On the planet Elysium, within Syned Vezna’s ruling cathedral.
A man strode towards Syned Vezna, seated on his gold and black pearl throne that held sway over the whole of the Kasvallian Republic.
The holographic image of the man flickered off to reveal a cyborg with nanobots swarming within the crevices of its mechanical composition.
The cyborg kneeled before Syned Vezna, and a mechanism sounded to part its skull like the red sea under god’s command.
He reached forth and the image of his royal gloves was dispelled to reveal a metallic gauntlet. A needle-like mechanism extended from the index finger and stabbed into the cyborg’s open skull.
Though the cyborg had its skull pried open, he retained full consciousness.
“Your eminence. Should we take action against the independents and the other half of the T3ST colony? All we need is your command.”
“That will not be necessary, Kaine,” Vezna replied after taking his time to parse through the information within Kaine’s brain on the martians’ assembly. “This is meant to be. As my antecedent intended.”
“As you say, eminence.” Kaine stood as his skull closed in protection of the brain. He was very much human in the mind. It was his body that had been mostly transformed.
“Simply keep an eye on the T3ST colony. They have yet to play their part,” Syned Vezna ordered.
Kaine acknowledged this command, pressing his cap against his chest with his left hand while raising his right in a clenched fist.
Syned Vezna stood up and gazed upon the artificial golden light that illuminated his cathedral.
Finally, the world will change and proceed forward as is intended. First, the power and strength of the nexarms and the attached neuro weapons was needed. And now… once humans discover the knowledge that the T3ST colony accidentally created a being similar to himself…
A chain reaction was about to be ignited. And it would play out far differently compared to the infantile digital wars of an ancient era.
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Sector Chamber, Pacific City
Nobunaga Mitsui strode out of the Sector Chamber with a fierce expression on his face. To him, the so-called representatives of the many different factions are but children to be wrangled from their selfish desires.
Today’s discussion was a rather touchy subject, that being, the draft for soldiers to combat the Kasvallian Republic.
It had already been agreed upon that each nation would enlist a percentage of their population. The specific discussion point was on whether women should be included in said draft.
Many did not expect Mitsui himself to push for women to be included in the draft-- after all, his reputation is that of a hardened, old-schooled military man.
Instead, Mitsui was at the forefront of pushing for this policy, and he staunchly stood his ground on this condition. Why? He provided many reasons, though perhaps, his true thoughts remain hidden in his mind.
The most resistant representatives were the nations considered more democratic. It was obvious to Mitsui that these representatives are concerned with potentially losing female voters if they approved such a draft.
He now stood at a podium to receive the incoming questions of reporters. Normally, his press secretary would address these reporters with their multitude of hovering neuro devices, but on some occasions, he preferred to step up to the task himself.
He pointed at a raised arm.
“President Mitsui!” a female reporter stood. “I’m Anna Tan from the Global Link. You stated that the stability of terran society requires women to be included in the draft. Could you please explain why you view this as such to the masses.”
Mitsui took a few seconds to come up with an example that should be easily understood by your average terran.
“Across history, the inclusion of women in leadership has gradually increased,” he began. “However, the very test of a society is not during peacetime, when the sun basks our heads from above in tranquil warmth every day. The test of a society lies in its ability to survive and pass through multiple conflicts in succession. And it is the structure and mechanism of a society that must be able to endure such a test.”
“Though some may like to ignore this truth, men and women do have slightly different priorities that do manifest in many surveys. You know this yourself. I know of the many surveys done by Global Link.”
“Now, imagine. Assume fifty of our leadership are men and fifty are women. Ninety percent of our military-- the EFSF, to be men, post-draft.”
“Imagine if forty of men support strategy A, ten men support strategy B, with fifty women supporting strategy B. Under such a vote, strategy B would be employed primarily because of the backing of the fifty women on the committee.”
“Except there is one huge problem. The men on the committee primarily supported strategy A-- Forty of the fifty. And,” Mitsui wagged his finger as he stared into Anna Tan’s brown eyes. “The EFSF, post-draft, are ninety percent men, and thus overall, will likely think in similar priorities to the men on the committee.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“So, tell me. What do you think might happen if strategy B, backed by primarily the women on the committee, fails, and the drafted men on the battlefield see their friends dying left and right? Especially if they are fully aware that the men on the committee primarily voted for the other approach, strategy A?”
“This is how a society might collapse. How a military coup occurs. An unstable society,” Mitsui concluded with a shake of his head.
“And thus we are faced with two options: Either we ensure that it is primarily men in the leadership committee, such that the mostly male post-draft EFSF see their own priorities in the leadership’s priorities for the most part. Or, we include women in the draft, such that the makeup of the military is similar to that of the leadership committee.”
“Else, all it takes would be a few incidents in a major war, and the whole structure may very well collapse upon itself.”
“That’s…are you not exaggerating the potential fallout?” Anna Tan challenged the EFSF President.
“Hardly. Allow me to adjust the example for you and the masses,” Mitsui took a sip of water provided to him by an attendant.
“Imagine fifty black men and fifty white men in leadership positions of nation X. Imagine if this nation only had a law to draft black men. Imagine if all fifty white men voted to declare war, while only ten black men voted to declare war, with forty of the black men not wishing to declare war.”
