Chapter 425
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During their conversations Buck told Adam and Eve about the Ark's fears. Several generations who would never see the sunlight. They wouldn't grow as much as they needed to. When they finally emerged in a century, humans would be much shorter. It would take some re-adapting for humanity to get used to sunlight again. Also, if the snow's melters mal-functioned it might require some very strict recycling of water. There was a running joke in the Arks about how your great-grandchildren would be drinking your piss. That might be true, disgusting but neccessary. The biggest fear was how the Arks were very sterile environments. People might not get sick for a hundred years. This also meant people wouldn't develop anti-bodies. They might be un-prepared for new diseases that developed outside. Eve feared that when humanity re-emerged, many would die in the first few weeks.
One Saturday night Adam and Eve were watching an old "Twilight Zone" episode. The plot involved an astronaut who crash-landed on another planet. He tries to contact his own planet, but they're on the eve of destruction. He finds a woman, also a refugee from a dead planet. At the end of the episode the audience learns that these two are named Adam and Eve. As they watched this episode, Adam and Eve joked that it was about them. Or perhaps they actually were the original Adam and Eve. After this world endedm and the Arks failed, they'd be the last two humans left alive. The they'd start the entire cycle all over again. Adam and Eve laughed at this for a moment. Then they started to wonder if it could actually be true. The thought of being responsible for the entire human race really frightened them.
One day, in late October, Adam and Eve were allowed to observe a trial in an Ark. A man was accussed of rape. This brought back memories for Eve, being on a jury in Pennsylvania, and her own experiences with that sector guard. In this case, there was no jury, only a judge. The defendant wasn't even allowed to plead guilty or not guilty. His guilt had already been established. Even as a rape survivor, this swift justice bothered Eve. But she soon learned why this was so quick. The Arks were always monitored by security cameras. Thus the man's guilt was determined. This part could be good or bad. Maybe innocnet people wouldn't be accussed, but the state could know every detail of the individual's life. Those in charge of the cameras had to take an oath, swearing not to abuse the system. Hopefully, that would be enforced. At any rate this "Trial" was merely a sentancing phase. The defendant pled for his life, tried to say he deserved prison, but the judge sentanced him to death.
It was now October 31st. Halloween, according to the old calendars. Adam and Eve were in the attic, watching the last of the window become completely covered in snow. This home would become a sterile environment, they had healthy food with a limited supply of twinkies. They had no alcohol, and Eve had to quit smoking with no tobacco. She would likely always crave heroin, but that was impossible to get now. Adam and Eve would likely live long lives in this shelter. But, with the last piece of window covered, it seemed they would never again set foot outside.