NationStates Jolt Archive

(As a story, this is closed for all but OOC comments, although this is basically the first chapter of what shall consist in the transition from "Near FT" to "Far FT", including their development into a Type II civilization, this will be a long way though. So with no delays, a brief introduction to put things on focus and the story itself in the next post. Also, as always, all credits to the images go to their authors when appliable)

An Illustrated Timeline of the major events preceding the Eternal War

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2070: The Third World War brings humanity to near-extinction

It is ironic in a certain way that the shortest duration war of mankind's history is also the one with the greatest death toll. The first year of what is known as the World War Three involved only conventional warfare where ten forces, or supranational sovereignties, fought for supremacy in Earth and for the last drops of petroleum, for a sheer lack of vision has led many nations to continue completely dependent on Oil despite the major Peak Oil crisis that struck many world economies and escalated further by such year. The first year only involved use of conventional military attacks, and some brutal examples of the worst that mankind can perform, that would make the Nanking Massacre seem like child's play, as for a reason brutality has reached new levels never imagined before during this war, but it was not surprising that in 17th of January of 2071, in few brief hours, most of the planet was reduced to cinders, flattening everything but a few, isolated territories which did not become involved in the war, like the Third Commune, the nation which originated Solar Communes. It was never discovered who fired the first nuclear warhead, and in fact that has little importance considering the effects that the entire delivery of nuclear weapons in such process of mutually assured destruction, because the amount of deployed nuclear weapons was much beyond the capability of interdiction of existing SDI technologies. In less than one hour after the launches, civilizations and metropolises which took centuries to develop were completely annihilated, leaving behind only chaos, absolute misery, destruction and an environment which would bring the worst humanity could offer. More than 8 billion of human beings have died in what was perhaps the most tragic historic event of mankind history, not counting those who have died of radiation poisoning, or victimized by the savagery and brutality that took over most of the world... humanity was almost extinguished, and were it not the advanced anti-radiation nanite drugs and NBC protection technology developed in Third Commune, its people would share the same fate and the survival of the human race would not be ascertained. Could something even worse happen? Such question would soon be answered...

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2078: An almost Worldwide Tyranny is established, restoring order: the Global State

As the economically devastated Germany was the environment that brought Adolf Hitler to power... the devastation of the Third World War against most of the known world would eventually bring to power something much worse than whate the dystopian predictions that George Orwell and Aldous Huxley have envisioned about a dark, hopeless future for mankind. From the decadent United Nations, a man called Paulus Rovari Porter have volunteered himself as "governor of the world" to "restore order, peace and prosperity to mankind", despite the total refusal of the Third Commune to accept his authority. In a few years, through sheer oppression and violence, he have restored order over the rioting and almost entirely devastated world in a way that seemed to be impossible. Several religions claimed Porter was the messiah that would save mankind and although initially he was believed to be a "benevolent dictator", in a few years his iron fist became more and more ruthless and brutal. Perhaps it is deeply ironic that the same information technology, transhumanist and eugenics principles that were employed to create a perfectly free society in Third Commune were used to create an unquestionable totalitarian State of absolute tyranny which would call itself the Global State, from the ashes of the Third World War. According to Christians, such man was not only another, and perhaps the worst tyrant in mankind's history, as according to them, this man was the Antichrist from the prophecy of the Book of Revelation. All "citizens", which are considered mentally dead and called mindless(or soulless) slaves or zombies by Third Commune and current Solar Communes people, were forced, at bullet-point or worse, to have implants of brain-computer interfaces which rather than serving as an improved ways of perception and communications, take advantage of centuries of shady researches over mind control to create the perfect device for enforcing conformity, it did not merely stomped on freedom... it was much beyond, Global State has violated the sanctity of human consciousness and annihilated free will itself and thus annihilated what makes an human being human, for they always obeyed, every single action, every single gesture of them was controlled and defined by the State... they were automatons and puppets rather than human beings. People who refused to follow the State-sponsored religion or accept the "mark of the Beast", specially Christians, are shot on sight. Rumors from a few refugees who managed to reach safety in Third Commune claimed that the code of this fascist Brain-Computer Interface is 666 and that they personally witnessed Porter "communicating with Satan", although the majority of skeptics simply consider him just a much more glorified tyrant, and "god-emperors" weren't unknown before in mankind's history as well. An uneasy truce was maintained for the first ten years... but it was certain that eventually, the inevitable war between the forces of Absolute Tyranny and Absolute Freedom would happen... mankind's darkest hour has begun.

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2090: The Fourth World War begins. Two goals: Global Anarchy and Global Tyranny, collide

The existence of Third Commune was not something tolerated by the Global State, which sought to make justice to its name by becoming effectively an World Government, which considered such revolutionary, anarchist independent power the last obstacle into such transition. While the final goal of the Confederation was to destroy the last hierarchical government in Earth, the Global State, in the hope it would thus allow mankind a better, almost utopian future they envisioned. After a quick military build up and long process of radiation cleanup and environmental restoration through advanced technology by the Global State, the island where Third Commune was located, the territories of African Communes, American Communes, anarchist communes across the globe and the countless floating cities and submarine cities surrounding Third Commune dry land, the last bastions of freedom, dignity and hope in Earth, were invaded from all sides by a force which was much beyond any amphibious operation ever imagined before. All odds were against Third Commune... and the situation was so dire that the Christian inhabitants of the city of Fatima believed such was the beginning of the great tribulation mentioned in the Apocalypse, the chances of standing against a State which composed 80% of the entire, now partly restored world, would be very small, but their revolutionary resolve would never cease. Many millions would die...

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2120-2142: The last hope of a dying revolutionary dream seeks refuge in a distant star. the Confederation is born

Facing imminent defeat by the fascist forces of the Global State, Third Communes last breath, made possible by almost two centuries of spaceflight research, was the launch of 10 interstellar colony torchships towards the Gliese 581 system carrying the best mankind had to offer, intellectually and morally. This system had a technically inhabitable and human colonizable Super-Earth, Gliese 581d. After a brief but decisive conflict near Earth's orbit, where the outnumbered spaceplanes of Third Commune faced the sheer force of Global State, the departure towards deep space was secured against the spaceplanes of Global State, and there was yet hope for a free mankind... The people of Solar Communes don't know how long the Third Commune has stood, although all realistic estimates point that they have never lasted to see the coming of 2121. It was a promise of all those who had the honor of embarking in such ships for their moral superiority and integrity. They have promised that one day they shall return and liberate Earth from such scourge... they shall never forget.

