Sunday 26 January 2014

Fertile Land

"Gotta be careful with technology," warned Jameson. “Let me tell you about Tuonela."

The old pilot sipped his whiskey, then continued.

"They used these nanobots nicknamed 'undertakers'. The wee buggers disassembled decaying organic matter, then buried it in the ground. For farming, right? Except . . . something went wrong with their programming - they stopped distinguishing between living and dead. Most people didn’t make it off the planet. I swear I could hear the screaming from orbit."

I gaped in horror. "You serious?"

Jameson stared mournfully into his glass.

"Why do you think it’s famous for being the greenest world in the system?"