Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing! They're much appreciated. Keep 'em coming!
Disclaimer:Once again, I still don't own anything you'll recognize from the Giver. Lois Lowry still has those rights.
When I woke up the next morning, Brooke had started to put her plan into effect; having more or less been elected Chief Elder. She was leading some others in clearing out trees for building. So this was how we would manage; by becoming the Amish.
I stretched out and walked over to the fire, which was now a medium sized blaze.
"It's like on those reality shows," Kendra laughed nervously. "Fire represents your life. As long as you have fire, you can cook game and keep yourself warm. Sausage?" She held out a plate of sausages she had bought just before she had come here to escape the alphas. I gratefully obliged.
"You won't have to worry about keeping warm when I introduce Climate Control." A male named Roy had somehow sneaked up on us and also helped himself to a sausage.
"Climate Control?" Kendra asked. "How are you going to do that?"
"Actually it's quite simple. You have a master's in chemistry, right Kendra? Well, if my calculations are accurate, then all you have to do is trap some charges in a jar of water the next time there's a storm and mix it with, oh, about a teaspoon of terraformed acid, and a quarter gram of oxmytosis. Then we let the mixture evaporate and voila, the climate will always be controlled!"
While Kendra seemed awfully impressed by this, I was rather annoyed. What were they talking about?
"Huh?" I asked.
"You've never heard of Climate Control? Well, you wouldn't have with your, er, background," Roy said in an anxious voice. He must have just recognized me when I spoke. It was well known that I had little use for science and had led many rallies in Washington to cut budget money from scientific study and add it on to the arts. Hearing about those must have been infuriating for a science-oriented guy like Roy. Of course this had all been before the War. Everything had been before the War.
"Well anyway, Climate Control is when you scientifically alter the climate in a specific area, like for instance, this one." Roy seemed nervous discussing science in front of me.
"You release a certain mixture into the air and the climate will regulate itself for eternity according to the way you create the mixture. The idea's actually not new at all. Albert Einstein actually came up with the theory a very long time ago. Recently however, scientists have discovered that it was possible and started experimenting with different formulas. Brooke asked me to introduce it here so that there would be no heat, humidity, cold, rain, sun, snow, clouds, sleet, hail, etc., etc."
"Without any of those, the mailmen will have to change their slogan."
"That's not all, Alan. I hear that Brooke plans to reshape the landscape as well. Take away hills that could potentially create problems in the transportation of goods," Roy continued, still looking a little uneasy.
"Big deal. As long as she doesn't recruit me to do any of this work, physical or scientific, I'll be happy," I replied. Kendra and Roy turned away. They had no idea that I was lying through my teeth.