It being November 2019, I thought I should think about cyberpunk. But the questions of classic 80’s cyberpunk - what if the world was run by corporations? What’s a person? - just aren’t very interesting anymore. And their opposites are too hard for my tired fever-brain (I’d need to re-read some Kim Stanley Robinson to get there).
But I’ve always wanted to write Cli-Fi, and fever-brain actually worked for me for once:
Going Under
A larp of grief and memory
Ten years into the future…
Beach Road. Its a small tight-knit community by the sea (“on the coast” / “round the bays from Wellington”). A beach, a road, a row of houses, and the totara-covered hills (so, like Eastbourne). Families have grown up here. People have got married, put down roots and left memories. And now it is all going to be washed away.
Everyone has known intellectually that its days have been numbered, ever since the storms of the 20’s, and the insurance companies refusing to cover anything within 5m of sea level. And now the bad news has come: Beach Road has been red-zoned by the government, deemed not worth saving. The Wellington bureaucrats and the woman from the Council says it is “adaptation”. But really, it means abandonment. No compensation will be paid; after the outcry over Eastbourne, the government is not going to lose votes bailing out “coastal millionaires who should have known better”. And so with the flick of a pen, Beach Road’s residents have lost everything.
The decision is irreversible. All there is to do is pack up and leave. A few may try and cling on, but in other communities, they’ve eventually been removed by the police. As a community, Beach Road is finished.
All there is left is one final leaving party (bring a plate!). Someone should probably give a speech. Maybe sing. Have a last bonfire, like you did before the climate meant a year-round fireban? Reminisce about the good times, and decide what you are going to do next.
Which seems like one hell of a downer. It could get by with skeleton characters (because its so close to reality), and would need some sort of memory mechanic. But would it be fun to play?