The world-renowned scientist, Stephen Hawkings made a number of predictions to the end of the world. That included everything from meteor attack, human mutation, robotic revolution, climate change to an alien invasion. He gave the world a timeline of 200 years before which they needed to find an alternate planet. Some scientists took the warning as they took those of the Jeane Dixon or Peter Tuthill. Some, however, took the prophecy more seriously than the others. They focused on what to do rather than when and how. Survival trumps curiosity any day.
No one truly knew how the world would end. Very few wished to give it a thought. It was often seen as pessimism. No matter how much global warming melted the Arctic ice cap or the solar flares bombard the earth with cosmic radiation life went on as always.
It was the year 2050 and the world hasn't changed much. No one pays attention to the conspiracy theorists and their proof of Sector 51. Doomsday prophets roam about in every vacant street. Churches have closed down because of the lack of business. The discrimination based on creed and colour has come down. The London Pact of 2029 made racism a terrorist offence. The Jerusalem treaty of 2037 made religion a secret identity marker which meant that no one other than the individual and the state were to interfere in the faith systems of the individual. At the same time, no individual was allowed to instigate the faith of another. That did away with all religious conversions and fanaticism. The television market suffered a great loss. Many governments fell in the wake of this treaty. The world was now a secular entity.
The world is at peace. Human beings have started to realize the point of war all of a sudden. It was as if a war was entertainment. Hatred and prejudice were preoccupations that took their minds of random stress factors like the annual budget or the boss's foul mood. Was the world more materialistic for the lack of a spiritual outlet? You couldn't really tell. The mortality rate is higher than before despite the lack of casualty in war or terrorist attacks. Nature always finds a way to maintain balance.
Scientists carried on propaganda on how it is essential to find alternate earth, not because of resource depletion or population explosion in specific but to find the answer to the ever elusive question that was there any life on another planet. There has been the breakthrough where a spacecraft has landed on an asteroid beyond the solar system but beyond that, the scientists have no idea how to overcome the problem of time and fuel.
In the meantime, materialism flourished on earth as always. Sutherland properties were one of the many businesses that profited from the fact that religion had become obsolete. Sutherland properties provided the secure infrastructure where secret societies carried on their faith system under the guise of privacy.
Sutherland properties were run by Mr and Mrs Sutherland, an elderly couple who had witnessed the change in society through what seemed like a social upheaval. Mr and Mrs Sutherland were not really ambitious people and even though the business flourished that was not reflected in the lifestyle that they led. Even the offices that they maintained never gave an indication of their true worth. Mr Sutherland never appeared like the high in demand architect that he was. Mrs Sutherland with her updo and pleated skirt looked more like the old secretary rather than the powerful member of the board.
However when Mrs Sutherland passed away from a heart attack the the business took it almost as bad as Mr Sutherland who ended up having a stroke with a partial paralysis in the lower part of his body. That led to a chanfe in the SUtherland Properties that no one expected, the arrival of Ray Sutherland, their brainy son who was known as the NASA scientist, coming and taking over from his parents.