What follows are excerpts from an interview I gave some months ago. I’ve condensed it to a five-part series, which I intend to published over the next week. I hope it will provide insight into the world I created with the ‘Mona Bendarova Adventures’. Feel free to comment on the link at the bottom. I welcome your insights and opinions.
Mona’s Culture? What an interesting question.
Mona lives in a feudal world set thousands of years in our future. She lives in a world without a central power or government. Instead, her community consists of loosely linked estates, commonly called houses, each named after the owner of their estate. Residents who live on the estate refer to the owner as ‘Master’. Loosely tying the estates together, is Club Lothario. The club acts as a central meeting-house, civic center, and relaxed governing body. The club acts to ensure each house meets their quota to the community.
Their culture evolved to deal with a near extinction event more than a millennium in the past. Cultural roots go back to a time when gene manipulation of the food-producing animals and plants was common place. Eventually, larger profits were sought, mistakes were made and aggressive genome manipulation ran out of control. Unsurprisingly, the plague nearly wiped out all life on Earth.
The ‘Purge Plague’, as it was later called, caused in the extinction of every insect, animal and most of the edible plant life, leaving the planet devoid of any and all sources of consumable protein. As the plague ran on over decades, the world was quickly stripped of life. Humans were about to follow suit.
Through extraordinary and expensive measures, scientists at the time were able to halt the extinction of the human species. In one massive, last-ditch effort of gene manipulation, the human race was saved.
Despite halting the extinction, the stigma of genetic manipulation survived. Over time, the idea of gene splicing was abhorrent to the population. It didn’t take long before all gene manipulation was banned all around the world.
As with all actions, there are consequences. The most significant consequence was, in order for humans to survive, they learned to consume the only source of protein available … themselves.
In my next post, I’ll expand upon how their culture evolved.
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