After 22 years in space, they have reached their destination, their new home, free from all tyranny and misery that still existed in Earth. However, much work had to be done to transform such virgin planets into the industrial powerhouses needed for the next stage of the revolutionary war.

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2170: Solar Communes becomes a Type I Civilization. The Armada is born. Global State colonizes planet Chiron in Alpha Centauri

Solar Communes current epoch, the Era I began once the Confederation finally became a Type I civilization in the Kardashev Scale after the construction of borehole deep pressure mines which extract thermal energy and minerals directly from Gliese 581d mantle, eventually increasing geometrically the industrial capability of the planet, also known as Glacius, into unforeseen levels, finally giving Solar Communes the resources needed to maintain and build space fleets, the first step for securing a chance against the never forgotten threat of the Global State, about twenty dot four light years away from them. The Sun itself has become darker and more dim... in a poetic rather than literal sense.

Readings from Sol have indicated a continual expansion of what is assumed to be the Global State forces towards the outer reaches, including the Kuiper Belt, and those readings are from what happened twenty years ago. It is estimated that by now Global State has become an interstellar totalitarian civilization by colonizing a close system, probably Alpha Centauri. The threat is slowly approaching them, however they can only watch what happened 20 years ago in Sol, and in a few more decades it is expected a major interstellar war between Solar Communes and the Global State shall inevitably happen... a war which shall decide the future of mankind...

(OOC: I'll be posting the actual story of the Eternal War later, hope you are liking where it's going at and that my writing style is satisfactory. If you want to make any comments, feel free. Also, the last stages of this war will be more interactive. It'll be a character-centric story with a war completely different from the typical "space warfare" trope. Suffice to say, I am seeking inspiration from The Forever War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forever_War) rather than from Star Wars, Star Trek or alike)

In the past, commanding an war in the limits of a continent was the greatest challenge that all military forces had to successfully create supply chains to their military while avoiding encirclement and transporting resources through hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. Continental warfare presents almost countless options for an war plan, for each front can be conquered in numberless different manners, some more efficient than others. The right time to strike, the right force to strike and the correct disposition of troops, the integration between air and land, major strategic considerations military forces of the past had to consider. The necessary logistical deployment and planning for the famous D-Day took almost an year, how could things be different in the countless vastness of space?

What could be the outcome if neither of the sides of an interstellar scale war have had any previous experience with the possibility of deploying forces at light-years distances into battle, in logistical operations which could alone, not counting the battles themselves, take decades or even centuries? Space warfare is much different from the naive idealizations of the 20th Century fiction. When distances are so vast, the strategy becomes even more important, for a planet or solar system about to be invaded can have years or even decades to build up the defenses, for it is impossible to avoid detection in space. It is impossible to know the situation of an enemy force light years away in real-time, any telescope scan will only register what happened years or decades ago in a system... for space warfare sometimes becomes the domain of uncertainty and probability, requiring countless contingencies for all possible outcomes. Each minor mistake could cost billions of lives, or the life of an entire planet, and thus centralizing all decision-making powers concerning strategy into a single man could be disastrous.

Such situation was precisely the situation that the Confederation was about to face... they have lived in isolationism for too long, and the younger were losing something, a fire, geniality and creativity which their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers seemed to have much more lit, and no matter how its gene pool was selected among some of the greatest minds of Earth, Solar Communes was stagnating after it reached its internal goal of becoming an Utopian society and people started to conform and not worry about going even further, despite death still being as definitive as it was in the dawn of mankind, even with the longevity increases. They would soon become a victim of their own progress and development halts meant that the Global State would have an easy prey... perhaps it was a blessing rather than a curse for their continual survival and freedom, what was about to happen. Maybe, in a deep ironic twist, it might be a fact that the only way for an almost perfect Utopia to not stagnate is war... and the lack of intelligent life signs meant that their xenophobic hatred, born from a tragic first contact, was kept at bay... but they never forgot the totalitarian State which destroyed their home and enslaved or killed most of humanity, the first generation colonists were still alive, and they still could remember the horrors of the Fourth World War and of the Global State. Its destruction was the reason they were alive, countless of people, now probably dead, if not worse, have entrusted them into such mission, and not only to survive and overcome stagnation, but to honor their promise to the people of the Third Commune, they would, once the time was ripe for, attack. A time which was soon to come, the dawn of the 23rd century...

Sol Observation Station, Lagrange point near Gliese 581c, 16:48 Earth GMT, 17 of March of 2210

It was a featureless, simple space station which managed to maintain a constant 0.3g centrifugal force to maintain a sort of gravity inside it. However, its sensors module was impressive compared to its Spartan life support systems, crew quarters and cargo bays or to its few dozens of anti-ballistic missile cells and a single stellar ballistic missile cell and its single 350mm gauss cannon. It had barely enough to defend itself in the case of an invasion, however, a few hundreds of miles away from it, due to its strategic importance, a much larger space station existed, probably full of generous flight decks which could house even a carrier, with about sixty kilometers of effective area, and fitted with countless interception weaponry. The Zerzan Space Station was an impressive feat, built from one of the original colony ships that brought them there. It maintained guard over its own eye, an eye which looked right into the cradle of humanity: Earth. It has kept such watch over it for almost a hundred of years, observing how far the enemy have progressed, but with the major disadvantage of receiving only the light of what happened about 20 years and 3 months ago, a disadvantage also shared by the enemy, who was probably becoming unsettled about their continual existence, however they knew that the Global State expanded through the Kuiper Belt and established space stations orbiting almost every known planet of the solar system, that they have reached Alpha Centauri while the Confederation focused on development over expansion.

It was a game... a game of waiting until seeing who would send the first invasion wave. Superficially, such first wave would have a tremendous advantage due to the light speed lag, being only detectable once it was more than on half of its long travel, however it would also take decades to return back, should the invaded side decide that it can hold itself and self an invasion force against them. This tense game became monotonous for those who watched, except for the Global State "humans", for they could not have feelings besides those the government wanted them to have.

Soon the staff of the observation outpost would awake from their monotony in the windowless, ascetic lives they were having. Spacemen they were, probably among the most pleasure-less that existed after the Global State drones, but most of them were born in that space state, and were used to the fact their lives were not very luxurious or comfortable. It was clear to the spacemen in the observation room who were quickly registering such moment. A massive energy signature was coming... towards them and slowly decelerating. It could only be from an estimate of fifty torchships heading at their overall direction. The quantum computers had busy tasks and soon it became a fateful knowledge that in five years, their solar system would be invaded by a major force of unknown power, five years to prepare defenses against such invasion... or a preemptive strike. Almost a hundred of years of space warfare technologies would now be put to test.

