Y3K problem: A short fiction
It is year 2990 and a problem is fast approaching the earth. Sun is dying. The 4 billon human population on earth, all animal, plants, insects organisms are now entirely dependent on solar energy or its indirect effects for energy.
By the 2100 the earth have become a super livable place with environment friendly renewable energy driving most anthropogenic activities and managed forests and other natural habitats are carefully managed, diversity of organisms are carefully managed. The amensalistic and commensalistic interactions?are managed through mathematical modeling. Pray-predator populations are controlled via sophisticated models and management.
In 2960 the astrophysicist New Keplar and his team had predicted that Sun will be exhausted by 3000 and something need to be done. Soon after this paper, Neo Copurnicus and Horacio Gallelei's group vociferously supported Neo Keplar's findings. All data and alternate models confirmed the worst and it become clear something need to be done by 2995 and action plan should be in place by 2990.
President of the earth sir Ronald Obama put together a task group involving Neo Keplar, Nigambodh Bhattacharya, Neo Copurnicus and Antonio Saunders. Three plans were developed: 1) Push a star into orbit with a giant vocket in place where Sun hitherto resided. 2) Cause a collision in another galaxy so that a part of a large star with multi years be fragmented and the largest part of the size of Sun is placed in the orbit. Nigambodh Bhattacharya led the third plan: 3) Repurpose a black hole so that the black hole will eat a similar sized star as Sun named Fun from one galaxy (but with energy level for 10,000 years to go) and release it to the existing location of Sun. It will also eat Sun and place it quietly in the same location of as Fun. This will solve two problems (second being relocation of debris of Sun) together. This project was named Fun project. Fun project was supported by Neo Keplar, Neo Copurnicus and Horacio Gallelei.
The Vocket experiment failed despite the best efforts of Sir Robinhood Goddard. The idea was a complex alloy of transition metals with additional artificial elements will withstand the heat transiently and will be able to push out the fading star. Despite fading the surface heat of sun was still very high and no molecular composition could hold in simulation. Vockets are much bigger, better propelled and precision controlled devices that had pale resembles to rockets many centuries ago. However, no complex alloys could withstand disintegration that occurs due to high temperature.
Super high resolution and high precision methods to produce desire entirely controllable elastic or inelastic collisions could never be achieved at the scale of celestial bodies by 2990. The most controllable thing was inelastic collisions but they could always generate fragments that will be off target by a thousand miles. Though this was an achievement in itself because all such experiments in just 2800 used to be off target by a million miles. However, these were quickly realized to be insufficient to achieve goals with precision that will be desired for sun replacement project.
Nigambodh originally came with a plan of large hexagonal magnetic geological hybrids (mag-ze-hibs or magzehibs or in short maghibs) . The idea was that sun will be be attracted, propelled and adhered to a black whole NNRC 1153. Once latched a geo-magnetic reflector (Ge-mag -re or Ge-re or simply Gere) will pull off the Sun from another side. The first step was to latch from opposite sides using maghibs and then influence the swap with Gere. The load sun plan just did not work. This is despite the fact that in small simulation experiments and in theory this appeared most promising. When Nigambodh failed in the first step, his former graduate student (and now an established scientist) Nobel Prize winning Ninel Tyson came with an alternate plan that worked. The plan was to use a different type of maghib to bring black hole NNRC 1153 to sun. This readily then posed the problem of moving the sun loaded black hole NNRC 1153 to Fun. Mond Halley solved this problem along with Nigambodh and Tyson. Tyson was also credited with solving a few critical steps along the way.
The Sun to Fun (also known as RR lyrae 557) exchange via NNRC 1153 was not all that smooth. Win Hubble contributed towards critical unloading step. It appeared that Geres were great to initiate separation but like a sling both Sun and RR lyrae 557 went deep inside NNRC 1153 just at the penultimate step every time they also were to be detached from NNRC 1153. Win Hubble showed that just a weak magnetic together with light plus short wave generator (WMLSWG) would do the trick of this separation if applied on correct time so finally just in 2999 the experiment was completed and everyone in the earth was happy. One issue was to do it in less than a weeks time to save all the plant and have enough energy in the earth. In reality earth saw darkness for less than 3 earth days. Unfortunately Nigambodh did not last to see the end of this experiment. He became ill by 2997 and despite best efforts and advance interventions that were available, he did pass away in 2998. Despite all advances the humankind had refused to tinker with natural death, rather goal had become to render maximum concerted or simultaneous organ failure. Death had become due to multi-organ failure and it was a choice of people to go slow or fast with some intervention. the interventions that may prolong life with least pain or chose much faster end of life. The concept of death is not single organ but multi-organ failure simultaneously and people used their life very productively.
Ninel Tyson replaced Nighambodh Bhattacharya as project leader. She has already been serving in this role de facto since 2997. It was quite clear to Nigambodh at the time of death that experiment is going to be successful but he did not live enough to see it in reality. Nevertheless the earth had become secure for another 10,000 years and it was a beautiful place to live for a long time. The Y3K problem was successfully averted.
Epilogue-I hope you liked the story. I would love to have your comments.