Chapter 183: The Door to the Future
In 2040, the first megacity closed its door.
It did not mean that it cut off all contact with the outside world or became isolated.
It meant that it no longer accepted any more citizens.
Its population was slightly over 100 million, and its population density easily surpassed that of the most crowded cities by several times.
Most of the facilities were contained inside, so it could withstand aerial attacks from the outside.
It also achieved complete self-sufficiency in resources and food.
It was literally a shelter and an ark to protect humanity.
When Megacity Pacific closed its door, the people who had been hesitating became desperate.
—Megacity Pacific is the next one to close. Its population is almost close to 100 million, so it will close soon.
—There is not much time left to enter the megacities.
The people who met the conditions but did not apply were better off.
They had not moved in because of their pride and their assets outside, but they could enter anytime as long as they applied.
It was regrettable that their assets would be meaningless once they entered with them, but at least they could survive.
But it was different for the people who did not meet the conditions and were rejected.
The screening was based on very detailed data, so there was no reversal.
Once rejected, it was over, and this was a matter of life and death.
The world in 2040 was collapsing due to the repeated attacks of the plague.
As soon as a battleship-class plague appeared with a fleet, an insect-type plague appeared and destroyed the farmland.
The world’s economy was ruined, and the national system was on the verge of paralysis.
In this situation, the only place to rely on was the megacity.
“Open the door! Open it!”
“Is it that hard to let in a few people?”
People went to the nearby megacities and knocked on the walls, but they did not budge.
The megacities were connected by supercavity trains and had sturdy walls, so they could not be infiltrated.
So all they could do was knock on the walls until their hands were smashed.
But the megacities never opened.
The people who knocked on the walls were disappointed and cursed.
“You bastards! Don’t you have to save people!”
“Do you want us to die!”
Some tried to use the still-operating government to make a deal.
They offered to give up their resources in exchange for accepting some of their population.
But they refused to maintain them.
“Why should we trade now when everything will be ours soon? Leave us alone.”
The people gritted their teeth, but they could not deny that it was true.
At this moment, the population of each country was flowing out to the United Human Federation.
Even government officials disappeared at some point.
They reassured the people and then ran away in the middle of the night.
This was not a rare case, so looting and riots were common, and even government agencies were attacked.
The police and military that should have stopped this had long been corrupted.
Japan, which had maintained a stable regime, panicked when the prime minister and bureaucrats disappeared overnight.
“The prime minister ran away too. What do we do now?”
“That’s not the problem. The mart doesn’t have any goods. The logistics system is not working properly.”
The main reason was that a large number of people had migrated to the United Human Federation, causing the economy to stagnate.
The United Human Federation had built an extremely closed economic system, so it did not need to interact with other places.
Japan, which had been running on domestic consumption, was one of the better ones, but there were signs that it had reached its limit.
“We can’t go on like this. We have to give up Japan as a whole and enter the megacity.”
But the United Human Federation did not intend to accept the Japanese as a group.
“If you want to enter the megacity, apply individually. There is no other way, and there are not many days left to talk like this.”
Soon all the megacities would close their doors.
At that point, the Japanese who had been holding on rushed to knock on the doors of the megacities.
But only a few of them got residency rights.
In 2041, following Pacific, South and North also closed completely.
At this point, the total population of the United Human Federation reached 900 million, becoming the largest country in the world.
Other places lost their social foundations and could no longer be seen as countries.
Armed groups began to roam around like in apocalyptic movies, and survivors built their own settlements and rejected outsiders.
This was not because of the United Human Federation, but because of the plague’s attacks.
They showed up frequently as if to prove that a full-scale invasion was imminent.
The United Human Federation, including the megacities, was specialized in defending against them, so there was no problem.
But other places were not prepared at all and had to suffer without any resistance.
When a giant plague appeared, it was not a big deal to destroy a few cities.
The United Human Federation’s army did intervene, but their priority was always the defense of the megacities, so they were not very active.
Countless countries disappeared, and the world was divided into the United Human Federation and the rest of the regions.
There were still billions of survivors, but they did not mean much in the eyes of the United Human Federation.
In 2045, the world was separated into the United Human Federation and the other regions.
It was 16 years after Megacity Pacific opened.
****
In 2045, the 12 megacities in the United Human Federation had a total population of 1.2 billion.
The area was not that large, so the population density was beyond imagination, and the races were even more diverse, so many conflicts were expected.
But surprisingly, there were not many major incidents.
The citizens had gone through the screening process and had heard about the drones and CP system until their ears were sore.
Of course, the 12 megacities were not perfectly peaceful.
Various crimes decorated the mega news from time to time, and screams were heard on the streets.
But if you looked at the crime rate per population, it was incomparably lower than that of the countries that existed before.
The reason was probably because the surveillance system was well established, but also because of the various benefits that were given to those who lived normally.
There were many benefits, but these days anti-aging treatment was the topic of the town.
Anti-aging.
Not many people knew when this treatment was developed.
At best, only the researchers, the supreme council members, and President Yu Ji-ha knew about it.
