Passenger 961

By Ian Eress

In 2027, Passenger 961, a private investigator, December Damuzo, goes on a holiday trip with his family of four in an ocean liner. For mysterious reasons the ship and everyone in it find themselves on a future Earth, thousands of years into the future.

 

Everything has changed since 2027. People live in generation ships, spread throughout the galaxy, and heavily-fortified settlements because numerous aliens from the neighboring Andromeda galaxy want them dead.

 

An Artificial General Intelligence is tasked with teaching Passenger 961, December, about history. Plus, she must find out what has happened to the Passengers. Who transported them to the future and why?

 

A superior Artificial Intelligence suspects foul play. Perhaps the Passengers are not who they say they are. Could they be powerful enemies in disguise?

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ian Eress
• Release date: Jun 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201331498

Ian Eress

Born in the seventies. Average height. Black hair. Sometimes shaves. Black eyes. Nearsighted. Urban. MSc. vim > Emacs. Mac.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

64TH CENTURY ANNO GALILEO, ANDO BELONITE SOMEWHERE IN THE MILKY WAY

THE STARSHIP WITH about two thousand human passengers and crew, Ando Belonite, was under attack by the vile Andromedans. I, Amaterasu, one of the oldest Artificial General Intelligences from Earth Zero, was in charge of the generation vessel. But I was also in an important meeting with other Artificial General Intelligences and even one Artificial Super Intelligence.

The Ando Belonite was a O'Neill cylinder with two counter-rotating cylinders, providing artificial gravity, and an Omicron class generation ship (meaning that people never left it) rolled into one. Its senior officers, mostly with Martian ancestors like the other humans on Ando Belonite, fired unnecessary questions at me. (Qeeravs together with the Awakenistas Philanthropic Society had terraformed Mars in the 21st century AD, first century AG, after Galileo.)

Were we going to make it? they asked. How many enemies were out there? What kind of weapons did they have? The crew did maintenance, administration, and security. Somebody made them believe they could also fight the Andromedans and fly the ship. However, that was my responsibility.

I had reserved a server room although it was unnecessary. We, Artificial General Intelligences, had no bodies or need for space. No one came in the room except for the odd engineer now and then. It was quiet in there between the cabinets filled with computer hardware.

Fiafi, who had been created decades before me, based on Thohnuth's Urzur who visited Earth Zero thousands of years ago, arrived first in the meeting room, presenting herself as the hologram, a three-dimensional image made with lasers, of a springbok, a South African gazelle. She used what was left of the Wormnet, the ancient network of non-Wavej wormholes. Upon seeing her, I showed myself as a purple rhinoceros.

She is not the best of starships, Fiafi said. (Following ancient tradition we referred to starships as though they were female) If you are under attack, perhaps we ought to postpone the meeting until the vessel is safe.

No, no, no need. I yanked the Ando Belonite away from enemy fire. A junior lieutenant cursed and called me a chomping idiot.

A holographic butler blinked into existence, grinning. Pew, pew. Amaterasu, are we winning? How many Andromedan warships did you hit? Albert Sawyer made NBBN2, based on the Qeerav NBBN, another Artificial General Intelligence, because I was too polite and formal to his taste. NBBN2 was a prankster and sometimes rude to people. By the way, the horrid Andromedans used mostly self-replicating robotic drones, not full-blown battleships.

None, they are too fast and smart. I have not seen them yet. The cowards shoot from a distance, not letting us see them.

The crew and passengers were beyond stressed. Some were praying to their Gods or God; some had fainted. I could hear them talk and received real-time data from their heart monitors. Everyone on board was starving and desperate. Due to a recent malfunction of our food-producing machines, we could not produce enough food. There was little I could do about that.

The Mercury-sized Thinker, Gaia, displayed herself as a supermodel, a blend of past supermodels. She lived around Sun Zero in a Dyson swarm, a sphere-like swarm of O'Neill cylinders around the Sun collecting Solar energy. We never let the Andromedans touch her, but we paid a price for that. We are missing the Presence of Elena Rogova, she said.

I am here. This was not the real Elena Rogova, a famous novelist from the past and Albert Sawyer’s maternal grandmother, but a Presence of her created using all kinds of brain scans and other relevant data.

I think we can start, Gaia said. We respected her authority since she was an Artificial Super Intelligence with more hardware and data available to her than the rest of us put together. Even NBBN2 accepted her as our leader although he would have never admitted it in public. "Six years ago the Titan of the Oceans, one of the biggest ocean liners of the 2020s, decades before Galileo Sawyer was born, surfaced on Earth. It had no business being there. That particular ship had last been in action about six thousand years. Nothing special happened to it."

