Welcome to Ancras (Working title)
I don't have an actual plot so bear with me. This is a sci-fi set in future Earth, specifically England.
Overview:
Humans live in complete darkness away from the harsh world in the light. They have formed colonies underground by venturing to the surface at night to collect materials and supplies.
Most surface-dwelling animals have died, so humans have cultivated and domesticated burrowing creatures such as rabbits, badgers, foxes and moles. Some nocturnal creatures have also survived the calamity and are carefully hunted during the night.
Humans:
The Human appearence has changed considerably from their once surface-dwelling ancestors - the vast majority have paler skin, hair and eyes from lack of sunlight. They are shorter too; ranging between four and five feet high, although colonies tend to be taller if they live near the surface.
Nocturnal walkers/cave dwellers are more bold than their deep-mine cousins because they risk heading to the surface during the night to hunt and collect materials. In contrast, deep-mine colonies are superstitous and reclusive, expressing grave mistrust to anyone who claims that they have walked the surface.
Due to the lack of accomodation homosexuality is encouraged in society. Children are limited to two per family (two pairs of same-sex couples) or one per heterosexual pair. Same sex couples will pair up purely to procreate and return to their own partners once a child is conceived. Often, the male and female homosexual couples will live in one dwelling so that there is no disagreement on the custody of their children.
When somebody dies, a funeral is held before the body is reprocessed and recycled into water and other minerals. This is to create as little waste as possible in a world where resources are thin on the ground.
Science:
Although technology is advanced, it has suffered considerably from the calamity which ruined a significant amount of documentation and equipment. Scientists were forced to focus on terraforming the underground environment and researching the effects of daylight, so they have been unable to resolve the problem of fixing or evacuating the planet.
It is common knowledge that daylight is now unbearable to humans. The government has warned that the glass particles in the atmosphere make the otherwise hazy light intense and will instantly burn any stragglers alive. Deep-mine dwellers have took this warning further and claim that what actually occured was an alien invasion which destroyed the moon, then they landed on Earth to claim it as their new home. The aliens (Known as the Keepers of Sol) are said to hunt or abduct any humans which step into the light, never to be seen again.
Of course, scientists and nocturnal-walkers scoff at this theory which has been proved wrong time and again. However, the Deep-mine Dwellers are set in their ways, which has caused a tense rift between the two cultures.
History:
In [year] a calamity shook the world with such force it drove people to live underground like rats. An undetected asteroid struck the moon in such a way that it shattered into shards of rock and thick dust, killing millions and throwing the world into chaos. The world leaders quickly took action and, despite losing their initial option to escape the planet, came up with a plan to evacuate the population into underground tunnels and caves.
Life under the surface was highly dangerous at first with many succumbing to the intense heat or being killed in gas explosions and tunnel collapses. Eventually a standard regulation was devised to make cave contruction much safer and easier for everyone. Poorer families worked in the mines, digging deeper and deeper into what would be their new home, whereas the rich and powerful generally remained nearer to the surface which was still far safer. Night-time expeditions were constantly run to salvage any useable materials from the ruins on the surface. These were used to illuminate and cool down the underground cities as well as providing water and oxygen to the colonies below.
However, power sources soon became scarce with solar energy rendered useless by the thick, dusky atmosphere and tidal energy halting to a mere ripple after the moon was destroyed. This caused a severe ration on resources, rendering light all but obsolete and forcing the population to be more resourceful with their new world plunged in darkness. Light still exists of course; the cities are illuminated by bioluminescent fungus. This natural source of light is also cultivated in small biodomes to be used as lanterns and lights.
See, nothing going on at the moment, but I hope my notes are enough to keep you eager!
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