In the year 2097, the world was a different place. The skies, once a canvas of blue and white, had turned a sickly greening hue. The air, once pure and life-filling, had become a silent killer, people lived in constant fear, confined within the walls of their homes, their cities, their protective domes. Outside, the air is poisonous.
The Great Pollution catastrophe of 2050 had marked the beginning of the end. Injustice greed and reckless consumption has pushed the planet to its breaking point, chemicals toxins, and pollutants had saturated the atmosphere, creating a lethal cocktail that made breathing without a filter was impossible, Nature retaliated with vengeance; acid rain, scorched the earth, crops failed, and water sources turned toxic.
Cities had adapted, constructing massive, homely sealed domes to shield their inhabitable from the toxic air. Inside these domes, life went on in a semblance of normality.
People worked, children played, and society persevered, through the shadow of the poison air masks became a ubiquitous part of life, a constant reminder of the world that had been lost.
In one such city, known to many lived a young woman named Elara. She had never known the feeling of the breeze on her face or the scent of the flowers in the open air. Her entire life had been spent within the confined dome, breathing in the artificial air. Painting vivid pictures of blue skies, green forests, and the Ocean teeming with life. To Elara these were just stories, fairy tales of a world she could hardly remember.
Elara worked as a researcher in Haven’s Environmental Recovery Institute. Her job was to find a way to cleanse the air outside the dome, to reclaim the world that had been lost. It was a task that seemed insurmountable, yet she clung to the hope that one day, humanity might breathe freely again.
One evening, while poring over ancient scientific texts and environmental data, Elara stumbled upon a forgotten experiment from the early 21st century. The experiment detailed a type of bacteria that could consume and neutralise toxins in the air. Excited, she delved deeper, discovering that the bacteria had been genetically engineered but abandoned due to ethical concerns and unforeseen side effects.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. Elara proposed reviving the experiment to the Institute’s board. Her plan was met with scepticism and resistance; the bacteria had the potential to mutate and create new, unforeseen dangers. But Elara was determined. She argued passionately that the alternative was to remain prisoners within their domes, forever fearing the air outside.
After much debate, the board reluctantly agreed to a controlled trial. Elara led a team to a small, isolated section of the city, where they released the bacteria. They watched as it spread, consuming the toxins, purifying the air. Days turned into weeks, and the air quality in the test area began to improve. Encouraged by their success, they expanded the trial…