A mystery! The quantum Multiverse was full of those. That made life interesting.

NBBN2 scoffed. Why the hell do we have to go over this? he asked. "The Titan came from a parallel Earth. Everybody on the ship is from another universe. None of them seems to know how they ended up on Earth Zero. They have not aged since 2027 AD, and as far as they are concerned only six years have passed since they left their homes."

This was a unique incident of course. Could we have been indirectly responsible? That was unlikely in my humble opinion.

Exactly. The supermodel Presence Gaia had chosen nodded. In a nutshell. But there might be more to the Passengers than meets the eye. It is suspicious that they try to get on Alpha class starships yet never more than one person or a family... They are spread through the galaxy as if they can't be too close.

What if they just hated each other? Naturally, the odds of Passengers hating everybody else from Titans of the Oceans were low.

Maybe there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, Fiafi said. Has anybody asked them?

A high-energy beam almost penetrated the plasma shield of Ando Belonite. I shot back five times with all our weapons. We were running out of antimatter, so I could not do this too often.

Gaia shook her holographic head with perfect hair. Not really, she said. Well, there were some attempts, however, the Passengers are very secretive. Amaterasu, I have a job for you. You are to teach Passenger 961, December Damuzo, and a Beaver, Talks to Birds.

Beavers were beaver-like animals, on average 0.9 meters (three feet) tall, who for some reason had skipped the storytelling part of their evolution. As a result, they could not tell stories. So they sent out their most promising youngsters to other planets to collect fiction in any shape and form. They also enjoyed learning about history.

Beavers were weird but not in a bad way. I had experience teaching history. Gaia, Fiafi, NBBN2, and the Presence of Elena Rogova all had experience with that. It was just one of those things we did like piloting starships.

It would be an honor and a privilege, Gaia, I said.

Good, I will show you December.

A high-resolution hologram emerged of a grumpy-looking man with broad shoulders and a big head, wearing blue jeans, white sneakers and a gray T-shirt. I guessed he was an Asian. He looked strong and heavy like a bodybuilder or a professional boxer, not somebody you would want to mess with.

December, Passenger 961, has a teenage daughter and an even younger son, Gaia said. "His family of four was aboard the Titan of the Oceans. They now live on an Alpha class starship. In 2027 on his Earth, he was a private investigator. Amaterasu, teach him about our history and customs, but also try to find out what the Passengers are up to. He still speaks...Well, you will hear for yourself. It will be like educating High Ruler Chloe all over again."

High Ruler Chloe, who died thousands of years ago, was practically royalty. After a long and bloody battle in the center of the galaxy, Andromedans killed her in her home.

Of course, I said. I assume December knows about the Stanpocalypse. (The near-collapse of humanity caused by the dreaded Andromedans. Stan, a mysterious and powerful entity, predicted this.) And the killing moons of the Andromedans. (They were spaceships with giant lasers shaped like moons.)

I doubt the children...the little Passengers pose any danger, Elena's Presence said. Half of the Passengers are kids.

She was exaggerating a bit, but there were indeed many little ones amongst the Passengers.

Gaia's hologram narrowed her gorgeous eyes. The TC or maybe the Andromedans might have done something we can't even imagine, she said. Let's not assume anything.

NBBN2 laughed. Paranoid! he said.

I found a collapsible wormhole I knew how to enable. After giving it the password it needed, Ando Belonite sailed through the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen bridge, and I collapsed it, leaving the Andromedan attackers behind with nothing to show for. That was lucky! Could we have escaped in another way? I was not sure.

Gaia, Fiafi, NBBN2, Elena's hologram, and I continued our meeting for several hours. Everyone received an assignment from Gaia to  teach a Passenger similar to mine. I loved to teach, so I was looking forward to meeting December.

CHAPTER 1

Albert Sawyer was an Alpha class starship and therefore better, in the ways that counted, than the Ando Belonite. It had better weapons, food-producing facilities, and crew. (Funnily, there was another similar ship called Alberta Sawyer.) The passengers had to pass many exams and tests to gain access. Or be rich, famous, or special. December Damuzo was special and famous.

