Rise of the Star Ch. 08 - Epilogue

While the deeds of the Astoria Empire had been impressive even into the later parts of their third millennium, there is certainly more to come. This utopia would last for a long time, though forever is quite the ambition. Ensuring that not even a month was ever a hard time for their people or even a part of them, giving just rewards to those that come to offer other people value, ensuring homes and futures to trillions of people.

James had gone silent for the most part. Not much to do now. And after that exertion, he needed a nap. The empire could run itself and he had prided himself on doing things in such a way that he needed to give them minimal supervision. It might only be outside context problems to wake him and they were increasingly better at dealing with them. So the god just rested. He was still there to greet guests who came into this empire to see it at such a glorious time, all those moments filling him with pride and joy as he was giving visitors from less pleasant worlds a show of how society should be like. The sex was indeed a taste thing, but many learned to enjoy the other aspects of it... the trust, the wealth, the freedom to be yourself and get paid for what you want to do. It was rare for a guest to look at the empire and either shudder because they were a horrible person or dislike the casual sex because they wanted sex to be this reward one has to hunt with resources thrown at it.

There were very few aliens left of other species and with their empires gone, Astoria thought they might be value in integrating them or bringing them back from the brink. Sadly, they showed again and again how their intentions were not pleasant in the end, as they wanted to dominate and steal, they wanted to hurt and kill. Some might say that Astoria was just hating everything that was not them, but by sending these aliens out and letting them fend for themselves, they did the job of destroying themselves better than they could... and there were some freelance efforts to purge them for those unpleasant methods. To those sequestered away in hidden apocalypse bunkers, their old empires became a story and Astoria became a myth, something to scare the children when speaking of this unstoppable entity that would hurt all that break whatever rule parents came up with, and to others it became a story of promise, of some distant paradise among the stars where they may live as kings and do as they please. But for the most part, aliens were written off as gone. There were millions of years of waiting until any of the more intelligent, but nonsentient species on other planets might discover fire, and millions of years more until they could achieve spaceflight.

After a lengthy excavation into the Nex worlds, the backup would be discovered, and it was far from what they expected. More of a model on how to create a similar AI. There was a hearty debate on what to do with this by their scientists. Isolation from humans could possibly allow AI to seek its own path, but if there was one lesson to be gained from the synthetic civilizations, it was that even such an entity wants a purpose. While the project to restore that empire as it was remained on a side table of "projects if we are absolutely bored out of our mind", they did incorporate a lot of what the Oversight was into their many AIs that directed systems within the empire. Perhaps not an equal return, but the Oversight might have been happy to direct shuttles, assist fortune calculation, and help with grand ambitions. They got their garden to care for and raise humans free-range, even as those AIs were just a step behind sentience, if they ever might break through that step, they might not even tell it as it was a nice job and people appreciated it. Sometimes that is enough.

While the other species of the empire would never be in the majority, humans still making up the rough 50% of the population, they were not unwelcome. Momentary issues could arise, but those issues were a call to solve them quickly. Racism was something to laugh at, with any slurs invented by people who just wanted to be free of consequences were told openly as jokes, people judged by the content of their character and their exterior form at worst being a preference or fetish, at best one being unable to even acknowledge that the Tan and humans were different in anything but biology. Other religions would rise, often just variations of the way of True Family, but sometimes with something drastically different. These religions did not last now as they did not last before, with the new path either soon to be shown as wrong or a veiled attempt at someone trying to once again be free of consequences.

The empire went soft. Such was the result when they no longer had challenges. The Community, the unknown of space, the enemies they had, and even the allies they might have to dance around were challenges that the grand entity no longer had now. It was in a state where there was no more game to play. One could call all those times before as hard, now leading to good ones where softer people would come. But it did not lead to unpleasant times. While their fleets became a fraction of what they could hold, the effort done by people reducing, the outputs of their planets and stations fell a lot, but it did not get to a point of leading to hard times. The giant went to sleep, but woe upon any that dared wake it. It was still a great place to live, even as the administrators had to focus less on optimizing things and more on ensuring there were jobs for people who wanted them. Still a bit of a challenge. Just enough.

What would come next? There was no desire to spread beyond their well-established borders, as even now they wanted to keep to the instruction of keeping it small and focused. While they did draw out a much wider border for empire space that one could enclose with three systems, there was really not much of a drive to do it. With the galaxy being so much safer, people started to journey out into the stars... most as an excuse to get away from the rules of the empire and set up their private kingdoms. These would last a bit longer than any attempt at abusing people within their borders, but if those places ever got to the point where Astoria heard about their bullshit, they were a people with a lot of toys, a lot of time, and so damn few things to do. Worst idea to give this giant something to be interested in.

