"Tell me about your people," William Cupiello said. In front of him stood one of the very first aliens Humanity had ever seen. Ynell'ser was much the same as before. He had aged slightly, mostly in the slightly frayed edges of his carapace. The insectoid form the Vinarii bore meant that their joints and wings were the most visible areas where aging began.
Vinarii limbs were somewhat like human legs. All their limbs had 'kneecaps,' for example, though the arm variety was a lot slimmer. Despite how tough they looked, Vinarii carapaces were fairly fragile. A normal human could break a layer of a Vinarii carapace with a very strong punch, or more easily with martial arts.
This was only for normal Vinarii. The Hive Kings and Hive Queens were much more fortified, though mentioning these differences was taboo in polite society. The Vinarii word for 'drone', as human sensibilities equated to ants and bees, was one of the most vile slurs a person could utter. It was somewhat strange how similar they were to humans, yet so drastically different.
William had read reports on so many alien civilizations. Yet, despite the differences, many of them were remarkably consistent when they reached spacefaring civilization. Not too large, not too small. There were no bags of goo in spacesuits, no odd purely energy creatures or living planets. At least in the Milky Way, the aliens were not so alien that they didn't even resemble people.
"There is not enough time for me to say everything. If I were to sum it up in a word, I would say 'flight.' Our culture, our warfare, and our very evolution were all related to the wings on our backs. They are not only the strongest muscles on our bodies, but also our greatest symbols of freedom. There is a wealth of disinformation about our early history. This is due to Ashnad'darii.
The Empress ensured that most common narratives told of her primacy, regality, and supremacy. She culled the stories that likely told the truth of her rise and the fall of her competitors. What we know, or suspect the most highly, however, was that on Ashurii, our homeworld, there were four main empires. Two of these empires were perpetually at war, while the other two maintained ties to both sides, rarely providing aid in the form of trade and raw materials.
Ashnad'darii rose on the periphery of the Heart Empire, one of the two warring powers. She lived through a period roughly analogous to the height of Rome on Earth, in terms of technological advancement. However, instead of falling to ruin, the Heart Empire continued to endure. Since Hive Queens and Hive Kings were treated as nobility among our people, she was lucky enough to be hatched into the 'darii family.
Her mother controlled a province that sat in a region known for large algae blooms in its seas. Ashnad'darii herself, however, was an inventor, as she was only fifth in line to inherit the provincial rule. She invented quite a few ingenious weapons, some of which caused her to gain gradual support from the Heart Empress herself. At 32 years old, Ashnad'darii traveled to the Royal Palace.
She is assumed to have worked here for 19 years, at which point the Rising Wings Empire, the Heart Empire's chief rival, began to field rudimentary gunpowder weapons. We have few sources for the following history beyond those obviously doctored by Ashnad'darii or her supporters. Ashnad'darii is credited with reverse-engineering gunpowder, the invention of the steam engine, and the discovery of oil."
It was interesting how different the history of the Vinarii was compared to that of Humanity. As William looked deeper, though, he found that they were still closer to Humanity than most alien species. They didn't carry the strong elitism common to more developed interstellar states, and also had a similar gender ratio.
The Dreedeen and Acuarfar were more alien than the Vinarii. The biggest reason was that the basic conditions society could evolve from, based on the species capabilities, differed drastically. Dreedeen 'pregnancies' were external developments that required both parents to be involved and vulnerable for extended periods of time, leading to a heightened focus on children. It was opposite among the Acuarfar, who cared less about children because they could have many more eggs, and the process was low-risk.
In fact, the propensity of Acuarfar societies to be hierarchical could also be traced back to the fact that an 'unmanaged' civilization would result in mothers laying so many eggs that their civilization became unsustainable. It wasn't discussed often, but mass genetic editing was responsible for the stability of modern Acuarfar society, though a drawback of that was also a lower proportion of males.
This had also created a much larger social divergence between Acuarfar males and females. Among the Acuarfar, males were more likely to be protected, and were the ones who selected their mates. Harems or polycules were not exactly uncommon among the Acuarfar, though the practice had decreased after the Acuarfar had introduced their version of IVF treatments.