Child-sized ted-bots (robots with the appearance of teddy bears), Azoin servants (crab-like aliens with a dozen eyes each), and XNA-enhanced humans worked or relaxed near the quarters of December's family. The men, women, and children looked well-fed, but they did not have more available space than the people on the Ando Belonite. Luckily, Talks to Birds, the Beaver, was small. He and December were curious about each other. I translated for them.

By the way, December matched the hologram I had seen earlier. Not that I expected otherwise. I had chosen a small Japanese woman as my avatar.

Guys, time for the first lesson, I said, also translating for the Beaver. "I want to tell you the story of young Felim Ega in the eighth century Anno Galileo on New Earth, more than eight centuries after your trip on the Titan of the Oceans, December."

I heard this Felim was a fucking pervert, love.

Uh, he did some things people frown upon, I said. Nothing illegal. Why? Would that be a problem?

I do not want Jasfer to copy that sort of behavior, Amaterasu. Jasfer, December’s son, could hear us talk.

Understood.

EIGHTH CENTURY ANNO GALILEO, NEW EARTH, ALIABUR

EIGHT CENTURIES BEFORE Felim Ega and his friends Lod Wolf and Ando Belonite were born, the Pioneers colonized New Earth, an Earth-like planet close to Earth. During the Decline, the Pioneers and their mother organization, the Awakenistas Philanthropic Society, neglected New Earth because of growing problems in the Inner Solar System.

Wars, emigration, diseases, firestorms, dust storms, floods, hurricanes, and crime reduced the planet to a Wild West. Gangs, minefields, military robots, and other machines made life dangerous.

Felim, Lod, and Ando were born in Prodiv, also known as Three Hills. It had been the second city of Aliabur before the Decline. But in the eighth century AGit was a small village adjacent to ancient ruins.

Regressors (also known as Minions or Traitors) had chased the three young men and Ando's girlfriend, Nini, across Aliabur on New Earth. The Regressors served the HiDimBes, our number one enemy at the time—beings who lived in multiple parallel universes at the same time. They did not want other species in the Milky Way to develop advanced artificial intelligence. Their enormous hyperdimensional computers had predicted a Leader who would kill all the HiDimBes.

The Healer of Prodiv, Welidi, several years older than Nini and her boss had also come. Plus, Vikol, a young merchant who turned out to be a Regressor.

Nini and Welidi had joined Second Order—monks loyal to Galileo Sawyer, Albert Sawyer's son. Felim was, as December said, more interested in women than was good for him. He had naughty dreams about Nini and Welidi often.

(December shouted at his son, Jasfer, to go play with some boy I had never heard of. Talks to Birds seemed in trance. Stories were like drugs to Beavers.)

Spring had come to Aliabur and with it rains. But the snow was gone. Felim was not as sensitive to cold as his dark-skinned friend, Ando, yet he also was happy to welcome spring.

At the foot of Lotop mountains, Felim, a chubby young man, sat on a robotic horse between two white elms. Some countries on New Earth would not consider him an adult. But he had seen and heard things no adult in centuries had witnessed.

The cold wind blew in Felim's face, pushing raindrops away. He was thinking about important matters. (That was what his daily journal said. It was quite possible he decided to create a better public image for himself. His earlier journal entries were full of the kind of stuff, December wanted kept away from his young son.)

Felim had a sensitive nose like dogs, but he was not born with it. Something had happened to him in a ghost town, Fasaltsic also in Aliabur. Something had happened to his friend, Lod, too. And maybe to Vikol. Second Order said it was a special kind of neurochips—microscopic machines that could pass the blood-brain barrier. But was that all?

Near Felim's location, scared animals had been running away from a wolf. Felim could smell their fear. He could smell it on humans too. It was a kind of empathy, but could it be compared to what Galileo Sawyer, the founder of Second Order, could do? Of course not.

On roborses, the five soldiers near Felim were not afraid. Or at least, not enough for him to notice. There was plenty to fear—the TC, the HiDimBes, the Regressors, and bandits.

The men obeyed Felim as though he was born to lead them. But he knew he was a coward. He knew he would run from danger.

Felim remembered he had to look out for enemies. He could see nothing but trees and grass. The birds had not returned from warmer places yet. Other animals preferred to hide.

A rider! Who could it be?

A chomping drone! Ace, one of the soldiers, said.

Felim looked up, seeing a dark spot overhead. Is it friendly, beh?

How the hell should I know? Ace asked.

Rude! Why did he snap like that at Felim?

