{"id":3389,"date":"2019-02-04T00:25:55","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T06:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.interestingauthors.com\/blog\/?p=3389"},"modified":"2021-02-09T14:13:28","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T20:13:28","slug":"john-smith-last-known-survivor-of-the-microsoft-wars-pt-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interestingauthors.com\/blog\/experience\/john-smith-last-known-survivor-of-the-microsoft-wars-pt-9\/","title":{"rendered":"John Smith – Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars – Pt. 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

SK: So that’s what ended the Microsoft Wars? <\/span><\/span>This bomb that was supposed to destroy the planet.<\/p>\n

JS: What? <\/span><\/span>No. <\/span><\/span>The people who controlled that got killed off in the third wave of attacks, long before the situation could have remotely warranted them using it.<\/p>\n

SK: Why did you tell me all of this then? <\/span><\/span>Our readers want to know about the Microsoft Wars, not some mythical bomb and a bunch of theories.<\/p>\n

JS: It isn’t mythical.<\/p>\n

SK: What?<\/p>\n

JS: I’ve often wondered how they got it up there. <\/span><\/span>The thing weighed over 65 tons. <\/span><\/span>According to all the records of the day, no country had a launch vehicle that could have put it in orbit, but it’s up there. <\/span><\/span>Some day, it will be back down here again.<\/p>\n

SK: Huh?<\/p>\n

JS: What goes up must come down.<\/p>\n

SK: What does that<\/i> have to do with anything?<\/p>\n

JS: Everything. <\/span><\/span>Every satellite ever put in orbit will eventually run out of fuel and\/or suffer a mechanical failure that prevents it from maintaining its orbit. <\/span><\/span>Once that happens, that gravity we discussed earlier will slowly but surely pull the satellite home.<\/p>\n

SK: You mean to tell me that thing is eventually going to come down and wipe us all out no matter what we do?<\/p>\n

JS: Don’t know.<\/p>\n

SK: What do you mean you don’t know? <\/span><\/span>You know everything else about it. <\/span><\/span>How could you not know this?<\/p>\n

JS: I didn’t build it. <\/span><\/span>I don’t know if it was designed to launch when it suffered damage or simply hang tight and crash back into the atmosphere, irradiating thousands of square miles as it goes.<\/p>\n

SK: So it might only kill some of us?<\/p>\n

JS: Perhaps. <\/span><\/span>Unless science evolves rather quickly and we develop a method of destroying it in orbit.<\/p>\n

SK: What does all of this have to do with anything?<\/p>\n

JS: Remember the child and the broken toy?<\/p>\n

SK: Yes.<\/p>\n

JS: Well, the children with that philosophy made enough money with cellphone<\/span><\/span>s to build this bomb. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SK: I thought you said the cellphone<\/span><\/span>s were used to monitor people.<\/p>\n

JS: They were but remember, for most people those cellphone<\/span><\/span>s weren’t free.<\/p>\n

SK: Why did you lead me down a gilded path talking about this biological wemdy if what we really have to fear is this bomb?<\/p>\n

JS: No gilded path intended. <\/span><\/span>People die each year from that wemdy. <\/span><\/span>Like those forbidden zones, it’s a legacy of the wars. <\/span><\/span>Until we have enough global warming to completely melt all ice caps for at least seven days, we will never be certain all of the virus or whatever it was has been completely released.<\/p>\n

SK: You actually want<\/i> that?<\/p>\n

JS: Remember, without a host, it can live seven days, at most.<\/p>\n

SK: But the infected animals?<\/p>\n

JS: As long as they are fully cooked and handled properly, they present no danger. <\/span><\/span>When one wild animal eats another, the wemdy doesn’t spread, so it would be nice if all of the ice would melt for a week or two…assuming it doesn’t try to flood us all off the planet again.<\/p>\n

SK: I can’t believe I’m hearing this.<\/p>\n

JS: You would rather people venturing north and drinking from a clear running stream die a horrible death?<\/p>\n

SK: We already have forbidden zones; we can simply declare more.<\/p>\n

JS: Do you know how far water can travel in seven days?<\/p>\n

SK: No.<\/p>\n

JS: Then tell me, how would you determine the boundaries for these new forbidden zones? <\/span><\/span>The old zones are pretty easy to spot.<\/p>\n

SK: Well, I’m certain our leaders could come up with something.<\/p>\n

JS: And the leaders of the other countries around the ice cap? <\/span><\/span>The countries you’ve never managed to speak with or don’t get along with?<\/p>\n

SK: Oh. <\/span><\/span>I hadn’t thought of that.<\/p>\n

JS: Your leaders have.<\/p>\n

SK: Really?<\/p>\n

JS: Yes. <\/span><\/span>They’ve been quietly working on a vaccine as best they can.<\/p>\n

SK: So they plan to make everybody immune to this wemdy!<\/p>\n

JS: Not everybody.<\/p>\n

SK: What do you mean?<\/p>\n

JS: They only plan to immunize everyone in this country, while putting out stories about all of the riches being found near the ice caps.<\/p>\n

SK: They wouldn’t!<\/p>\n

JS: What?!They wouldn’t take advantage of a weapon they didn’t launch to wipe out all other countries and create an empire? <\/span><\/span>Guess again!<\/p>\n

Do you know who your leaders really are? <\/span><\/span>Remember the children who broke the toy and built the bomb? <\/span><\/span>Well, they hired other children to hunt down the children who broke the toy and built the virus once they found out about it. <\/span><\/span>Descendants of the hunters are who lead, you now. <\/span><\/span>You should actually thank the children who broke the toy and built the virus because the virus killed off the children who built the bomb before they could drop the bomb from orbit.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the brine of life. <\/span><\/span>Float in the brine long enough and you will become a pickle.<\/p>\n

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You are reading a special promotional version of \u201cJohn Smith – Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars.\u201d This is the third book of the “Earth That Was” trilogy. You can obtain the entire trilogy in EPUB form from here:<\/p>\n