I. Obituary
Mr. Bruce, humanity’s greatest scientist, passed away from illness yesterday in the early morning at Berlin Royal Hospital. He devoted his entire life to the cause of human science.
August 27, 2603. Obituary by the Bruce Team.
The Bruce Engines invented by Bruce were mounted on every carrier of the Stellar Fleet. They expanded humanity’s territory and fought across all quarters. Human footprints reached every corner of the Milky Way. Now Bruce’s ashes were being scattered into the universe along with the Stellar Fleet, accepted by cosmic dust.
Channel 1 of the Alliance hypersignal was broadcasting this grand occasion live across the entire galaxy.
The Stellar Fleet set out from the Solar System. Its destination was Oumen. This was the planet on the outermost edge of the Milky Way. It was also the loneliest planet. And the farthest planet the Bruce Engine could reach.
The escort fleet included the Dawn, thousands of Divine Falcons, and nearly a hundred Griffin transports. These were the Alliance’s most advanced Sovereign-class warships, of which there were only five. Earth had two, Quila had one, and the remaining two were distributed in other star sectors.
Bruce’s urn was placed aboard the Dawn. It was said that not even antiparticle shells could penetrate its shield.
II. Brown Star
Louise Cromwell was watching the live broadcast on Brown Star.
She now lived in a residential building west of Edison Square. The building was not tall, six stories, and she lived on the fourth floor. Her window faced the square directly.
Today was also her 12th wedding anniversary.
Her husband was Jason Charles, a mathematics professor at Waldo Institute of Technology. In his youth, he had fought the Fire Fiends alongside Byrne. He was in the Fifth Division—the very unit disbanded by Douglas.
This army had not participated in the final battle. Instead, it had been stationed continuously at the border between Quila B and Brown Star. Jason was just a common foot soldier. Afraid of dying. He had been snatched off the street by the conscription office. And he loathed Douglas to the core.
However, he did not know that Louise was Douglas’s daughter.
Three years after Douglas died, he married Louise.
As for Louise, he always believed whatever she said. Louise always told Jason that she was an orphan. Fatherless and motherless. With only an uncle named Byrne. That was how Jason came to be with her.
In Jason’s eyes, Byrne was an understanding superior. Even though he had never personally dealt with Byrne. His squad leader spoke extremely highly of Byrne—saying he was never blinded by hatred, would not rush in blindly even if his comrades fell, and had spared many Fire Fiends. Of course, only those enemies who surrendered.
Louise moved to Brown Star after Douglas died.
She wanted to see with her own eyes the place where her father had once worked. Douglas often said that opposite the star sector government building on Brown Star was Cromwell Square—built by himself. Now it had been renamed Edison Square.
The poplars on both sides were planted by Douglas’s own hands. The statue of Douglas in the center of the square had now been replaced by a little boy pointing his finger in the direction of Earth. The tile beneath the statue read “Cromwell.” But it had been worn down until it was barely legible.
Louise was sensitive to the letters “Cromwell.” At a single glance, she knew it was Cromwell.
Jason and Louise had met at Waldo Institute of Technology. Coming here from Earth, she became the head of the university’s Literature Department. Louise had few friends on Brown Star.
There was a scar on her face. X-shaped. She had lost her former liveliness.
No one knew who had done it.
Only Jason approached her, helped her. Later, they married.
III. Remembrance of Earth’s Past
Bruce Memorial Day was set for August 27 each year. The Alliance gave a three-day holiday. This day was also Louise’s wedding anniversary. They could celebrate the anniversaries together.
This year, an online novel by Tohdienhara was popular—Remembrance of Earth’s Past.
It was a long serialized work of fiction. It told the story of a series of bizarre events Gao Fangwen encountered on Triton. Of course, no one knew who Gao Fangwen actually was.
But Tohdienhara was merely a pen name. He stopped writing after updating only a few chapters. Some said he had disappeared. Others said what he told was all history.
Perhaps only he himself knew what it really was.
IV. Oumen
September 20. The Stellar Fleet arrived at Oumen.
Half of Bruce’s ashes were scattered along the flight path. The other half was permanently sealed in the Oumen B History Museum.
Oumen α was a star similar to the Sun. But its mass was 210 times that of the Sun. And it was gradually expanding. The stellar protective shield constructed by humans checked its expansion. To little effect.
With current human technology, interfering with the energy of a stellar explosion was impossible. Scientists predicted that Oumen α would burst through the protective shield within half a century. At that time, Oumen α would swallow most of the planets, including Oumen B.
Many high-ranking officials believed that placing Bruce’s ashes on Oumen was an extremely unwise choice. Most of them were human.
But it was vetoed by the Alliance leader at the time, who was of the Furred.
V. Freedom
Duanmu Xi took the entrance examination for Stanford University repeatedly, only to be rejected every time for “failing to conform to the school motto.”
Stanford’s motto was “Die Luft der Freiheit weht”—The wind of freedom blows.
The admissions office said he could not find freedom. They believed he was constantly immersed in false freedom. Unable to use the historical materialist perspective to judge truth from falsehood.
Yet Colin had been admitted to Stanford University. He felt deeply unwilling to accept this. But it was to no avail.
He wrote in his diary:
“Freedom was never defined by a single person. The sprout of freedom should germinate within the individual. This is carved into human genes.”
Duanmu Xi was thoroughly disappointed with the current education system. So he joined a non-profit organization called the “Joffrey Masonic Order.” This organization claimed it could help the poor through hard times and liberate their souls after death. The initiation ritual was carving an inverted letter “W” onto one’s arm.
Duanmu Xi was the 321st member of Joffrey. The government recognized this institution. Otherwise, he could not have joined.
Joffrey was an organization founded by Rod Chaucer in Washington. Los Angeles was its branch.
Duanmu Xi arrived punctually at eight every morning at the Los Angeles branch headquarters to receive the day’s flyers. At eight-thirty in the morning, you would see Joffrey people distributing flyers on every street in Los Angeles. By two in the afternoon, they would distribute grain in the slums. Finally at seven in the evening, they would hold a grand banquet at the Los Angeles City Auditorium.
Most of the participants were local magnates. Monica would also make an occasional appearance.
This banquet was jointly hosted by Rod and the Los Angeles municipal government. It was considered an unconventional way to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people of Los Angeles. Since the establishment of the Joffrey branch, policies big and small had been executed under the mediation of the Joffrey Masonic Order. It was also a non-political force in Los Angeles that could not be underestimated.
VI. Fuel
Colin was pursuing a master’s degree in energy fluid chemistry at Stanford University.
He had considerable insight into spacecraft fuel systems. He was researching a new high-density fuel formula, with preliminary data indicating it could triple an engine’s range.
Duanmu Xi commented that he was a Superstarkin who neglected his proper duties. Staying only at high places, never sharing the pain of ordinary people.
Little did they know that as fellow twenty-four-year-olds, their future paths would be starkly different.
Epilogue: Discontinued
Tohdienhara’s final updated chapter stopped on a single sentence:
“Gao Fangwen stood on the ice of Triton, looking at the crack beneath his feet. The light shining out from the crack was green.”
Then there was no more.
Readers pressed for answers in the comments section. No reply. Private messages sank into the sea. The account’s last login time was September 3, 2603.
Some said he was dead. Some said he was taken away by the Alliance. Some said he did not exist at all, merely a program.
Some said what he told was all history.
No one knew who Gao Fangwen was. Nor did anyone know who Tohdienhara was.
But the light shining out from the crack was green.
Those who had read the first chapter would know what this meant. But those who had read the first chapter were, in this story, already few.
—End of Chapter Thirteen.