Skip to main content

Banished...To Earth

This is the first in a series of stories, set in the game world of Banished.

The planets are going to war. The talks on Jupiter had broken down less than 24 hours ago and already war efforts were in full swing, not just on Mars but on Venus, Ganymede and even peaceful Europa. 

And all for what? Everyone said it would be over quickly - they always say it but nobody believes it - and in the end the world will have an answer to the age old question: dogs vs cats. Hah! As if wars have ever solved anything. Mankind loves war, if history is any indication and there is little I can do to stop it. 



But I tried, oh how I tried! I debated, cajoled, argued and tried to reason with so many committees I've lost count...to no avail. Why do we have to choose one or the other I asked. Because, they said. Just because. When my grandmother once told me that Earthmen used to fight over who had the better imaginary friend, I had laughed. Who would risk their lives for such a silly reason? Yet here I am, unable to prevent a war for precisely such a silly reason.

The Planetary Council gave me an ultimatum: join the war effort or risk banishment. At least I was allowed to pick the place. I had no trouble choosing Earth, deserted though it was. Deserted that is, except for the Towers. A few scientists still lived on Earth but no one ventured into the wilderness that surrounds them. Machines were not allowed outside the Towers so why even bother?

So now we are on our way. Speeding towards Earth, an unlikely bunch of eight adults and five children. Determined to avoid war and start over. Many laughed at us, how could we survive in the wilderness without machines, technology or science? But I held my head high. After all, humans had done it once before. History could always be repeated...

- Acelyn

Excerpt from the diary of Acelyn, banished in the year 3645 UT to Earth. The Earth colony was the only human group to survive the nuclear holocaust of 3700 UT.


Read Part II.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why Don’t We Raise Our Sons like We Do Our Daughters?

This post originally appeard in Women's Web: Why Don’t We Raise Our Sons like We Do Our Daughters? One of the hot button topics right now in Indian media is the safety of women – or rather how our country doesn't really care about half its population. From rape, sexual assault, harassment (in streets, public transport, nearly every public place) to violence perpetrated on women, Indians are finally getting around to discussing taboo topics. One refrain that caught my eye throughout these debates – both online and off – is the fact that the reaction of the majority of Indians is the same: girls should stay at home, not go out after dark, dress appropriately and so on if they want to stay safe. No one seems to bat an eyelid when laying down these precautions for women. Except that the reality is women would be far safer if all the men simply DID NOT RAPE or HARASS any person that looks remotely female. No one has to stay at home and become a hermit! That got me th

Education and Learning

Fourteen years of school. Three - four years of undergraduate college. Two years for a graduate degree. Start working or making babies. Sound familiar? It should, it’s what the majority of lives in this country look like. Ten years ago, I was headed down the same street. Engineering, MBA and then on to a fat pay check, like countless other teenagers, products of a system seemingly obsessed with stability and an extreme aversion to risk and failure. While I did end up getting 2 degrees and the pay check (with a stable, GOI company no less!) I also realized I hated it. Going to work from 9 to 7, doing the same endless, mind numbing, repetitive tasks, sitting in the same chair for ten odd years before getting promoted and dodging responsibility in order to retire with a pension suddenly seemed a lot less attractive when I was looking at it from the wrong end of 35 years! And history shall say I quit. But now what? I did what any sane person without a job and all the time in the w

Arranged Versus Love Marriage

This post originally appeared in Women's Web:  Arranged Versus Love Marriage: Here's Why Things Are Changing In 21st-century India, change is so rapid that we barely have time to get used to something before some new trend is on the horizon. And I'm not just talking about technology here. Whether it is human behavior, relationships, societal or cultural norms, Indian society – along with the rest of the world – today is hardly recognizable to my parents or their parents. It's not a surprise that the institution of marriage and the process of finding a life partner is also undergoing a metamorphosis. Perhaps this is one of the areas where the gap between generations is the most obvious. Almost every day, there is a TV show or media report or blog post talking about arranged vs. love marriages. So I figured I would present my take on it as well! Whenever anyone talks about arranged versus love marriages - I don't know why they are always portrayed as opposing