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By the early 21st Century, the cracks in society had widened considerably. The proud country that once boasted an empire was crumbling. To be fair, most of the worlds "powers" were not faring any better and if, as a country, you did not have a society to rip apart; Mother Nature took revenge on the land itself. It was a time of omens, of prophesies and the doomsday followers loved every minute of it.

The in-depth story of the decline of this society is available in any good library and is still taught in the education establishments. This is one piece of history the Collaborative has not changed. I will therefore not go into great detail, suffice to say the welfare state this society had created was failing; there were more people claiming aid and benefit than there was funds available. Taxes were raised to compensate, more people fell below the poverty line. Environmental issues were starting to bite; fuel had become scare and the prices for Petroleum products, gas and electricity had soared, again pushing more below the poverty line. Industry suffered, it was costing more to run production lines and with the increase in minimum wages to compensate for soaring prices, well, as you can see, the end was inevitable, yet no one could see it at the time or if they did, they did nothing to stop it.

The Collaborative also agree on the catalyst that caused the final breakdown, the story of Michael Curry.

Michael Curry, 33years old, married to Rachel 31, father to Jack aged 11 and Kirsty aged eight. The family were just above the poverty and line and both Michael and Rachel had to work long hours to keep them there. The family had few luxuries; no annual holiday abroad, no satellite TV, no new car, in fact, no car at all. Yes, the house was theirs, not in the nicest of areas because that was all they could afford and although the mortgage payments were high, renting would have been higher as they just fell out of the so-called welfare zone for assistance. Everything they owned had been paid for with hard earned cash and although not the latest or most fashionable, everything they owned was well kept and looked after.

Why should you be interested in Michael Curry's background? His background is central to what followed.

Michael had been taking overtime to help earn some extra money and on July 12 2010 had finished his shift at 10pm and was returning home. He stepped off the bus at 1030pm, reached his front door at 1035pm at 1036pm his life changed. His family were bound

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