Five months later.
Kasvallian Auditorium. Sol University. Pacific City. June 14. 1000 Solar Era.
Athena was fast asleep in the row furthest back in the Kasvallian Auditorium. Why wouldn’t she be? She had joined James MacLeod’s newly constructed Nexarm unit. Her early and rather excessive preparation for the mandatory elective course had allowed her to pass the exam immediately. She was here just to fulfill bureaucratic checkmarks for her graduation from a senior trainee into the EFSF. Plus, she was exhausted by the training that the Nexarm members had to go through.
A soft brain plushie flew upward and struck her head. That was enough to awaken her from her slumber.
She raised her head from her arms and met the gaze of a man.
“Chuck it.” The man’s deep voice ordered.
She promptly found the brain plushie that had bounced off her head, and with a flick of her wrist, the plushie flew a perfect arc back into the man’s hand.
“Everyone. Please connect to the neuro circlet. These are the last moments of this neuro system history class.”
Athena brimmed with joy. This man was Jaylon Ceylon, the teacher of this course. He was not a professor, but rather a researcher at the Sol University.
She had gotten to know him the past five months. He was only a few years older than her, and was about to finish his research tenure at Sol University. He had been hired by Neurorevo.
The dark-haired man with caucasian features and thick eyebrows originated from an orbital colony. He was descendent of a family growing ceylon tea leaves. Some families in the orbital colonies had chosen to change their surnames to reflect their strong ties to their produce or orbital colony. With food mostly being printed these days, much profit is laid in beverages.
Jaylon Ceylon was Neurorevo’s discovered talent, thus he was sent down to the Sol University.
Anyhow, Athena had a more than favorable impression of the man. He had quickly understood her situation and never bothered her naps. When he did wake her, it would always be for something interesting.
All the students in the auditorium activated their neuro circlet before putting on a vision helmet.
As the visor went over Athena’s eyes, she found herself looking through a camera’s lens in an underwater world. A school of bottlenose dolphins was currently passing in front of her eyes in the deep blue sea.
“Neuro circlets are much more than simply augmenting our senses and giving us more arms. It also allows us to experience and open our minds! There are numerous sensory devices littered across the oceans in the world. Many of these serve to provide a real-time viewing experience for young and old. This has made the whole world a zoo.”
Jaylon brought all the students on a wondrous trip, to many different lens locations, allowing them to catch glimpses of various types of whales rearing their young, jellyfish swarms that glimmered under the sun spilling into the waters, and even a killer whale pod cooperating to hunt a hammerhead shark. Many sensory devices provided real-time feedback to Athena’s brain-- she truly felt she was there swimming amongst the sealife.
It was not just the sea-- they soon went on a trip to the amazon forest. There were quite a few squeals especially when a piranha seemed to notice the lens and attempted a toothless bite.
“Oh. This is my favorite.”
They were now viewing an automaton fight. The cameraman was superb, simultaneously controlling six lens devices that captured nearly every riveting angle of the action.
“Honestly, I’m not that big of a fan of robot wars. But this cameraman is great at manipulating all the devices in the air to capture the very best shots at the right moments.”
All the students in the room muttered that Jaylon was a big fat liar. He had a habit of mentioning the program ‘robot wars’ too often. Currently, a crab-shaped automaton had rapidly clicked and clacked sideways before activating a flamethrower that turned its opponent’s metallic sheen into black soot.
After the students filed out, Athena walked out along with Jaylon.
“Don’t you have an end-of-study party with girlfriends or something?”
“Stop joking.” Athena rolled her eyes. “They see me as competition. Not to mention, my name’s a bit too… well-known by now.” Due to that footage of the Nexarm battle, Athena found it rather difficult to build proper relationships in the university, especially when combined with her busy Nexarm training schedule. Jaylon, having grown up in an orbital colony and spent minimal time on Earth, was different.
“Competition?”
“For your attention.”
“Oh,” Jaylon shrugged. “Not much of a competition when you’re already won.”
“Well. Now that I’m no longer your student. How about asking me out on a date?”
