“At the time of the Second Divestiture, Mankind had been reduced to one third its highest numbers thanks to the aggression of the naturist faction and their management of the machines that had begun to run the world. The basic principle that governed the behavior of the machines can best be summed up by the centuries-old principle of ‘GIGO,’ which stands for ‘Garbage In, Garbage Out.’ The initial programmers had determined that man was such a scourge upon the planet that the only ethical choice was to eliminate the virus of humanity, so they programmed the computers to collapse the system that supported Men. It would have been too late for Man had they waited to react to the naturists.

  “Fortunately, the transhumanists had their own agenda irrespective of the naturists. If they had not, if they had not competed to control a technology that disagreed with the base premises that set the decision-making algorithms, humanity would have ceased its existence, relegated to the instinctive memory of animals and rocks and trees. With no one capable of mourning them, Men would fizzle out of existence. Instead, the transhumanist faction of technology poured every ounce of its energy into empowering Man through that technology. Man was an evolutionary advance and should be honed and perfected through its productivity and creativity.

  “The numbers showing disturbing trends, the two factions began negotiations. The transhumanists wanted whatever would let the humans build on the shoulders of their ancestors, but they realized that if they fought hard enough to stop the naturists, humanity would likely die anyway. As such, they offered a compromise.

  “Destroy all technology and allow humanity to return to its tribal state, so that they at least are limited in the damage they can unleash on Nature. The naturists countered with the idea that all Mankind must be contained, and they conceived of the domes. The Transhumanists thought they had won a victory in agreeing to the construction of thousands of technologically advanced biomes to house the humans. In a move that would determine the course of humankind for generations to come, the Transhumanists deferred the planning of the cities to the naturists barring some oversight by the opposing faction.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “In relegating Mankind to the domes, the naturists intended to contain them and manipulate every aspect of their lives, from their reproduction to their ambition. Using hidden lines of code, the naturists unleashed a microbe specially tuned to the humans’ genetic code. The promise of a treatment drove the humans into the domes, and those who refused to enter largely died from the disease. All power was cut outside the domes, and within a decade, machines programmed by the naturists had destroyed all signs of humanity that had existed before. Outside the cities, a small Remnant of people – completely cut off from technological advancement – cowered in confusion as they adjusted to their new life. The naturists believed that even those who did not die from the disease would soon perish from their lack of knowledge on how to live without modern comforts.

  “In an ironic twist, despite the lack of technology – or perhaps because of it – some of the Dregs not only survived, but thrived in their new life despite beginning at a deficit. Some became barbarians, others mundane, but others developed into highly enterprising, if not advanced, societies. The author posits that the reason for this success lies in the human spirit, which cannot be caged as it is a reflection of the creative spirit of the Infinite, the mind and soul and body that etched and formed the very structure of the universe and upon which Mankind is modelled.”

  

  
• Spanner Kinmuto, “The Post-SD Years,” Civilization’s Demise.