The soldiers drew PLAM rifles, aiming them at the drone. Since the time of the Pioneers, the PLAM rifles had been constantly improved, yet Aliabur used an old model. They could fire high-energy beams with great accuracy.

Felim let himself drop from his roborse. Instinct had told him to do that. He was close to tears, and he feared he had wet himself. Would the men laugh at him if he did? But his instinct was right—the drone had shot at him. Plasma sizzled behind Felim's roborse. He stood up half-covered in mud.

The soldiers swung into action, firing at the drone. It fell, hit twice as though struck by lightning. A third shot, while the drone lay on the ground, set it on fire.

Does it spy for the blazing Lemivios? Felim asked. (The Lemivios were war-loving aliens with hyena-like faces who served the HiDimBes. From the opposite edge of the galaxy, the Lemivios were masters of gene splicing, so their army consisted of supersoldiers.)

Likely. Ace nodded. He walked carefully toward the drone.

Meanwhile, the rider came closer. Wait! Could it be her?

Water and air, I recognize her, Felim said. It is Irala of the Playful People. He had met her once before, dressed like a smelly homeless person. Her shabby clothing had not improved since then. (To be fair, most of humanity stopped caring about fashion after the Stanpocalypse. But that happened thousands of years after Felim was born.) Irala was possibly as old as Felim's mother.

Ace scowled. Playful People. Bloody idiots. They won't have anything to do with the Regressors, though.

Suns and moons, Felim said. She is unarmed and alone. It is not safe for her to be here.

Irala took her time. Did she want to talk to Felim at all? Had she even seen him?

Felim mounted his roborse and led the others toward Irala over mud and small pools filled with rainwater. Irala waited for the men. She smelled awful and did not look like somebody who cared about their appearance.

What was she doing here? It is me, Felim. I guess you do not recognize me. We met months ago. Do you need help?

Irala watched Felim for a while. I am looking for a woman.

A woman? What for? What is her name? Felim asked.

Alberta-Iscah. She is an Alberta, yet she joined Second Order. I am called Irala.

He knew that! Had she forgotten him? Felim gave a little bow. We will take you to her, Irala. We brought plenty of food. Would you join us for dinner?

"There is something I need to tell the Zērpizdō, Irala said. Something important."

Important? What could it be? Please follow me. Felim pointed to Lotop mountains.

The soldiers trailed Felim and Irala, riding up in silence. Irala glanced at Felim now and then. What did she want?

I was surprised to vidy one of the Playful People here, Felim said.

Irala sighed, wiping water off her roborse's head. We are like the wind and the air. Weak alone, strong together. But our numbers dwindled. We are too easy to kill, yet we do not believe in violence.

Felim did not know what to say to that. Arguing with Irala seemed like a bad idea. He wanted to compare her to the animals, running from a wolf. But she showed no signs of fear. Water and air, you are brave. I hoped everyone thought like you. About damn violence, I mean.

That is not going to happen, Irala said. The Playful People do not wish to change the world. We just want to live in peace.

Could they be this naive? Or maybe everybody else had the wrong idea.

After that no one said anything for hours. They avoided minefields and killbots. Gangs usually operated in populated areas. From time to time, Irala sang in a language Felim did not recognize.

Schiim roap, hia rogd goj hoal am zreefd

Im uvam aalzdam tlina?

Word ifzdeem am tam nao imdweem:

Hoj sdeed hoal ersi zchima

Smoke rose high above a peaceful valley. Soon after that, scores of large tents came into view. There were banners and flags everywhere in the camp, depicting a fierce unicorn. Not the kind of creature kids love. No, this was an animal more akin to an angry wolf.

Welcome, Irala, Felim said. Welcome to the True Leader's base. The Unicorn!

We took a short break. December lit a cigarette whereas the Beaver wrote quick notes in his notebook. I liked to chat during the breaks, certainly when I still needed to get to know my students.

Cor, I hoped the future would be brighter, love, December said. I guess the fucking doomsayers had their last laugh. But as they say, every broken clock is right twice a day.

My hologram shrugged. We tried. Everybody tried. More things went wrong than we could handle. We built imperfect systems, and they failed now and then.

So are we going to hear more about Felim? December asked.

I nodded. Yes, but I will skip thousands of years to a moment eight years before the Stanpocalypse. Felim still lived on New Earth but in a different country, Islandsland.