Anyway, one day, the anti-aging treatment appeared on the front page of mega news and captured the attention of many people.
—Aging is a natural phenomenon, but not in megacities! Do you regret your wrinkled face? Have you gotten used to seeing holograms without glasses? You don’t have to do that anymore!
—It makes your wrinkled skin soft like a baby’s and eliminates the need for glasses! When your body is renewed, so is your mind! We give youth to megacity citizens!
—The credits needed for anti-aging treatment are… none! Everything is free! But there is a minimum requirement! Only free citizens of class B or higher can receive this treatment!
The citizen rank of the United Human Federation was divided into several categories, and free citizens were just below full citizens.
They could not participate in politics, but most of the benefits were provided and they lived in the same area as full citizens, so they were practically recognized as the highest rank by people who had no special abilities.
Being a B-class citizen meant that one could live in the megacity for more than five years without committing any serious crimes.
People were skeptical at first.
“Genetic engineering has advanced a lot, but isn’t anti-aging treatment too early?”
“Right… Didn’t they still have problems with telomerase side effects?”
That side effect was cancer.
Cancer cells could activate telomerase, an enzyme that causes anti-aging, and divide indefinitely.
If the enzyme was injected incorrectly, it could lead to uncontrollable metastasis.
There were also various other side effects, and most people thought that human genetic engineering was not yet able to overcome them.
But then it was announced that Arma Ashford, the wife of President Yu Ji-ha, was the first to receive the anti-aging treatment.
She was in her fifties and quite beautiful, but she couldn’t hide her age.
Compared to women in their twenties and thirties, her wrinkled face was noticeable, and those who had seen her in her youth felt the passage of time.
“Arma has aged too.”
“She was really stunning when she was young… Everyone envied Yu Ji-ha.”
“She takes good care of herself and she’s still pretty and cool, but I guess she wanted to be young again.”
Everyone wanted to be young, but until now it was impossible.
People waited for her to come out of the medical center.
And soon enough, Arma appeared in casual clothes.
She looked exactly like she did when she was introduced to the world as Yu Ji-ha’s secretary twenty years ago.
People were shocked to see her face.
“Wow, she really looks younger.”
“Her wrinkles around her eyes are completely gone.”
“She looks like a different person.”
It was natural that she looked like a different person since they replaced the model.
Those who knew that Arma was an android smirked, but most people praised the anti-aging treatment.
Anyway, since Arma revealed herself to the public through the anti-aging treatment, the crime rate in the megacity began to drop drastically.
Who would want to ruin their chance of living young for decades by just living normally?
Of course, the crime rate didn’t drop to zero since there were so many people living in the megacity.
But despite the high population density, it was clear that it had become an unprecedentedly safe city.
After Arma, Yu Ji-ha and other full citizens received the treatment one after another, and people saw for themselves how the members of the Supreme Council became younger.
“Congressman Bernstein looked like a model when he was young.”
“I want to be young too!”
The demand for anti-aging treatment was overflowing and people had to wait for years to make a reservation.
In addition, genetic editing technology became a reality, making it possible to completely eliminate congenital genetic diseases in fetuses.
People were ecstatic that a new era had arrived.
“Isn’t this a real dream and hope-filled future?”
“When I was young, they scared me that I wouldn’t get a pension when I got old, but the world has changed completely.”
“They’ll probably make artificial wombs soon.”
As if they had been waiting for it, artificial womb technology was announced.
Now women no longer had to get pregnant.
If they wanted to have a baby, they just had to go to the medical center and provide sperm and eggs.
They could raise the child themselves and get many benefits, but they didn’t have to.
The Administration Bureau would take care of it.
Most people were appalled by the idea of entrusting their baby to the state.
Even so, a baby should be raised by its mother, right?
But the United Human Federation and the megacity had changed people’s mindset a lot.
― Nowadays people don’t even get married, so why bother raising a child yourself?
― It doesn’t matter anyway. The baby can’t recognize its parents at first. You just have to show your face when it grows up.
― Have you seen how android nannies take care of them? They don’t get tired or annoyed by crying babies. They’re invincible.
All this was free and they could be freed from childcare, so more and more cases of leaving children at daycare centers increased.
There were some negative views on this, but everyone didn’t care because it was so convenient.
Thanks to this, the birth rate increased dramatically.
As their residence and life became stable, everyone wanted to have children.
And with childcare inconvenience and cost solved by the Administration Bureau, there was nothing more to say.
Thus, United Human Federation opened the door to the future.
***
The ninth planet of the solar system, Nox.
The settler ship arrived at this huge rocky planet that was about 690 AU away from Earth.
Yu Ji-ha and Arma were on board the settler ship.
They had taken a vacation from United Human Federation and secretly left.
The members of the Supreme Council thought that they had gone on a secret rendezvous to a secluded place, and that was not entirely wrong.
There was no one else on the huge rocky planet Nox except them.
Nox was a planet six times larger than Earth, with a mass of ten times.
It was the largest rocky planet in the solar system, and it was predicted that it would contain various rare resources when humans expanded to various parts of the solar system.
