We rode together the next day passing many farm-like settlements, collectives as we drew close to Novosibirsk..
"Arkady explained to Vladimir, these collectives were formed following the mass de-urbanisation after the separation from the enhanced."
The enhanced hit our power stations simultaneously, denying our forefathers their way of life.....people had been living rich lives.. In those days.. people were satisfying their desires as they arose in their minds, fast food, movies, internet, nightclubs with neon lights and vodka, strippers spinning on golden poles. They had electronic games in their homes that allowed them to immerse themselves through technology so they could fight imaginary wars on their computers. Everything was at their fingertips.... Can you imagine it!
When the enhanced took out the power sources, their cities fell cold.
Homes within the city that were once great places to live - became cold hollow shells overnight, not only did they lose all the wonders of technology - our forefathers lost their light sources, heating systems, sewerage systems, water could no longer be pumped into their multi level flats and houses.
Their factories, offices, places of employment became unable to function, some instantly. People called it a reversal of the Industrial Revolution for the un-enhanced..
Once the populace realized that power wasn't going to return to the cities, those who had roots in the country, in towns and villages left, for those old places of origin. The places that had existed for centuries without electricity.
The collectives we are riding through now are different.. they were formed by the city dwellers with nowhere to go - those office workers, teachers, bus drivers, the factory workers, programmers who found they no longer had a life in the city but had also had no connections to seek aid from those in the countryside..
A very great man, The great grand-father of my beloved Zoya, organised these people into a system of collectives - which exists and thrives until this day - he named it the Novosibirsk Collective System.. and I am a lieutenant of the Riders which serves to protect the NCS..