CW7 was supposed to be the answer to global warming.
In 2014, 79 countries released this chemical agent across the world, but the expected miracle
of climate engineering never occurred.
Instead the Earth was plunged into a new ice age and almost all life across the planet
was extinguished.
Human civilization was reduced to a single, perpetually roving settlement, a train known
as Snowpiercer.
The greatest accomplishment of Wilford Industries, the Snowpiercer was originally envisioned
as a luxury locomotive cruise line, connecting the railways of the entire world.
Upon its completion, it began travelling a single circumnavigational route extending
438,000 kilometers across every continent.
Designed to be self-sustaining and impervious to even the harshest conditions, Snowpiercer
was theoretically capable of perpetual operation.
This was largely due to its incredibly advanced and highly sophisticated engine.
Whether the eponymous head of Wilford Industries foresaw the disastrous consequences of CW7
is difficult to determine, but the Snowpiercer was uniquely suited to survive the Earth’s
new arctic environment.
A few scattered refugees found safety on the train as the environment collapsed and aboard
there emerged a new society.
Passengers at the tail of the train existed in terrible squalor.
They were subjected to brutal conditions and expected to provide manual labor in some of
the harshest environments imaginable.
Their only sustenance was provided in the form of gelatinous protein bars whose true
nature was carefully concealed.
Those at the front of the train by contrast, lived lives of opulent luxury.
They had free and open access to cars containing greenhouses and orchards, aquariums, farms,
saunas and even dance clubs.
The most privileged among them lived decadent lives, enjoying every pleasure Snowpiercer
had to offer.
Yet regardless of their station, every passenger aboard the train remained trapped in this
small, self-contained community.
To maintain order, all those aboard were taught to embrace the concept of pre-ordained positions.
Those at the back belonged there and there alone.
The only exception to this rule were children, periodically taken from the tail of the train
and brought forward for some purpose that, for the majority of the Snowpiercer’s existence,
remained unknown.
As the Snowpiercer travelled its route across the world, Wilford’s status aboard the train
ascended to that of an almost sacred figure.
He and his engine were exalted in song, particularly by the children of the upper class, who had
never known life outside the train.
They were taught to consider themselves amongst the “Chosen” and that the “sacred engine”
would last forever.
The crossing of Yekaterina Bridge similarly developed into a momentous event, marking
the beginning of a New Year.
Despite the heavy levels of indoctrination present aboard the train, periodic revolts
occurred in which the downtrodden members of the rear cars attempted to force their
way to the front.
The so called “Revolt of the 7” and the McGregor Riots both ended in failure, and
were in fact carefully orchestrated by Wilford himself, together with his accomplice and
friend Gilliam, who acted as his eyes and ears in the tail of the Snowpiercer.
Such uprisings were needed to keep the population of the train sustainable and maintain its
delicate ecosystem.
In the 18th year of its operation, another carefully orchestrated revolution began.
This attempt exceeded the expectations of its instigators however, largely due to the
actions of a man known as Curtis.
A simple laborer from the tail, Curtis was highly intelligent and became one of the few
people to ever travel the entire length of the train.
Together with a select few associates, he managed to overpower the train’s security
forces, and confront Wilford himself.
Whatever words were shared between the two were overshadowed by the revelation that children
taken from the tail had been forced to work within the engine, performing tasks by hand
that had once been done by machinery, now broken beyond repair.
The revolution ended with an explosion aboard the Snowpiercer that, in turn, triggered an
enormous avalanche.
The Snowpiercer was finally derailed and the hellish conditions imposed on its passengers
with it.
If there is hope for its survivors, it can be found in the small traces of life glimpsed
outside the train, proof that not all is lost.
The Templin Institute investigates alternate worlds and realities.
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