(OOC: The next part will be much more character-centric)

Zerzan's Landing floating city, Gliese 581c, 9:30 E-GMT, 18 of March of 2210

The red sun once again brightens the skies of the floating city of Zerzan's landing, bathing its arcologies, buildings and facilities with the red hue of this red dwarf that it orbited around. However, people were already occupied even before the light, and will-less robots continued to churn out from its industries day and night, with no pain or harm, while people were busy with other more "noble" activities.

It was a busy day beginning, like any other, for in a planet where each year had only about thirteen days, time was considered a valuable resource to be wasted with unnecessary elements like bureaucracy and overall inefficiency that plagued Earth, for such a short year had a clear influence over the culture its inhabitants, which wasn't exactly Earth-like in many ways, specially when that existed all beneath them was a Venus-like hellish atmosphere they were far above, while at the same time, due to the possibility complete automation people could decide not only whether to work or not, but when and at what to work, for even work itself was voluntary in the Glacius planet.

Waking up from the stasis bed, which consists in a perfect remover of any insomnia problems and also a perfect replacement for an alarm clock, with its mattress always bending itself to the weight and shape of his body and nanites diverting bodily odors during the entire night, for even in something as simple as a bed, the signs of progress were visible and now people could program their sleep with ease.

Francisco opened his brown eyes, unchanged, to the ceiling of his bedroom, it was not that different from how a ceiling was built three centuries ago, for no matter how nanotechnology brought major material structural improvements over them, mortar and concrete were still basically the same materials covered by paint as before, and they were much more cost-effective than any of the more advanced construction technologies that came. However it was much more smooth, in fact slightly reflective, rubbing his eyes as its pupils adjusted to the light which came from a window at his right, there was only one thing to do as always. With a quick phrasing, he commanded, in a language which was derivative from several of them, but which wasn't any known language in Earth, a sort of successfully implemented Esperanto known as Comuns:

"Good morning Home, any news?"

Suddenly, a small hole opened in the floor of his bedroom from where a projector sent an holographic image towards the ceiling, it was just forming when a female, emotionless voice announced:

"Francisco Herrera, I classify the following news as of critical priority, transmitting them as requested."

He yawned: "What is now? Another batch of primitive aliens to bother?"

"No, Francisco, this is worser comrade, much worser... pay attention"

Soon the image of a heavily augmented male reporter appeared. He had replaced both eyes with nano-augmented artificial eyes with direct camera recording capabilities through his brain computer interface to not require traditional cameras, they looked as close to real human eyes as technology allowed but were clearly artificial, although not exactly ugly. The journalist's skin had a few visible, tiny wires beneath and he probably have replaced his entire skeleton as well. Francisco was just the exception, one of the few who have chosen to not have a brain-computer interface implant or any form of augmentation besides life extension gene therapy. He was one of the few known as bioconservatives among the typical transhumanist of Solar Communes. However, there was nothing new on that reporter's appearance, but on the other hand, the news he was mentioning were not exactly usual. There was no "robotic" voice in his tone, for he spoke as a perfectly normal human being the news. The headlines were very large and informed in their language "Critically Urgent News. Class 5: Sovereignty Issues. All Solarians: Pay Attention!", which meant it was not something banal or another sundry.

"This is not a drill or mere incident, for every channel in both Dream and Glacius is now transmitting these news which you should not ignore at any circusmtances. Yesterday, during late night, we have received confirmation from the Sol Observation Station near Dream that optical and heat signatures from Earth of what can only be an invasion fleet were detected flying at relativistic speeds and decelerating towards our system. The day all of us have waited and prepared for... it has come. The involuntary cease-fire of the Fourth World War have ended, as now a new war, of interstellar proportions, is about to start... we have an estimated time of five years to prepare our defenses for their arrival.", the reporter explained, it seemed that the more he spoke, the least he was merely informing and more he was actually making a call for the people of the Confederation.

"We are downloading the entire strategic-tactical view of the situation for those interested, at Brain Net node 279-3. Now, as a reminder for the younger generations, ninety years ago we, and probably the fathers and grandfathers of some of you, fled from Earth, on the brink of defeat by the same fascist filth of the Global State that now is heading towards our new home. I am sure many of you never stepped in the blue planet, all I can tell is that there is nowhere in the entire universe like our home. Space is not a mere ocean to transverse. There are countless trillions of kilometers separating us from Sol... and we must prepare to make the most difficult decisions now. For this is not only a simple war among opposite civilizations we are about to witness and participate of, for we are the last bastion of free mankind, and our defeat shall ensure, as feared by George Orwell centuries ago... only one future: that of a boot stomping an human face... forever. But do not fear comrades! For we were among the best of the Third Commune, and now we shall not only defense our new home, but accomplish the promise we did to our martyrs, and to mankind, of freeing Earth from all tyranny! If you have any idea on the best course of decision, join immediately the MilNet... if you have previous experience in the Alien War, this is the time your strength is mostly needed in the Armada! Remember that the freedom of the entire human race is what is at stake here, we cannot hesitate or fail, and we must do our best everyday, both in work and war, we have come this far already, and now, we must protect our efforts! Join the Armada now! For this is our Last Revolution! If we succeed, humanity shall be forever free! Down with the Global State! For the triumph of the Confederation! For Anarchism! For Mankind! For Freedom!", the reporter enthusiastically cried. distant cheers could be heard and Francisco was shocked, such event was not something he ever expected to happen during his lifetime. After pondering for a few moments and recovering from such surprise, still laid back on his bed, he commanded to the weak artificial intelligence that controlled his home:

"Home, open immediate access to the MilNet, I want to see what is being decided."

"Acknowledge, opening access to MilNet... filtering information... There are five primary proposals being voted upon, it seems it was already agreed on a preemptive attack with fusionable and autonomously guided fireships at relativistic speeds towards the direction of the invaders to hopefully destroy most of them. Now there is a huge discussion happening regarding what else to do, the first proposal is to keep all our resources for the defense of Gliese 581, the second proposal is a plan to keep most of our defenses here, but send a small assault force towards the strategic location of the Alpha Centauri system, which would be, according to the proponent of this idea, an excellent intermediary point for a final, decisive strike against the Global State, plus they have foolishly their defenses somewhat stretched after such an early interstellar expansion, and with this fleet towards us, according to the proponent, an assault force is something they probably did not expect to happen. The third proposal is to surprise them by sending an assault fleet straight to Earth to destroy the Global State as soon as possible. The fourth is a riskier version of the second, requesting a much larger assault fleet against Alpha Centauri, in the hopes the remaining spacecrafts will be able to defend our system. The last one is a very pessimistic one which suggest all to retreat to the Gliese 876 system and colonize Gliese 876d and the moons orbiting Gliese 876c, as it is in the habitable zone of the system. After the proposal is chosen, the actual strategic planning will begin. I estimate it'll require an year of planning to have a good plan for a war of such scale. Logistics in space isn't an easy subject to handle"

"Oh, so... let me think on what is the best choice..."

