[ WP ] The year is 2170 . The air is no longer safe to breathe , courtesy of hundreds of genetically engineered CRISPR viruses all capable of altering human DNA within seconds . A cult of clean air worshippers decides to venture out into the open and remove all their masks at once

`` Think of them like icebergs.'' The chief said. 
 
 The security feed showed a top-down view of the column of bald-headed monks. They were slowly making their way through the sunlit courtyard. 
 Like a trail of ants on the hunt for food. She chuckled briefly as the similarity between the glass dome of the city and the magnifying glasses of her childhood struck her. 
 
 Her protegee had never seemed this angry. His face was a deep red, only accentuated by his blonde curls. 
 
 `` They are not icebergs, they are people. And they will die if they go through with this. You must stop them!'' His voice close to screaming now. 
 
 She sighed and stood up from her worn leather chair. 
 
 `` You're too young to remember, but even before the Great Clear we were killing this world in a thousand different ways. 
 Most of us actually thought global warming would do us in. You know, droughts, storms, rising sea-levels, ocean-currents stopping or even reversing.'' 
 
 As she walked to the door she motioned for him to follow. 
 
 `` Now, the science was very clear on this. And even though there were a few deniers, most folks actually seemed to understand.'' 
 
 They made their way down the hallway toward the courtyard entrance. She stopped briefly along the way as an old man grabbed and kissed her hand with sadness. 
 Her student gave her a puzzled look. 
 
 `` Yet, even though we all knew what was going on, most of us could not be bothered in the slightest to actually change anything. 
 Least of all those in charge, their priorities were mostly selfish, and always short-term.'' 
 
 Behind them, the hallway was slowly filling up with older citizens. Her protogee, her sweet son, finally seemed to understand something was happening. 
 She ignored his questioning stare. 
 
 `` To act, knowing is not enough. You must feel. You must feel something deep in your stomach, in your bones, in every fiber of your being. 
 Inaction must be made unthinkable.'' 
 
 She could see his thoughts as clearly as if they were her own. Were these people going to help them stop the monks? Why did only the old ones join? 
 They had reached the final doorway and now stood at the edge of the courtyard. Even more people had been waiting here for them. 
 
 `` Even back then, some felt this way but still could not act. The survivors of flood and droughts. The orphaned and the starving. For them survival is more urgent than change, 
 and we can not blame them for that.'' 
 
 Slowly she started taking of her fingerless gloves, and her scarf and then her jacket. Every time, one of the people following them would come up and take the item of clothing, only 
 to drop back into the crowd again. 
 
 `` Yet, there were those who felt ánd who could act. They were scientists and explorers and tourists. They were those who could live comfortably but who had seen things that would haunt them forever.'' 
 
 They started to catch up to the much slower monks, the trailing row of the column now only a few meters ahead. 
 Behind them a soft synchronized humming filled the air. 
 
 `` They saw fires and death and suffering. Not on a screen or in a newspaper. They saw it up close, they smelled it and touched it. And it touched them.'' 
 
 The monks seemed to be expecting them, and opened a path in their midst. Allowing just the two of them to walk in their midst, while the elderly crowd flowed around the column in turn, encompassing them all. 
 
 `` But they were too few and too late. And like you well know, we killed the world in a different way altogether.'' 
 
 Barefeet now, with only her pants and her white undershirt left, she accepted an orange cloak from on the monks and swung it around her shoulders. 
 
 `` The lessons still stands though. To protect the world, to protect us, we need to feel. Especially those of us who are in charge.'' 
 
 They had reached the central airlock at the far side of the courtyard. The inner door already open, and the chamber within filling up with the monks. 
 Finally she turned around and looked at him. There was a great love in her eyes, and a great sadness too. Mostly though, there was pride. 
 
 `` You will be chief now. And therefore, you must feel. Not just know. You must feel as greatly and as deeply as you can. You must see the droughts and the fires and the famine. 
 You must watch the oceans grow still and stale.'' 
 
 She hugged him fiercely one last time and kissed his forehead. 
 
 `` See the icebergs melt and topple. The old for the new.'' 
 
 The hands of many held him back as he struggled trying to stop her from entering the airlock. 
 He screamed and cried and cursed as the inner doors closed. 
 His hands and feet flew in anger all around him. Yet he was held with unyielding kindness and understanding. 
 On the screen above the door he saw them walk out into the open air. 
 There was no thought and his eyes would not close. 
 
 One by one, he saw icebergs crumble into dust. 

