H2o

May 29th, 2050. The Congo Basin.

The world is in a peculiar state. No, the endless skies and vast oceans haven't changed their familiar shades of blue. The mighty glaciers remain standing strong. In fact, earth's dwindling forests are making a spectacular recovery, similar to that of 200 years ago, before selfish men and a bulldozer marked territory without any ecological concern of the future...

It is not common practice to tamper with the awesome forces of nature. Accelerated growth of organic material is unnatural. Yet, the elite are celebrating another flawed corporation for their latest innovative leap to stop hunger.

Aquasphere, whose inception goes back sixty years, silently navigated the entrepreneurial world of engineers, barely making ends meet. But those times have changed. You can't walk an innocent mile without seeing their ubiquitous imprint on countless pixelated billboards, flaunting their existence...

***

Ideas rarely die. That's until they blossom into failures and can go no further. Some succeed, penetrating the veil of human awareness. If an idea is extremely successful, surviving unforeseen pitfalls and providing solutions to a problem, it is destined to become a household name.

Love to hate, hate to love. Either way, the world's relationship with Aquasphere is rocky at best. Catastrophes have occurred under their watch, leaving the corporation in a wake of constant scrutiny. One particular occasion resulted in the poisoning of hundreds of trees in Valdivian rainforest. An experiment that should have never been allowed...

Nothing ever seems to stop the pursuit of the almighty bitcoin...

***

"Did you copy that, Ranger? What's your location?"

"I'm here... Man! You have got to see this! It's unbelievable. Give me a sec. I'm switching back to Pavlov 8 so you can see."

If there ever is a prime example of righteous humanitarianism, Carter Buchanan is surely a candidate. Courageousness, a biproduct of a well-trained, confident and law-respecting man, is the reason his efforts are celebrated.

Carter's love of all living things overrides the petty pursuit of material fortunes. Life and its wonders are the only treasures worth pursuing. But no one really understands the God complex brought on by a deep-seeded, traumatic experience, canceling his Orthodox beliefs.

Now, a hundred feet below earth in the Mufunga cave system, he begins to dredge those elusive thoughts concerning his retreat from divinity. Beauty is what beauty does... to the psyche.

"Are you connected yet? Check this out!" Carter says while adjusting the cameras on his protective hardhat.

"HOLY SHIT, RANGER! How is this even possible?"

"Man! I'm telling you it's in the water. It's been seeping through for months due to increased rainfall in this area. Ever since... The Revival" Carter says, realizing a connection.

Inside the cave are healthy grasses, exotic ferns, orchids in bloom. A tropical paradise. The hundred-meter-wide cavern gleams wall to wall with precious, green life. The only problem, there is very little light. Not enough to supply energy required for photosynthesis. Both sets of their eyes continue to study the gorgeous scene with awe. Carter's words stumble out his mouth.

"Control? This...this is impossible. We were just here last year to test the soil. None of this growth was here. I'm gathering samples to bring back."

"Copy that, Ranger. The captain is sending a five-man crew down to help secure the area. Mufunga will be restricted for research in three hours... Wait! What is that? Theres movement 20 meters Northwest of you."

"What?"

"Turn around and shine your light using those coordinates. Theres something down there with you." Ishmael, from control says.

There is something down there with him. As light begins to spread out, illuminating a wider area, they both seize at the sight of a large creature. Its twice the size of a full-grown crocodile and similar in build.

"What the hell is that thing?" Ishmael blurts.

"I have no idea. It looks like a giant... newt. Let me zoom in... It's got to be a newt! It has the exact markings of the European species!"

"What are you doing, Carter? I wouldn't walk any closer to it! You might be part of its diet!"

"Don't worry, Ish. I'll keep my distance. It seems more interested in the towering rubber plants. Make sure this is recording. The EPA will want proof."

***

Marinelab, Rockport Texas. June 20th, 2050

The team of technologists led by Crenshaw Industries, Carter's employer, marks his 6-year tenure as a field scientist with five gold stars, ranking him with respected honors. Together, they struggle to understand why the mutations are isolated to Mufunga. It is clear to them, AQSP's so-called 'miracle dust' gathered in high concentrations over the area of the caves, mixing with the rain. But why did it effect the newt? A puzzling question that plagues analytic minds...

Choppy footage of their discovery is encrypted and forwarded to the Environmental Protection Agency—influential men and women with the power to level corporations. After twelve, tedious days of pacing, no form of communication transpires. The lack thereof leads Carter's mind on several tangents, formulating detailed conspiracy theories while searching for a plausible reason. Paranoia grabs hold of him and bubbles over, prompting words of caution to his colleagues to watch their backs.

Staying one step ahead of others, Carter analyzes the probable outcome of different possibilities, acting accordingly. Patience is nothing but nagging splinter when action can drive his cause in the direction he wants.

What is happening needs to stop before mutations spill over into the human world. But there is no evidence supporting that ability. AQSP and their chemical cocktail, HM94, spent three years facing difficult, clinical trials. The final verdict being in favor of synthetic additive, deemed harmless to humans if consumed.

