Solarpunk Collective

Reginald watched the ants scurry up and down the line of seedlings, tending the little plants with their appendages. Every so often, one would pause and shake its little blocky head, looking this way and that, waggling its antenna as it received an update or new instructions. “I don’t know about you Reg, but I think I’m going to call it a day.” Suzy peered over her gogz at Reg, obviously waiting for a reply. Reg kept watching until one of the ants stopped for a longer period. He walked over to the bot and flicked open its access cover. Just as he suspected, it was shutting down for its evening update cycle. Reg waved his hands about, throwing shapes for the gogz to interpret as data. He signed off with a flurry of fingers and turned to Suzy. She had already headed for the locker room. They met again outside the farm cube near the lifts. Both of them were fresh from the shower and ready for an evening of relaxation or excitement or whatever was on offer that night in the...

By the time they reached the half-moon village the sweat was pouring down Dante’s back like a river. The trees overhanging the road gave some shelter, but the beginning of summer’s deep humidity meant that even shade brought no relief. The rising and falling of cicadas was almost a roar. “Let’s see if any of those buildings have windows, we can set up an AC unit inside and cool off.” The group led the horses over the broken asphalt and in to the abandoned village. Hannah walked around the small room picking up trinkets and looking over the detritus of a life abandoned. There were no signs of what had happened to the owners. The small house was structurally sound and everything was tidy, but the dust lay thick on everything and it was clear no one had lived here for years. “What happened to everyone?” Jungwoo looked up from his minicomp, scrolling through feeds. “It says here the last person living in the village moved to an assisted living center in the city. The deeds to the ...