Intrigue, Deception, Feint, and Escape
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MYSTERY, QUEST, MISDIRECTION, AND REVELATION
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ORIGIN OF THE STORY
It's hard to avoid asking, what will the world be like in the future? We all do it. It's one reason that science and engineering can be so captivating. We can take any period in history and observe that newer, more advanced technologies will naturally replace older, less useful ideas. It's a constant that is engrained in each of us. Intrinsically, we know new replaces used, young replaces old, the evidence is as natural as seasons change. Progress is made. It's one reason why Science Fiction is so popular. It's a chance to peer into the looking glass and see what may be in store. Often, stories of utopian futures give us hope that the decisions we make today will lead to better times ahead. Alternately, dystopian tomorrows cause us to think critically about decisions society is making now. Stories of dark days ahead can act as a countermeasure, a means for us to consider how to avoid a less fortunate fate.
The TRACE ELEMENT series exists at the precipice of either outcome. It imagines a fait accompli future where today's truths, hidden from the general populace, are revealed twenty-five years from now. It presumes that energy will be the next big technological revolution and explores how it might occur. It asks where will today's big, bold breakthroughs happen? Will there be a monumental moonshot event that our children and grandchildren will look back upon with pride and say, "I was there"? Or will the clean-abundant energy revolution start and remain underground, hidden from view in the annals of the secretive defense industry?
If a quantum leap in technology has happened, what forces will be at play to keep that power from the masses? And why? How will industry and government incubate a monumental discovery? Will it be controlled by a select few corporations and elite individuals as fossil fuels are now? Will greed keep it hidden for private use, or will equity and equality prevail over economic malaise? Will profit-driven corporations allow society to embrace the next great milestone in human achievement? Beyond profit, will they use this power for good, or will they use it for licentiousness? With people across the planet experiencing first-hand the signs of a warming world, The TRACE ELEMENT series imagines a possible utopia emerging from a feasible dystopia; a paradise that could be now, not then.
The TRACE ELEMENT series exists at the precipice of either outcome. It imagines a fait accompli future where today's truths, hidden from the general populace, are revealed twenty-five years from now. It presumes that energy will be the next big technological revolution and explores how it might occur. It asks where will today's big, bold breakthroughs happen? Will there be a monumental moonshot event that our children and grandchildren will look back upon with pride and say, "I was there"? Or will the clean-abundant energy revolution start and remain underground, hidden from view in the annals of the secretive defense industry?
If a quantum leap in technology has happened, what forces will be at play to keep that power from the masses? And why? How will industry and government incubate a monumental discovery? Will it be controlled by a select few corporations and elite individuals as fossil fuels are now? Will greed keep it hidden for private use, or will equity and equality prevail over economic malaise? Will profit-driven corporations allow society to embrace the next great milestone in human achievement? Beyond profit, will they use this power for good, or will they use it for licentiousness? With people across the planet experiencing first-hand the signs of a warming world, The TRACE ELEMENT series imagines a possible utopia emerging from a feasible dystopia; a paradise that could be now, not then.