, but along with it came a sense of urgency. They packed up and fled, taking with them everything they could. But one man refused. Xavier D. T., descendent of the Destroyer, lingered until his wife urged him to flee. He did, but his car ran out of gas just miles from the city center.
Then the bomb came.
The missile struck, taking out the entire city and wiping out all life in its borders.
Sydney and Melbourne were spared the damage.
The government set up in both cities, feeling it was better to have two backup spaces rather than one central government. It nearly backfired, but after some deliberation, a temporary location was chosen to set up shop until the governmental center could be rebuilt. The radiation died down after twenty years, but the people were fearful of another attack. So the Governor-General, now called the President, elected to appease everyone at once.
Progressives wanted a new city built, environmentalists wanted to keep the city in ruins, and he military wanted to deflect a radioactive missile thrown our way. The Meldney Complex was the solution. Devised and built like a very large satellite dish on six legs, the former territory took a direct hit from a missile a second time, but this time the blast wave and subsequent radiation were deflected skyward and out over a wider range, meaning less radiation was absorbed by the people.
To this day, no one knows who or what sent that message.
We never found Xavier's body until sometime after the complex was finished. His car was rusting, and the body we ID'd through the teeth. It was a surprise to see, but at the same time, it gave hope to us.
And then I was born.
My life up to this point has been a mess of fighting, politics, and dealing with warlords from across the pond, as the old Brits would say, in North Korea. But I can say it's been well worth it, as we've begun to restore old ideals long since forgotten.
My name is Joseph "Seph" Matthews, and this is the Future's Rebirth.