The First State of Being: Chapters 34–40

His mama had found the DVD. She clutched it to her chest and retraced her steps to see what he was pointing at.

“It’s practical. And you never know if we’ll have enough. We might—” “Michael,” she said, her voice soft, but serious.

“Mr. Ship said you should take something to remember Mr. Mosley by. A memento. Canned goods aren’t much of a memento, are they?”

He felt defensive and irritated all of a sudden, like he was doing something wrong.

The book made an arc in the air and landed in the garbage without a sound.

It was all gibberish.

Why carry a book that was written in gobbledygook?

He flinched and noticed a sharp pain at the base of his neck.

His voice was dry and hoarse.

The sumbook was opened, spine cracked, pencil marks in the margins, surrounded by a scattering of paper.

He faked a yawn, but his mom seemed unconvinced.

His stash hadn’t felt that heavy when he first left the house, but after lugging it from one building to another, his arms ached.

Dr. Gibson-Gray earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering, and a master’s and doctorate in physics, all from the University of Delaware.

Dr. Gibson-Gray developed the initial theories of spatial teleportation —then colloquially known as “time travel”—during her tenure as a quantum physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Although her findings were not discovered until after her death, it is well documented that her interest in spatial teleportation began when she was in her teens, after she won a LEGO robotics set in a giveaway and discovered an aptitude for engineering.

The LEGO Group used Dr. Gibson-Gray’s likeness as part of its advertising for much of the 2180s.

The EGG (See EGG), the device that makes spatial teleportation possible, is named in her honor.

Netflix, a media streaming and video rental service, was introduced in 1997, but did not immediately assimilate into the mainstream.

The company launched an initial public offering (IPO) in 2002, which allowed the public to invest, but it was still a fairly modest company at the time.

Netflix quickly grew into a behemoth, however.

During this period, plastic increasingly filled landfills and oceans while its production—up to 8 million tons annually by 2020—contributed to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

By the time plastic production ended in 2072, plastic far outweighed all the fish in the sea and was responsible for the extinction and/or endangerment of more than 129 species, including the beluga whale, the Florida manatee, the hawksbill turtle, and sea lions.

The Mosley Conservation Institute (MCI) was founded in 2018 by Delaware natives Michael Rosario and Paige Kaminski-Rosario for the preservation and protection of wilderness and wildlife and the reduction of human impact on the environment.

Today, the MCI is the longest-running non-governmental organization dedicated solely to conservation.

The MCI logo—an entwined tiger and otter —is one of the most recognizable icons in the world.