But the plan to enter Nox was completely withdrawn after the Night of Sorrow in 2103, and humans had to prepare for war.
Yu Ji-ha looked at the dark planet in front of him with nostalgic eyes as he sat on the admiral’s seat.
“I finally meet you… The gate doesn’t seem to be open yet.”
“But it will open soon.”
The first relic of the Prophets, the Golden Record, had a number indicating the year.
They initially interpreted that number as the year of the Plague’s invasion.
But this hypothesis was broken when the Plague appeared individually rather than invading all at once.
The only thing left was the time when the warp gate opened, and coincidentally, the number kept decreasing and finally fixed at 2050321.
It was today.
They spent time talking about various things in the main bridge.
It was about how they would live after the war ended.
“People believe that you will hand over your power when the war with the Plague is over, Master.”
He had claimed that a strong ruling system was necessary to prepare for the war against the Plague, and so far, it had worked.
But the desire for democracy had not completely disappeared.
Some of the newly elected members of the Supreme Council argued that he should relinquish his power once humanity escaped the crisis, and he agreed.
“How should I give up my power? Any suggestions?”
“For example, you could become an emperor.”
He chuckled softly at the suggestion.
“Being president for decades wasn’t enough for you? You want me to be an emperor? I should be grateful that you’re not trying to kill me.”
“Master will eventually die, so it’s not a bad idea.”
“Are you trying to persuade me to die?”
He planned to transfer his soul to his son Eugene’s body through the Soul Exchange Device in a few years.
The president of the United Human Federation, who was actually him, would be operated as a dummy for a while.
It didn’t matter much anyway, since he had already transferred most of his power to the Supreme Council and was about to hand over the control of Arma as well.
The problem was what would happen after he stepped down.
There was no way that the bugs wouldn’t stir up after the dictator who had ruled the United Human Federation for decades gave up his power.
There would be those who wanted to take revenge on him, those who wanted to drag him in and benefit from him, and so on.
The society would be in chaos.
The real him would disappear, but the public wouldn’t know that.
Therefore, he had to kill the fake him in some way, and the best way was to put on an emperor coronation show.
“If word gets out that Master wants to become an emperor, all the hatred will be focused on you. Of course, there will also be people who welcome it. The important thing is that Master’s death must be made public. That’s the only way for humanity to move forward.”
“We can also go to the Prophet’s homeland.”
Revealing everything and organizing an expedition publicly was rejected at the planning stage.
It was unlikely that the leaders who had gained power would let him go quietly.
Also, it was uncertain how they would react to seeing the Warp Gate for the first time.
There were too many things that had been hidden so far, and it would be a huge shock if they were exposed.
He looked at the dark Nox.
“So I have to die with hatred in the end.”
“By proving with your own body that this is what happens to dictators, you can also leave a warning for future generations.”
“Actually, I’m just running away to another universe.”
“If Master doesn’t want it, I’ll look for another way.”
“No… it’s a good idea. I like that it ends cleanly.”
Humanity would face the future with the Supreme Council system, and he would head to the Prophet’s homeland.
They would walk their own paths.
He didn’t care much if his name remained infamous as a tyrant.
He wouldn’t be able to come back anyway.
“A dictator who ruled the United Human Federation for decades tried to become an emperor without giving up his power and died… It will be remembered in history books for a long time.”
“Master’s name is already recorded. Not in history books, but in wikis made by people.”
“Mirwiki? I’ve heard of it, but do I have an entry there too?”
“Do you want me to show you?”
Arma asked, and he shook his head after thinking for a moment.
“No need. I’ll probably have a lot of things I want to change if I see it. That won’t do.”
“You can see it when you come back someday. It will be a long time later.”
“I wonder if that day will come.”
It was a long journey of 50 years.
The most likely possibility was that he would die along the way, and he didn’t know what awaited him at the end.
Still, he had to go there.
Humanity owed a lot to the Prophet.
He didn’t know who he was or where he was, but he wanted to say one thing to him.
Thank you for saving us.
“Before that, we have to fight and win against the Plague.”
“We can do it.”
“I hope so…”
Beyond his blurred vision, something changed on Nox.
The whole planet shook violently, and a blue ring appeared.
It was big enough to wrap around Nox and still have room left over.
He barely endured the pain in his right chest.
“Arma, this is…”
“It’s the same situation as when we returned to Earth with Master. You also complained of pain then.”
“Did I?”
“When we jumped through that door, we ended up on Earth in 2025. I think it’s something that twists space-time.”
“Then it must be a Warp Gate.”
He barely resisted the urge to jump in right away.
He had to go through there after defeating the Plague.
The expedition team was not even ready yet.
“Let’s leave the Settler here and prepare the expedition team. We can’t let anyone find out.”
“Trust me, Master.”
He looked at the Warp Gate again.
He wondered what would be waiting for him after the 50-year journey.
‘Is it the Prophet’s homeland, or an empty space?’
He wouldn’t regret it even if it was the latter.
He had lived for that day anyway.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m