Tokyo 2020

As I open the front door to my house, a rush of fragrance hits my nose. A spiraling stone pathway stretches out to the fields of interwoven grains and vegetables, with innumerable flowers blanketing the sides of the walkway. Swarms of hoverflies and bees and hummingbirds flit about, pollinating my crops and controlling the pest situation.

My 8 year old son is already outside, practicing capoeira with the dog. Our old Husky Luna has gotten better with the kids and the livestock every year...

My wife Bianca comes up behind me with my video phone in her hand. I see a familiar face in the screen.

"What can we do for you today, Alchemy?" I say.

The figure lets out a sigh. This must be bad.

"The food crisis in Japan has gotten worse. We need in you Tokyo yesterday".

Now its my turn to sigh. I'd have to reschedule my composting workshops for this week and get one of our other garden managers to move the chicken tractor.

"We'll be there in a couple hours, the wind is just picking up so the batteries on the jet-copter should be charged soon".

I think to myself, Japan, now thats a tough nut to crack. They'd been one of the most high density populations on the planet since I was born, and the 21st century hadn't made it any better. As cities encroached on farmland, and ocean fisheries were depleted by poor management, their plight had gotten more and more desperate.

Was it another super-fungus that was infecting their rice stores, or had the latest avian flu wiped out their chickens. Its probably a confluence of events. I'll need to keep an open mind for this one.

I turn to Bianca.

"Pack the seed bank, grab a few cases of the rizobium inoculant, notify Growcology: Hokkaido, we're going to Japan."