Plenty of role-reversals and interesting dynamics had resulted from this among the Acuarfar, but few people had really considered the history and 'anthropology' behind the structures of alien societies. It was difficult to study, since almost every society that reached the Information Age and beyond had problems with misinformation and propaganda distorting the facts of true history.
William, like most humans, had inadvertently placed the Acuarfar and Vinarii in the same 'insectoid' box, treating them more similarly than they truly were. But they were different, just like how Guulin weren't squids or Knowers weren't dogs.
"Are any of those theories plausible?"
There were actually three different 'accepted histories' of the Vinarii Empire, according to the records, with dozens of less accepted ones. William wondered why Ashnad'darii had gone to such lengths to obfuscate her earlier history.
"The second one is true. She did invent the steam engine, though others improved on it until it was usable for industry. We did not have coal on our planet, but algae. Collecting this algae and treating it in a certain way created the first rudimentary biofuels by the time Ashnad'darii reached 90 years old. At this time, something happened in the palace. According to the stories, the 'ushdei Dynasty, the royal family of the Heart Empire, died when traitors slipped a mysterious, colorless, and odorless gas into the dining hall when a banquet between the noble families of the Rising Wings Empire and the Heart Empire was underway regarding both the signing of a peace treaty and an agreement to go to war against the other two empires.
We suspect Ashnad'darii may have played a role, but any proof of treachery was destroyed. Ashnad'darii was allowed to claim the throne of the Heart Empire, which began a ruinous civil war. She won this war, married the future Emperor of the Rising Wings Empire, and renamed her Empire as the Vinarii Queendom, which over time became a word equivalent to 'Empire' in your tongue.
She continued to bide her time as technology advanced through the Industrial Revolution, fed by the massive civil war. Next came 3 to 5 World Wars, depending on who you ask. The result of the last war, however, was a limited nuclear exchange, as we did not have access to intercontinental missiles at the time. Standing as Empress of our people, Ashnad'darii ruled for hundreds of years, expanding our reach across the stars after their previous masters were wiped out by the Sprilnav.
She ruled with an iron grip, and eventually fell at the claws of your Alliance. Her subordinates, wary of a massive civil war, eventually fell in behind Calanii, still fighting that civil war on a smaller scale. And now, we are here, being exterminated by the Sprilnav once again. We really hope the Vengeance Coalition can do the impossible and kill them all."
"We?"
"The Vinarii. The softer ideology the Alliance holds towards them was acceptable in the past. It is no longer something we can fully tolerate. You do have a choice, and the decision you make will define your future."
"What is it?"
"You let trillions of Vinarii refugees die in the cold of space, unable to land on your planets. You let them land, and watch the war towards the Sprilnav become even more intense as we gradually are naturalized citizens who vote to make it happen. You refuse to naturalize us and start a civil war. You toss us over to Phoebe, in an attempt to protect your people from the harsh demographic reality we bring to your Alliance."
"That is the issue," William said. "I do sympathize with you all, but this is still difficult. Without me being a Boundless candidate, I would not be standing here before you."
Ynell'ser smiled. "But you will eventually become Boundless. Tell me honestly, William. Could Chen Hao or Dalton Summers really stop you from standing up for us if you became Boundless?"
It was a dangerous question. The hivemind of Humanity was clearly paying closer attention, though not as much as he expected. Perhaps this result had already been anticipated. Without someone to let them in, fear might keep politicians from letting the Vinarii in. Strictly speaking, as long as Phoebe continued doing so much work, they were only useful in the mindscape. And their only use there was also to do work.
"They could not," William replied. "Are you asking me for a favor?"
"I am. We are."
"What are you willing to pay for that favor?"
"Energy. A thinking mind, especially trillions of them, represents a tide of energy that can heavily boost the Alliance. The human hivemind's growth will eventually plateau, and our mental energy can help you support vaster expenditures even further. Our labor can assist you with manual processes in situations where Phoebe is unavailable."
Perhaps he needed to change the topic.
"I thought we were talking about the history of the Vinarii. And on that front, you only really talked about Ashnad'darii."
"She is the Vinarii, William. She can live so long and evolve so much mostly because so many of us believe in her. Had so many leaders not seen the prosperity of other interstellar nations with better rulers, Calanii's little rebellion would have not succeeded, and we would have fought far harder to take her back."
"There are others."
