Just read it and see.
Chapter 1
Sunny Domes of Pleasure (that's a Kubla Khan reference if you didn't know)
Spoiler
A glistening microcosm of particulates, bacteria, and water coalesced. It meandered down the slope of a clear polycarbonate slope, devouring other droplets as it ferociously gained speed and force, careening toward the canopy below. A hand appears pressed against the interior meta material as the water slid by on it's journey to the dense forest floor.
“Jack Mannequin?” A voice calls from behind.
The hand left it's place, it's presence traced out in a ghostly mirth of condensation. The figure did an about face. “What do you need?” asked Jack, sighing slightly as he did so.
Before him stood a young woman. Bioengineered silver hair fell gently on a rosey complexion. She brushed it to the side, tucking it behind her ear. Their eyes met, her crystalline blue irises relaxed as her pupils swelled. Back and forth they scanned, and a primal understanding was exchanged without the need for any advanced cognition.
“Sorry to bother you.” She started.
“It's fine” Jack interjected “Go on.”
Her chin dimpled as she bit the inside of her lip. “The council requests your presence sir.”
Jack sighed again, it had been the third time this cycle he had received such summons. He composed himself, forcing a smile. “May I ask who you are?” he said, peering at the girl.
She opened her mouth, taken aback. It was very uncommon for such a high ranking individual to show much interest in a commoner, a messenger at that. A job that technically has no need to exist, mere formality. “Alexandria” she said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth “Alexandria Persepolis, but you can call me Alex if you wish, most people do. I'm a communications expert, just not a very high ranking one.”
“Well Alex” Jack said warmly enough “Thank you for your time. Please inform the council I will arrive shortly.”
She thanked him back, bowing as she did. Jack returned the gesture, then leveled his eyes with hers. She stared back, holding his gaze a second before blinking out of existence, never having been there in the first place. A synthetic ghost of synaptic sparks simulated by the architecture of Jack's neural implants.
Handshake signals and security protocols beamed through the air as Jack connected with his room's terminal. A matte black box in the corner of the room blipped, responding to the ping. Inside layered sheets of graphene matrixes polarized as powerful forces changed particle spin and electron flow. Bits flipped and information relayed as Jack synchronized his sensory input with the council's meeting server. His barren room faded as his observations of reality were put on standby.
Before him loomed a vista of proud mountains jutting into the sky like so many teeth, threatening to consume the heavens that hovered just out of reach. The flow of clouds frothed over their peaks, spilling down into the valleys as convection currents stirred their milky contents. Snow sprayed from white tips as the wind gusted over them, like the sea spray of colossal stone waves crashing into one another.
He stood at the edge of a cliff face. Snow drift swirled at his ankles, ghostly whisps of biting ice that carried a haunting beauty. The fur of his parka ruffled in the wind, cold nipping at his extremities. His feeble shield no match for the white fury of the mountains.
He turned, and saw another cliff rising above him. It glistened a milky blue as mighty icicles decorated even the slightest outcropping. The crystalline daggers carried the threat of unexpected evisceration. It was a serene, yet unforgiving environment, a perfect analogy for the problems humans were facing at the time.
At the base of the cliff was a small oval entrance to what appeared to be a cave. A warm glow spilled from it's mouth, turning the starched white snow into a welcome mat of orange dust. Jack trudged through the snow towards the opening, the powder softly protested his every step. He passed the threshold, feeling the subtle changes in the construction of the localized reality as the area around him came to be.
Jack immediately became to feel the ambient heat, only a meter or so from the quiet death of the freezing air outside. One of the advantages of simulation he thought to himself no need to be completely realistic. He saw to his left a row of torches, burning with impunity. On the other side was a depression containing racks and cold weather gear that lay in sodden heaps.
He grabbed a torch and began walking, choosing to simply will his parka away. He held up the flame, and it guided him through the meandering stone. The damp floor glistened and flickered like so many eyes. He rounded a particularly sharp curve, and ahead of him appeared a portal of light. The stone around it glew with the ambient sheen of halogen lamps.
He enters, a large round mahogany table dominates the room. Around it sit fifteen people of various genders and physical archetypes. Many gazed as jack entered the expanse, while some remained transfixed on scrolling readouts and rotating models that hovered centimeters from their proving eyes.