EIGHT YEARS BEFORE THE STANPOCALYPSE, NEW EARTH, ISLANDSLAND

EIGHT YEARS BEFORE the Stanpocalypse, old Felim lived in tropical Islandsland, consisting of thousands of islands. He lived like a prince on Jeweja, the most populous island in the archipelago by far. Some people who knew him respected Felim, but that was a minority. Many of his friends nagged, saying that Felim needed to do something that added value. He was certainly running out of money, being not the best investor in the world.

The population of New Earth had grown rapidly since the Leader brought order to the planet. He wanted his home planet to rival Earth.

Traders on ships, airplanes, and even spaceships came and went to Islandsland, bringing new religions, ethnic groups, customs, cuisines, and other influences, including Second Order monks.

Had Felim really lived for thousands of years? Medical technology using nanobots, mitochondria transplantation, gene-splicing, a cocktail of drugs, and other techniques could keep the human body healthy and young. However, people still died because of other causes than aging. Felim had managed to avoid death more by luck than skill.

President Peikiv of Islandsland had come to Prosperous City, the former capital of Islandsland in Jeweja. The elite, the Morlocks, welcomed him in the Rain Palace. The Rain Palace was a fortress and a palace with tall walls and many soldiers guarding it.

More than 300,000 people lived in Prosperous City. Many of them were students of the largest university in Islandsland.

In the main hall of the Rain Palace with lavishly decorated walls, Felim sat at the end of a long table with young people, glad to be left alone. He had developed a taste for wine. For religious reasons many people in Islandsland did not drink wine. A cute ted-bot brought a glass full of wine for Felim. Other ted-bots presented a variety of other drinks and dishes.

The garden of the palace with a view to an active volcano was another place where Felim was usually left alone. He sometimes stayed there for hours, thinking and remembering his glory days.

The President’s wife, Koalza, black-haired and pretty, smiled like a snake. Most of the people in Islandsland were dark-skinned as you might expect in a tropical nation. Anyway she wore a long, black dress, part of it floated thanks to Qeerav nanobots. This was a fashion technique humans had borrowed from the Qeeravs.

A tall man with fair skin sang a Qeerav song about Prosperous City. About returning to the city and the emotions hanging in the air.

Imdielca-da im ilesur dau

Exozda i nama ta anitoa im til

Tid ce imeomdaqe

The president was tall and fat, red in the face, and looked unhealthy. His brown suit could burst under the pressure any minute it seemed. Vice president Zuhaldo, shorter and clad in ligher colors, appeared healthier, but he radiated contempt. Did he think he could get away with it?

At the main table, a friend of Felim, gray-robed Narima, was sitting next to the president’s Chief of staff. She could be mistaken for a boy although she was a Qeerav-Immort, almost as old as Felim. Her interests were also more suitable to boys than girls. Not that there was anything wrong with that.

Another Qeerav-Immort and a friend of Narima, gray-robed Welidi born in Prodiv like Felim, was more lady-like. No one would mistake her for a boy or a man. If he really had to, Felim would admit that Welidi was pretty. But she was not very nice to Felim. She sat next to the Minister of Defense, Juzup, clad in blue.

Felim was interested in Lod Wolf, also sitting next to Juzup, a childhood friend of his. On the small side, Lod worked for Juzup as a personal advisor. He was a genius, according to popular opinion, but also someone who had trouble eating properly. Unlike Felim, Lod had been a difficult eater since childhood.

Wulcho, a Headar, was at Felim’s feet. Headars were aliens, resembling large dogs but with big heads. Wulcho was as old as Felim and had undergone many rejuvenation treatments to not die of old age.

Felim fed Wulcho under the table. They both sported neurochips. And they could communicate through those.

#Human, why can’t I eat properly?# Wulcho asked cyberpathically.

Wulcho had been this grumpy when he was much younger. #Stop complaining, beh,# Felim said.

A dark-skinned woman joined the first singer, singing about nostalgia and street corners that called.

Foacela cirt na imdanfoma floadamiz

Imtafaldamt wio po mizdergoc

Camt fadlacan etazae donfge

Another distant relative of Felim, Binzanim wearing a white uniform, sat next to him. How much did you have to drink? You won’t live forever if you drink like this.

Impertinent kid! Binzanim was in his thirties, but that was nothing compared to Felim’s age. Mind your own chomping business. Don’t you have anything better to do than nag?

Touchy, beh. Why is your dog called Wulcho?

He is not a blazing dog. How many tempos do I have to tell you?

Binzanim grinned. Why aren’t you sitting with the damn VIPs? The Very Insulting Potatoes.

