most know that the atmosphere is comprised of various gases. nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, argon, xenon, et cetera. thirty years ago, however, a scientist in kenya discovered that there is another gas, some sort of unnamed compound, that exists in trace amounts so small it hadn't been detected until very recently. this was considered a minor curiosity, until it was discovered that said chemical is, essentially, the key to near-infinite energy. a gram of it could power all of europe for decades. a kilogram could, given the proper infrastructure, eliminate the need for any other energy production, period.

there's just one problem. it can't be synthesized.

sure, scientists have tried. in fact, they're still trying, and maybe one day they'll succeed. i hear turkey says they expect to have a synthetization process nailed down within the next fifty years or so. which, considering the scale of the task, is pretty impressive, but you know how politicians are. that's not soon enough. they have to get building now. they had to get building last year. twenty years ago, actually. and now they're very near done, at least in the states.