Marc Cassidy fumed! This was a flat failure of the National intelligence community, in his mind. As current NSA director, he was furious at having been informed of the Gateway situation too late to take any effective action. Worse, the other domestic security agencies had not taken their jobs seriously, and so the military had not been mobilized to suppress this threat.
Still, so far as Marc was concerned, the NSA should be in charge of the national response. This was obviously an outside threat perpetrated by an unknown foreign power - even if that power was probably not human. As such, he should be in charge, and he was about to go make exactly that argument to the White House Security Council.
In the meantime, he had directed that the NSA establish 3 beachhead bases in the Gateway world, with an emphasis on long range recon capabilities, both detection and surveillance. He was also arranging data sharing and IFF procedures across all US and ally security and military establishments. Somehow, they needed to get a handle on this before enemies could infiltrate forces into the USA via the endless network of civilian Gates soon to appear.
So far, the only saving grace seemed to be the distances involved. Current estimates showed that it would take a minimum of weeks for any effective force to cross from one Gateway to another, and probably much longer if one were seeking a Gate leading to a specific targeted region.
Sadly, the cyber-intelligence front reported no progress at all. The Email showed no tracks in any internet hubs or on any devices other than the destination Inboxes themselves. Even on those, the data had appeared without triggering Event signals that should have notified users of a new Email coming in. Scientists were having trouble even imagining how such a feat could be accomplished, even with "perfect" hacking access to all systems on Earth.
Having done what little he could, Marc secured his office and headed for his limo to the White House meeting.
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In North Korea, after a brutal night of investigation, research, martial law, and assorted executions, the military and intelligence services made their reports to their glorious leader. The population was then informed of the Great Colonization Wave that Korea would now spearhead. It was promoted to "greatly eclipse the colonization era of the European demons of the last few centuries and restore the Korean people to their rightful position in the heavens".
Various Gateways were created, and as many as possible of those created by treasonous peasants were reclaimed for the State, and all were examined for their growth potential. For those with low potential, prisoners were sent through and told to explore and find worthwhile resources if they wished to return to Earth.
Most other Gateways, those showing easy access to water or coastlines, were seeded with villagers and farm laborers, who were told to bring all the possessions they could carry and try to establish "new centers of commerce for the glorious Korean empire" - what sort of people were sent and the degree of support they were given varied widely depending on their connections to wealth and authority.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
And finally, the very best-looking regions were to be military bases and the Gateworld Palace to which the Empire could withdraw if the evil Capitalists were to attack the Empire's Earthly holdings. The Korean Empire's Gateworld City was founded that very day, and impressive resources poured into it.
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In North Africa, almost everything else came to a standstill with the sudden scramble for untouched lands and waters. Across the perimeter of the Sahara, people were finding that about 1 in 10 Gateways provided easy access to fresh water, and the occasional (1 in a thousand) Gateway could actually have a river or stream directed straight through the Gate with fairly minor engineering!
But also in Islamic areas of Africa and the Middle East, as well as many Catholic regions, the Gateway creation was considered a mortal sin due to the required blood ritual used to open them, and many users were hunted down and killed - their Gates boarded up or buried.
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Other factions to make early and heavy use of Gateways were organized crime and their more legal counterparts, major corporations. Covert colonies were the global fad of the day, and building materials everywhere on Earth quickly vanished from stores. On the street front, many gangs suddenly had new "turf", safe from police raids, to build up and lord over.
But by far the largest # of Gateways opened were simply opened by ordinary curious, adventurous, freedom-loving peoples around the world wanting to experience what Gateworld had to offer. These people ranged from individuals to families, to clubs, to networked communities of any and all kinds. For Survivalists and Doomers, this was IT - and they chose to either Gate themselves into the new World, or take off for their prepared hideaways ASAP!
For normal folks, the 85% with no intention of participating in this wild insanity, there was the stress of mass confusion as many workers didn't show up, supply lines became stressed and tangled with the huge shift in the supply/demand ratios of so many goods and services, and inflation loomed everywhere. Still, MOST of the people who "just wanted to live a normal life" were able to manage it. Most stores and services still functioned, even though delivery times became far less predictable.
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Dan Vogt, as this was all happening, was having a huge moving day. As a 70 year old lifelong packrat, taking everything he wanted through the Gate was going to take a long time. He quickly discovered that hoses and extension cords worked just fine across the Gate, and his ATV just fit though. Even internet worked once he strung a Cat5 connection to a hub in Gateworld.
Along with the assorted supplies, equipment, and a prefab tent shelter he had laying around, Dan also spread a few handfuls of grass seed along the water edges, and transplanted quite a few of his garden plants over to see how they would do.
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The Cartan family of southern Oregon were also very independent sorts, and when Hank Cartan found that his Gate had opened onto a seacoast harbor fed by a smallish river, he knew that this was the place to homestead. He invited all his extended family and trusted friends to join the project.
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And so it was around the world. Governments had not acted in time, and only the most draconian of them were able to contain Gateway colonization of Gateworld. It was soon estimated that over 20,000 small colonies were established that first week, along with up to about 100,000 total Gateways opened.