Brave, New World
The Earth became conscious in January 2006. It was not a quiet event, but as traumatic and bloody as any human birth. Historians estimated that over three quarters of the world's population was killed during the event. The survivors eventually realized what had happened; the planet was aware now, its consciousness humming along lines of electromagnetic force. Some people didn't believe, but that changed the first time the Earth felt the need to shout. Afterward, people said the new global consciousness was a good thing, and not just because critics had a tendency to get crushed by mysterious rockslides.