"I suggest you to be fast, they are all saying every minute is precious and voting will end in... 2 minutes"

The time ticked... the sense of urgency was everywhere in that solar system. His vote... never a vote could have been so important... he knew one of those proposals would end with their doom and with the last hope of freedom for mankind ended... two minutes... and if he decided, what if he decided to vote at a proposal which would end with their deaths. There was not much to think in such a scale of conflict, unpredictability was something expectable and there was no way to see the "best choice" among those five. However he almost instantly discarded the latter. Running away would cost trillions in abandoned infrastructure, and eventually retreating would only mean accepting a delayed and slow process of defeat through decadence. He never was a military, but certain things did not require any experience, simply intelligence, something which they had. A direct assault against the throne of Global States power, Sol, would be suicidal, their defenses were heavily reinforced in the cradle of mankind, relativistic-kill weapons that could obliterate a fleet of torchships much before they could reach combat range probably existed there, it was not a good idea at all, too risky and with too little chances of success no matter how well planned it is. Now just defending would only buy their enemies more time for continuous attacks, but sending most of their forces away could be extremely risky. Herrera convinced himself that the proposal of an small assault force towards Alpha Centauri was the best opportunity, for it would be able to easily take advantage of the light speed lag to make Global State aware of its presence once it was too late for reinforcements to arrive at the first two or three years after their arrival. Trying to ignore the fear he might have sealed Solar Communes fate with his vote, he said: "Home! Put my vote on the second one"

"Acknowledged... the voting will end in five seconds... the second proposal had most votes and shall be executed and planned now... wait, someone just knocked... it is your girlfriend, Alina!"

"She is not my girlfriend Home! Put her on line!"

"As you wish"

Soon the holographic projection changed as the image of an young woman, of black hair, light brown skin and green, augmented eyes appeared projected near the roof, she had some visible implants, and there was something that did not make them look hideous on her, but instead fitting, despite the fact that it was weird to perceive an wire coming out of her left ear or a visible metallic glint inside her retina or beneath her skin. Her facial expression quickly changed, but she said no words, although the house AI announced what it was being broadcasted from that woman's brain computer interface to him:

"We are about to get into a war and you are laid back in your bed, waiting for the end of the world? It's no wonder... don't come with your bioconservative pretext... I know you refused implants to claim you are too "inefficient" to work, so you can lay down here while we are breaking our heads to plan how to avoid our extinction. Is that it, isn't it Lazy Paco? You damn 'pure organics', you never change!"

"What?", he said, getting up from his bed, "This is a damn prejudice Alina! Is that it now, that you judge a person not by his personality, but by versions, upgrades, augmentations? Is that your what your transhumanist nutjob ideology stands for? Dehumanization, turning man into a cold machine? I refused to have implants because I don't think this is the best idea! Stop this bullshit! It's not my fault you racist cyborgs consider us too incompetent for your fancy intellectual pursuits! At least an electromagnetic pulse won't kill me or turn me into a vegetable!"

"Oh Lazy Paco! Come on! You never even candidate yourself to join a cooperative or open your own business, or even to become an artist! Don't go with this bullshit of "oppressed minority" ! I saw many of you before, and I know most of you just refuse to have implants to use such fact as a pretext to never work or have to exercise your creativity in your entire lives! Remember that old tale of the Elois and Morlocks? Well, eventually your brain will atrophy so much that you'll become a vegetable... and it seems you forgot that nanotechnology is not that vulnerable to such pulses as conventional electronics, or that I am not a cyborg! I have these things in symbiosis with my body, not replacing it and now not only you insist to be laid back while the countdown is going on, but you treat me like a cold machine? And your personality is worth nothing Lazy Paco! You do what? Nothing every day! Do you think that is pretty? My grandfather starved, suffered and fought to death during the Fourth World War! You are pathetic!"

His veins were jumping as he seemed very angered by her words, he quickly shouted from his bedroom"

"Work is a voluntary choice! Remember? Now Home! Shut down this transmission before I have a nervous breakdown! These damn mechs insist on treating me and every non-modified human around like crap!"

"What? Again with this "prejudice" cheap excus..."

"As you wish, Herrera"

"Could you also close the curtains, I am not in a good mood to get outside today because of that damn woman!"

"Equally", the AI announced as the room became dark again, Francisco simply laid down on his bedroom and sighed. People never understood. Forcing people to work is tyranny, he thought, and it isn't completely true what she said, he actually tried to join some cooperatives, but all of them said he would have to accept free nanite implants to "match performance" before joining in. He heard about a cooperative made only by pure humans with no machines running in their veins, but he never really cared about it. Somehow he was excluded in that society... an underdog despised as a "lazy bastard", he refused to let such words make him cry and simply did again what he always bested: again, he felt asleep.

12:15 E-GMT, 18 of March of 2210

An irresistible urge to yawn was everything at the moment, for there was a limit for how far an stasis bed could induce an human being into artificial, unnecessary sleep, for it wasn't exactly an stasis chamber like those that larger spacecrafts had. Francisco was again awaken, and yet again the same routine repeated, with him asking "Home" about news, and yet again an holographic projection demonstrating some new images, but this time, the system simply did it without any reply from its cold artificial voice.

