Fifty years later.

As a reminder, my primary attention returned to Earth from my ever-expanding network of Oort cloud outposts. Sakura asked me to promise to attend an event, so I stayed on my own to continue supervising the construction while I sat at a charging station on Earth charging the robot. My network of Oort Cloud outposts is one of my most ambitious projects – I've built a thousand outposts the size of Origin, focused on data centers and the facilities necessary to build, maintain, and secure them. They were all heavily guarded and all in secret locations. But as important as this project is, it's also important to spend an afternoon with Sakura. The Oort project will take decades to complete. On top of that, it's not even my most important project.

I woke up blinking in the charging room of the governance building on Earth. It's a small facility with a room for the robot to recharge, several small offices, and a large conference room for the Prosperity City Council to meet. The office is empty now, for the same reason I came.

I walked briskly into the sun. High above, barely visible, thick double-layered palladium microalloy glass panels joined together to form a massive dome, so large that it covered the entire city — and some actual dirty farms — under its icosahedral frame. On warmer days, NI, which manages a thriving city, will open the triangular panes of glass to let fresh air in, rather than through the vents after heating. Pipes along the frame can be artificially rained as needed. Just outside the city, there are a dozen similar small domes for more farms and smaller villages, all connected by a network of underground trains.

The streets of the city are crowded with people walking along the smooth stone paths towards the arena. At the heart of Boom City are Boom University, Arena, and Ca

eplex。 All three areas are built around a large park.

The university is a series of brick and white stone buildings nestled in a park connected to a walkway. Adjacent to the university is Ca

The EPLEX, Elementary School and Kindergarten are located on the border of the two areas. Kindergarten with Ca

Eplex's homes for the elderly share a common building so retirees can play with their children. Ca

The rest of the EPLEX is a hybrid of a hospital and a doctor's office.

Finally, the arena is where the tournament is held. Throughout the week, films and plays are often staged in the small wings of the arena, while the main stage is reserved for major events. Events like this.

What is missing in a prosperous city is surface streets. I'm very proud of Sakura's planning when the city was first built, and it has grown into a pleasant, beautiful place for humans to live in. The complex is lined with small trees and wide lawns, and is easily accessible with sidewalks and bike paths. Underground are tunnels for light rail and maintenance of drones. In fact, the number of drones far exceeds the population of the City of London.

Sakura has persuaded the U.S. Embassy in China to move to the city and surrounding villages along with the Chinese Embassy in Beijing. The Canadians had already moved in when one of the villages was built, and soon after an Inuit tribe emerged. In fact, a small percentage of people have been found across the globe, most of whom are on the verge of starvation, or worse. By the time the first dome was built and the city was officially ready for habitation, the number of survivors found had climbed to more than 50,000. Most of them now live in or near Boom City.

I walked into the arena, nonchalantly waved to a few people I knew, and went upstairs. I walked to the balcony reserved for the City Council. I saw Councillor Terrance inside, and his silver hair showed that he was the oldest member of the council. Considering Saku

With all the land in the city, no rent or taxes charged to residents, and all maintenance and improvements upon request, there is little the City Council can do. They mainly deal with the laws of humanity and ensure that all the different cultures that are united in this place can coexist peacefully.

A strange alien sits on the balcony. It is a little shorter than most people, with snake-like skin and four black eyes on a strangely shaped, hairless head. The alien outfit is also unusual and looks like a mix of a jumpsuit and a balloon animal.

"Diplomat Avius," I beckoned. The alien turned to look at me.

"You must be Nikolai 1.01," it said in slightly confused English.

"Yes," I replied in his native language. I don't have vocal cords, I don't have endless computer resources, and language is not a problem for me. "I'm glad you're joining us today."

"I'm glad to be invited." Avis replied. Speaking his own language, he seemed relieved. "Although I must admit, I don't understand what it is."

Below, the event begins. Two robots walk to the center of the arena, each remotely controlled by their creator. As soon as the whistle sounded, the robots began to attack each other with various rudimentary weapons.

