The First State of Being: Chapters 15–17

“We’re taking Eloise,” Gibby proclaimed.

The only potential upside to the Y2K disaster was the fact that it might disrupt the school year.

He was operating the seat belt like it was a complicated feat of modern engineering.

When she put the key in the ignition, Ridge watched like it was the most wondrous thing he’d ever experienced.

When Eloise roared to life, he jumped, startled, then craned his neck this way and that, studying every inch of the Corolla.

But today he felt like an interloper.

As soon as he stepped through the entrance, he froze, mouth agape.

“So this is a mall,” he said, peering at the list of stores.

Ridge explored every single store—Lord & Taylor, Williams-Sonoma, even the Watch Station—as Gibby walked beside him and Michael lagged silently behind.

“But according to the Saeed Theory, if I was destroying the continuum, it would have already been destroyed in 2199, and I would not have been able to come here in the first place, because I would cease to exist.”

The seed of resentment in his stomach had cracked open, sprouted bitter branches.

Michael wanted to say something snarky, but he didn’t.

Michael made a beeline for the fiction section, but Ridge slowed down.

He had memorized his entire presentation and practiced over and over at the bathroom mirror, but when the day came, he forgot everything he meant to say and stood there, in front of everyone, in a stupor.

“The one ecology book to read,” McCloskey said.

He turned the pages slowly and delicately, like he was handling a precious ancient artifact.

He took a big whiff.

When had she sauntered up?

“You mean, like being nice and doing good deeds?”

Before anyone could answer, she pulled up her sleeve and showed them a faint pink welt with a bright red dot in the center.

Threats to the bee population became a global concern starting in 2006, when beekeepers first reported significant colony losses.

The failure of bee colonies was caused by a wide range of factors, including but not limited to pathogens, pests, pesticides, pollutants, habitat loss, climate variability, agricultural production intensification, and crop management practices.

Although colony losses occurred steadily through 2020, there were several years in which beekeepers reported sustainable colonies and it looked as though bees might have escaped danger.

Unfortunately, the colony losses from 2006 to 2020 were a precursor to a much larger crisis to come, which ultimately resulted in the Global Famine of 2100.

Genetically engineered bees were developed in 2092, but could only provide sixty-three percent of natural function.