Cuddly Codfish

…hey, even delicious ocean fish need love

The Doclopedia #243

Altered (United) States: Kansas  “Totally warped”

In most respects, the Kansas of Earth 77 is exactly like our own Kansas, except for the warp holes that connect Kansas to 83 other places on the planet.

There were no spatial anomalies anywhere in Kansas or anyplace else on Earth until 1951, when a strange purple meteor entered the atmosphere and exploded over central Kansas. Within days, it was discovered that everywhere a piece of the meteor fell, a doorway in space opened to another location on earth. These “warp holes” were two way, allowing instant movement between places like Hays, Kansas and San Diego, California (the first discovered warp hole) or Salina, Kansas and Perth, Australia (the second warp hole). Being that it was the 1950s and two of the warp holes connected to the Soviet Union (one just outside Vladivostok and one in a farming area of Georgia), the Department of defense quickly put up buildings around the warp holes, fences around the buildings and troops around the fences. This lasted for two years, at which point most of the warp holes were opened for commercial use.

Each warp hole is between 14 and 22 feet across and perfectly circular. Roads were built to run through them after the buildings sheltering them were greatly expanded and airlocked to prevent “anything undesirable” from crossing through. Trucks hauling up to four trailers transport freight to and from every continent, including Antarctica (that location is now a large scientific base on the Katabatic Plateau).

Naturally, these warp holes became a huge game changer in the world arena. Not only did the United States become the transportation hub for the world, the reduced usage of energy has slowed global climate change and kept the price of crude oil very low. Why take a jet to Europe when you can fly to Kansas and take a bus to Surrey, Nice or Hamburg?

This instant travel/transport option made the USA so much money, that by 1963, the Soviet Union collapsed from trying to outspend them on defense and the inability to compete economically. The Communist regime in China managed to hold on until 1970, but when it fell, it fell hard. Cuba and Viet Nam never saw any real Communist activity, thanks to US dollars and the fact that arms could be sent in easily. In Africa, most governments were “aggressively lead into democracy” by the CIA. In all, the world is a pretty stable place now. Not too many people go hungry and most folks get good medical attention.

Special Note: In 2006, a warp hole measuring only seven feet across was discovered in south central Nebraska by a team of physicists from the University of California at Santa Cruz. It differs from other warp holes not only in size, but in the fact that it seems to connect to the exact same spot in space, but in the year 1800. So far, these “damned hippie science geeks” have kept the discovery secret while they decide the best way to make use of the time travel aspect.