“Imagine yourself to be a black man in this nation’s army, knowing only black men are drafted, knowing that the majority of black men in the leadership committee did not wish to declare war… while you’re being carted off to the frontlines.”
“Do you understand?” Mitsui’s tone was that of a stern father as he squinted at the reporter, Anna Tan.
“... Well… yes, but men should… women are to be protected,” Anna Tan stammered, nervous under Mitsui’s pressure.
“Hmm,” Mitsui shrugged as he nonchalantly dismissed her counterpoint. “Historically, that may have been true. But one must always understand the reason for such practices.”
“Many societies of the past protected women, primarily for two reasons. In the event of a war, a high number of women are important to repopulate the nation. Two, they are often considered the primary caregiver to children.”
“Neither are true anymore. With the advent of artificial wombs, we can repopulate even should the population of women be devastated. Nowadays, most women are not the primary caregivers either, choosing to instead allow specialized child care centers and low level artificial intelligence to monitor their children.”
“Thus… if women do not now contribute to society as equally as men in all aspects of supporting and defending society… then will they not be, simply, lesser?”
“I do not believe them lesser. So, they should be drafted to defend Earth against the Kasvallians.”
Mitsui’s final declaration resounded in the ears of many reporters as well as those receiving the holographic transmission from their neuro devices around the globe.
Many had thought Mitsui to be some old-schooled military vet. They now felt unsure as to what exactly the new Earth Feds President believed in. Only one aspect of Mitsui was certain-- when he commanded a unit, he was willing to use inhumane methods to defeat the pirates in the belt.
Mitsui continued to take a few more questions from the reporters, but many of them sounded hollow compared to that very first one from Anna Tan of the Global Link.
Mitsui’s mind was refreshed-- he had taken on a combative stance against most of the reporters, an approach that he had to restrain against the many nations’ representatives. He felt a comfortable release after having a bout with these reporters.
It was then that Petrov appeared before him, and requested a private audience. The two entered a private sideroom. Both military men, independently from each other, scanned the inside of the room with their neuro devices to ensure that none could spy on their conversation.
“President. You should know that in combat, men still do have a physical advantage,” Petrov hesitantly said. “The exo-suits do impart strain upon the body, especially with combat conditions potentially lasting multiple days.”
Mitsui remained silent for a time, and Petrov could only add in more of his concerns.
“This may decrease the efficiency of our units with regards to mobility and continued combat capability. The male soldiers may be ‘bogged down’. The enemy may take notice and specifically target our female soldiers as well.”
“They may even ambush female soldiers specifically to bait our male soldiers into making rash decisions on the battlefield.”
Mitsui only stared into space in silence, and the continued background static sent jitters into Petrov’s nerves.
Finally, President Mitsui replied.
“Who put you up to this?” he questioned. “Alexander Varoufakis?” Mitsui had led a unit with Petrov as an underling many years ago. “I know you. You may give the impression of having no filters, but there is a reason you’ve survived as a continued member of the Earth Federation Administrations for so many years.”
“No, “ Petrov denied. “Simply, some are expressing their concerns, and seeing as I’ve worked under you before…”
“Our current greatest strength against the Kasvallians is our population. We need to employ all. You know what I mean by this.”
“Women have smaller body frames. Supplying them with adequate food sources will be less costly. Less waste as well. And they are capable of controlling just as many neuro devices on average.”
“If, as you say, our female combatants weaken more in extended battle and become an easier target for the enemy, we can always use them as bait, for the male units to achieve strategic objectives elsewhere.”
“Also,” Mitsui continued. “I do hope the Kasvallian Republic specially targets female soldiers. That can be used as effective propaganda to consolidate unity on our side.”
“Then, there is the consideration of our supply chain and provision of service. We’ve already captured and sent some Kasvallian supporters on Earth to Venus, their prison sentence being to harvest more of the compounds from Venus’ surface. Even still…”
“Us men can survive even if we live in a garbage dump. Women on Earth place far more strain on our currently struggling systems, ranging from higher use of healthcare to other services. Petrov. Sending a number into space will be for the better.” A blatant insinuation.
Petrov could only sigh. Once Mitsui decided something, the man would use any means possible to push through with it.
As for himself-- he felt uncertain as to what the correct path might be. The Kasvallian Republic was simply too menacing in his mind.
Mitsui soon left, and entered a procession of jet black cars the shape of aerodynamically designed pods.
“Head to the military complex as is scheduled. I wish to observe Einar Thorsson’s mind-sync,” he ordered the self-driving system.
Petrov watched Mitsui leave. He would soon discover the massive campaign to humiliate the women of the nations against the drafting of female soldiers, in the digital space.
The campaign repeatedly presented them as lesser compared to men. Lesser compared to the women of nations that supported the drafting of women.
That was not all. The campaign also targeted children. Children saw holographic videos filling their ears with compelling messages. One such advertisement indicated that their mothers, unlike the better women of superior nations, weren’t willing to protect their futures.
Many variations of these sorts of messages were spread far and wide.
Mitsui would soon have his way.