An Adventurer's Spirit

These days are dull, sure scientists were wrong about how far technology could go and pushed us into a technological utopia. But, what's the point? There is nothing left to discover anymore. Everything is easy, simple and for some reason the whole world is OK with that. I want some fun, I want some excitement and the new hyper-reality TV ain't going to cover that. It's stupid I know, why can't I just be happy that we stopped wars probably forever, and solved world hunger and global warming and the expansion of our freaking sun. There's no reason for anything anymore, with new advancements every day, soon even dying will be optional and you will be able to choose how old you want to look. What kind of life is that?

Not the life for me. I don't want to suffer through eternity, being bored my whole life. No, I have a better idea. It will take some time, but I will bring back the past, where people didn't rely on technology and if you wanted something more, you had to take risks and leave it up to you own capabilities and chance. I'll build a biosphere, one that restricts the use of technology, and forces the people and animals to survive in their habitats. Ten million square miles divided evenly into ten different and unique terrains with plants and animals unique and native to each one. With only one common goal, make it through the all. Whoever can do that, will gain claim over one of the ten biomes. Leaving the individual to change, upgrade or adjust their biome in any way they see fit.

Making something that enormous will take quite a lot of time, but with the constant advances in science, it could be a lot closer than I think it is. Getting a land claim that large will also take even more time. All in all if I want to get this done, I will have to swallow my pride and extend my lifespan when it becomes an option. Until then I will have to start slowly accumulating the land I need until indefinite lifespans are implemented into society. I guess all I have to do for now, is work on the plan.

I want each of the ten regions to have some sort of twist, like an ocean with tall dark trees instead of water. Something like that for all of them. But, I still want to have some parts of the original biomes, without them I don't see any reason for picking them. I also need to design each region and fit them into their designated one million square miles. For me, making them look and feel natural is likely going to be very difficult, so I will have to hire a landscaper of sorts to do that part for me. I will also need to hire a bioengineer to help me get the animals and plants species that fit into each region.

The bioengineer will play a huge role in making sure the plants and animals survive in their new climate. It's also important to make sure they all live for a long time, so they have to be self sufficient. The habitats themselves have to be very adaptable for when people start going through them. It's time to get to work to make my life more interesting.

I found a landscaper named Zachary who is willing to help me out. I went though this guys portfolio, and as far as I can tell, this guy is probably one of, if not the best on the entire planet. He designs anything from backyards to entire planets. He simply has an eye for detail that puts most designers to shame. Zachary and I have similar ideals as well, but he has been acting on them for far longer than me. Together, we start working on the model that the biosphere will be based off of, and a couple of months later, we finish it. Just in time too, it has just been announced that indefinite lifespans have been approved and will be implemented next year.

While Zachary and I wait for our indefinite lifespans, we both go hunting for a bioengineer. My search comes to a quick and futile halt, Zachary has much better luck, using the contacts he has as a landscaper to find a girl he used to know, named Vanya. It took some convincing from the both of us, but she eventually agreed to help us. At first, she very clearly thought both of us were crazy, our ideals didn't line up with hers at all. She, for some reason, liked the idea of a simple and easy life. But, if that's what she believed, then so be it, we would have to try and make her want to join us. Almost in sync, Zachary and I brought up that she would be working with plants and animals of all kinds, which seemed to pique her interest a bit. However, it was the chance to create a whole nee species that sold her on our idea.

Her choosing to stay was locked in when she saw the design for the biosphere. She was astounded by the sheer size and complexity of it not to mention the variety of the biomes. Though she never changed her views, she certainly helped a great deal in achieving this seemingly impossible goal of ours.

I didn't know what I was expecting from Vanya, but whatever it was, it was deep in the shadow of what she accomplished. She showed us thousands of different species of plants and animals, each modified slightly to survive and adapt the their new environments. But, what surprised me the most, was the original creatures the engineered. They were beyond my imagination, how she came up with such incredible ideas, it's simply far beyond me. Even Zachary, who had a general idea of her capabilities was astounded by her work. So delicate and careful, yet so adventurous and risky.