Time has expired in Carter's overactive mind. Waiting for the EPA to make the next move, has come to past. He makes his own.

***

Constant turbulence on a flight to Newark, makes it increasingly difficult to create a codelink for a last-minute project Carter has been frantically working on. He invites himself to a special event where five thousand of the richest people from all walks are gathering for the sake of innovation. He quickly makes his way to a seat in the upper balcony of the Steve Jobs Convention Hall. Sharon Wu, the host, has already begun her introductions.

“Ladies and gentlemen, without the power of thought and brilliant minds like our first speaker, the world would be facing another devastating famine... Tonight, you will learn everything there is to know about Aquasphere and their many contributions. And most importantly, how they fed the world. It gives me great pleasure introduce a man who had a vision. A vision that felt impossible. But he and his team never gave up. They executed that vision with brilliance and honor. The world is currently reaping every benefit. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you, CEO, Maxwell Cronenberg!"

Sharon turns to her right and joins in on the applause, waiting for the corporate giant to make his way to the podium. They shake hands with picture-perfect smiles.

"Thank you, friends. Thank you very much for the warm welcome. And pardon, if I seem a bit jumpy. I've never had the opportunity to address so many eyes in the same place... What we do at Aquasphere is not a miracle. It's progress. Technology is on its own expanding journey, and we have simply laid a slender path to a myriad of other ideas. I'll be happy to answer your questions at the end.

"As I go through today's lecture, the wall screen behind me will display our process and the results of that process. I would like to send my sincerest thanks to the brilliant folks at Virtucel for putting this amazing video together."

It's true. What AQSP accomplishes is a miracle. They devised a fantastic formula that accelerates growth in plant material, triggering massive generation events when HM94 is mixed with simple tap water and applied. Whether it's a living plant or its seeds, cellular division begins to proliferate immediately.

The crowd watches on screen, a 30 second time-lapsed clip of the 5 hours it takes for a seed to sprout roots until it produces several plump strawberries, ready to eat. Potatoes take a little over twenty-six hours to grow. A field of corn is ready to harvest in just five days. The fastest growth recorded so far is the button mushroom at only nine minutes.

Previous formulas failed to stop the acceleration, quickly aging the plant to a shriveling death. Overcoming such hurdles took months of impenetrable roadblocks and bruised egos. Now, the new version, HM94, decays when the plant becomes fully mature, stopping the process.

As the lecture continues, the accompanying video moves on to show the gratefulness of struggling countries as they celebrate plentiful harvests of their own. People can now heal, feed their families and take advantage of life's opportunities now that famine has been averted.

Seconds into a clip of desert nomads carrying crates of fresh broccoli, the feed begins to glitch and break, warping the heartfelt images to a sudden pause. Maxwell creases his brows, not sure of what is happening. He wonders who he may have to fire for sabotaging the flow of his presentation. Before he can signal the director over, the video resumes. It's completely different.

"Copy that, Ranger. The captain is sending a five-man crew down to help secure the area. Mufunga will be restricted for research in three hours... Wait! What is that? Theres movement 20 meters Northwest of you!"

"What?"

"Turn around and shine your light using those coordinates. There's something down there with you... What the hell is that thing?"

"I have no idea. It looks like a giant... newt! Let me zoom in... It's got to be a newt! It has the exact markings of the European species!"

"What are you doing, Carter? I wouldn't walk any closer to it! You might be part of its diet!"

"Don't worry, Ish. I'll keep my distance. It seems more interested the towering rubber plants. Make sure this is recording. The EPA will want proof."

Confusion ramps up in the audience. Maxwell's eyes dart side to side, looking for someone to explain to him why he is made to see what he just saw. He watches the video fade to a dark silhouette of a man and his voice. Carter's voice. It fills the hall.

Right now, you are wondering what you just saw. It was a 4000-pound European newt, mutated by the effects of HM94. Aquasphere acted too soon. They solved a problem but created an even bigger one. We have no idea what this miracle potion will do to the ecology of this planet. Neither Mr. Maxwell, nor any other person in this world can control the intricate science behind growth. Like wandering spores searching for a place to anchor, HM94 has found its way into our atmosphere. Project 'Revival' needs to stop now before the long-term effects become irreversible. It will begin with an enormous spike in birth defects, threatening civilization. Don't let Mr. Maxwell leave here today without answering your new questions. And I urge everyone to stop eating the modified food immediately.

Chatter amongst the crowd grows heavy well before Carter's voice is done painting an ominous picture. He terminates the codelink, returning the original video to the screen but its easily drowned out by the escalating uproar. With a gaping mouth and eyes tinged with anger, Maxwell's pale face, boils red. Colleagues rush to his side, urging him to leave the stage.

***

Eleven hundred miles away, deep within in the Peruvian jungle, trees are being torn down by a giant sloth the size of an adult elephant, following its normal instinct to climb. Mutations have already spread to mammals...