#16 - Eternal Flame

Presently, if you wish to visit the subterranean ruins of the very first Deep Earth Settlement, you need only purchase an advance ticket and travel to the tourist center located twenty kilometers west of Branson, Missouri. There you will register, join a group of ten to fifteen fellow visitors, and be assigned a professional tour guide who will lead you on your exploration through the entertaining, informative, and fully climate-controlled Deep Earth Settlement museum.

Shortly after reemergence, Deep Earth, Inc. (including all fifteen of its North American Settlements) was purchased by the XinHai Corporation and, for decades, remained closed to the public. However, when the settlement property in Missouri was reclaimed by the local government in June of 2119, our leaders quickly began refurbishing it with hopes of one day reopening and welcoming a new generation of Deep Earth inhabitants. Though this dream is still in process, the museum offers visitors a trustworthy look at the first Deep Earth Settlement’s past, as well as a glimpse into the future of fun, affordable, and safe subsurface living.

Upon entering the museum, your first stop will be registration. Here you will experience an authentic recreation of the registration process undergone by Deep Earth’s first settlers. Though history tells us that the original settlers were held to very high standards of health, hygiene, and intelligence, there are no such standards for visitors to the museum. All are welcome!

After registration, all visitors are guided to Truth Hall, where an accurate account of the circumstances necessitating the first Deep Earth Settlement is presented through a series of engaging and interactive exhibits, including Weather Wasteland, Money Market, and a visitor favorite, The War Room. Each exhibit offers a hands-on learning experience. An average visitor might find himself watching historically-standardized hurricane footage, bartering for commodities in a market game, or sitting behind an incredibly life-like nuclear launch control panel.

Truth Hall was designed to educate the present generation on the myriad factors that sent our ancestors below ground into subsurface communities like the Deep Earth Settlement in Missouri. Over the years, misinformation has corrupted society’s understanding of the past. But in Truth Hall, history comes undeniably alive. Visitors leave with a new sense of the tragedies and triumphs experienced by Deep Earth’s forefathers. The goal of the Deep Earth Settlement Museum’s staff is that every visitor will leave the tour with their questions answered and a new appreciation for the human determination and ingenuity required to settle Deep Earth and allow for the continuation of our great nation.

Upon leaving Truth Hall, visitors will be guided to the Deep Earth Construction exhibit, where they will become acquainted with multiple aspects of the design and construction of the Deep Earth Settlement. Years before the first inhabitants arrived at Deep Earth, an army of engineers and laborers worked tirelessly to create what would later be called an “underground city”. Many of these laborers lost their lives during the construction phase of Deep Earth, and the Deep Earth Construction exhibit is dedicated to their memory and continued legacy.

Next on the tour is an exhibit titled The Gathering, a remembrance of the families and individuals who stepped forward to participate in the “great experiment” that was the Deep Earth Settlement program. Culled from the highest achievers in a variety of fields, the Deep Earth settlers were scientists, teachers, doctors, engineers, athletes, executives, and high ranking military leaders. With willing hearts, they descended into Deep Earth, hoping to preserve the greatness of our culture and society. They left behind family and friends on the surface, but never doubted their own purpose in sustaining humanity in the face of enormous challenges. The Gathering exhibit was established to honor these heroes, and to help future generations recognize that survival was the least of their vast achievements.

The Transition Room encourages visitors to imagine the difficulties settlers endured once they arrived at Deep Earth. Life below the surface was much different than life above, and there were many hurdles to overcome. Visitors are invited to watch a short film in which actors recreate poignant scenes from this transitional phase at the Deep Earth Settlement. Artificial light acclamation, dietary supplementation, and Economic Equality Enforcement policies (EEE), were necessary and positive adjustments experienced by the first settlers. These adjustments are entertainingly highlighted in the Transition Room.

For visitors wanting a real taste of the past, the Deep Earth Settlement Museum offers a sampling of dietary supplements and drinks similar to those consumed by the Deep Earth settlers. Samples are available for purchase at the Deep Earth Eatery located in the Transition Room.

After partaking in a “Settler Snack”, visitors make their way through an exhibit hall titled Life in Deep Earth. This portion of the museum tour is the most interactive, with several hands-on learning activities offered. Two favorites are the Temple of Light, where visitors are encouraged to spend a moment of quiet reflection, and Private Pleasures, an exhibit open to all visitors ages eighteen and older.

If a visitor is curious about the Tyndale Terrorist Attack (sometimes mistakenly referred to as the Tyndale Failed Revolution in illegal publications), pamphlets are available upon exiting the Life in Deep Earth exhibit hall.

The last two major exhibits guests will visit are the Reemergence Room and the Future Room. The Reemergence Room offers the most reliable and up-to-date information regarding humanity’s return to surface living. This exhibit is consistently being updated to reflect the most accurate findings and opinions of modern historians regarding the events leading to the Deep Earth Settlement’s success.

Finally, the Future Room presents guests with an opportunity to peek into the visionary minds of our contemporary leaders. Though subsurface living is no longer a necessity, there are still big things in store for Deep Earth. In the Future Room, visitors will learn how technologies first developed for use in the Deep Earth Settlement have benefitted humanity post-reemergence, and how new technological breakthroughs may impact life on earth in the decades to come. 

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If you would like to learn more about Eternal Flames, read the original Wikipedia article HERE.