Summary

In Chapter 6, since Fairfax is stuck in the village for the time being, he decides to look through the small hoard of books that Lacy kept hidden. Among the books were records of a secret scholarly society dedicated to researching pre-apocalyptic society and technology. The president of the society is listed as Mr. Shadwell, and the secretary is listed as Mr. Quycke. Fairfax is then shocked to find a copy of a letter written in the year 2022 (before the apocalypse.) The letter was written by a man named Peter Morgenstern and is addressed to Imperial College, London. The letter discusses the possibility of human society being ravaged by climate change, nuclear war, a super-volcano eruption, an asteroid strike, a general failure of computer technology, or a global disease pandemic. Morgenstern believed the likelihood of an apocalyptic event within ten years. Fairfax is shocked by...