It seemed as a repetition only, for the image demonstrated again the same journalist as before presenting a new set of news. Behind him a 3d map of Gliese 581 was presented through a sort of quantum software, which had the title "Celestia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestia) Version 43.5-S". It presented the exact position of all the three planets at such exact moment and time. Gliese 581c was, according to the imaginary relative point of angle and direction, somewhere to the right of the red dwarf sun, with Gliese 581b just at about 30 degrees further than the previous, reaching its aphelion, or farthest distance in orbit from the red sun, and the farthest planet, Gliese 581d, was luckily very close to the perihelion, which meant it would not present an easy priority for an invasion plan, if the Global State forces were actually interested in invading rather than annihilating those planets with the ever-present threat of relativistic kinetic-kill weapons. Soon the voice of that journalist informed, with a headline entitled as "C-frac attack against Global State fascist invaders to begin"

"In the few 3 hours since the announcement of this major war we are about to face, the military specialists, enthusiasts and concerned citizens have decided to launch a preemptive kinetic-kill strike against the invading fleet. In a few minutes, a barrage of unmanned torchship missiles loaded with fusion warheads, of the powerful Advanced Stellar Ballistic Missiles and of large gauss cannon solid projectiles flying at almost three hundred kilometers per second shall be fired towards the direction the invasion fleet is coming from, and for the 4 years before invasion, we'll continue to fire against them using our incredibly precision quantum computers to estimate the exact point to fire for each unguided projectile to keep a straight route towards the enemy. This attack will allow us to destroy most, or hopefully all of their forces much before they can decelerate enough to enter combat. Whatever the gauss cannons cannot detain will certainly be caught by the fusion of multiple missiles, and at such high speeds, it is simply impossible to make a change of course during flight, not even a small dodge. We are hopeful that in the five years we'll receive nothing but confirmation their fleet was entirely obliterated, however, the Armada is still looking for more among the best of the Confederation. There is no way to afford letting the potential of the best among us closed and untapped, for this is still a dire situation, even if the attack destroys such fleet, for we must immediately take advantage of their surprise to invade the Alpha Centauri system with a small force. However, brave people are being requested to join such expeditionary force towards the liberation of Alpha Centauri. If you believe you are one of them, you can candidate for the honor of a place in the crew of one of the spacecrafts which shall head towards such destination. While at the same time, you can also apply for joining the solar defense force. Do not miss this opportunity of making a difference, for I won't miss it either."

The entire speech was accompanied by an animation of multiple projectiles of both normal and massive scale relatively speaking, heading towards the fleet. An acceleration indicated the estimated time they would take to hit them, about 2 years and half... a time of waiting and hoping for the best, while preparing the invasion fleet towards Alpha Centauri.

For a change, Paco finally got up with a feeling of hunger coming through his mind. He quickly reached for a quick snack at the drawer of the polymeric nightstand near his bed, a sort all-natural Blackfish roasts, of the sort that can't be found in Earth, for blackfishes are natural from Gliese 581d cold oceans, among other typical dishes. However his planet was little more than a Venus-like hell with a suitable upper atmosphere. It was part of his parents decision to refuse the genetic adaptations to settle in Glacius instead or in space habitats, for they really wanted to be as close from natural humans as possible, against the transhumanist tide that was and continues going on.

It wasn't exactly an exceptional dish, but it served. There were other priorities in his mind for the day. The virtual world was an wondrous place for having fun, and the new non-invasive brain computer interfaces coupled with virtual reality allowed the few unmodified people to access and interact it without drilling holes in their occipital. It was pretty much the primary timesink of the Confederation, and it united each of the actual worlds into a collective recreational activity, a certain form of escapism the more idle types tended to flock at. He sat at a comfortable seat, and putted a sort of helmet linked to a quantum computer in his head. Soon he joined a server of a massive multiplayer virtual reality game, a sort of wargame based in something called Spanish Civil War that happened more than hundred of years ago. For a stroke of coincidence, Alina Herrers was just there and soon she said to him through the virtual reality:

"Paco! Have you watched the 'FAIL of the Year' contest?"

"Why? Did those elitist pricks decide to put my name there?"

"Indeed, your reputation is running around and... our freedoms and lives are in danger while you are just here having fun! You claimed all that bull about I lacking emotions because of these stuff, as if an human with a pacemaker centuries ago would be a machine just because of it. Don't you care about people? Because the one behaving like a machine here is not me, but you! Always your same lazy routine, plugged to an illusion to escape from reality, is this life? Is this the ideal of bioconservatism?"

"No! You don't understand! I don't like to program machines! I tried to get work many times before! You didn't see it! You weren't shoved off countless times for being "just an average human with no genetic or augmented highlights", were you? I doubt you'll ever understand! You say we are all free, but in truth you are trying to force your views on the future of humanity against those who believe the best future for man is to remain human."

"Where did you got that idea from Paco? I am still an human, just like you. It just a convenience, I don't have to go to computer, it's always with me, for example, and that's it, but I find it ironic that you complain of prejudice and indirectly claims I am no longer human. And stop these cheap stories! I know many "average humans" who are major members of cooperatives! Just assume you don't want to work!"

"I never inherited the intelligence of my parents damnit! By Solarian standards I have "below average intelligence" despite being slightly above average in Earthly standards! As if those biased tests can actually measure properly intelligence! I was tired of seeing people calling me a dumbass through euphemisms! I am sick of this! And now you insist on bothering me! Also, why the hell are you here now?"

"Lunch break from work! What else? Now Paco? If you are sick of this, why don't you prove it? It may seem that not but I actually want to help you. If you are interested, meet me at Hampshire's junction with Freesky's four hours from now, I'll be waiting for you and I can help you with a chance to prove you are more than an 'average Earth human', but don't get too late!"

The proposal was tempting, and although harsh in her words, Alina wasn't a liar or prankster and had a certain seriousness when talking. What could be the only place where a man like him would not be rejected? He was an excluded from society, and felt ironically, in such lands of anarchy, an oppressive force trying to push him to have implants and force an idea over him. The time passed and he continued using a virtual persona in a replica of Madrid in Earth's Spain during the Civil War, fighting the team which assumed the role of Franco's nationales. Such games were very historically accurate and weapons worked as in reality, including a precise simulation of their recoil. In fact there were servers simulated for military simulations such was the point of realism that some massively multiplayer virtual reality games achieved. He was in a hardcore server, simulating a harsh four-hours long battle. It was funny to have centuries old gunpowder assault rifles in hands and those old uniforms, but an old essay claims "The best soldier is better than the best technology" and in certain ways it was true. Some more unconventional simulations included conflicts between powered armor troops and 2000s level military forces among other very severe cases of challenging asymmetric warfare. Soon three hours and half passed, and he decided it was time to stop and get to meet Alina. The magrails were fast, but still it was better getting earlier than late. Whatever she had for him, he was in fact bothered from such same routine of idleness, and maybe this time it would be for real that he would finally be accepted by the "mechs", as he pejoratively thought.