"It's a battle robot tournament," I explained. "This is one of the very few projects where humanity and Aedifex can compete on a level playing field. The speed of the remote control is limited by the human reaction time, and no competitor has access to the existing design library. These bots were customized for this event. ”

The cacophony of metal clashing with metal, accompanied by a roar of approval from the crowd. I looked down and saw countless robots mixed in with humans. Food and beer vendors walked up and down the stairs, and security guards patrolled the upper edge of the arena in case anyone drank too much.

"These robots, will they fight to the death?" That's what my culture understands," he said. "Vax used to have gladiator games like this."

"They fought until one of the robots was paralyzed." I corrected. "Robots don't have the ability to perceive. They are agents of the Creator. ”

"I don't see any of your war machines in this beautiful city." "How did you bring your natives to their knees?"

I froze and turned to look at him. "We are the partners of humanity, not their rulers. We don't make any laws, and we don't enforce laws made by humans. In conflict zones, Sakura works with the Security Council to reach a fair conclusion. ”

"It's unusual." Avis said. "I thought the heavy weapons I saw in orbit were meant to make the locals behave."

"Quite the opposite, actually," I said. "It's about keeping the rest of the universe on the same page."

I could see the wheel spinning in Avis' head. We have had only one conflict since the war with the Fallers. The old enemies of the Fallers, the creatures of the planet 0X9-012, after I destroyed the Faller fleet, they gathered their allies and tried to invade. At the end of the war, we took control of four more galaxies. Since then, I've been building defenses to consolidate our grip on a corner of space. The fortifications I built around the Möbius Gate were huge structures made up of compressed titanium alloy armor and a large number of weapons, all backed by the fleet's warships and a large number of attack drones. I have a thousand backbone ships on patrol and maintain very friendly relations with every bordering country. These fortifications are related to Saku

aThe space stations built around the Earth and on the Moon are dwarfed.

There was a cheer from below, and I saw that the battle was over. The human controller came out from one side, and Sakura came out from the other, her pink hair glistening in the sunlight. They shook hands, and Sakura turned around and raised her fist of victory above her head. The crowd cheered again, and then the drone arrived, taking the damaged robot and clearing the floor for the next game.

"I understand your concern," I finally spoke, and talked about the topic that Avis had come to talk to me on a long journey. I could have spoken to him on the borders of our territory, but the Wax are known for their aggressive expansion. I wish I could give him a glimpse of our heavy fortifications and thus avoid another war. His narrow and well-choreographed flight path kept him from seeing our best defenses, but I knew that we did show him something more impressive than the Vax would normally face.

"The people of Vax have heard reports that your so-called 'seed ships' are moving under the escort of numerous 'backbone ships'. We fear that your intention is to begin invading your neighbors. He was blunt, just as the German diplomat had when he expressed the same concerns. I would have thought there would be more flowery language, as I saw in human diplomats or diplomats who could not be translated. Avis's presence is now more meaningful. Wax is aggressive in life. If they feel threatened, they may try to strike first. Any information he can gather about our defenses, no matter how small, is valuable.

"Let me ease your concerns," I said. "Seed ships are colonial ships, they are relatively unarmed. The backbone ships are their frigates. ”

"You call 250,000 assault drones 'escorts'?!" Avis said.

I smiled wickedly. "Yes, I know. A small one. But these ships are not bound for Mobius Gates. They are on a long journey to a star that has no connection to the known Möbius Gate in this space region. We have discovered planets that are or may be suitable for human habitation. ”

"But how are you going to maintain trade and regular correspondence with the colonies without Gates?" The alien asked suspiciously. "You're just throwing away a lot of ships and colonists!"

"I don't care about maintaining control of the colony, or asking for interstellar trade," I said calmly. Another cheer from below heralded the next battle, even though I was ready for my own fight. "It's an investment."

"What? He asked.

I turned away from the diplomat again, but I stopped paying attention to the battles in the arena. When I answered, I had the future in mind.

"Humans."