Honey

Honey is the name given to the 8-year-old girl cloned from a 6000-year-old strand of hair found in a jar of honey in the story, '*8113*'. Her real name is Lucy Jacobs, the daughter of Dr Thornwell Jacobs, who constructed the Crypt of Civilization in 1936.

## The last human on Earth

In the 1930's, Lucy asked her father to include her favorite food, honey, in his vault. A strand of her hair became trapped in the mixture, and was preserved for more than 6000 years.

In the 82nd Century, preservationists, attempting to find scientific proof that complex life still existed on Earth, were the first to come across the sealed vault. Under the leadership of Io Bloodstone (the Olgethorpe), a cult-like group called Thornwell's Prophets was established to protect Earth until the vault became accessible. A fake pyramid was erected by the prophets over the vault site as part of a hoax to convince people that Project De Novo was a success (and that humans still thrived on the abandoned planet). This pyramid was later discovered by AK Rhodes and his team, wherein the jar of honey was found. Rhodes vaguely knew about the vault prior, and that a 'golden key' locked inside was of importance to humanity's future, leading him to be drawn to the honey jar.

*Note: The concept of the 'key' or 'treasure' being actually 'gold' in color has no narrative origin here; it merely serves as a marker for the protagonists to easily locate the jar of honey later.*

After discovering a human hair in the honey, the team consults Martian geneticist Tum Gow VII, and decide to clone the girl and bring her into the 82nd Century. Technically, she is the last human born from Earth. They name her 'Honey' until her real name is later identified.

## Adapting to the future

As with all human clones, Honey emerged from her pod disorientated and weak. During the first few days, she responded to every sight and sound with panic. Any attempt to explain to her where, and when, she was failed, and so Coselay thought to employ the help of comical trio, Adam, Aegir, and Alta, to supply Honey with the proper vocabulary, and information, that a child from 1936 would need to understand her current surroundings. The three clowns are happy to offer their services, having not been consulted for millennia, and begin working as a voice-activated translating/interactive device to keep Honey up to speed. Honey develops a strong relationship with Adam, and keeps him constantly in her ear in order to answer her many, many questions. It takes her almost 10 years to become fully up to speed on the current world that she's in.

## Kill, worship, or hide?

Honey's existence immediately threatens to wreak havoc on an unstable world, making her the prime target of many rival groups. Most notably, Vaux Refineries' CEO, Apollyon Vaux, who wants the child dead and incinerated so that he can continue pressuring lawmakers to vote to allow ore mining to commence on Earth. Should the Senate obtain proof that Earth still possesses the capacity to breed life, the embargo would likely remain indefinitely, and his business in ore mining may crumble. Vaux employs every nasty tactic he can conceive to hunt the child down, forcing Rhodes to fend off multiple assassination plots against her.

Thornwell's Prophets, on the other end of the spectrum, see Honey's rebirth as a miraculous, spiritual event, and immediately aim to obtain her for the purpose of worship and the spreading of their cult. According to the Olgethorpe's interpretation of the vault door's scripture, Honey is the 'key' to saving humanity. Not knowing what that exactly means, the Prophets blindly perceive her as a god, and begin a crusade throughout the UFC, demanding citizens accept their new religion or perish in the coming end-of-days. Rhodes, not comfortable with the obsessiveness the Prophets have with her, is equally as keen to keep Honey from them.

Ultimately, Honey simply wants to go home. After firmly establishing that that is not possible, the next best thing is to find her a safe place where she can experience something of a 'normal' life. Without an ore-powered battery though, she is doomed to suffer a shorter lifespan unless they find a 'natural' habitat for her, such as another livable terrestrial planet. Rhodes intends to keep Honey hidden underground forever, but she is determined to go outside and see the universe. After hearing of a livable planet in the K3 system, Rhodes, with the help of the AAA, concoct a plan to sneak Honey away in a ship to a new world.