Sparkatale

Pangaea is set in a future world 200 years from now where global corporations rule under the banner of a single, integrated government. The world is carved into utilitarian zones for commerce, agriculture and manufacturing. Migration between these zones is tightly controlled. Humans are implanted with a number of chips representing the latest advancements in technology. Through the pervasive influence of commercialism on the mind, these chips are used by people to communicate and access entertainment. The protagonist of the story, Chantel Wild, and her disabled friend Beren Marley are residents of the privileged metropolis zone. When Chantel accesses a mysterious piece of footage downloaded onto her hard disk implant, featuring ‘purebloods’ that were believed to have been extinct, she enlists the help of Beren to uncover the origins of the recording. They embark on an adventure trip to Freetown on the other side of the world where Chantel learns of the African continent’s colonial past. The series of circumstances which left Beren handicapped and wheelchair-bound also gave him the opportunity to learn about the long-forgotten history of the world captured in books. In the digital future, there are no historical records of colonisation or slavery. Instead, the citizens cling to the notion of the virtuous Human Integrity Act, one of the first pieces of legislation passed by the global government. With this statute of law in place, the global citizens find it hard to believe that any human right atrocity, such as turning people into property, could ever have taken place. Chantel’s adventure to the metropolis of Cape Town expands her horizons even more when she meets the courageous Captain Julie who promises to transport the pair to the port city of Lagos. Little do Chanel and Beren know that their cruise ship adventure is not what they bargain it to be and a hasty move by Beren puts the two in danger of being hijacked by unorthodox pirates. In a future ultimately dependent upon technology it then comes as little surprise to Chantel that pirates have mastered the art of circumventing digital rights management technology. What does shock Chantel is what lies deeper behind the sinister lives of the pirates as they migrate from place to place like refugees of the sea. Chantel and Beren’s journey eventually takes them to the mysterious wasteland zone to search for the only other known living ‘pureblood’ alive at the time. It is in the depths of a land filled with garbage, where ironically a community manages to live completely sustainably, that Chantel is able to find solace and here she meets the enigmatic Wolram. In true 'heart of darkness’ fashion, Wolram’s viewing of the footage brings on the most extreme and primeval of emotions making the source of the glitch appear ever more mysterious. Joined by the friends they have met on the way, Chantel and Beren are ultimately led to the source of the footage in Freetown, deep within the wastelands of the garbage heap of the world. There, they learn that the most terrible atrocity committed by human beings against each other is still in practice. They uncover the use to which the people featured in the footage are being put and the source of slavery in Africa. Chantel realises that her complacent life in the metropolis zone is not without consequences as the duplicity of the actions of the global corporations are revealed. Ever-faithful in the global regime, Chantel and Beren continue on their journey to the central quadrant in the hope of bringing justice to the human rights violations they have witnessed. As Chantel's journey culminates in Shanghai, she is forced to evaluate her beliefs and allegiances when she realises that she is deeply embroiled in a world conspiracy. This science fiction, dystopian, techno thriller explores what the future may hold if we continue on our current trajectory of environmental destruction and resource depletion without converting to renewable energy.