"Calanii is doing a poor job, and is losing his support. While this isn't really his fault, everyone wants somewhere to point their blame. The other truth is that the Alliance hasn't expanded for a while now. You've had plenty of time to digest your gains, yet the vast majority of your prosperity remains locked behind your borders."
"Our prosperity is propped up on uncertain supports," William argued.
"How?"
"Well, for one, the Sprilnav keep messing with us. That means we need soldiers to fight them in the mindscape. What can those soldiers be paid with, if they don't need to buy food, water, or housing anymore? As much as Phoebe believes in her utopian ideals, reality is pushing back a lot harder. With powerful enough ECM capabilities, the Sprilnav could break the back of a purely Phoebe military.
Since they are ruled by what is effectively a billion-year-old copy of her, this capability is essentially guaranteed to exist. Likewise, without money, our culture is gradually becoming warped. So far, Phoebe introducing quotas on the fabricators she is making is starting to buoy our economy again. But without struggle, without adversity, the sharpened sword becomes dull."
"And you think leaning on a much larger population base will not help?"
"It may. But the problems are bigger. Remember, I am not the only one who aspires to be Boundless. Izkrala is the most important person who shares my ambition and is capable of realizing it. If power swings too far away from her, war might come from within, headed by a being with the ability to destroy planets."
"Then why give her this power?"
"She already knows of the project. She will replicate it, one way or another. I'm uncertain if you had a similar period in history, but on Earth, the invention of nuclear missiles presented a similar problem. The United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics entered a titanic struggle known as the Cold War. It only ended when the USSR crumbled, and even that only led to a Second Cold War about 50 years later.
If two struggling hegemons sense the arrival of a third contender for the throne, they are almost certain to unite in opposition, because a known threat is a less frightful one. We both know how societies work. Izkrala would be afraid of you, not only of your political voting powers wherever you arrive, but of your almost certain ability to outnumber her with Boundless-level beings over time. Many other politicians, especially the human ones, are used to a level of control and power in the Alliance. Even the Guulin mostly defer to Humanity.
However, the economic prospects of a Vinarii territory in the Alliance are greater than the rest of us combined. Whether militarily or culturally, you would subsume us. And do not forget the Cawlarian refugees that are soon to follow. Setting a harsher border policy for populations past the hundreds of billions also entrenches a precedent that is hard to break, giving time and political capital for leaders like Izkrala to raise their own prospects and ability to contend with you."
"That is… terrible," the Vinarii hivemind said. "I expected better."
"We are afraid," William responded. "Fear is so powerful it is almost impossible to defeat politically."
"There is another way," the Vinarii hivemind proposed.
William suspected what it was going to say. Some ideas were better than others. Population was an issue.
But only if we don't give them to Phoebe. Really, we're in two Cold Wars at once. A Cold War between the Boundless aspirants of the Alliance, including Izkrala and the rest of the populace. And one between us and the Sprilnav. Not the Rulers, but Nova and Narvravarana, who definitely know about this and are planning on using us to break the Edge of Sanity somehow.
"We are already fleshing out the feasibility of cloning. Trillions of clones just shift the problem around for the people already living in the Alliance. Say we get 2 trillion humans in 100 years. Will they live in the same places the non-cloned humans live? Will they be able to vote, elect their own leaders, and do so without consulting the 'natural' humans? Possibly.
Even if they do not live on Earth or Luna, they will dominate the ranks of all wider Alliance organizations, pushing their agendas for good or for ill. With a hivemind in place, Humanity can probably survive the ramifications of this. But even then, the majority rules, so they can sway the hivemind, too. As for the Breyyanik, Guulin, and others, the problem is worse. Administrative bloat, complex elections, and massive political shakeups are certain.
The Dreedeen and Junyli are unable to be cloned at this time, so they are left behind just like the wanderers, Trikkec, Wisselen, and other smaller minority populations in the larger governance of the Alliance. More representation means a slower government, with the average representative less likely to care about other people, since they are only beholden to say… 0.1% of the population. As for a single president, if the president is a Vinarii, they might focus more on policies the Vinarii support, like wing-based infrastructure.