But in time, others might set out with honest intentions and pleasant methods. The desire by members of a species to go out and do something on their own, to form a Gull Matriarchy, or a Synth assembly, a Raff Confederacy, a Zox Bliss, or perhaps a new Tan Hierarchy. Though, more often than not it was a mixed effort going with some particular idea. Corporations would set out to claim planets and systems, eager to try and make products worthy of selling back to Astoria or these other political players. And once there were at least six, it was worth trying to make another galactic community, one that was indeed better as even if these other places might go in some strange directions, Family was remembered. The delegates in that Forum would bed each other in plentiful ways. And, in time, there might be very little space in the galaxy as the number of those entities multiplied substantially, claiming almost all of the stars as their territory. It was not even Astoria's idea to make this Community into a greater imperium and just sync everything from it. They actually voted against that idea and lost, much like a community in that empire deciding someone is best at leading them and pushing the job on them. The Greater Astoria Empire would be far away from any stories of dystopia or imperial abuse, every last place in this imperium being pleasant and catering to life, with the capital empire seen only as an administration center and the rankings of great places to be making their planets fall behind.

Maybe their scientists would figure out how to journey to the galactic core, where they could discover a supermassive black hole to incite a project much like the Vast Expanses that James found in another reality, building such an audacious project that made the old gigastructures dotting the galaxy seem modest, a new center of operations where they could be guarded against the heat death of the universe, where the members of the imperium could slowly retreat to as the stars go out and the people on that Birch World would number in the astronomical and difficult to ever know exactly. Or maybe they could find that core occupied by someone who beat them to that idea and these super-ancient elf-like archons would take contact with the outside as a prompt to take over the galaxy once more, inciting the giant to wake up and show the old ones that they grew rusty, taking their home and starting to explore it.

And perhaps after such insanity, they might discover how to reliably go between galaxies in a reasonable amount of time, starting to visit other distant places, exploring once more, discovering new alien life that may be in only an FTL phase of their civilization, or discovering other empires that have claimed galaxies and do not take the upstarts as a good thing, once again making this empire go to war and show that James taught them well. Such wars would be fought on a scale like never before and their methods would become utterly arcane.

In that multiverse beyond the world where the Empire resides, the guests that enjoyed a brief visit were like bullets upon those worlds, never intended as such by James, as the man only wanted them to come to enjoy a utopia, preferably until their end, but they became a tool to help this conquest. They could be anyone coming from any point in time, complete nobodies or more famous figures, they could be just simple sheep herders, artists, carpenters, or store owners, or they could be the chiefs of religions and nations. Seeds of doubt thrown into a world where the certainty was of nothing better being possible. The story of the Empire could equal that of a Heaven waiting for those who might serve this god well, but the truth was that he wanted them to turn those other worlds into such heavens and remake everything anew. But you really can't control what others do.

There is certainly a universe of possibilities out there, a universe that with enough time and math one could take apart, build it better, and keep going. But such events are for the far, far future, thousands or millions of years into the future when the people of the empire might take to immortality, they might transcend their previous existence in ways unimagined, or James might start to ask for their help against the other worlds. A time in the future when the empire might get a new Goddess of Wrath, one to be left in charge while the Outsider sees to his crusade across the other realities to make those better and step by step move toward He Who Is Everything to ask the old man "What the fuck?!" and possibly dethrone them to the glee of a girl who calls herself Hikari.

But it's only the fourth millennium now.

*

Year 3415 After Arrival

Three Thousand Years. James thought he might deserve senior citizen discounts, though gods find this as merely the end of a childhood. The celebration for second arrival was as intense as usual, but he still thought that his people partied harder after the Galactic War. As the man looked over how the empire was doing, that idea came back... the one he had a while ago and didn't know how to do. Lucy had taught him of a way to possibly cheat that usual problem. He had a way, but the question was if he should do it... and what the hell was he going to do then.

In this high-placed office, Benjamin served as the overseer of the empire at this time, unrelated to the Ben from a few hundred years ago. Sometimes people just have the same names. Though there is a limit of one James in the empire unless that unlucky guy wants the Outsider's eyes on him every time he gets called by that name. It was a quiet autumn evening and Ben just sat, watching the city go at it. He should be home, but he liked just sitting here and watching.

The reflection on the glass would help him see the misty appearance of the Outsider, not an unusual one here, but James might come if there was something to address... and Ben knew nothing was going on. Nothing would happen... yet. The old man turned to him with a smile.

"James. A social visit or have I let something slip?"

"I'd say neither. I do have a request and you can't know of something that hasn't happened yet."

The Outsider walked to take that seat ready for him here. It was mostly a politeness thing, but Ben noticed how the man seemed to treat this with more care. Whatever he wished to ask must be quite important. After living in this world and seeing the tangible influence of the Outsider, Ben would not dare refuse. No, he would give this his best work. All of them would.

"Oh, then make your request. Anything we can manage. A new experiment, as you have in mind with the Brain? I do admit it was a novelty to receive guests there."

"More guests than before. Let's just say you will see a planet change into something else."

He brought out the galaxy map and pointed to that one system. The one where that irradiated world with some scraps of once having a spacefaring species were on, though their scientists were unable to find conclusive evidence of that culture.

"The Sol system. Hm. Bringing them back, are you?"

"You could say that. Just want you guys to be nice, make contact, maybe offer some a trip over here and see about enlightening them. Perhaps it could be fun."

