Thursday November 27th was thanksgiving. According to the smart-phone it was 2036, but most of the Arks were calling it year one, the year of impact. The Arks were allowing people to contact their loved ones in different Arks today. Eve got to talk to Hope today. She tried to look her best. Adam gave her a haircut, she put on the nicest dress she could fing. This thanksgiving wouldn't involve a grand feast, most people still had to work their usual shift. But they would also get to talk to their brothers and sisters, their comrades from the war. Seeing Hope, her baby, looking happy and healthy. For Eve today, it was enough. The people in the Arks had a saying for special occassions, "Next year in the sun." Adam and Eve joined this toast.
During the thanksgiving festivities Eve heard the story of the defiant few. During the war, when Mason ordered the plague unleashed, some refused. There were even a few doctors on both sides who shared intel on containing the plague, working on a cure. Loyalist and collectivist soldiers maintained this illegal back-channel to save innocent lives. Those within the back-channel became known as the "Defiant few." With loyalists and collectivists in the same Arks this legend became a basis for the new communities within the Arks. Near the end of thanksgiving Eve watched a woman telling children a story. It seemed to be a spiritual version of their experiences.
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"The old world was an abundance of beauty and luxury. But mankind was wicked. They let people starve while they gorged. Although many worshipped the one true god they fought and killed each other over meaningless differences. So God vowed to destroy this sinful world with an asteroid that would block out the very sun and bring much snow upon this world. But God did not want to kill everyone, so he let them know more than three years before it came. Mankind built Arks, like this one. Many sacrificed their own lives to save humanity. This is why we live in these Arks. In one hundred years we will emerge. Many of us will have passed away before then. But our descendants will live in the sun. They will reap the benefit of so much sacrifice. This will be the second chance from God. We pray that they will make the most of their opportunity. May war. greed, pestilence, famine, prejudice, and hatred be long gone before that day.