Project: Haven

Haven

In the depths of the Old Worlds Michigan, there was a hidden, underground city known as Haven. 

This place ran as though it had completely disregarded the fact the world ended. It was made five-hundred and some-odd years ago by a few people from the government who had their heads on straight. The population of this place was about seven to eight hundred humans- not many, but more than enough.

They were all scholars compared to the inhabitants of the surface world. Each human had a place in Haven, and each human knew their place. 

There were three separate districts to Haven, all of which prospered tremendously. In the Marketplace, there were several shops that lined the streets. There were grocery shops, gadget shops, bakeries, gift shops, and even electronic shops. In the next district over, this is where all the businesses and event halls were. 

Businesses in Haven consisted primarily of several different labs. There were labs that studied plants, food, outer-space, animals, and even humans. There were two schools on each side, as well; one for the children who wanted to pursue a life in science, and one for the children who preferred their studies to be more geared towards the arts. 

Fear not, children still had their gym, history, and math lessons, but in this world, things were different. Each child's needs were individually catered to based on their skills and interests. Just to throw out an example for the confused, History was taught through videos, books, virtual reality simulators and by word-of-mouth. Each human processes information differently, as you should know, so once it was found out how each small human could process information, that's how they were taught. This way, these munchkins grew up feeling much better about themselves, knowing they were at least good at something when they went out into- well, Haven. 

The next stop on our tour of Haven is the Living Quarters. Every family was given a small home, though this was always more than enough. As families grew and as children had children of their own, they were allowed a ceremony of their choosing; one of marriage, one of eternal commitment, or even no ceremony at all. Some lived alone, some lived with their significant other, and some preferred the comforts of living with their parents all their lives; that's life. There were about four hundred small homes built around the Living Quarters of Haven, each occupied. 

When a human came of age and decided they wanted their own home, a home was built in a matter of minutes. One of the old scientists about a hundred years ago decided, instead of being cooped up in huts, to create what today's humans would look at as a 3D-Printer. This little hand-held gadget was able to produce homes out of thin air. The future for these few hundred people was, what some would call, paradise. 

In this paradise, there was a man named Andren Loren. He came from a family with one other child- Keigan. Two was the preferred maximum, though the Directors, humans that oversaw all of Haven, understood that things happen.

Andren's father was a part of the Directors. His mother was, too, before she was turned Mindless in a failed experiment. She was the head scientist who was looking for ways to reverse this incurable disease. Her name was Emilia, and her mind became frozen. Emilia was released, instead of held captive, so that her family could better move on. Selfish, maybe, but that is the nature of humans.

She said, not long before her passing, that she did this, because her childhood best friend had become Mindless. She swore, even if it killed her, she would find the cure. She was from the Outside World and she would have wanted to meet her end there as well- or so her family told themselves. 

Andren could never puzzle together why his father decided to release his mother so easily. Growing up, he resented his father for it, though once he grew into a man, he understood. He, too, was in love and could not imagine seeing his Wynter like that- Mindless and frozen. It worried him enough that she spent her days in the frozen wastes, but her own life was out of his control.

His affections for this girl were unbeknownst to her. It was like that for years and years, such as it will be, because this is not a love story. Characters in love die too easily and why allow this broken world to be a predictable one as well?

Andren loved this Wynter girl. They grew up together, went to the Science School together, they even grew up next door to one another, after Wynter was adopted in to the ways of Haven. Among the many things Andren loved, he also loved researching the things about the world before the war- before the end.

He would ask his dad, "Why did they listen to televisions?" and his dad would laugh, being reminded of the story his mother told him of the Last Martian. 

His dad would bite his cheek and twirl his beard, thinking for a moment. He did not have any answers that spoke for the majority of what once was. Their ways were something beyond his understanding. 

"Well," He would start, "You have to think; this was a different world then."

So it was.

This was never enough for Andren- Andren had to know why.

Why was the sky blue, the clouds grey, and half the world covered in snow?

Andren was a smart boy, and he grew up to be a smart man. He though a lot- too much in fact. He looked at something in ways others could never imagine. 

While others who spent their lives in Haven seemed to accept their ways, being at peace with the idea of conformity, Andren protested. He could not seem to stand living in the comforts of an absolutely perfect society.

There had to be something, anything, that made Haven an awful place. He could never put his finger on it, but somewhere, in the depths of his conscience, he knew. 

He allowed this feeling to consume his mind. 

It started when he was just eleven years old, when the lectures from his teachers about the Old World began. 

He was both a word-of-mouth and book munchkin at that age; one of the few. 

When he asked why Haven was built, his teacher could not give him a straight answer. She went on and on, 

"Back in the year of 2001, a year prior to the blueprints for Haven being constructed, there was what the old Government claimed to be a terrorist attack," and so his teacher rambled. 

Andren could not wrap his mind around the concept of terrorism or a government. He could not puzzle together in his mind why oh why would this government start wars based solely on speculation. He could also not understand why the billions of people who lived also believed this idea, or why they couldn't see the truth beyond the matter.

From that moment on he questioned everything.

He wondered how the sky was blue and why it was so and why this world he lived in hid from it, when there was a world that lingered right above their heads.

When he fell victim to the disease of the mindless, Wynter swore she would find the answers Andren has longed for. She, too, had loved Andren, but Andren was gone.

She looked only to bring him back.