The Terraformers

by Annalee Newitz

Half the roads had no sidewalks, so they had to walk in the street with all the vehicles—and fully half of those vehicles didn’t care whether they collided with pedestrians. There were high-density commercial streets that were inaccessible by foot, and low-density residential areas with broad sidewalks that nobody used.

“Sometimes the best way to handle resources is to perceive when they aren’t resources at all. They are people. Maybe it’s hard for you to understand because everyone in La Ronge is slaved, but that’s what it means to govern. A government’s job is to recognize people, to help them make their own agreements with each other—and if you do your job well, those people become your political allies.”