The Vegocalypse
What if the whole world went vegan. Inspired by this Dutch article describing a relatively optimistic scenario of what might happen if the world would go mostly plant based, I decided to write a short story apocalyptic story starting from the same question. Have fun reading.
"Dad, I really don't have a good feeling about this. I'm ahead forty points on Alissa, if I could just get one D, all of this won't be necessary, Dad, you know what happened to last years top of the class!"
Monique looked anxiously at her father. She knew how much her parents wanted a grandchild, especially Dad, and graduating top of her class, like her mother before her, was the only way that was going to happen. But things were different now than when mom graduated, much different.
"I know you are nervous, Monique, these abductions of late are terrifying, but I have full confidence in the updated security measures the school and the city have implemented. And remember, even in the worst case scenario that the security measures would turn out inadequate, remember who these criminals work for, even if you would get abducted, you'll end up with a life of riches and luxuries that you know Peter won't ever be able to provide for you."
Dad looked at her with a look on his face that betrayed he didn't have all that much faith in the city's capacity to protect the school's top female students from the criminal gangs that would abduct fresh top-of-the-class graduates and sell them as expensive brides to upper class families. The one child per class law knew no social classes, only academic results counted. The law had worked well for over forty years, two generations, until criminals discovered the economic potential of providing the tools for exploiting a loophole in the iron law. Female infants, by law, were injected with personalized birth control nanobots, rendering all woman artificially infertile. The education system was free and open to all classes. A woman graduating top female of her class would receive a personal code for disabling her nanobots providing the possibility to get pregnant and carry a baby.
"I don't care about money and I don't care about getting pregnant either. Peter and I love each other Dad, that is more important than having kids. If I let myself get just one D, at least I'll be sure me and Peter will be together. And I don't tell me about no biological clock either Dad, because I can't imagine ever feeling about having a baby anywhere close to the way I feel about Peter."
"I'll make sure you will be with Peter dear, I'll dig in to my retirement fund and hire private protection to keep you safe till you get pregnant. Me and your mom would really love a grandchild, and I'm sure that a few years from now you will regret it if you pass up this opportunity now out of fear for abduction, dear."
Monique looked at her dad. Anger boiled up in her looking at Dad squirming.
"Stop acting like a bloody vegan dad, do you really expect the hand full of washed up eunuchs you could afford to spend a few billion dollar on would be any match for the type of mercenaries these people can afford. Hell, these rich West Africans could match every billion of American Dollars you can dish up with a cool million West African CFA".
As she said it, Monique immediately realized she had gone to far. Looking at the expression on her Dad's face, she knew exactly what was coming and it wouldn't be pretty. Her dad put his hand on the table, got half up from his seat and leaned over, looking furious.
"Enough! We don't use the V word in this house young lady. You know my mother, your grandmother lived through the great dying. It's those friends of yours, isn't it. Those kids hardly know their history, but you do Monique, so there is no excuse for comparing me to a American Vegan Party member, no excuse at all. If it hadn't been for the AVP, we'd all still be eating organic food now like our ancestors, and everyone would be allowed to have babies to their heart's content."
"I'm sorry dad, I didn't mean it like that. But, really dad, the V word isn't as loaded anymore as it used to be in your days Dad. When we young people use it, we use it as a synonym for being short-sighted. You know, like the twenty-first century governments thought switching the world population to a completely plant-based diet would help the climate because having 8.5 billion people eating meat was too much of a strain on the planet's climate? Not realizing that the world population was only half a billion from its natural omnivore peak, not realizing that if the world has problem supporting nine billion omnivorous humans, would have even more problems supporting 155 billion vegans."
"You young people have no respect to history. And you know what they say, those that refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The AVP and it's peers in other countries were more than just shortsighted. They knew! Haven't you listened to any of Grandma's stories? They weren't just a bunch of ignorant and misguided politicians, the AVP was a religious death cult. Everything that happened from the explosive population growth through the worldwide red tide killing the seas and the extinction of most insect species from pest control up to the GMO killer fungi, all of these things were predicted as early as the early twenty-first century. It was never shortsightedness my child. The AVP was the closest thing to pure evil this world has ever seen. If it hadn't been for synthetic food, mushrooms, and the fact that sub-Saharan Africa wasn't rich enough to afford sixth generation GMO crops, humanity would be just as extinct now as flower bearing plants, fish and sheep. You yourself are more likely to die of hunger when we run out of fossil substrate than live to die of natural causes because of these monsters."
"Dad, please, I don't need a history lesson from you. As you said, I've heard Grandma's stories more times than I care to try to count. I'm sorry I used the V word Dad, it won't happen again. It's just that I'm scared Dad. I don't want to get kidnapped and sold to marry some rich Ghanese hippo-meat-eating kid, I want to be with Peter even if it means dying of starvation without any children."
"I understand my sweet child. I understand it is frightening. But understand my child, I only want what is best for you. If you get that last A, your child will be one of the thirty million that were promised refuge in Africa. When the world runs out of substrate, when we and the rest of the world die of starvation, our family will live on through her. Think about that my dear. I know you love Peter, I really do, but please dear, realize what you give up if you mess up your last exam."
