**Jovian Historical Data Archive: J103151**

The "Amish" are no more. All who refused God's gift of sustenance contained within the genome of Father Ammann have suffered the only fate available to them. Those who remain can all trace their ancestry back to Ammann himself. Thus, we truly are his sons and daughters, and so shall we be known from this day forth.

Even though our *Ordnung* hews closest to a true understanding of the old ways, history will likely remember us as a new branch of what came before. This is fair. Without the benefit of the secret knowledge, historians cannot claim to know the truth.

But so the full truth might be known, I state here, in these meeting minutes, that Father Ammann gave rise to the group known as "Amish," and -- when that group proved unwilling to heed God's call to a "faraway land" -- they proved themselves unworthy and were replaced. There should be no doubt in any of your minds: This same Father Ammann who walks among us now is he to whom I refer.

There can be no doubt he has been blessed by God. We all do well to follow him.


**Jovian Historical Data Archive: J103110**

The final terrestrial Meidung began at the Annual Communion of 2453.

The results of the gene-testers' work had been shared with the group. The *Ordnung* change which would approve the dissemination of this modified seed to all the families under the dome had been suggested. Stunned silence gave way to the rare sight of public weeping and the even rarer sound of public wailing. In the face of so great a departure from tradition, the *Gelassenheit* of many was shattered.

We lost about 60 percent of our remaining numbers that day. They left the meeting without a word, tear-streaked faces set in a resolve I could not help but admire. I knew as well as they did that their refusal to embrace God's unusual gift meant death for them. Such commitment should be honored!

And so we shall. We will use this "evergreen" wheat crop to live, and thus be able to carry on the names of our departed brothers and sisters. In this way, we will remember their sacrifice. We will tell this story to our children and they to theirs, so that their confession is not forgotten.

As it once was, so it is again. We are all Sons of Ammann now. God preserve us!


**Jovian Historical Data Archive: J100250**

The Global Famine of 2447 decimated every major population center on the planet, but it hit the Swartzentruber hardest of all. While overpopulation was an issue across the globe, this once-vibrant sect had dwindled to only a handful of families in just one of the ancestral regions. They were squeezed on every side by outsiders, protected from the biological agent that precipitated the widespread crop failures only by their elder-approved force dome.

While this protection saved them from outright destruction, it worked against them, as well, as it had served to severely limit the biodiversity of their staple crops for many decades. With the failure of the harvest outside their walls, there was no trade to make up for the regular annual shortfall.

At that year's Communion, a new *Ordnung* was approved. The gene-testers would now be permitted to use their vast research library to directly affect the food supply. Whether to allow alteration of livestock was hotly debated. That argument was tabled until a later time. But the decision to allow modifications to the wheat crop was unanimous, albeit reluctantly so.


**Jovian Historical Data Archive: J005280**

The stuffed parrot on the corner of my desk pierces me with its inquisitive gaze. Its plumage is faded, vibrant colors now dulled with age. The book falls from my hand, and tears spring to my eyes.

...The brandished sword of God before them blazed,
Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,
And vapour at the Libyan air adust,
Began to parch that temperate clime; whereat
In either hand the hastening Angel caught
Our lingering Parents, and to the eastern gate
Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast
To the subjected plain-then disappeared.
They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,
Waved over by that flaming brand; the gate
With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms.
Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon;
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.
They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitarie way.

Deceived by an enemy and cast from Paradise to wander the cruel earth in hardship and woe. Such has been the common lot of humankind for all time. Will this gift that I bear lead to something more? Or am I condemned to perpetuate the sins of the past?

Father God, may You guide my steps.