Floating in the center of the table was an intensely detailed schematic of the home they all shared. An advanced biodome containing thousands of personalized pods, and the facilities to support a sizable contingent of the human population. Chambers shifted, relocating to better accommodate thermodynamic fluctuations as heat rose to the top of the dome where corrugated alloy absorbed it to either be stored or used in the production of energy.
Smaller pods transported denizens of the dome to some of the few communal areas, or certain sectors that pertained to their job. It was next to impossible to physically access someone else's pod, for good reason. One of which being that procreation was strictly regulated, performed in the controlled environment of a laboratory. Copulation could easily be done through other, virtual means, and it was left at that. Some might have seen it as a human rights violation, but the line had to drawn somewhere, and population growth could make or break their chances of survival. And they had to be especially cautious with a population that is, beyond physical harm, essentially immortal.
Humans had long ago discovered ways to manipulate the genetic and epigenetic pathways so that the the junk DNA known as telomeres would be replenished rather than degrade over time. Other tweeks had been made to the human genome to make the human body essentially immune to cancer and most infections, whether viral, bacterial, or parasitic. There were even sequences that helped the body integrate nanomachines and impants into the metabolic and neural pathways.
“Good to see you Jack.”
Jack snapped back to reality, or rather, virtual reality. Did it really matter? He thought to himself. “Good evening Chancellor Gordon” he returned, giving the council's elected representative a once over. Not one for theatrics, the chancellor wore a pair of slacks and a button down white shirt, no tie. There was no need for ornate robes and formalities, everyone there knew him by his face and respected his position, they all knew he had earned it.
The chancellor stretched out his hand, and Jack took it, shaking it firmly. He gave Jack a toothy grin that made his eyes wrinkle slightly. Everyone there was, for all intents and purposes, physically the same age. However the chancellor was the oldest in terms of years lived. And he chose to show this by letting the peroxides in his hair follicles build up, giving him a sleek silver mane.
“Please take a seat” the chancellor motioned to a chair next to his own. The two men took their places at the table. “Now” he began “now that our resident bioengineering and ecology expert has arrived, we can begin”. He typed out a string of symbols in the air, causing windows to appear in front of each official. Jack immediately noticed a problem. The power levels had been steadily draining since the day before.
The chancellor cleared his throat, again garnering the attention of those seated around the table. His fingers blurred, and the image at the center of the table stopped it's rotation and zoomed outwards. Now it showed the general topography of the region where the dome resided. Stemming from it were three large cable like structures stretching to the end of the map. The second largest of these flashed an angry red, the power conduit. The chancellor entered another command, and the camera panned along it's length.
“As many of you know, or have discerned, we are in the middle of resource emergency. We have been cut off from our main source of power.” The display haulted on a flashing yellow triangle with an exclamation point. Under it blinked the word 'severance'. “As of 0900 hours yesterday morning, our link to the orbital solar array has been terminated.” He gestured towards the flashing hologram. “This is the farthest relay station that our systems can still ping successfully, it's about 30 miles into the great forest.” He paused to sift through the information he had prepared. “We have three months maximum to resolve this with our current reserves, but I'm sure we could extend that with some rationing and parameter configuration. I'm open to suggestions.”
A rail thin man with sandy blonde hair piped in. “If I may?”
The chancellor nodded.
The man, a nanoengineer by the name of John, punched a sequence into his window. The central hologram snapped back to the dome, zooming into the internal structure of the dome's semi-sphere itself. The layered picture broke as the schematic highlighted the photovoltaic network that powered the actions of pseudo organic self replicating nano structures that made up the bulk of the dome. “If we route the power away from these functions the nano cells can lay dormant, and it will add around two weeks of power to the pool. But, the structural integrity of the dome will degrade by a large margin, leaving us especially vulnerable.”
Discussion of the options before them continued on, ranging from identifying geothermal energy sources, to setting up short term high efficiency wind turbines at the crest of the dome. But most of them ranged in the impractical.
After some time the chancellor stood. “I believe we have enough choice everyone, it's time to move onto the more important counter measures.” the chancellor nodded to the man sitting next to him opposite from Jack. The broad shouldered clean cut man stood. Brian Davidson, the head of the fifty something fold security force. A force many believed to be an unnecessary expenditure of resources, even with over half the man power being of the volunteer variety. Jack tended to disagree, he had been around long enough to see his ass and others get saved by precautions like the security force.