They could pass regulations making every skyscraper require ledges to take off from, perhaps creating drafts in the building that those without wings do not like, making those people dislike the Vinarii just a bit more. It's an ugly truth, but the species barrier can never fully be bridged when people are actually physically different. A Guulin cannot fly in the air like you, and cannot board a traditional human airplane. A Vinarii cannot eat rocks and live indefinitely under the sea like a Dreedeen. An Acuarfar female is not debilitated by pregnancy like a human female."
"But can these differences be reconciled? Some nations with heavy cybernetic or biological modification industries can make this work with similarly massive physical differences."
"Yes," William admitted. "They can. But that requires a culture in place that accepts this. Essentially, a Vinarii-tolerant culture can only exist within a certain population equilibrium. No one hates you or the Cawlarians. In fact, we do quite like you, which means the breaking point is probably much higher. The hivemind estimates that about 800 billion Vinarii can safely assimilate among the normal territories of the Alliance.
The condition of the Acuarfar or the Sevvi limit any higher numbers. However, the Sprilnav have also opened up quite a bit of real estate among the planets of the Alliance that were former colonies. The rest of your people can feasibly settle on them or in orbit without a fuss. In fact, with enough work, both you and the Cawlarians can come in if the total number is less than about 10 trillion, as long as you spread out. Every part of our society can handle you, except for the one that matters most."
"Politics," Ynell'ser said.
"Indeed. I suggest that your hivemind is the solution to this problem. You all will have to determine the shape of that solution, however. I do recommend a top-level government has a small number of important figures."
William felt that some of it was true. However, there was always more to the story. The culture of Humanity might have become more collectivist, but that didn't change the problem of governance. And who belonged in the collective?
The easy definition was just all humans. However, there were two big problems. The first was that Progenitor-level beings like Penny and the new Boundless would cease to be mortal in all the ways that mattered. Beyond even the most heavily augmented supersoldiers, these new creatures would function as an entirely new subspecies of Humanity.
The second… was Phoebe. Concepts were strange. The weight of concepts and how they influenced reality was stranger still. Phoebe called herself a human. She could connect to the hivemind, and even had a piece of it spending time in full-dive virtual reality simulations to train it to respond to all kinds of strange and unfamiliar stimuli. William himself believed she was… sort of human. She occupied a similar position to 'human' in his mind as Neanderthals or zygotes. They could technically fit the basic definitions, but more specific subdefinitions failed. For example, if a human was a living biological entity, then all the dead people were not humans anymore.
One could say Phoebe wasn't human because she had been built, not grown biologically. Yet, clones and the hivemind itself made that definition iffy. And technically, since Phoebe was a living being, the study of her parts and mechanics wasn't just computer science or materials engineering, but also 'biology' too.
She's basically like an adopted child.
There was also not a clean response from Conceptual Humanity, either. Just like how Progenitors carved a larger conceptual reality around themselves and dragged spacetime to obey their whims, humans had 'domains' in Conceptual Humanity, too. They were not all equal. A zygote stood less firmly in the 'human' concept than an adult human. A corpse stood less firmly over time until it ceased to become 'human' at some point, which was logical. A skeleton was a part of a human, but no longer human. A pile of dust could not even begin to be construed as human. And yet, some living humans were also more 'human' than others, according to the concept.
Despite the study of this topic being a potential gateway to all sorts of unpleasant conclusions and ideologies, there was an interest in categorising what made people human. A pair of parents often showed elevated 'humanity' levels compared to those who did not, with the data between types of parenthood such as adoption or surrogacy not really being clear due to large margins of error. A human woman raising a Knower's child, whose alien genes had been fully converted to human equivalents, didn't seem to be more or less human than a woman who had become pregnant from another human.
Pregnant mothers were generally the most 'human' out of the population, according to the concept of Humanity. Yet this was not an objective measure, either. Concepts could be influenced by how people defined them. Red was commonly associated with 'danger' and 'warning' in the human psyche, so it was used to depict dangerous scenarios and warnings more frequently. This made the color no longer neutral in its meanings.
Every measurement of the concept also altered it, like a weaker version of quantum effects. Only instead of a superposition being forced into definite eigenstates, the free-flowing gas-like concept condensed into a more liquid structure, that bent when touched and played hell with every attempt to measure it. Even 'measurement' without using conscious thought led to a change in the concept, meaning that none of the conclusions the Alliance had found when studying this were really true. They were more like… 50% true, if Phoebe's approximations were accurate.
