Collapse, Home, Game, Longing

The year is 2029 and the same president is in office. After being re-elected in 2020, he amended the Constitution so that he could be granted a third term in office. At this point, the government has gotten so corrupt that democracy exists only on paper. In reality, all the elections are rigged. Over the last ten years, much as changed. There has been a drastic cut in global sustainability programs since the POTUS declares climate change a hoax and there has been an increase in manufacturing factories, as business relations with China and other nations have plummeted. The POTUS’s narcissism has grown worse each year, as he focuses only on corporate gains and turns a blind eye to the global warming and pollution that now terrorize every major city. Compared to 2019, there are now twice as many factories in the U.S., a 20% increase in nuclear power plants, and a 30% increase in fracking all over the states, which has led to an increase in the frequency and magnitude of earthquakes all over, especially in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the POTUS brags that the nation has never been more self-sufficient. More and more people are dying each year of various cancers and toxins, the atmosphere is filled with impurities, there are an increasing amount of holes in the ozone layer, and local vegetables are more often than not being created in labs as a result of the harsh farming conditions.

Standing in his apartment in downtown LA, a man can hardly believe what has become of his beloved city. His gas mask lies on the floor beside him. He remembers when the skies were blue, and nature was abundant. He misses the days when he got to walk down the street and enjoy the refreshing breeze brought on by living walls that used to be on the sides of so many buildings in DTLA. Now, much of those buildings have become factories and any plant life that once sustained itself can no longer survive. It is devastating that within only a decade, so much has collapsed. Those days feel like a dream now. The man looks at his apartment floor, which is still in ruins from the last earthquake a couple weeks ago. He has given up fixing it, since earthquakes happen so frequently now. Meanwhile, “Farmville” flashes on his old TV. He enjoys playing it from time to time as it reminds him of his childhood, of better days, of a time when the man and Earth lived in harmony. He looks outside longingly and sighs.