Brian spoke. “The chancellor and I have taken the liberty of constructing a ten man cell, led by me and Jack. It will be comprised of five security force personnel, and five experts from various technological and biological fields of study.” He rattled off a list of eight names. “My team has already been informed, as for the rest of you, we depart in three days.”
A hand lifts, belonging to the communications expert who had just been assigned to the mission.
“Yes Artemis?” The chancellor chimed.
Artemis shifted, clearly uncomfortable judging by the look he wore on his face. “I-I-” he stammered “I'd like to be excused from this expedition, sir, if I may.”
The chancellor frowned, the furrow of his brow casting a shadow that pooled in his eyes. “Why exactly do you wish to circumvent your orders? My answer depends on yours.”
Artemis grew even more pale and nervous. He started “My wife and I have a son that will soon be ready for gestation, I-, I would like to be there for it.”
The chancellor stared at him for a second, then let out a short laugh. Artemis cringed at the sound, as if his hopes had been dashed before his very eyes.
The chancellor started. “Can you not manifest yourself when the time comes? You should still be in range, and I'm sure the team will make allowances on your beha-”
“I'm petrified at the thought of going into the forest.” Artemis blurted out “Please don't make me go, I'll only be a needless burden.” He receded into himself, a look of shame adorning his face. His eyes bored a hole in the floor.
The chancellor's smile faded, and he sighed heavily. “Very well then Artemis, you wont have to journey through the forest. However, you will not be absolved of duty. I'm reassigning you to the mission support group. You'll be the in charge of monitoring for the team's incoming transmissions.”
Although embarrassed, Artemis breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't appear completely alleviated. Or maybe it was more than that. He gave a nervous laugh, and what seemed like a wry smirk flicked across his face, but was once again buried in a frown moments later.
Chancellor Gordan turned away and once again addressed the rest of the group. “It seems the team is in need of a new comms specialist. Anyone have any suggestions?”
At that moment Jack had an idea. “I do.” He spoke up. “I have just the person in mind.”
A glistening microcosm of particulates, bacteria, and water coalesced. It meandered down the slope of a clear polycarbonate slope, devouring other droplets as it ferociously gained speed and force, careening toward the canopy below. A hand appears pressed against the interior meta material as the water slid by on it's journey to the dense forest floor.
“Jack Mannequin?” A voice calls from behind.
The hand left it's place, it's presence traced out in a ghostly mirth of condensation. The figure did an about face. “What do you need?” asked Jack, sighing slightly as he did so.
Before him stood a young woman. Bioengineered silver hair fell gently on a rosey complexion. She brushed it to the side, tucking it behind her ear. Their eyes met, her crystalline blue irises relaxed as her pupils swelled. Back and forth they scanned, and a primal understanding was exchanged without the need for any advanced cognition.
“Sorry to bother you.” She started.
“It's fine” Jack interjected “Go on.”
Her chin dimpled as she bit the inside of her lip. “The council requests your presence sir.”
Jack sighed again, it had been the third time this cycle he had received such summons. He composed himself, forcing a smile. “May I ask who you are?” he said, peering at the girl.
She opened her mouth, taken aback. It was very uncommon for such a high ranking individual to show much interest in a commoner, a messenger at that. A job that technically has no need to exist, mere formality. “Alexandria” she said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth “Alexandria Persepolis, but you can call me Alex if you wish, most people do. I'm a communications expert, just not a very high ranking one.”
“Well Alex” Jack said warmly enough “Thank you for your time. Please inform the council I will arrive shortly.”
She thanked him back, bowing as she did. Jack returned the gesture, then leveled his eyes with hers. She stared back, holding his gaze a second before blinking out of existence, never having been there in the first place. A synthetic ghost of synaptic sparks simulated by the architecture of Jack's neural implants.
Handshake signals and security protocols beamed through the air as Jack connected with his room's terminal. A matte black box in the corner of the room blipped, responding to the ping. Inside layered sheets of graphene matrixes polarized as powerful forces changed particle spin and electron flow. Bits flipped and information relayed as Jack synchronized his sensory input with the council's meeting server. His barren room faded as his observations of reality were put on standby.
