Unistate
13-04-2005, 13:05
This is the opening extract to the first of a series of short stories I'm writing at the moment. In an effort to challenge the boundries of capitalism, and challenge rules in general, I've embarked upon a unique project for distribution. As of this time my resources are limited, resulting in an occasionally patchwork method; nonetheless if you're intrigued by this, check out the link at the bottom.
For Today We Are Free
February 12th, 2610.
America and Europe Spheres are completed and in solar orbit a safe distance from Earth, Mars, and the other construction sites. Gatesford and The Argo project completion to be within the next three months, whilst the others vary from one to three years.
Europe Sphere was completed just three days ago and the celebrations continue throughout the Union. On the H-V the parades are of amazing size and often cover entire cities in waves upon waves of jubilant crowds. Fears of Neu Welt aggression have proved unfounded although security along the Rhineland remains tight. European citizens have already begun to migrate from their homes into space, to begin construction works on their new space-faring home.
Most of the governments are expressing deep concern over the many fights between the Christian and Jewish forces around the solar system. Raids continue to disrupt construction of both The Vatican and Second Jerusalem, with no signs of hostilities ending soon if ever. Then again, that’s hardly a surprise. Most people’s first memories ought to be of some terrible atrocities committed by one party or the other but they’ve become so commonplace as to barely be noted by those outside the affected areas.
February 13th, 2610.
I suppose it would makes sense me to introduce myself, and the world, for the sakes of those who might find these records of use or interest in times to come.
My name is Yolanda, I’m a citizen of the USAC, aged 71. I don’t know when this will be read, so I ought to clarify that with current technology and healthcare average USAC lifetimes are 212 years for men and 219 for women. Regardless, I’m a biocomputing technician for BioDynamics Corporation and I will be boarding Gatesford Sphere as one of the first. My job is to maintain the bio computer systems; everything from debugging to feeding. The bio systems are very poor for calculations but they are exceptional for memory storage, so I work very closely with the cybernetics division and we’ll be maintaining the systems which will guide the Gatesford Sphere through the deep reaches of space. Everything will be double- and triple-checked by the math guys, but checks and balances are what keeps everything in order. Plus, it keeps the wolf well away from the door. I rather pity the Neu Welt people; they’ve been so mired for the last three hundred years that they’ve had to beg for help from every other power on the planet to build a sphere.
Normally, of course, we’d reject socialist tendencies like that, but we are talking about eight hundred million lives, so we’ve agreed we’ll help build the sphere. The Yellowstone eruption is due in just ten years time, and we’re cutting it damned close enough as it is. Besides which, once in space, they’ve got to help themselves. The Spheres aren’t likely to meet for another two thousand years, upon our return to Earth. By that time, the planet will have greatly recovered, and we will be able to recolonize her. And then who knows? Who knows what we will have become in two millennia? In the eight hundred years since the birth of America we’ve seen a thousand times more social and technological revolution than in the entire preceding ten thousand years, with the single exceptions of writing, moving into cities, and organized religion. When our nation was founded, we hadn’t even invented cars or the airplane. Now, we’ve got cold fusion powered spheres thousands of miles in diameter being constructed in our solar system, each one capable of housing upwards of three billion people. (Except Neu Welt). They can travel at immense speeds, survive impacts with anything smaller than a small town moving at fifty kilometers a with zero damage, and survive impacts of things up to twice that power before becoming a true danger.
We have fought many, many wars. World Wars I through VII, the War of the Neu Welt, the Succession Wars, The Second Civil War and a thousand others. We’ve been killing each other for thousands of years and we still are, yet as a species we are performing the greatest construction works in the entire universe.
February 14th, 2610.
The official celebrations have ended in Europe but they continue nonetheless. This is like a vacation for the entire populace. There’s not a lot left to do until one gets on the Spheres so most people are working few hours and just relaxing. Even here in Gatesford things will be that way, and we’ve got the strongest sense of earning of anywhere in the world. America is almost completely filled now, only a few people who prefer to remain behind and a handful of as-yet unevacuated citizens remain.
It’s strange, really. America and Gatesford split over two hundred years ago - barely anyone alive remembers it - and we’re at the same time so close and so distant. I mean, America is so conservative and unflinchingly patriotic whilst Gatesford is a hyper capitalist heaven, with no laws other than not obstructing free trade, or a person’s personal freedoms. On the other hand America has outlawed homosexuality, church attendance is compulsory, and damaging the flag is a capital offence. Being so close to each other of course, it makes it hard to reconcile the vast differences of belief, but we’ve managed so far. At least, since the Second Civil War.
February 19th, 2610.
The reason I decided to keep a diary is the same reason the Sphere project was originally proposed. Before we realized staying on Earth was so incredibly dangerous, the scientific and philosophical minds believed it would be an excellent journey to undertake, but without a direct threat Humanity remained largely unmotivated. Eventually there was enough proof to show that the Yellowstone Caldera is going to erupt sometime around 2618 to 2623, and that was finally enough to get things moving. However, I was always one of the people who felt we should go simply because it is there to be undertaken. And so I have decided it would be wise to chronicle the events of importance for posterity. Obviously I am just one person in one nation, but I am confident that, by combining my personal journal with news reports and the inevitable diaries of other people that you, future reader, will be able to gain a true view of what transpires over the next two millennia.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/huxleyhobbes/ <- Everything else is explained in there. Thanks for your time ^^
For Today We Are Free
February 12th, 2610.