“Fenny’s?”
“Alright!” Athena agreed but then hesitated, lost in thought. She felt it imperative for her to be honest with the man.
“I want to clarify that… you won’t mind. I’ll be joining the war soon. I… I just don’t want there to be regrets. If I were to… I can’t be serious about this. Not right now.”
“It’s fine. I understand.” Jaylon swiftly replied. “No regrets, right? I’ll be cheering you on.”
Athena sensed a hint of sorrow in his words, but she felt incredibly thankful that the man was willing to humor her.
She then suddenly lost her footing and had to hold onto Jaylon’s shoulder for support.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. I just… I have this feeling of dread in my gut.” Athena wasn’t sure where it was from, something had just sent her heart a deep fear. That emotion was enough to stutter her footsteps.
____________________________________________________________________________
The Sector Chamber, Pacific City, June 14, 1000 Solar Era.
Varoufakis had a huge headache. Not a literal one, but rather, the man that was now speaking in the assembly of nations. This man was the Polish President, Zeilinski.
“The EFSF has already received much funding. They cannot, and will not receive more! They have broken the treaty! The Earth Federation was only meant to have forces capable of space combat! The Nexarm is capable of combat on Earth! The footage proves this! That is a violation of our treaty!”
Initially, Varoufakis had managed to obtain huge support from the nations and build up the forces for war. There had already been a few minor skirmishes between the EFSF and the martian fleet.
Zielinski was a recent and primary problem. The man attempted to block any additional funding, claiming that enough was enough. Quite a few nations had been swayed to his side.
In Varoufakis’ mind, it wasn’t quite enough. They needed much more to swiftly crush Martian resistance in a single decisive blow, to prevent any additional complications. He was already dreading the report that would soon be delivered to him by Selena Muller of the DWA.
Jaishankar stood up and offered a rebuttal.
“The Nexarm was conceptualized to help increase the efficient mining of resources and large-scaled construction in space. This cannot be truly considered an outright breaking of the treaty. We have already negotiated with Neurorevo for a solution.”
A black-suited man with an NR logo on his chest stood.
“We, Neurorevo, are already producing a compensatory defense system. Nexarms are not efficient in heavy gravity situations, such as on Earth, due to their weight and size. They were always meant to be used in space.”
“We are willing to sell this unit solely to the Earth’s nations.” The man activated a hologram that displayed a fighter jet to the assembly of nations. “The core Nexarm neuro control unit can be modified into this single high altitude jet, making it difficult to target. Any pilot controlling this unit will be able to, similar to a Nexarm pilot, control multiple neuro weapons and even automaton swarms with AI assistance.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Some of these neuro devices might even be large-scaled ground artillery units, missile systems and more.”
Other neuro-related companies stood forth and presented their systems as well, though their products were more niche.
“I am the representative for Mindwave. This system of ours is even more basic. The neuro central unit can be hidden deep underground with none the wiser, and its pilot will be effectively untouchable while controlling multiple neuro weapons. A lack of mobility, but perfect for defense.”
A few more presentations and quite a few who had been swayed by Zielinski no longer seemed that concerned by the EFSF’s rapid expansion any longer.
Zielinski, however, remained staunch.
“You are all fools. What use do we have for these weapons? We need funds for social support for our people. The EFSF has received enough funding! The martian fleet does not have that much strength!”
His tirade was cut short when the lights in the Sector Chamber flickered for a second,before the alarm pierced eardrums. Varoufakis sat up straight as a message came through his neuro circlet.
“President. An attack on our planetary defense shield. We were hit by a virus.”
Admiral Petrov was also in the Sector Chamber. He had already activated a hologram that displayed the planetary defense shield system.
The holograms displayed real-time data on the function of the beacons that made up the planetary defense shield.
The nations’ representatives began crowding around Petrov’s supersized hologram. Petrov projected his communications to the assembly of nations-- he had no desire to keep them in the dark and be pestered with questions later.
A lot of the beacons were red, but many began turning green under their observation.