Before we knew it, a year had passed and indefinite lifespans were implemented. It was time to get to work. I traded in all of my belongings to get as much land as possible, altogether we had gathered a total of about two million square miles. Which, is a hell of a lot of land, but still far from what we needed. However, we can start building the foundation and preparing the land for the new biomes. Progress was slow and years passed with little gain, but we still had it at least, progress.

It's been almost forty years since we started this project and we are still far from done. All in all, we have only collected about eight and a half million square miles, but with just one and a half million square miles left, the other two are starting to lose interest in the whole project. Vanya has already dropped out, but thankfully left all the designs and notes behind for me to use in the project. I hate to think that after coming so far, progress might stop and the project might be disbanded. Zachary has lost a lot of his old drive, and has started talking about getting a job, or going back to his old one. It pains me to think it, but I feel like our adventurer's spirit might be beginning to fade.

It's been two hundred and seventy two years since the start of the project, both Zachary and Vanya have left to pursue a simpler life. It's just me now, only sixty two square miles left to go. I don't want to end this project, but doing this alone just isn't possible. I can barely get one mile every few decades, it hurts, seeing my project being so close to finished and being unable to complete it. But, with my adventurer's spirit almost completely burned out, there is nothing left for me to do, but let it die.

Four decades later, my stupid childish dream refuses to die out. Every time it begins to fall apart, I can't stop myself from doing everything I can to put it back together. This life is excruciating and I have made less than half a square mile of progress in over four long and painful decades. I can't motivate myself to continue, but I can't force myself to stop. But, twenty-two weeks into my three hundred and thirteenth year, I received a letter. It contained only three words, and a small package. The letter read, "Don't give up!" And inside the small package was a parchment that officially signed over sixty three square miles of land. I scanned over the parchment hundreds of times, until I noticed a small, almost erased signature that read "V&Z".

I now had all the land I needed. I could finally begin to develop the project and bring it to the next phase. Actually building the dome the biosphere will be in will go much faster than trying to obtain the land and the note that I can only assume Vanya and Zachary sent me gave me some hope that they might return to the project. That idea brought bittersweet thoughts. I truly do want them to return, but at this point in time, they basically left me for dead. Even though I want to work with them again, I don't think I could bring myself to let them back into the project. In any case, I need to get to work.

The construction is going smoothly and the borders between each of the ten biomes have been fully constructed, leaving just the actual biosphere and the biomes to be built and completed. I haven't heard anything from Vanya or Zachary, so I guess they felt bad and just wanted to help me out a bit. It's too bad, I haven't seen them in a very long time and I kind of miss them. But, that doesn't matter now, all that does matter, is finishing the project.

Three hundred and ninety six years, that is the total amount of time it took to complete all of the building and designing of this massive project. Now, all that's left to do is populate it. The plants and animals that are going into the system, according to the notes Vanya left for me, need to be left alone for about two years after they are placed in their biome, just to make sure that they adjust to the climate properly. After that, I can start bringing in people to challenge all ten biomes. Even I could give it a whirl if I get tired of watching. Finally, just a few more years and my life will start to get interesting. I just need to keep going for a little while longer. After all of my hard work, after the centuries of dedication, through all the struggles and desperation. I did it. Now in just under five short years, everything will come together, and work.

I follow Vanya's instructions and modify the plants and animals as intended. They integrate quickly into their new habitats. The new creatures however, are much more tricky. Creating their tissue and building their nerve and musculoskeletal system is not surprisingly, extremely difficult. Even with the instructions, the complexity of it all makes it far harder to actually follow. But, nonetheless, I eventually get it all done and their integration begins.

I'm finally done. In the next two years, all of the plants and animals will be fully adapted and the challenge will begin. Every second, every hour, every day, year, decade, and century has all led up to this. My wish to continue and finish this has pulled me through. But, the hardest part is yet to come. Soon enough, people will complete my challenge and I will slowly lose what I have worked so hard to create. So I need to get ready to face my challenge, and prepare to hold on to what is rightfully mine.

End