Andrew

Andrea Skala

Life History

You got into environmentalism to save endangered species. You certainly never expected that humans would be one of them. You didn't realized that it could get this bad.

You grew up in the city, in a nice Jewish neighborhood filled with other middle class Jews and surrounded by concrete and plastic. The only animals were the pigeons and the occasional stray cat. Every summer, your father used to take you and your sister Pearl out of the city on fishing and camping trips. Pearl liked catching fish and hanging out with your father, but what you were really there for was the chance to see the animals.

You became fascinated by the types of fish in the lake. You didn't care so much about which ones were good to eat, you wanted to know what they did, how they lived and what they were.

When you went to college, you knew exactly what you wanted to do. You studied marine biology and started working with a researcher who was studying the declining fish populations. During your work on this project, you realized just how bad it had gotten. Between the fisheries, global warming and other types of pollution, the fish were dying off far faster than they could reproduce. If nothing was done, in a few generations, most of the fish that people eat would go entirely extinct. Several species of fish already had been driven to extinction.

The fish got you involved in environmental activism. You wrote letters to the editor and protested. This started many arguments between you and Pearl. Pearl had joined the Three Diamonds Foods Corporation and thought that most of the environmentalist side was just paranoia and exaggeration. There were a few years when you often weren't on speaking terms. After a while, you just tried not to discuss politics.

After college, you went on for your Ph.D. in Marine Biology, specializing in fish conservation. You fought for tighter laws restricting fishing and marine pollution and studied the damage that people were doing to the oceans. During graduate school, at a conference, you met Eric. He was a post-doc working on sea lion migration and its effect on conservation strategies. You got into long conversations about the state of the world and the declining state of the oceans.

You met several times over the course of that year, and eventually began dating. You knew that marriages where both partners were academics in similar fields could be difficult due to jobs limitations, but you were too in love to let practicality get in your way. Your parents didn't really like the fact that he wasn't a practicing Jew, but at least he was technically Jewish, and you hadn't really been observant in years. You were married less than two years after you met. Luckily, things seem to have worked out. After his post-doc ended, Eric was able to get a job at a marine laboratory station less than an hour away. The distance was unpleasant, but you were both so busy that it hardly mattered.

You published well and got a prestigious post-doc position in your area, so Eric was able to stay where he was. After your post-doc you and Eric were both hired by an enormous state school with a large marine biology department. You loved teaching your students and educating the next generation of environmental activists.

One day, a member of the Preservation and Unity Association (PUA) came and spoke in your department. He talked about the effects that pollution and global warming were going to have on people. You felt horrible. All this time, you had lived with your head in the sand. You were so worried about your fish that you had never thought about the people who would starve or drown in the environmental collapse. Eric was not nearly as distraught, but he was sympathetic and encouraged you to pursue this path.

You joined PUA at once. They were looking for technological solutions to the problems that people would face in the rapidly degrading environment. They were also trying to spread awareness of the problems. You didn't have any technological skills, but you knew the oceans and you helped where you could.

After a few months, you heard about MAGE. The MAGE Institute was addressing the same problems, but they focused on educating the public, lobbying congress, and publicizing the problems.

You quickly got very involved. You met Chris and found that she was doing wonderful things. You felt so strongly about MAGE's work that you wanted to give your sister one more chance to see the light. You invited Pearl to dinner with Chris. Chris and Pearl hit it off just fine, but Pearl still dismissed MAGE as "left-wing hippy shit."

Less than a year later, Pearl called you and asked how to get in touch with Chris. When you asked what happened, she just told you that Three Diamonds had crossed the line. You called Chris and had her meet for coffee with both of you.

Pearl told you both how Three Diamonds had screwed a farmer out of his land. She had all the documents to prove it. Chris released the information to the press through her contacts, and managed to keep Pearl's name out of it. Since then, Pearl has become more and more involved in MAGE, and even started to care about the ecological issues.