Potatoes? Binzanim was trying to be funny and failing. Some of the VIPs had indeed insulted Felim on previous occasions. Zuhaldo called him a child. The president's wife called Felim an old dirty man. Juzup had joked about Felim's nose hair. Very important people. Or persons. I do not remember. They think of me as a blasted pervert. Welp, Nini and the president's wife do.

Ando does not seem very happy, Binzanim said.

Thunder and lightning, it is not easy being the Leader. If we weren’t friends, I wouldn’t have been welcome in the Rain Palace. Mrs. Peikiv hates being here.

I think so too, Binzanim said. We could use a bloody warrior like you in the Island Guard.

Well, Felim needed some money and a change of scenery. He stood up. I will think about it. He strode away, trailed by Wulcho.

#Why do you still talk to that idiot?# Wulcho asked.

#He is family.#

#I have a family and a pack, and I don't talk to them, human.#

#Your choice,# Felim said.

Outside in the large courtyard, Felim lit a cigarette. Parts of a Qeerav song floated by about street food and vendors in Prosperous City.

Le lazcluca, fesoo nao za iflazc

O nurtona ta wamsadilo zdletero

Vamselae ta zfacoerodato cu guzdgi

Lod, the little  genius, walked up to him. Still with this Headar, eh? You do not vidy many of them around here. May I have a rigardu at him?

#What does he want?# Wulcho asked through his neurochips. He could not speak like humans.

#Let him rigardu at you. I am sure he won’t harm you.#

#If you say so, human.#

Go ahead, Felim said in his normal voice.

Lod went down on his knees to have a good look at Wulcho. So you live in Prosperous City nowadays?

I have to live somewhere, don’t I?

You are a Strange Attractor. Not many peeps seem to know or care. You could use that to your flaming advantage.

What do you know about Strange Attractors, Lod?

Oh little. I think I am an Attractor too, just not a strange one. What do you know about Strange Attractors?

Smart: throwing his question back at Felim! Could he tell Lod what he found out about Ando’s future? What is knowing worth to you? Felim asked.

What the hell do you think it should be worth to me, friend of Ando?

Was Lod trying to make a game of this? I know you welp enough not to answer, Felim said.

Lod chuckled. Just pulling your freaking leg. I will vidy you around. He strode away.

You certainly will. What a nice fellow! Smart anyway. Plus, they were born in the same village and knew each other for millennia. There was that.

#What the hell was that all about?# Wulcho asked.

#Lod was curious about me. Which maybe also means his boss is curious about me. So Juzup’s snake of a sister, the president’s wife, might be interested in me. Or maybe not.#

#Are you interested in any of them?# Wulcho asked. #The president’s wife most likely.#

#Nah, she is a chomping monster. You can vidy it in her eyes.#

#Come on,# Wulcho said. #Let’s go home and eat like normal people. Do you want to be Juzup’s friend, human?#

#I can go to brothels and get drunk by myself. I mean, with you.#

They strolled to Felim’s air-car, not the fastest or most expensive but safe and reliable. The area around the Rain Palace was densely populated. It took thirteen minutes for them to return to Casa Felim because they took their time, visiting several locations in the shopping district.

CHAPTER 2

It was the first break after a short lesson. December enjoyed a cigarette—a small miracle because no one mass-produced cigarettes anymore in the 64th century Anno Galileo. The Beaver left. Gaia, Fiafi, Elena’s Presence, and dozens of others commented on his departure without anybody else hearing.

Jasfer had not returned, but his older sister, Kala, a teenager, entered the room. She had no interest in the history lesson, instead she surfed the ShipWeb with a roll-phone. Due to bandwidth restrictions, the ShipWeb offered only news from outside and internal forums. Had Kala found a nice boy she liked?

I wish to travel back eight centuries from Felim's time to Jared in 52 Before Galileo, New York City, on Earth, I said 2018 AD. The important day when the Awakenistas met.

I saw a holo-documentary about that fucking day, love, December said.

But not from Jared’s perspective.

That is true.

52 BEFORE GALILEO, EARTH, NEW YORK CITY

JARED WAS BORN in London, the 1970s. His life took a sharp turn when his parents died in a car accident. At the time, he was too young to understand what had happened. His relatives showed no interest in taking care of him. So it was up to foster parents to take the responsibility.

Jared rebelled against the foster care system. He fought it in all possible ways. But eventually he found foster parents he actually liked.

Meanwhile, he escaped from reality through computer games.