Climate—disordered

In a stifling boardroom on the windswept coast, the president of Wheedonville’s Chamber of Commerce delivers a measured tirade at Wiley Cordes, the town’s resort‑promotion chief, for the sharp drop in tourist revenue. The council members listen in grim silence as they compare Wheedonville’s shrinking numbers to the booming trade of nearby Burden Bay. Cordes, cool‑hearted and confident, knows his job – and his livelihood – hangs on a convincing answer.

He proposes an audacious scheme: to engineer a climate advantage that would make Wheedonville the only reliably mild‑weather resort along the shoreline. The plan involves a covert operation using a repurposed military bomber to seed the atmosphere with something that could temper the fickle weather. The chamber, desperate and pragmatic, votes to back the secret venture, setting the stage for a risky experiment that could reshape the town’s fate.