You have always been a bit concerned by the illegalities taking place: if anyone associated with MAGE is caught, all of MAGE will go down. Six weeks ago, you learned something that makes you more worried about this: you're pregnant. You recently got tenure, so you had begun to be less concerned about your professional image. A baby changes everything. Eric has heard what happens in MAGE and is trying to convince you to pull out when the baby is born: you'll be busy enough anyway. You haven't decided. It depends on whether MAGE has gotten more or less dangerous and how scared you are for your child's future. You haven't mentioned your pregnancy yet to anyone in MAGE, even your sister, because you're not sure what you're going to do next.

With your concerns about MAGE, you have been considering starting an organization of your own. You really like Chris's ideas about escaping from the dying planet. As a scientist, you don't believe that the planet is focusing nearly enough on space travel. The organization would work on the creation of a spaceship to escape. You even have a name for it: the Scientific Human Interplanetary Freedom and Rebirth Association, or SHIFRA. You haven't told anyone about it yet, but you might want to bring it up to some of the Peaceniks tonight.

People You Know

Chris Carpenter - Chris is doing amazing work. She even made an impression on Pearl, a difficult thing to do. Chris is a great person, but you worry about the direction that she is letting MAGE go.

Barry Magdalene - Barry is a sweetheart. He was a good senator even if he got caught up in scandal, and he cares deeply for Chris. He shares your concerns about the direction MAGE is headed, and you know he will sympathize with your concerns about your baby.

Pearl Skala - Your sister. You tease her about being the corporate drone, but in the past few years, she has really broken that mold. Once she saw what Three Diamonds was really doing, she came to MAGE. If anything, she's gotten so involved that you worry about her getting caught. She is still a little skeptical about the environmental issues, but Chris begun to win her over, and Pearl is really making progress. You just hope she doesn't wind up losing her job, or in jail.

James Papadopoulos - James terrifies you. He is cold and dangerous. He isn't dangerous to anyone on your side, at least not directly, but he's exactly the sort of person who is driving you away. You don't want whatever extracurricular activities he and his buddies are engaged in to be tied to you or Pearl.

John Papadopoulos - John is a great guy, but he has some real issues. He wants to help, and he does good work for the cause, but he needs to help himself first.

Philip Harrison - Phillip is kind of creepy. You're not a terribly religious Jew, and the hyper Christian stuff makes you nervous. He seems to help some of the people on the street, but you think that if he spent more time working for the cause and less time ranting about Hell, everyone would be better off.

Colonel Frank Bartholemew - You have no idea why Chris lets this crazy homeless guy into her inner circle. All he does is follow Phillip around and ramble uselessly.

Tamasa Valappil - Tamasa is nice enough. You wish she was a little more devoted to the cause, but at least she isn't crazy. She's kind of like a less argumentative version of your sister.

Jamie Schreiber - Jamie idolizes Chris, and you can understand why. Jamie would be better off if she was a little more independent, but you get along pretty well. Jamie is also concerned about the recent actions of MAGE. Jamie doesn't want to see anything happen to Chris, and that's a big concern, the way things are going.

Eve Matthews - You were never much for baseball, but you heard Pearl talk about Eve when she played, so it was kind of a kick to meet her. Pearl has taken Eve under her arm, and Eve is also getting into corporate espionage. You worry about Eve, too.

Simone Cylima - You know Simone had a hard life, and you feel sorry for her. That doesn't change the fact that she obviously did not come out quite right. What she's been through would break nearly anyone, but you still feel nervous around her.

Judah Isaacson - Judah is truly devoted to the cause. Judah works really hard to make a difference. You don't like all of his decisions, but you respect his devotion. If he's doing anything really unpleasant, he's good at keeping it a secret.

Jude Fairchild - You heard that Jude got thrown off the force for killing an unarmed man. That doesn't surprise you at all. You wouldn't want to meet Jude in a dark alley. You really don't want him here.