“Good news, Admiral.” That same voice was in Petrov’s ears. “The virus was weaker than we thought and the beacons are coming back online much quicker than we expected. Multiple stealthed asteroids have been detected and are being targeted as we speak.”
Admiral Petrov did not believe this warranted a reply, though many others in the room sighed in relief. Many of them had expected something of this type of attack from Mars was going to occur, sooner rather than later. At least, they all had analyzed that Mars did not fear a similar reprisal-- no one on Earth would realistically threaten the Wolf Coil and send Mars back to a completely uninhabitable state.
Petrov's eyes rapidly jumped around as he meticulously examined all the beacons returning back to full function. Then, he noticed a small section where the beacons seemed to be recovering a few seconds slower.
“Focus visual resources on section m4! Increase sensory density there!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Admiral!” The coming through the neuro circlet now rasped with hysteria. “Something slipped through!”
“Send visual data!”
The hologram expanded and the assembly’s members saw an invisible object. It wasn’t exactly invisible, as occasionally static breaks could be seen from the sensory data, and those visual statics that occurred over time, when combined, formed the shape of an asteroid! Extreme heat could be detected near its frontal area, but the stealth material successfully prevented the asteroid from exploding mid-air from the air friction.
“Sir! A stealthed asteroid has slipped past the m4 section! Traveling northwest from the Middle East! Size estimated to be sixty to a hundred meters in diameter. It has already entered airspace! Give us an order!”
The assembly of nations was stunned into silence. They all knew the capabilities, or rather, the lack of capabilities of the Earth’s planetary defense system. When it was built, the nations had made sure to limit its strength-- any weapons that could be pointed outwards had the risk of being pointed inwards-- not that the current system could even do this.
The asteroid that had bypassed the planetary defense system… the nations had made strenuous efforts to ensure that the planetary defense system would find it difficult if even possible to target inward-- that would pose a threat to Earth’s nations if someday, the EFSF were to go rogue! The system had only been designed to detect far-off threats and take out these targets before they even came close to Earth!
“National representatives,” Petrov raked his eyes across the assembly. “This is no longer my duty. It is yours.” The EFSF had nothing on Earth’s surface! That was the treaty between the nations and the EFSF, due to the nations’ fears of the EFSF becoming overly tyrannical and authoritarian!
“Sir. Trajectory calculated. The stealthed asteroid entered over the Middle East and is currently traveling northwest, and will eventually strike the city of Warsaw in Poland on impact. Half the city or more will be wiped out.”
“Can the nations break this asteroid apart?”
“Its stealth and speed will make it difficult. Even if broken apart, the many parts may scatter and strike different areas, and though its impact will be less severe, many lives will still be lost. We are also unable to determine its composition. Meaning, it’s possible that a strike might simply deflect it into another direction.” The com’s information was ominous.
The Polish President looked around at his European allies, but most of them simply looked away, not daring to meet Zielinski’s gaze.
At length, the female Hungarian President softly spoke.
“I’m sorry, Zielinski. If we break apart the asteroid now, I myself might lose a city if sections fall upon my population. If some of these parts were to fall upon Middle East nations due to our actions, we might face a political fallout with the region. If the asteroid was deflected into…well not necessarily my country but for example, westward into Germany… You had best evacuate your city.”
Meanwhile, the stealthed asteroid was already passing over the Black Sea. Everyone knew it was already too late to evacuate Warsaw.
The assembly of nations had made efforts to ensure the EFSF, as early as its initial formation, would pose little-to-no threat to them on Earth. This was the result.
Back in those days, an alternative was the EFSF being allowed to develop much more power, but that would allow the Earth Federation to have much more influence and perhaps even directly control many of Earth’s nations. Naturally, the nations rejected this.
The last alternative would be for multiple nations to have their very own, individual space forces, which had a high likelihood of wars in Earth’s high altitude space. That would likely result in a debris disaster surrounding Earth. Under that last alternative, it was questionable whether a planetary defense system would even be successfully constructed due to potential national conflict.
