Atherton: The House Of Power Part 24

END OF ONE.

ATHERTON TWO REMAINS.

EXPLORE SUPPLEMENTAL DATA FLOW FOR MORE ON DR. HARDING AND THE MAKING OF ATHERTON.

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA FLOW OF.

DR. HARDING'S BRAIN

Readers may refer to unlockdrhardingsbrain.com for drawings, audio files, video segments, and more information about the following topics.

CLEANERS.

DR. HARDING'S JOURNAL 47, LINE 6, NUMBER 22395.

Cleaners were originally developed by Dr. Harding in a lab environment after a long string of failed efforts to a.s.semble a creature whose singular purpose was to sanitize the underside of Atherton (unlock Dr. Harding's brain to better understand why this was important). Thousands of failed attempts at the cellular level were never fully developed. Early versions of the Cleaner concept included a mouth that was turned sideways, longer legs, and a much wider body. Early Cleaner prototypes and other material can be seen by unlocking number 22395.

THE DARK PLANET.

DR. HARDING'S JOURNAL 16, LINE 35, NUMBER 43682.

The Dark Planet is Earth in the year 2105. Pollution has turned the Dark Planet into a place where people stay within containments most of the time. The air is thick with smog and unbreathable for more than a few minutes without the aid of Disposable Compact Filtering units (DCFs). A view of the Dark Planet from s.p.a.ce lacks the blues and greens it once exhibited. The oceans are dim, the forests are mostly dead, and the Dark Planet is filled with the sharp coldness of metal.

In the history of the Dark Planet there were three waves of advancement. The first was agricultural, in which mankind settled into distinct places and managed to grow crops and create herds of animals for consumption and use. The second wave was the most dangerous, and set the Dark Planet on its eventual path to ruin. This was the wave of industrial machines, which made life easier for mankind. The third wave saw the rise of information technology and thinking machines, allowing mankind to create habitats and food sources in ways that hadn't been thought of before, ways that did untold harm to the Dark Planet. In time, the three waves of advancement overwhelmed the Dark Planet's natural resources, and it could not recover. By 2085 its former beauty was lost forever. For more information about the Dark Planet, unlock number 43682.

MAD SCIENTISTS.

DR. HARDING'S JOURNAL 154, LINE 18, NUMBER 37782.

Dr. Harding follows in the footsteps of another literary mad scientist, Dr. Frankenstein. The two have many things in common, and Dr. Harding carried around an old paperback copy of the famous Mary Sh.e.l.ley novel Frankenstein wher ever he went. He was obsessed with its portrayal of a scientist gone mad with the idea of reanimation. Of particular interest to Dr. Harding was the struggle Dr. Frankenstein faced once he knew how to bring a dead person back to life. Did knowing how to do it mean he should do it? The consequences for carrying out his insane plan were devastating in the case of Dr. Frankenstein, and Dr. Harding wondered if the same would be true if he made Atherton. Unlock Dr. Harding's brain for more on the two scientists.

GRAVITY, ORBIT, AND DISCONNECT.

DR. HARDING'S JOURNAL 267, PARTIAL DATA, FILE LOST.

Gravity: It was necessary for the round bottom of Atherton to weigh an enormous amount. With out a heavy bottom, people would either float in the air or weigh almost nothing. Part of the bottom half of Atherton is filled with water, but some of the bottom is made of a living organic material with a ma.s.s similar to that of solid lead. If you were to visit Atherton and stand on any of the three levels, you would feel somewhat lighter than you do now. A 100-pound person from the Dark Planet weighs 81 pounds on Atherton.

Orbit: Atherton orbits the Dark Planet in such a way that a day and night on Atherton is generally the same length as a day and night on the Dark Planet. In addition, Atherton is always facing away from the Dark Planet so that those living on Atherton never see the place from which they originated. The closer an object's...o...b..t to the Dark Planet, the less time it takes to make one trip around, and the faster it must go. Atherton orbits the Dark Planet exactly 22,300 miles away in the thermosphere. Unlock Dr. Harding's brain to see Atherton orbiting the Dark Planet.

Disconnect: There was a time when communication and boarding of Atherton from those on the Dark Planet was possible, but Dr. Harding severed contact, and there is currently no way to reestablish a connection. There are some on the Dark Planet who believe they will eventually find a way to make contact with Atherton again.