15:45 E-GMT, 18 of March of 2210

Rather than getting through the elevator, as expected from an usual city centuries ago, there was a door right at the foyer of the apartment, leading straight to one of many skyways which connected every building together into a sort of massive arcology, the reddish hue sky was the first thing to greet Paco as he left his apartment behind, walking through a massive, transparent skyway which had an entire street hanging over it, which superficially wasn't much different in looks from a 20th century street, for like with concrete and mortar, asphalt wasn't an exception to the rule of older materials becoming improved through nanotechnology being more prevalent than newer and more expensive ones, while at the same time there was an immense quantity of Earth-originated trees as far as the sight could reach, a nod to the meaning of the name of such city. At the center of the metropolis, dug deep into the entire infrastructure and reinforced by several layers of nano-enhanced composite armors, an impressive cluster of fusion reactors was visible, powering the entire city. Multiple wires came from the fusion reactor and high above the highest level of the sky city, powering a set of air-to-orbit missiles which were always on active reserve, since the announcement of the incoming invasion, and also four massive Ultraviolet-C lasers which had lenses with 50 meters of diameter and a series of anti-air missiles and THELs, while high at the tallest point of the city, the majestic Space Elevator was located, connecting it to Zerzan's Space Station, but the most prevalent feature was the presence of countless thousands of propaganda posters spread throughout the city, and designed with a very retro style, like if it was a Spanish city during the Civil War of the 20th Century, posters calling for the "Revolution", enticing the young to join the military or militias against fascism, reinforcing anarchist ideals and stereotyping Global State, coupled with a few posters which claimed that Paulus Rovari, the undisputed ruler of Global States, was the "Antichrist" of the Book of Revelation.

Such details were irrelevant for Francisco, who instead of wasting time observing the towering buildings simply continued through the skyway until finding the junction of Tucker Avenue with Zerzan Street, where a large, artistically graffiti-filled building was located, and adjacent to it and to the skyway a massive carbon nanotubes rail was being continually used by countless suspended magrails. Walking through the station, equally decorated internally with graffiti and built of simple nanite-enhanced mortar and concrete, he quickly came to the electronic clerk behind a large wooden desk, a mere humanoid robot like no other, serving as a replacement to the sort of job nobody wants, not even someone like him. It simply repeated the same phrase over and over, like its pre-programmed weak Artificial Intelligence was instructed to, asking to Paco in a cold but human-like voice:

"Welcome to Zerzan-Tucker magrail station, where would you like to go?"

As usual, all public transport services were fully automated, self-sufficient and did not require human intervention at all except when planning an expansion was needed. Thus, as machines never ask for money, it was completely fitting that such services were completely free of charge. Paco was glad for that, for he never had any credit. Not that it was needed for those who are satisfied with the basic, for all basic needs of all Solarians are provided free of charge by machines, however, those who wanted to go beyond, or even he a chance to travel through the stars, would have to earn their deserved rewards through individual business, family business, by founding their own cooperative with friends or joining an existing one. Not that Paco ever cared about it. For him, it was sufficient to have the basic, and after multiple rejections of applications for joining existing cooperatives, he just gave up. His reply came quickly to the robot, which had a facade of an human being, with a sort of synthetic material very close in texture and color to human skin covering it, and also an eye cover for its optical sensors, but somehow it seemed sort of inhuman, visibly just a machine hearing his request from behind a desk. Perhaps it was frightening that in the past existed humans which behavior was for eight hours not at all different from the behavior of such robot, maybe a sad reflection of the previous industrial society where humans were forced to imitate machines rather than the opposite.

"I need to get at Hampshire's junction with Freesky's"

The robot consulted a database of linguistics in a fraction of seconds through its quantum computers, and almost instantly replied in an equally pre-set way, like a mechanized man obeying the orders of a boss on strictly bureaucratic rules on how to attend the customers:

"Next maglev train to 8th Dreadnauts coming in 26 seconds in Embarking Station 37, have a nice trip!"

Paco did not thank the robot, for it was not an intelligent being at all, just a very advanced piece of software with limited self-learning capabilities through supervision, he just followed the information, given with an impressive precision by the robot, and came to the given embarking station. For the last twenty seconds remaining he wondered what Alina was up to with that invitation. The name "8th Dreadnauts" looked familiar to him, but he couldn't remember well, anyway there was certainly something else she didn't tell him about that, but his thoughts vaned for a bit as the maglev monorail arrived and about ten individuals entered together with him, all being typically nano-augmented Solarians, who looked at him in a funny way during all the five minutes trip to the destination he sought. There was some contempt in their eyes, as if they pitied him, however Francisco just took the easy way and ignored them. When the doors of the maglev slided open again, he left the station. It were, according to his portable computer, 15:53 when he left the station and started to look for Alina in the middle of the crowd, there were several burly types making a row there, and his mind soon guessed what "8th Dreadnauts" meant. Among those figures, the unique petite slender silhouette among all those who seemed to have arrived from an wrestling tournament. She was just there, sitting down beneath a large oak tree, with a polymeric black and red T-shirt, a black shorts and grey metallic sandals, looking at the motions. She waved to him, and asked for him to sit at her side, and so he did, hoping this time it wasn't any prank, although he was fearing that whatever it was, it wouldn't be something he would have a chance of getting. Both contrasted to all the tall athletic humans who were lining in a very quickly changing line towards a building which was filled with propagandas to incentive people to join the Armada. It was a bit obvious, despite the fact their both slender and relatively short figures, with him having 1.62, or 5 feet and 4 inches and her 1.50 meters, or 4 feet and 11 inches, compared to the muscled and almost 2 meters tall brutes at the line. Shrugging, Paco asked to Alina, assuming what it was about:

"Is that it Alina? Do you really think I'll have any chance of competing with these guys to join the 'heroic force which shall liberate Alpha Centauri from tyranny'? Did you called me so you could humiliate me even more?"

Alina quickly looked at him, it would not be a good idea for her to allow him to give up. She would never tell him about it, but she made a bet with the ones responsible for the "Fail of the Year" prize. In fact, she had a deep trust of him to have made such a bet while the 12-years old jerks and /b/tards responsible for such program laughed at her as well. It was a very... insinuating bet, for she could remember quite well her reply when they laughed at how "the midget meets the loser". It seems that human idiocy is indeed eternal, and the fact that 4chan is much more remembered than the United Nations is only a sad evidence of this fact.

´"Oh, then listen to this you immature jerks! Let's bet it then. If he proves he isn't a loser you'll eat a bucket filled with crap, if he doesn't, I'll be yours for six months for whatever it pleasures you all!"

"Did we listen it Nez? We are going to have certain sex for six months! Yes... this is a deal, you're small but I like how you are hot. We'll be waiting very anxiously for you here, isn't it Nez? I hope you have lots of vaseline, because you're really going to need it because we are going to finish with you... now unless you just want a pretext to do it, then you're more stupid than him, right Nez?"