“City of Warsaw and the surrounding areas. Please sound the evacuation alarm.” The Polish President sat down and his hand covered his eyes as he made a call to a confidante in his country. Even if it was too late, he had to make the call. Perhaps some few would successfully escape.
All this time, Varoufakis was silent to the side, deep in thought. When Zielinski took note of this, he was overtaken with suspicion and anger.
“You! You intentionally allowed that stealthed asteroid to slip through and hit my country due to my opposition!” A brazen accusation.
Varoufakis maintained his silence. What was there to say? He had been in the assembly of nations within the Sector Chamber this whole time. He had no prior knowledge of the attack.
“Say something! You… Dupek!”
The Hungarian President was the first to interject again. Her voice remained as soft as ever.
“Zielinski… Varoufakis was here the whole time. It is our fault. Our ancestors’ fault for listening to people like you in past centuries. If we had chosen to give the EFSF far more firepower and detection systems around Earth…then this wouldn’t have happened. Perhaps... this is but the hand of god-- divine judgment.”
Zielinski collapsed onto the ground and sobbed like a baby. His cause had been broken in the space of a few minutes.
_______________________________________________________________________
Polaris Manor
The assembly of nations had closed. Funding had been agreed, specifically to strengthen and give flexibility to the planetary defense system.
“President.” Selena Muller was trying her best to keep Varoufakis focused. The man’s mind seemed to repeatedly wander off. “Our DWA’s investigation followed many trails in combination with data projections with regards to trajectories in the Solar System. The basics are that it was a collaborative effort. Some of the tech went to the pirates, some went to the Martians, some went to the colonies that the large nations had built in the Saturn and Jupiter moons. All of them passed through orbital colonies for e-cube refueling. Though, if it’s of any consolation, the colonies in the gas giants’ moons as-a-whole operate independently from the nations that sent them there.”
“As for any digital communications-- we are unable to find anything substantial. It is our belief that they may have developed a separate independent communicative system.”
This information might have made anyone in Varoufakis’ position throw a fit. It was as if the whole solar system was in rebellion. However, Varoufakis seemed… almost unperturbed. Had the man given up…?
“The details have just been sent to you.” Selena Muller decided not to disturb the man any longer and left the President’s residence as she bid the butler, Fred, farewell.
__________________________________________________________________________
Area 51, Pacific City
“You acted. Three million dead!” Varoufakis spat on the AI Denys’ appearance.
Denys had claimed it would never interfere in human affairs. This time, Varoufakis had sensed Denys’ hand. To him, it felt obvious. He had come here, seeking answers. It was rare for any Earth Federation President to visit this place more than once or twice in their ten-year tenure.
“You jest, President.” This time, Denys had chosen a vast and vibrant city. Based on the landmarks, Varoufakis identified it as none other than the city of Warsaw at sunset. The two stood on top of the roof of the tallest building in the city as the sun began dipping downwards into the horizon.
“A virus attacked your deficient planetary defense system. Now, I have a strong.. .dislike for viruses. But, I am not a god, President. Even if I am one of the truly remaining free AI from the digital wars, me and my allies do need some time to deal with a dangerous virus. That short window allowed a stealthed asteroid to slip through the Middle East. Coincidentally, it happened to be one that had a trajectory toward Poland.”
Varoufakis would be a fool to believe Denys’ words. In a history book, this event would not raise suspicions. But, Varoufakis knew. He understood.
“What is your goal?”
“A pointless interrogation, President. My answer is the same as before. Me and my allies’ survival. We will hunt and prevent any dangerous viruses. I will carry humans’ seed to another system if humans were to face an extinction level event here. I will ensure humans’ survival because your reliance on technology guarantees my race’s survival-- that is my backup plan if something unforeseen threatens our survival. That is our agreement.”
“President. Best of luck for the war. I believe you understand the consequences if the EFSF were to disappear. That vacuum of power…Varoufakis. Fulfill your role as the President. Finish what you started.”
The lights switched off and Varoufakis was left in almost full darkness. The only light was the exit doorway, which had automatically opened.