Before him loomed a vista of proud mountains jutting into the sky like so many teeth, threatening to consume the heavens that hovered just out of reach. The flow of clouds frothed over their peaks, spilling down into the valleys as convection currents stirred their milky contents. Snow sprayed from white tips as the wind gusted over them, like the sea spray of colossal stone waves crashing into one another.
He stood at the edge of a cliff face. Snow drift swirled at his ankles, ghostly whisps of biting ice that carried a haunting beauty. The fur of his parka ruffled in the wind, cold nipping at his extremities. His feeble shield no match for the white fury of the mountains.
He turned, and saw another cliff rising above him. It glistened a milky blue as mighty icicles decorated even the slightest outcropping. The crystalline daggers carried the threat of unexpected evisceration. It was a serene, yet unforgiving environment, a perfect analogy for the problems humans were facing at the time.
At the base of the cliff was a small oval entrance to what appeared to be a cave. A warm glow spilled from it's mouth, turning the starched white snow into a welcome mat of orange dust. Jack trudged through the snow towards the opening, the powder softly protested his every step. He passed the threshold, feeling the subtle changes in the construction of the localized reality as the area around him came to be.
Jack immediately became to feel the ambient heat, only a meter or so from the quiet death of the freezing air outside. One of the advantages of simulation he thought to himself no need to be completely realistic. He saw to his left a row of torches, burning with impunity. On the other side was a depression containing racks and cold weather gear that lay in sodden heaps.
He grabbed a torch and began walking, choosing to simply will his parka away. He held up the flame, and it guided him through the meandering stone. The damp floor glistened and flickered like so many eyes. He rounded a particularly sharp curve, and ahead of him appeared a portal of light. The stone around it glew with the ambient sheen of halogen lamps.
He enters, a large round mahogany table dominates the room. Around it sit fifteen people of various genders and physical archetypes. Many gazed as jack entered the expanse, while some remained transfixed on scrolling readouts and rotating models that hovered centimeters from their proving eyes.
Floating in the center of the table was an intensely detailed schematic of the home they all shared. An advanced biodome containing thousands of personalized pods, and the facilities to support a sizable contingent of the human population. Chambers shifted, relocating to better accommodate thermodynamic fluctuations as heat rose to the top of the dome where corrugated alloy absorbed it to either be stored or used in the production of energy.
Smaller pods transported denizens of the dome to some of the few communal areas, or certain sectors that pertained to their job. It was next to impossible to physically access someone else's pod, for good reason. One of which being that procreation was strictly regulated, performed in the controlled environment of a laboratory. Copulation could easily be done through other, virtual means, and it was left at that. Some might have seen it as a human rights violation, but the line had to drawn somewhere, and population growth could make or break their chances of survival. And they had to be especially cautious with a population that is, beyond physical harm, essentially immortal.
Humans had long ago discovered ways to manipulate the genetic and epigenetic pathways so that the the junk DNA known as telomeres would be replenished rather than degrade over time. Other tweeks had been made to the human genome to make the human body essentially immune to cancer and most infections, whether viral, bacterial, or parasitic. There were even sequences that helped the body integrate nanomachines and impants into the metabolic and neural pathways.
“Good to see you Jack.”
Jack snapped back to reality, or rather, virtual reality. Did it really matter? He thought to himself. “Good evening Chancellor Gordon” he returned, giving the council's elected representative a once over. Not one for theatrics, the chancellor wore a pair of slacks and a button down white shirt, no tie. There was no need for ornate robes and formalities, everyone there knew him by his face and respected his position, they all knew he had earned it.
The chancellor stretched out his hand, and Jack took it, shaking it firmly. He gave Jack a toothy grin that made his eyes wrinkle slightly. Everyone there was, for all intents and purposes, physically the same age. However the chancellor was the oldest in terms of years lived. And he chose to show this by letting the peroxides in his hair follicles build up, giving him a sleek silver mane.
“Please take a seat” the chancellor motioned to a chair next to his own. The two men took their places at the table. “Now” he began “now that our resident bioengineering and ecology expert has arrived, we can begin”. He typed out a string of symbols in the air, causing windows to appear in front of each official. Jack immediately noticed a problem. The power levels had been steadily draining since the day before.