"Riiight bro'... whaza se matter? Huh Huh Huh! Duh!", a clearly completely retarded individual replied, perhaps the most exact representation of what those teenagers current were in Alina's eyes, as a troupe of retards and idiots, and she wouldn't let it away easy:

"I will be looking forward to see you all eating shit jerks! And I've recorded all into my mind and annexed devices, so if you dishonor your promise, nobody will ever give you any worth ever, not that you have much worth to lose, so goodbye!."´

She sighed now, regretting her ways, but Alina had no plans for giving up so easily and having to go to the bad with a bunch of imbeciles which seemed to be whatever genetic dump wasn't yet properly screened by all the eugenics selection during the colonization program initial phase. She was going to attempt convincing him she didn't bring him there to humiliate him, for there was a certain fact about spaceship crews some weren't aware of.

"Come on Paco! I didn't even explained anything to you and you already assumed everything wrong! First, yes, I'm inviting you to join the Armada. Now just wait and see, this isn't a joke, just be patient and observe that building exit, you'll understand soon, I promise you"

"All right, so why not fasten whatever the heck is that you are trying to explain to me? Or are you just going with a prank against me? Why should I wait, just tell me about the damn thing now!", he frowned, wondering whether Aline was just playing mind games with him for her own amusement, it was unfair from him to think such way perhaps, but he had no idea.

"Don't you have any patience Paco? There is a fact on spacecrafts, the more mass they have, the more they will require of fuel to fly, even with no gravity in the works, and smaller floors allow more floors to exist in a spacecraft as a whole. I really hope you are intelligent enough to understand the implications of these facts", she explained with a small sigh coming from her, while tapping her feet of frustration.

"So what you are saying is that those excesses of muscles and height are actually not welcome in the Armada, and that it's the place of the skinny and short types, thus we both will have much more chances of being accepted?"

"Indeed", Alina said smiling, "or do you think the fact spacemen barely reach a meter and half of height and weigh much less than us is a mere coincidence? Those tough guys are for the Solar Guard, not for the Armada. Now, are you going with me or not?"

He wondered on something, if they fired relativistic kill weapons against that invading fleet, who could be sure whether their enemies wouldn't do the same and destroy most of their invasion fleet against Alpha Centauri? For the disappointment of Alina, he cowardly refused:

"Uh....... ehm....... I am really sorry Alina but... I want to live, not to become a hero. It's a choice I have the right of making. I am really sorry, I thought you found someone with a job here or alike, not that you were inviting me for the Armada, I... I don't... I", he trembled of shame, while several of those tough guys who came were leaving the building ahead, disappointed. Alina's face could almost turn brownish red of anger as she shouted, to his surprise:

"I have never abandoned you after all you did of wrong, and now you cowardly run away? Know what, they were right! You are in fact the Fail not of the year, but the Fail of All Times! You give a new meaning to loser! Get out of my face crap-pants! I don't need cowards and neither they do!"

Quickly heading to the building, a sort of marble-like in looks, and internally filled with all sorts of propaganda. She soon came to yet another robot and said. Perhaps if she went to Alpha Centauri, she hoped she wouldn't ever return, and then she wouldn't have to honor the promise she did to those jerks. Between getting into the ascetic lifestyle of a spacecraft and risking her life and getting laid with such types, it was clear which was her choice as he spoke in a very synthetic manner:

"Join Armada"

"Greetings, Alina Herrers, you are considered fit for the Armada, please take this certificate and head to the space elevator, an assistant shall instruct you and offer you choices of starcrafts which crews are not yet full with volunteers, thank you for your support for the freedom of the people."

Taking the electronic certificate, she headed back to the magrail station. Paco wasn't there anymore. Probably went back home to his usual escapism, as she imagined, while she would risk her skin into an interstellar war, nothing has changed since she first met him, it seemed. The monorail just came and its doors slided, as Alina took it, it would be a longer trip than usual, going up to the last level of the arcology, where the space elevator and further informations would await her. She was resolute into joining the Armada now, and maybe... the monotony of watching robots in an assembly line was also getting on her nerves to motivate her for such change of life. She was still 19 years old only, but with the maturity of a 28 years old individual. At least Alina was glad she was, unlike certain types, going to make a difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfKKy33rb0U

17:45 E-GMT, 18 of March of 2210, Zerzan's Landing Space Elevator Station

The scenery was impressive, at the topmost section of the massive floating arcology (http://www.shnakepup.com/images/CloudCity.jpg) which was the metropolis of Zerzan's Landing brightened by the red sun. At the topmost building, just after getting out of the maglev monorail, Alina's augmented eyes witnessed the far away buildings and the edge of the skies, the clouds hiding permanently the surface and countless magrail lines in constant movement coupled with the suspended skyway streets which connected each of the floors of the towering skyscrapers directly, while a wide space existed filled with space flight facilities, where emergency single stage to orbit transport shuttles could take off in the case of failure of the elevators. The entire city was built for mass transit systems, and people used very little their hydrogen automobiles, which still were not much different from ancient cars apart from their new fuel source and improved computers and electric and mechanic components, for nothing more efficient than tires and wheels was yet developed. To the top of this large, wide, monolithic trapezoidal tower eight wide carbon nanotube ribbons came as far above as the eyes could see, each having their own independent climbers and radiation-shielded passenger bays . The entrance to the station was a massive automatic sliding door which opened just as she stepped in, inside it, a large crowd was busy consulting something in their minds as a message came to hers:

"Welcome to Zerzan's Landing Space Elevator, if you can hear this message, please use our BCI intranet for consulting available lifts and for preemptively choosing the proper transport space shuttle in the Zerzan space station above. Currently stations 4 and 7 are available for passengers."

Following that, with a quick thought she stopped seeing what her eyes were capturing, but instead, a dynamic user interface appeared fed into her optical nerve, where she ordered mentally, in a manner which those who were not born with the interface would never manage to achieve, for information about the Armada spacecrafts needing crew to be shown

Soon it was pointed a list of positions that needed to be filled. After browsing through the list she finally found what she thought that would be most fitting to her. A role of giving informational awareness to ground forces, should the invasion go successful, and of operating part of the weapons systems of the "Nifty", one of the FFAO-350 orbital strike frigate spacecrafts, of the four that would be deployed for the attack on Alpha Centauri.

Mentally assuming a compromise to fulfill such need, instantly the enormous database of the Confederation Armada removed the position from the list of needed roles and informed her to head towards station 4. It was indeed lucky for her to still have found some, for if something was very noticeable through all her way up there, it would be the massive quantities of people willing to volunteer everywhere in the crowded lobby of the space elevator station. As she never went through that place before, rather than painted placards, virtual arrows appeared on the floor indicating her the way to station 4, as yet another convenience of a brain-computer interface.