Ben could tell this was more than just "fun" as the man was intentionally hiding something from him... and them at large. Secrets could not last, but perhaps it could be "fun" to see where it goes. Perhaps James wanted them to figure it out by themselves.

"I will let the needed people know to not get too surprised. I think we can arrange a trip." And a needed show of defiance to not seem too subservient. "But, you want something more than a trip, possibly as these people are important, hmmm?"

"Maybe. Maybe I want to offer them the chance to stay here and destabilize that world. A double edge with refugees. On one side, if you get too many, it could put a strain on where they go, but if too many people leave a place..."

"A tyrant with nothing to rule over is just a man. Fun indeed. We have certainly never tried that. Very well, I will let them know. It will at least be more excitement than we had in a while. Galaxy is rather boring with nothing else to talk to. I might even enjoy seeing how others do their ruling."

"Comparison to something worse always does make one feel better."

And so that system would soon blink into having life, having a habitable planet, one that was circled by satellites and with dozens of fractured nations on it, a planet just a few centuries out from achieving spaceflight. A planet to surprise them as not only it had humans, but a good chunk of them spoke English... or something that tried to be it.

Earth.

*

"I find them cute."

Michelle was the energy in this observation station. Just two years of having this civilization to watch over, one spent with this deep-space posting. Cloaking was good, but staying out of the way of their many attempts to throw things in space was better.

"Like seeing children go at it. Very stupid children. So many of these religions and yet they all breed some very bad people. But, to be expected at that time."

"Not everyone can have the Outsider to tell them right. So, I think we figured out most of everything about them. Tech level, economy, cultures, languages. Still amazing that it's HUMANS. Feels like we should get beaten over the head for not seeing it on that other planet."

"Doesn't mean it had humans before. You heard how it was. Outsider just brought it here and it's gonna be for good. And we checked everything to make sure it wasn't just some temporal distortion or such."

They stood before the screens showing all that data, thousands of cloaked drones around the world seeing it, watching and intercepting communications. They saw the cars clogging up Times Square, the enslaved locals working in the drug cartels' lands, the violence on the streets of Berlin, and other views. A thousand memes were sent their way and when they did not do cultural analysis, they could laugh at some of them, or just understand.

Deliverance got everything they sent, with translators ready to handle any local languages... ancient things since they haven't used some in a while. No language drift in the empire. Too much connectivity. Also, James didn't want them to slip away. There was a thorough analysis of what their actions might cause, how the locals might react to astorian culture, and how their leaders might see them and act with this information. The current prediction was that their corrupted leaders might demand their secrets to further improve their grip on this world, possibly reacting with violence once they might refuse it. Some might say a quiet infiltration and replacement would go better. But James asked and here they go delivering.

Then the request came. Time to begin the contact and get things going. They analyzed that too. If they met up with their leaders, odds were that they would try to silence any news of it and try to extract more means to control. But the point WAS to fuck up with the system. As the Phoenix got contracted for the job and the many scientists got recruited for the task of enlightenment... just one more step. Record the message. Ran'ala stepped before the recorder to be this message... one that would be transmitted to everything with translation considered for the local flavor... but first, she had to record it.

"People of Earth. The Astoria Empire greets you. We have come from beyond the stars to see what the young ones are doing. Have no worry, we have no ill intentions. We only wish to teach and possibly learn. If your leaders wish to meet us, we will be along shortly, but let it be known that we will be there for all to see. May this moment help us both be greater."

And... cut. The Tan woman deflated as her colleague made a hand gesture as if to say "Meh".

"Too much?"

"Or too little? I don't know. But feels kinda posturing."

"I am not a delegate and we're not all automatically good at socials. I thought we would have one of the diplomats recording this, not us."

"Well, I heard they aren't giving it their all. Sounds like you might have to go there and be a diplomat now."

"Pfeh. I'd rather not. Watching them is one thing, but going there? Have you seen how polluted their atmosphere is?"

"Could be worse, but yeah. Get yourself some good implants."

"I should get some combat ones as well. Maybe we can change their mind and have them send someone who should actually do this."

"Oh, don't think like that! It will be exciting! Hey, we can look forward to the first time someone tries anything. Might be a good place to show off."

Show off indeed. This was not so much a proper first contact as it was showing off. They might have followed different channels to do this properly, not this "game". But in time, they could see the "fun", and might as well give the aliens some handicap rather than bringing one of their diplomats that could conquer that planet over a month if they were let loose. Those many webs of intrigue were just waiting for someone to seize them.

A couple more takes, and the message would be sent.

*

Talk about a crazy couple of months. Work still went on, and the boy was glad to be home. The apartment he was sharing with Tim might not be the best, but what can you do in this economy? A sigh was let out as his backpack was dropped beside the door and the couch was a needed place to rest his ass. Home. But at least the news was interesting. Aliens. First came that message, making every phone, TV, computer, electronic billboard... anything that could receive an electronic signal erupt all at once with the face of that blue woman speaking the message. The authorities tried to pass it off as some sham, but once the shuttles came down all over the planet, they couldn't brush that one under the carpet.