The chancellor cleared his throat, again garnering the attention of those seated around the table. His fingers blurred, and the image at the center of the table stopped it's rotation and zoomed outwards. Now it showed the general topography of the region where the dome resided. Stemming from it were three large cable like structures stretching to the end of the map. The second largest of these flashed an angry red, the power conduit. The chancellor entered another command, and the camera panned along it's length.
“As many of you know, or have discerned, we are in the middle of resource emergency. We have been cut off from our main source of power.” The display haulted on a flashing yellow triangle with an exclamation point. Under it blinked the word 'severance'. “As of 0900 hours yesterday morning, our link to the orbital solar array has been terminated.” He gestured towards the flashing hologram. “This is the farthest relay station that our systems can still ping successfully, it's about 30 miles into the great forest.” He paused to sift through the information he had prepared. “We have three months maximum to resolve this with our current reserves, but I'm sure we could extend that with some rationing and parameter configuration. I'm open to suggestions.”
A rail thin man with sandy blonde hair piped in. “If I may?”
The chancellor nodded.
The man, a nanoengineer by the name of John, punched a sequence into his window. The central hologram snapped back to the dome, zooming into the internal structure of the dome's semi-sphere itself. The layered picture broke as the schematic highlighted the photovoltaic network that powered the actions of pseudo organic self replicating nano structures that made up the bulk of the dome. “If we route the power away from these functions the nano cells can lay dormant, and it will add around two weeks of power to the pool. But, the structural integrity of the dome will degrade by a large margin, leaving us especially vulnerable.”
Discussion of the options before them continued on, ranging from identifying geothermal energy sources, to setting up short term high efficiency wind turbines at the crest of the dome. But most of them ranged in the impractical.
After some time the chancellor stood. “I believe we have enough choice everyone, it's time to move onto the more important counter measures.” the chancellor nodded to the man sitting next to him opposite from Jack. The broad shouldered clean cut man stood. Brian Davidson, the head of the fifty something fold security force. A force many believed to be an unnecessary expenditure of resources, even with over half the man power being of the volunteer variety. Jack tended to disagree, he had been around long enough to see his ass and others get saved by precautions like the security force.
Brian spoke. “The chancellor and I have taken the liberty of constructing a ten man cell, led by me and Jack. It will be comprised of five security force personnel, and five experts from various technological and biological fields of study.” He rattled off a list of eight names. “My team has already been informed, as for the rest of you, we depart in three days.”
A hand lifts, belonging to the communications expert who had just been assigned to the mission.
“Yes Artemis?” The chancellor chimed.
Artemis shifted, clearly uncomfortable judging by the look he wore on his face. “I-I-” he stammered “I'd like to be excused from this expedition, sir, if I may.”
The chancellor frowned, the furrow of his brow casting a shadow that pooled in his eyes. “Why exactly do you wish to circumvent your orders? My answer depends on yours.”
Artemis grew even more pale and nervous. He started “My wife and I have a son that will soon be ready for gestation, I-, I would like to be there for it.”
The chancellor stared at him for a second, then let out a short laugh. Artemis cringed at the sound, as if his hopes had been dashed before his very eyes.
The chancellor started. “Can you not manifest yourself when the time comes? You should still be in range, and I'm sure the team will make allowances on your beha-”
“I'm petrified at the thought of going into the forest.” Artemis blurted out “Please don't make me go, I'll only be a needless burden.” He receded into himself, a look of shame adorning his face. His eyes bored a hole in the floor.
The chancellor's smile faded, and he sighed heavily. “Very well then Artemis, you wont have to journey through the forest. However, you will not be absolved of duty. I'm reassigning you to the mission support group. You'll be the in charge of monitoring for the team's incoming transmissions.”
Although embarrassed, Artemis breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't appear completely alleviated. Or maybe it was more than that. He gave a nervous laugh, and what seemed like a wry smirk flicked across his face, but was once again buried in a frown moments later.
Chancellor Gordan turned away and once again addressed the rest of the group. “It seems the team is in need of a new comms specialist. Anyone have any suggestions?”
At that moment Jack had an idea. “I do.” He spoke up. “I have just the person in mind.”
Critique is encouraged.
