CODY CONMAR
AND THE POST-EVENT WORLD
The History of Cody Conmar’s Post-Event World
The term post-Event refers to the period following a dreadful cataclysm that occurred in 1991–92 with the outbreak of a voracious nanofungus. This rapidly multiplying blue growth, simply called Bloom, enveloped and destroyed vast swathes of land worldwide before being killed off by a freak arctic event that lasted for fourteen months. This secondary calamity came to be called Fimbulwinter, a term borrowed from Nordic myth. Everything in Cody’s world is either pre-Event or post-Event. The loss of life was stupendous, and the entire world is still trying to recover. No one has a convincing explanation as to what caused the separate parts of the tragic Bloom–Fimbulwinter occurrence – or if they do, they have their reasons for remaining silent.
The survivors of the catastrophe have had to revert to a more basic pattern of life, focusing on the essentials: food, shelter, and basic survival. The remnants of the governing authorities have access to technically advanced pre-Event resources, but their distribution is generally limited. Priority is given to the specialist armed forces of the Mainland Protectorate tasked with defending these shores and essential transport services. The government strategy for post-Event recovery relies on effective countrywide transport of goods and resources. For most survivors, however, such as those in Cody’s quiet Cheshire village, life moves at a sedate pace dictated by the changing seasons. Facilities such as working telephones still exist but are a rarity, and access to computers outside of research centres is almost non-existent.