Similarly, people had different ideas of what a human was, and certain opinions mattered more than others. What Penny and the hivemind thought were human counted more than what William did, which was more than what an average man did, which was more than what a toddler did.
Biological humans still represented the vast majority of thought, though. Penny didn't counterbalance all of Humanity, she simply carried a few million votes' worth of weight. The thoughts of now-dead humans were also influential, carried on through modern cultures and older traditions. These traditional thoughts heavily constrained the human concept's mutability. They were the greatest reasons Phoebe failed to fully count as 'human,' since she ranked similarly to toddlers in this ranking.
And yet, outside forces now had ideas on what humans were, too. Quintillions of people would have seen articles on the Sol Alliance or its species. That also included powerful beings like Twilight, Lecalicus, Nova, and Narvravarana. How much of a 'share' these contributed to the common viewpoint of what 'human' meant was also unknown. And these were not the biggest fish in the ocean, either.
The Source, Entropy, Time, Fate, Luck, Death, and possibly the Broken God knew about Humanity. They were living people with reality-altering levels of power. The Source had a conceptual domain spanning all minds in existence, though this was clearly not absolute if Narvravarana survived her war against it.
But did what these beings thought was 'human' matter enough to drag the concept in a new direction? When William became Boundless, and gathered enough power to potentially equal Progenitors, could he execute a successful 'thought attack' on a weaker species that literally reshaped their very conceptual makeup? If so, was this a vulnerability that other species could exploit toward Humanity? And if not, then why could a few hundred billion humans born across all of history anchor a concept firmly enough to resist Entropy or the Source themselves?
These were incredibly philosophical concerns. Even the 'objective' measure of Humanity was subject to the pulling and pushing of so many individual beliefs that the 'truth' of Humanity had fallen into doubt. Was anything truly, fully human? At some point, had there been a person who was more human than anyone else had ever been, and would ever be again?
How aware were the Sprilnav of these interactions? William frowned. Perhaps… every species in the Alliance needs conceptual defenses.
In a way, this was a more shadowy form of politics. Species concepts clearly had heavy importance. If they didn't, Nova would not go by a shortened moniker of the full former name of the Sprilnav. Likewise, the conversion of Sp'rkial'nova into this new name would not have happened. Both these names' original meanings translate to 'four-walker' in common language.
What would 'human' translate to in Nova's native tongue?
Unlike before, philosophical debates and questions actually mattered; how William saw the world would determine what he would do to it when he became Boundless. Even without the potential relationship with Entropy on the horizon, he recognized the need for more human champions to step up alongside Penny. Progenitors were the new nukes, and remaining behind in this arms race would doom the Alliance.
If William imposed his opinions, through argument or force, then his viewpoint would be more supported. In this respect, he could choose to participate more actively in politics and shape Humanity's future. But he had no desire to be another Chen Hao or Dalton Summers.
What will the Alliance look like with hundreds of Boundless running around? Can we even handle it? That was a problem for later. Ynell'ser needed a response.
In front of him, one of the first aliens Humanity had ever known still waited to see what William would do. Ynell'ser couldn't muster enough support on his own to help the Vinarii refugees. Cawlarian envoys were likely in a similar position.
In the end, it all came down to what William considered important for a human to prioritize. Millions, possibly billions, would support him once he became Boundless, for good or ill. The Vinarii and Cawlarians had been steadfast, if distant allies of the Sol Alliance. But this relationship was mostly between governments. Few large-scale benefits had passed down to the local populations.
Trillions of Vinarii and Cawlarians would spawn a massive new political bloc in the Alliance if they were let in.
If they were let in.
Izkrala was not the only one who feared the result of this dilemma. Either the Alliance's 'benevolent' image was fully shattered here by the reality of war, or it was allowed to cope at the expense of future instability.
William could pretend his opinion didn't matter and bury his head in the sand. He didn't.
The first question was what it meant to be human. But the second one was what it meant to William to be human. There were so many aliens out there with two arms, two legs, no tails, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two lungs, and so on. Many aliens had kidneys, bladders, and digestive systems similar to human ones.