America and Europe Spheres are completed and in solar orbit a safe distance from Earth, Mars, and the other construction sites. Gatesford and The Argo project completion to be within the next three months, whilst the others vary from one to three years.
Europe Sphere was completed just three days ago and the celebrations continue throughout the Union. On the H-V the parades are of amazing size and often cover entire cities in waves upon waves of jubilant crowds. Fears of Neu Welt aggression have proved unfounded although security along the Rhineland remains tight. European citizens have already begun to migrate from their homes into space, to begin construction works on their new space-faring home.
Most of the governments are expressing deep concern over the many fights between the Christian and Jewish forces around the solar system. Raids continue to disrupt construction of both The Vatican and Second Jerusalem, with no signs of hostilities ending soon if ever. Then again, that’s hardly a surprise. Most people’s first memories ought to be of some terrible atrocities committed by one party or the other but they’ve become so commonplace as to barely be noted by those outside the affected areas.
February 13th, 2610.
I suppose it would makes sense me to introduce myself, and the world, for the sakes of those who might find these records of use or interest in times to come.
My name is Yolanda, I’m a citizen of the USAC, aged 71. I don’t know when this will be read, so I ought to clarify that with current technology and healthcare average USAC lifetimes are 212 years for men and 219 for women. Regardless, I’m a biocomputing technician for BioDynamics Corporation and I will be boarding Gatesford Sphere as one of the first. My job is to maintain the bio computer systems; everything from debugging to feeding. The bio systems are very poor for calculations but they are exceptional for memory storage, so I work very closely with the cybernetics division and we’ll be maintaining the systems which will guide the Gatesford Sphere through the deep reaches of space. Everything will be double- and triple-checked by the math guys, but checks and balances are what keeps everything in order. Plus, it keeps the wolf well away from the door. I rather pity the Neu Welt people; they’ve been so mired for the last three hundred years that they’ve had to beg for help from every other power on the planet to build a sphere.
Normally, of course, we’d reject socialist tendencies like that, but we are talking about eight hundred million lives, so we’ve agreed we’ll help build the sphere. The Yellowstone eruption is due in just ten years time, and we’re cutting it damned close enough as it is. Besides which, once in space, they’ve got to help themselves. The Spheres aren’t likely to meet for another two thousand years, upon our return to Earth. By that time, the planet will have greatly recovered, and we will be able to recolonize her. And then who knows? Who knows what we will have become in two millennia? In the eight hundred years since the birth of America we’ve seen a thousand times more social and technological revolution than in the entire preceding ten thousand years, with the single exceptions of writing, moving into cities, and organized religion. When our nation was founded, we hadn’t even invented cars or the airplane. Now, we’ve got cold fusion powered spheres thousands of miles in diameter being constructed in our solar system, each one capable of housing upwards of three billion people. (Except Neu Welt). They can travel at immense speeds, survive impacts with anything smaller than a small town moving at fifty kilometers a with zero damage, and survive impacts of things up to twice that power before becoming a true danger.
We have fought many, many wars. World Wars I through VII, the War of the Neu Welt, the Succession Wars, The Second Civil War and a thousand others. We’ve been killing each other for thousands of years and we still are, yet as a species we are performing the greatest construction works in the entire universe.
February 14th, 2610.
The official celebrations have ended in Europe but they continue nonetheless. This is like a vacation for the entire populace. There’s not a lot left to do until one gets on the Spheres so most people are working few hours and just relaxing. Even here in Gatesford things will be that way, and we’ve got the strongest sense of earning of anywhere in the world. America is almost completely filled now, only a few people who prefer to remain behind and a handful of as-yet unevacuated citizens remain.
It’s strange, really. America and Gatesford split over two hundred years ago - barely anyone alive remembers it - and we’re at the same time so close and so distant. I mean, America is so conservative and unflinchingly patriotic whilst Gatesford is a hyper capitalist heaven, with no laws other than not obstructing free trade, or a person’s personal freedoms. On the other hand America has outlawed homosexuality, church attendance is compulsory, and damaging the flag is a capital offence. Being so close to each other of course, it makes it hard to reconcile the vast differences of belief, but we’ve managed so far. At least, since the Second Civil War.
February 19th, 2610.
The reason I decided to keep a diary is the same reason the Sphere project was originally proposed. Before we realized staying on Earth was so incredibly dangerous, the scientific and philosophical minds believed it would be an excellent journey to undertake, but without a direct threat Humanity remained largely unmotivated. Eventually there was enough proof to show that the Yellowstone Caldera is going to erupt sometime around 2618 to 2623, and that was finally enough to get things moving. However, I was always one of the people who felt we should go simply because it is there to be undertaken. And so I have decided it would be wise to chronicle the events of importance for posterity. Obviously I am just one person in one nation, but I am confident that, by combining my personal journal with news reports and the inevitable diaries of other people that you, future reader, will be able to gain a true view of what transpires over the next two millennia.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/huxleyhobbes/ <- Everything else is explained in there. Thanks for your time ^^