Following the indicated way, she witnessed a massed of enthusiastic individuals everywhere, some even singing centuries-old revolutionary songs, who were also commonly short, slim and black-skinned like her, with a larger quantity of men than women as well. They all were heading out of the elegant, retro-styled marble lobby and towards a corridor that led to the passenger area of the massive elevator. In two minutes after waiting in a large line, she finally was there, in a sort of place that resembled the passenger area of a large airplane, but where seats were arranged in a circular manner around the cylindrical walls and an inner elevator served as access to each floor of seats from the 50 floors dedicated for such role, while an emergency staircase was also present. There were about 50 seats per floor, ensuring a massive capability of load of passengers. Servant robots ensure the wellbeing of those aboard, however there was a certain inconvenient when the only manner of answering nature's call in the elevator was using a not discrete at all device close to each seat, which consisted into a sort of suction tube to be attached to the nether regions, that led to a internal recycling vat, where such were converted into fertilizer.

It was the only inconvenient, as the synthetic foamed seats were very comfortable, and their seatbelts were in no way bothersome, as Alina noticed as she fastened them, looking around the largere set of circular arrayed seats for other ones who were going up. To her left there was an uniquely-looking, short but muscular black skinned man of violet eyes and blond hair, who seemed to be a bit distracted listening to music or in the virtual reality to care about her, while to her right a more common, but equally muscular dark-skinned man with black hair, hazel and Iberian traits was sitting down, and as she looked to him, he immediately looked back and asked:

"Hello... Alina, in which spacecraft are you going?"

"Well... Frederic, I will be a computer assisted combat operator in the Nifty, and you?"

"Space Marines, I was approved in the physical tests, now I am heading for On-board extensive training, or just-in-time extensive training. And good thing, I am also going onboard of the Nifty, I am not sure if you know already, but it is going to serve as one of the primary frontline bases to stage planetary liberation after space is secured in Alpha Centauri"

"I guess it will be likely we will be in very close contact and work together then, but what is on-board training?", she asked, curious about what sort of new method was now devised regarding the elite forces of space.

"The trip towards Alpha Centauri is going to take easily more than enough time for a man to train enough to become worthy of being a Marine, thus while most will be in stasis, I and many others will be giving our best to become Marines on-board."

"Now this is convenient indeed. I wish you good luck with your training", Alina answered, smiling to the man.

"Well, good luck to you too, you are going to need it in your training as well, because it will probably take more time than mine"

As she heard it, her eyes opened wide in surprise and she could almost jump from her chair. How could it be necessary more than the basic of the basic if she was going to be only behind the front? Of course she never mentioned it to Paco, as it would be deeply ironic, but she wasn't that courageous as she seemed to be. Immediately she asked the man, who clearly noticed her reaction.

"Take longer than the training of the elite? Are you joking?"

"No, I am serious, being an space pirate is arguably more difficult, and knowing how to maneuver in zero-g, melee, advanced combat, military tactics, plus hacking or tampering with computers or electronics in the middle of heavy fire isn't for anyone. You are really courageous, Alina, because that position was there for two weeks and you were the first to take the bravery to want it rather than all the "easy" behind the front positions. I am glad to meet someone like you"

She paled to the point that her skin seemed to be about to turn white and dance the moonwalk as Frederic mentioned her what exactly computer assisted combat was. It would not be about sitting in a chair to issue orders and give information to planetside troops. She has chosen the most endearing, dangerous and harsh training position ever. She has mistakenly volunteered for a Space Pirate position. Trying to correct her mistake she accessed the Net again to request mentally another position, but it was too late already: all the positions of the entire invasion and defense task forces have been entirely filled due to the sheer number of willing volunteers, and now there was only one choice, a choice she would have the right of making. But her ego and consciousness were being pounded as she trembled a bit in the space elevator going up, where the words she said to Paco would be utterly hypocritical if she gave up now, she could even risk losing her reputation with the crowd of the Netz, and finally there were those jerks she made a bet with trusting in Paco.

´"And now you cowardly run away?"´, she could almost hear she shouting again, and it seemed this time that it was an answer to herself, Alina the coward or the brave?

To get into the Space Pirates, join quasi-suicidal operations of boarding hostile spacecrafts, face deadly security systems, a potentially high mortality rate, or to become ironically the fail of the year and a slut for a troop of retards, such was quite a dilemma, but her personal pride was larger than her fear of dying, and thus she calmed down and replied to the man next to her:

"Federico, I... will never give up!"

"That is the spirit girl, I won't either give up my 15 years of training, I don't know you, but I trust well in your fiber to endure 27 years of almost continually 14 hours per day training."

"27 years? 14 hours per day?", she asked with her eyes even more open, with a clear reaction of surprise.

"Well... they could do it in 15 years, but then your chances of dying would be too high. I hope I am not mistaken about you girl"

"No, I will take it like a woman", she replied, and immediately asked: "Now, where did you come from Frederic? What did you do?"

"Crimean Rock, I was a head of maintenance in one of the skyways. You know, those dumb robots fall too easily from there and let many flaws, so I need to be there supervising them"

"Oh, seems a bit boring"

"Yes, but nobody else wanted it", he said laughing, "And you?"

"Artificial intelligence specialist", she replied, smiling.

"I think you are not doing a good job then, or I would already have lost my current job to the machines", he said, laughing.

"It is impossible to create a truly artificial intelligence, those are just complex sets of adaptable pattern-matching instructions that appear to have a bit of intelligence."

"So why are you wasting your time doing it?"

"Well, with research one can make something that is better in pretending to be intelligent", she said, almost forgetting the mentions of the 27 years, and thus they wasted some time talking on trivialities, as finally she felt asleep on her seat. Maybe resting would not be a bad idea, for what was ahead would not be easy. In a few hours they would arrive Zerzan Space Station, from where they would take a shuttle to the Nifty.

As for Paco...

"LULZ! I win again!!!11one"

"But &*$_ChuckNorris_$*&, all of these are bots, and I just started playing this", replied a childish voice in the multiplayer game. All those who played the game were now gone, it seemed. Killing bots was dull because they were incredibly dumb compared to human players, and it seemed even more lonely than before. While the fact that the other player was a kid seemed to bring him back memories of the words Alina told him. Sighing, he turned down his computer, and headed back through the streets looking for something, what, it wasn't known yet.