And what did Humanity mean to him, exactly? It wasn't easy to put into words. He had walked the streets of many different cities. Some had been culturally different from him, but he had retained enough similarity to their people to navigate.
The hivemind had eliminated language barriers for everyone. William had tried and failed to learn Cantonese when he was younger. Now he could speak it fluently due to a memory package from the hivemind. In the past, languages had helped to isolate cultures from each other. Translation software had led to more mutual understanding between many civilian populations. But now, only distance and old national legacies prevented the formation of larger omnicultures. But even a turtle could walk. Eventually, many distinct cultural quirks would be lost.
Humanity was different now. The hivemind had changed the course of history. A World War without mass death. A network all of Humanity shared, where the absence of technology no longer meant isolation. Politicians couldn't easily ignore massive swathes of their population anymore, because the hivemind itself made its policies based on the common people who held the most influence.
Ultimately, Humanity was many things. William could never define them all through words. It was different from other species, and other species were different from Humanity. In an age where a species could collectively alter and improve itself with conceptual input from its own population, Humanity was not only in flux, but could be selectively pointed in whatever direction it saw fit.
Was a Boundless human still human?
Maybe. If William went back far enough in history, eventually something almost human would give birth to a true human. Perhaps in the same way, an almost Boundless human could give rise to a Boundless being.
Boundlessness as a concept despised rules and classifications. It was a formless, infinite everything, seeing all, doing all, being none, and everything in between and not in between. It was a concept too big to fit in the universe, because the universe had bounds.
William, if he climbed close to this state, would lose not only Humanity, but his very identity. As he looked at the pinnacle of the universe, the conceptual beings always liked to define a lane for themselves.
William couldn't walk all the roads at once. Not as he was. But if he was Boundless… perhaps he could. Maybe he already was. If he was Boundless in the future, he could lay the foundation even now to start really making progress.
"I am Boundless," he proclaimed within himself.
And it was a lie. Nothing changed, and something did. He needed more structure. Not more bounds, but a way to follow. Instead of walking all the paths, what if he widened the paths so they eventually all merged into one?
What did he need?
Power.
What was power backed by? Resources, might, territory. He considered Phoebe. She was already trying for Conceptual Sovereignty. Perhaps instead, William should adopt something of a similar flavor. He wanted to make it so that refugees who came to the Alliance could be supported without straining resources.
If scarcity wasn't so acute, backlash against immigrants would be smaller. Humanity was a civilization split into many parts. Soon, that would become 3 parts. Two on Earth, one on Luna. But Humanity was still too weak to hold onto the Alliance forever.
If Izkrala wasn't as smart, she would have likely split from the Alliance already. And once she became Boundless, she wouldn't need Humanity anymore.
In the end, William needed to provide a service others wanted and could not replace. Phoebe was a force multiplier for the Alliance. But another multiplier, one more deeply embedded in the hivemind and raised as human, was always helpful.
Human civilization needed his help. And other civilizations could be helped by Humanity, too. In the end, increasing everyone's prosperity, extending the universe's lifetime, and creating more resources would always carry benefits.
At some point, the universe had started.
Phoebe was already well on her way to building her own worlds. But worlds needed people. Societies.
Right now, trillions of people relied on the Alliance to rise above its common fears and reach out to them when it was no longer so easy. William needed to step up. Once he did, life would change forever for many people.
He looked into Ynell'ser's eyes, and the eyes of the Vinarii hivemind. Yes, they were aliens. Yes, they were not human.
But William was.
His will solidified. A path seemed to clear before his eyes, just as he felt something break inside his soul. When he peered within himself, he finally fully saw the chains he had longed to break. Within one of those chains, a small black link the size of his hand glowed, where a crack had formed. He had taken the first step.
But more would come.
"Civilization… is a project by the common people. We struggle and toil for meaning, for food, and for children. I will do what I can to help you. Tell your people that I will not hold the doors shut for you. We will offer you an open hand."
"I appreciate that, William Cupiello. We all do. I can tell this was a difficult decision. The political ramifications…"
"We have already had the solution staring us in the face the entire time. Phoebe already has billions of Sprilnav within her Locus. This nation is something of a new frontier, and owns enough star systems and planets to where your people will not have to worry about persecution from resistant local populations."
