Letters of horror and of hope.

New visitors to the chronicles from the future may first wish to visit the past, by reading the earlier hologramletters. (see the older listings on the right, go to the bottom and click the link to the earlier hologramletters)

NOTE The following is an adaptation from the soon to be released book ‘Letters From 2030’. To register interest on its release, or to order a copy email Bob Williamson via this link.

January 4th 2030

The solitude he had chosen today, may, he thought one day come to an end. No longer the young environmental activist of earlier years, he often felt tired. He laboured to maintain the basic infrastructure of the place he now called home.
The sustainable energy supply from his solar system and the water he relied on to give him life. He often thought of abandoning his security here for other northern regions. Maybe one day he would see a reason to do so.

The time of day had now come for him to venture out; even if only within his virtual reality view of the shattered world. Would there be word today to raise his hopes. Would he receive a hologramletter?

He turned on the main monitor. The stored photovoltaic power built slowly. His hopes were high. As full power supply was reached, his spirits soared. The transmission materialised – It was Anthony!

Greetings Bob:
January 4, 2030.

It is amazing to have seen your message. What has it been, just over ten years since we have spoken, a few months before the Big Thunder. I still see the coverage of it in my nightmares, all that ice cascading into the sea. We tried to warn them, remember, way back in 09. I told you my crazy little theory then that someday an earthquake would cause the increasingly brittle ice of Greenland to crack up and run into the sea.

I am in Alaska now; actually, holding up with four scientists in parts of the HAARP compound. This place is amazing. They had to have alternative uses in mind when they constructed it. It is our hope that someday a computer genius will happen along, in order to break some of the security codes. I would love to read all the classified information in the system here. It is a rather long story, how I got here. I will give you the nuts and bolts of it now. Right after the Big Thunder, my son and five of his buddies came to me seeking leadership. They had heard me more than once expanding upon the prospect of this event, when we were all camping and fishing on the islands of the Mississippi. I miss those quiet times late at night, when the only real threat was West Nile from mosquitoes. It seems almost surreal now. My son and his buddies are ex-special forces, which perhaps, is why I am still alive today.

We tried the eco-village lifestyle a couple of times over the years. Marauders came in the first time, stealing and wrecking everything when we were on a fishing expedition. The second time, I and the men were on a recon mission securing medical supplies from an abandoned military installation. We had several places for the women and children to hide in, had great alarm systems to alert them when marauders came around. They were caught out in the woods picking berries beyond the perimeter. I will spare you the details of what we found. It was all I could do to keep the group together after that. They were thirsting for blood revenge.

For years we travelled north, sort of a vigilantly anti-marauder squad. I kept the group together by allowing them to attack only when we caught the marauders plundering and attacking others. The J-team, my boys squad, wanted to wipe out camps along the way. It would’ve been a suicide mission. They are good, but not that good. Long story short, on a recon mission near Juneau we ran across 16 a-holes pinning down and shooting at four women held up in an old barracks. It didn’t take long for the squad to neutralize the situation. We found four women scientists who were conducting a recon search for supplies. Rosa is their leader she was the one who mentioned your message. It seems she was a freshman in college when she read your book. You made an impact Bob. She became a paleoclimatologist. I didn’t tell her we once worked together.

Our little group has expanded from 11 to 67. There is so much to tell you about. However, I hear an argument brewing as the hunting party is returning. About half the group are strict vegans, I am not in that number. My boy, Rosa, and I make up the ruling consul. If these people only knew, I make it up as I go along; it is very lonely at times. For the past seven years I have not run across anyone older than 44. We, my friend, are relics – you at 77 and me at 67.

I have to run, but let me pass this on first. They, the science squad, have come to a conclusion about Big Thunder. It is now their scientific consensus that after the ice cascaded into the ocean Greenland’s land mass shifted upwards. The result was extensive methane releases, hence no ice age, unleashing the onslaught of disasters that brought civilization to its knees.

It is very heart warming to know there is someone out there who can recall the good times. I will write later. Right now I have to play Kissinger.

Anthony

P.S. Before I run, Bob, there are valleys here that look like the Garden of Eden. We have a botanist in the group, Viki. She has found new plants species. I never mentioned to you that I suspected rapid climate change caused evolution to make leaps and jumps. Through all the devastation we have witnessed, it is amazing to see new life springing forth upon the earth. Sadly, we will never live to see what the next dominant species of the planet will be.


The tears streamed down his face as he replayed the message.

Stopping to see each of the images as Anthony described them.
Each of the touch screens were a virtual tour of the memories and current images, that Anthony’s hologramletter narrated. The views gave horror, sadness and many vivid emotions. The closing images of the valleys; of the Garden of Eden that Anthony could see from his compound, gave Bob hope in Anthony’s final message. Some had survived and the planet was evolving slowly. He replayed the message once more. Tomorrow when power supply permitted he would reply.

With some remnants of sadness still hanging over him, he reached forward to turn off the monitor.

He paused; the monitor’s incoming transmission light flickered.

His spirits again soared, it was Suzanne!

Greetings Bob,

I hope that this communication will find you well. Since my finding you, I've been spending time to transcribe my audio recordings from the years so that not only can I look back at all that I have experienced, but also to put it into some semblance of what it has been like to share with you and others. I've kept logs of my thoughts and experiences, photos and notes on this micro, knowing that maybe the day would come that I could share this with someone.

The occasional giggle escapes me because sometimes I have to laugh when I indulge in using this computer -- it was the last item I purchased before tendered currency became obsolete. I can even remember the ad, "The last computer you'll ever need, with infinite power and infinite speed." Catchy little slogan as it was -- I have to say they were right, it hasn't faltered even once since I bought so long ago. Sometimes too, I laugh when I remember finding you on twitter. I'll save the reminiscent thoughts for another time...

I've been able to salvage enough supplies to sustain me now for I think at least a few months, knowing of course that everything must be conserved as long as possible, but now is the time to also find a way to create a permanent living environment, my wandering days have taken their toll. I have a difficult time reminding myself at times that I'm not 30 or 40 years old anymore. Where did the years go? Oh wait I remember, we were trying to survive our own self-destruction... that too I'll save for later, at least for this communiqué, the focus on this message must be on the present.

I want to share with you what I am facing and existing in, before what I've been through, so this brief transmission will give you a bit of a tour of my explorations here since I arrived. As you can see in these images, this complex is quite massive, probably one of the city's older complexes, the skywalks connecting at different levels were clearly not in the original plans of these buildings, and it hasn't had the solar retrofits on any of the buildings, or at least none yet that I've explored.

Two days after my transmission to you I stumbled onto a remarkable discovery ~ I've been digging and searching through basements and lower levels but when I came into this building, I was drawn to the upper floors. Would you look at all this!!! Micro cells, old alkaline batteries, and solar panels still encased in their original boxes. I just couldn't contain my excitement on this find and decided that I had to contact you as soon as possible with it!

I'm not sure how I will be able to put this all together, but I know that I will find a way to use these sources. Any advice in implementing these items into my living conditions would be greatly appreciated. I hadn't done the installation work on what I had lived with before, so my experience in getting it all operational is almost non-existent.

I'm hoping that tomorrow the haze clears enough for me to be able to begin to retrieve much of what I found, but for now I must be patient and content with the fact that I am here, I have survived, and God willing, I will be able to share more of what life has been, is, and will be again soon.

Ever in friendship,
Suzanne

As he finished her letter the supply gauge displayed ZERO amps remaining.

He would need to wait to see through her eyes and revisit her memories, until later.

He had this to look forward to, and much to occupy his thoughts, until then.