BIRDS, BUGS, AND ANIMALS.

DR. HARDING'S JOURNAL 82, LINE 7, NUMBER 29430.

Dr. Harding had a strong dislike for the enormous array of species on the Dark Planet. He blamed pollution, ma.s.s consumption, overpopulation, and a host of other problems on what he termed "ma.s.s variety," and while he was not in favor of destroying vast species of animals, he was determined not to have the same problem arise on Atherton. Birds and flying bugs of any kind were of particular concern, due in part to Dr. Harding's desire to maintain biological purity on all of Atherton's levels, but also because he had a terrible case of ornithophobia (the fear of birds) and simply could not bring himself to put flying creatures on Atherton. There are, however, bugs that do not fly on Atherton.

Dr. Harding was very fond of rabbits and sheep, and for a time he tried to create genetic versions of these animals with even greater usefulness. After a period of failed experimentation, he settled on the animals as they were. There is also the secret matter of the creatures that reside in Mead's Hollow.

Dr. Harding added horses primarily as beasts of burden. He did not intend them to be used as weapons of war, although war was a topic that upset him and was not discussed, so it could be that he gave some thought to the matter.

THE FIG TREE.

DR. HARDING'S JOURNAL 304, LINE 92, NUMBER 15943.

Agro science was a pa.s.sion for Dr. Harding. He combined countless varieties of trees and plants in an effort to create something new and useful. The fig tree was at once his most beloved invention and his greatest failure. He wanted desperately to create a food source that was easy to maintain, caused minimal or no dam age to the environment, and was almost entirely edible or useful. He succeeded on all of these counts but was later devastated to find that the tree he had created was poisonous after the third year.

UNLOCK THE SECRETS.

22302 13120 62133 44591 42211 40013 44536 57432 32441 44435 37432 37732 44857 44500 91445 29430 90254 99101 22395 22389 21900 22346 23102 22333 15943 15492 14999 15658 15822 15992 24100 24131 37445 38124 37782 36111 41474 55128 60274 43682 41888 32439 WWW.DRHARDINGSBRAIN.COM.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

First and foremost I need to thank my editor on this project, the incomparable Andrea Spooner. She had the skill and courage to give me a shovel and tell me where to dig, and knew when the time was right to take the spade from my hands and leave well enough alone. She got lost in Atherton as I did, and we came away together with a much better book than I could have written on my own.

My hat is off to David Ford. It was an honor to be chosen by him and his talented staff at Little, Brown and Company.

Thank you Sangeeta Mehta for patching me through, routing my stuff, and always sounding genuinely pleased to hear the distant voice of Eastern Was.h.i.+ngton.

Many thanks to my agent, Peter Rubie, for leading me across a tightrope with precision and grace and not letting me fall off. You knew our course and never wavered, even in the presence of my colossal indecision.

Thank you to the ever present (and never more appreciated) creative team in my hometown of Walla Walla, who helped make this project so much fun to work on (and gently reigned me in when I was good and lost somewhere deep in the woods): Squire Broel for inspired drawings and model building, Jeremy Gon zalez for film work, and Matt McKern for interactive content.

Thanks to Corey Smith, a loyal friend and mentor, for believing in me at his own peril and never giving up; Remy Wilc.o.x for a character trait inspiration that shall go unmentioned here; and Marcus Wilc.o.x for lively scientific discussions over sandwiches and c.o.kes.

Thank you, Skip Lee, for founding Agros, an organization that brings hope to thousands of people trapped in the cycle of poverty (and helps this one writer remain clear about what really matters). And three people I don't know, but acknowledge for their ability to change my mind, make me think, and challenge me to stop taking and start giving back: Al Gore, Bono, and David James Duncan.

In the end, there are no books without Karen. She makes everything possible.

-P.C.

DON'T MISS

RIVERS OF FIRE.

the riveting sequel to Patrick Carman's THE HOUSE OF POWER.

NOW AVAILABLE.

As the world collapses, a monstrous force rises. And underground, Edgar soon discovers, Atherton is even more sinister.

TURN THE PAGE FOR A SNEAK PREVIEW!.

CHAPTER.

1.

EDGAR RETURNS HOME.