What is this site?

SavethePearls.com is a portal of resources and information to help Pearls find an adventure romance that hopefully leads to mating, and therefore, their survival.

What are Pearls and Coals?

Pearls is the term used to describe the lowest class of humans, the race with the least amount of melanin in their skin, and therefore, most susceptible to The Heat. Pearls are found on the lowest position of the Beauty Map and are deemed the least attractive. Coals are the exact opposite—as the ruling class, they are the most attractive, if not beautiful, with their stunningly dark skin that carries the greatest possible amount of melanin. Their skin protects them from The Heat and makes them the strongest, most powerful race alive.

What is The Heat?

The Heat is caused by deadly, toxic levels of solar radiation. Its effects are horrific, resulting in a painful, tortuous death—imagine burning alive, from the inside out, for a week or two. The majority of Pearls are unable to step outside without contracting The Heat, whereas the Coals are protected from the sun’s radiation by the higher amounts of melanin in their skin.

Regardless, some lighter-skinned Coals still catch The Heat, so most of their population only ventures outside at night, when the effects of radiation are at its lowest. Some Pearls—especially those fairest in complexion, are never able to step outdoors.

What are symptoms of The Heat?

The most obvious symptoms are patches of sunburned skin and a feeling of extreme dehydration. Early symptoms of contraction include glassy eyes that appear wild and anxious, as well as papery, red-tinged skin. Once The Heat is contracted, the victim will live another week or two before succumbing.

Most organizations regularly check all of their employees, using state-of-the-art laser technology to examine individuals for diseased moles or other signs of The Heat.

Why are the Pearls in danger?

The Pearls are a nearly extinct population. Their extremely fair skin makes them susceptible to the To Heat, and therefore, they must remain indoors at all times. If they must go outside, it can only be done at night, and such outings require several layers Midnight Luster, dark coatings of a functional makeup formula that creates an extremely dark skin color to serve as a buffer to the Heat. This also helps Pearls achieve a higher ranking on the Beauty Map, making them more attractive to the opposite sex.

In addition, Pearls have to worry about the Federation of Free People (FFP), a militant organization of Coals that has vowed to rid the planet of Pearls.

Why are Pearls so desperate to mate?

The Uni-Gov requires all females to find a mate by their 18th birthday, and males by their 24^th birthday. By age 17, women are considered middle-aged and their mate rating decreases exponentially with each week that passes. If their mate deadline passes and no on picks up their mate option, then that person is eliminated. No one is really sure what happens or where they go, the only certain thing is that they disappear. Rumors about what happens to these unlucky Pearls are rampant and terrible—it is best to not spread these atrocious rumors any further so that a panic is not incited.

When Pearls do mate, note that they are only allowed to bear one child. This keeps the race in the vulnerable state of near extinction.

How does SavethePearls.com help Pearls?

This site seeks to help Pearls survive by providing up-to-date information on events that affect them, as well as the latest news regarding missing Pearls, new disappearances and any related investigations. In addition, the site provides social networking to help Pearls find a mate that is, hopefully, a young adult fantasy romance, despite the disbelief in this culture that love really exists. Dating and mating advice is also offered, as well as blog posts written by Eden Newman that share her journey to find the perfect mate and her trials and tribulations during her quest to Save the Pearls.

How do Pearls improve their mate-rate?

Always maintaining several streak-free coatings of Midnight Luster will keep their level of attractiveness as high as possible. Aside from that, there is not much else a Pearl can do but hope. There is a post on our dating and mating advice blog that suggests a few ways to improve and on how to find the perfect mate.

What happens if a Pearl mates outside of their class?

Mixed offspring are pretty much guaranteed a life of misery. While they will not be as lowly as a Pearl, they will not be classified the same as the dominant parent (i.e. from the high class of the two), and therefore not able to enjoy the same privileges. The rarity of their kind will also make them suffer the same ridicule and (outcast) that Pearls endure.

Why does Eden not want to find a mate of her class kind when mating with someone outside it will result in a life of misery for mixed offspring?

A child of mixed race has a better chance at resisting The Heat, with increased pigmentation, than a child with two Pearl parents. Love is dead, and all that matters is evolutionary climbing.

What can Pearls do to survive?

For short-term survival, Pearls must always wear their dark coatings and stay indoors. Chances are, even if a Pearl mates and follow those rules diligently, they rarely make it to their 40s.

What are the different social classes in Eden’s world and their hierarchy in terms of mate rate and social standing? Pearls, Ambers, Coals, etc.

The rule in Eden’s post-apocalyptic world is: the darker the skin, the higher the mate-rate. Other factors calculated into one’s mate-rate include wealth or employment status. For example, Ronson Bramford, a handsome Coal titan of industry, is at the top of the heap with a mate rate of 98%. At age twenty-two, he only has two years left in which to mate—or else he’d probably have a 100% mate-rate. Tiger’s-Eyes, or Latinos, usually rate above Ambers, or Asians, in the future race wars. White-skinned Pearls offer little resistance to The Heat, and therefore, are at the bottom. Only a Cotton, or Albino, would be lower.

What’s the different between the Uni-gov and the FFP, and why does the Uni-gov cut off resources to those who don’t mate by their birthday?

The Uni-Gov is the unseen hand that rules the world by controlling the information that flows non-stop from the World Band, a collection of all information and images, past, present and imaginary, into people’s heads via their life-bands. The FFP, or Federation of Free People, is a radical terrorist organization that vows to rid the planet of Pearls. The Uni-Gov does not condone the FFP, but neither do they thwart their existence.

Does the Uni-gov only cut off resources to Pearls, or are Coals included in this debacle?

The Heat affects everyone, though Coals, with their increased melanin, are less likely to contract the deadly disease. Because of their higher resistance, desirable Coals are more likely to find a mate and not suffer the cut-off date.

Why do women have until their eighteenth birthday while men have until their twenty-fourth birthday?

Men’s reproductive systems are not as subject to The Heat as women’s; the testes hang outside of the male body, providing a natural cooling system. Therefore, men have longer to mate. In Eden’s future world, the deadly environment has limited life expectancy to age forty-five. By age eighteen, and certainly by twenty-four, you already are middle-aged!

What happens to Pearls who don’t mate by their respective deadlines?

If you pass your deadline to mate, you no longer receive oxy-drips to relieve depression (truthfully, the entire population is addicted to oxy), or any food or water. Most people won’t last more than a day once their Basic Resources are eliminated. Some slip through the system, becoming prostitutes or criminals. Otherwise, someone past due is kicked out of The Caterpillar, the underground system of tunnels in which the Pearl population lives, and left to die in the scorched, deadly environment.

What happens to Coals, Tigers-Eyes or Ambers when they don’t mate by their respective deadlines, or are the deadlines relative to your social class standing (aka your race)?

The remaining human race cannot afford to distribute the very limited resources to those who do not help ensure the continuation of the species. If you do not mate by your appropriate age deadline, you are cut-off, regardless of race.

At present, the Resources for Environmental Adaptation (REA) is conducting a top-secret experiment that could greatly reduce the odds of contracting The Heat. My father, the REA’s lead scientist, is spearheading the experiment, which uses his proprietary technology to basically execute an Interspecies Structural Adaptation. This involves the dangerous concept of implanting a human being with genetic material derived from key animals that thrived in the hottest climates. Valuable DNA was gathered from these nearly extinct species to create a formula that will increase one’s resistance to the sun. If my father succeeds, it’s possible that Pearls will be able to withstand solar radiation as well as, or even better than, the Coals. Then, perhaps, we would no longer be treated like garbage.

Please email me at Eden@SavethePearls.com to find out how you can help save the Pearls.