Your people already had an Empress before, and Ashnad'darii is likely far worse at ruling than Phoebe. If you all could tolerate such a terrible leader for so long, Phoebe would have you dancing on the streets, William thought. And the Nest Overlords of the Cawlarians aren't too different from an Emperor or Empress. Plus, having a literal line to your leader walking around on your streets for you to talk to, a leader who can listen to a trillion people at a time and never get tired? Phoebe's perfect for you all.
"Will Phoebe support this decision?"
William had already cast his thoughts through the hivemind and received a response.
"She will, though it will take time to set up massed cities on her planets. As for how I can help, I can become a citizen of the Locus. It isn't just for AIs. This way, one of Phoebe's chief concerns about lacking a Boundless defender and yours about the value of a sympathetic human can both be alleviated over time."
"What does citizenship require?"
"Personal approval from Phoebe herself. Given her nature, she can likely process this quickly, even if supporting infrastructure is not present. She'll present formalised requirements and prepare a route for your ships to traverse that is guarded against raiders. You should also expect to meet with large numbers of Cawlarian refugees, too. She says only a limited number of systems have Dyson swarms developed enough to support you all."
William received another response from the hivemind. Apparently, since he was one of the 'trusted' Boundless candidates, the Alliance's various leaders were willing to bet on him. He suspected that if he didn't become Boundless, problems related to the Vinarii and Cawlarians would arise. But once he did, his voice would be loud enough to silence many others. Though none of them said it, William knew that was the point. They wanted him to face pressure on this front so he would desire to protect not only Humanity, but the rest of the Alliance.
The Galactic War, in the eyes of the Alliance's leaders, was World War I. Naturally, preparation for the next war would make all the difference for the Alliance, and its allies. Trillions of lives depended on his success. The weight of those expectations was crushing. But he could shoulder it. And so he would.
Ynell'ser walked forward and extended his claws. William shook them.
"Thank you, William. Over 2 trillion Vinarii will forever be in your debt. I… I am one of them."
"You're welcome."
"That said, we need to know your plan."
William smiled. "So many forces throughout the galaxy focus on power as a means to destroy. The Alliance has enough destroyers, doesn't it? It needs a builder. It is always said that it is harder to build than to destroy. But for me, that is just another bound to break. The Alliance doesn't have enough planets, and they are too far from each other to be of help. But what if we just… made more planets? Made more stars? That is my plan, really.
I can start with smaller landmasses, work my way up. Asteroids, moons, planets, stars. I can join up with Phoebe's political faction, offer my services to everyone who needs them, and create more wealth and more space to expand, all without the problems of imperialism. With enough new stars and planets, I can ensure that every system becomes habitable, so we don't even have to break the System Limit set by the Sprilnav to do this.
10,000 systems with maybe 10 or 15 habitable planets each sounds quite nice, doesn't it? And I can adjust the stars that aren't suitable for habitation, too. There is plenty of energy lying around in the interstellar medium. If there isn't, Brey can open a portal to another galaxy for me to harvest the dead stars over there, or maybe even move them to our star systems. We can iterate on this plan, but I think my proposal mostly addresses the political aspect of this proposal.
As for the time this takes, I can connect my mind either to Phoebe or the hivemind to train my power in simulations that are time-dilated so that by the time war with the Sprilnav approaches, I am already very proficient in this. Given their concern over the preservation of galactic resources, I can even use my services as a bargaining chip for a treaty between the Sprilnav and the Alliance, since hard benefits are the best way of securing mutual agreements. That gives us even more time to improve our defenses."
Ynell'ser froze.
William was incredibly proud of his new idea. Sure, he was not Boundless yet. But with a new ambition set, one of civilization and prosperity, he was now ready to take the next step.
"That's insane," Ynell'ser spoke, this time for the Vinarii hivemind. William could tell the difference.
"It is," he agreed. "But to overcome the Sprilnav? To change fate itself? Insanity is only the first qualification. To stand with us in the face of a Ruler's wrath is not an easy thing. I will reward you for it. I am no pacifist. Planets will be broken, empires will be splintered, but your people will endure alongside the rest of the Alliance. And if this universe can't be saved? We'll make a new one."
Source: r/HFY · by /u/Storms_Wrath