The funny thing about progress was that everyone loved talking about it.
Very few people enjoyed paying for it.
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Empire Corporation Headquarters
Sarah arrived at her office at 7:00 AM.
By 7:03 AM, she regretted it.
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There were already thirty-two new messages waiting.
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Thirty-two.
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She stared at them.
The messages stared back.
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Neither side won.
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Her assistant entered carrying a tablet.
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"Good morning."
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Sarah pointed at the message count.
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"No, it isn't."
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The assistant looked.
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"...Fair."
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The Omega Farm Problem
The first emergency came from South America.
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An Omega-infused agricultural zone had doubled production.
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Which sounded wonderful.
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Until someone realized they didn't have enough transport infrastructure to move the harvest.
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Now thousands of tons of produce were sitting in storage.
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While another region complained about shortages.
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Sarah rubbed her forehead.
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Humanity discovered advanced energy systems and still can't organize trucks.
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Meanwhile — Imperial Island
Joshua was eating breakfast.
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This was important.
Because Joshua took breakfast very seriously.
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Nobody knew why.
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Not even Joshua.
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"Pass the fruit."
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Kay passed the fruit.
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"Thanks."
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"You realize you're stronger than industrial machinery, right?"
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Joshua nodded.
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"Yes."
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"And yet you asked me to pass the fruit."
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Joshua considered this.
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Then pointed at her.
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"That's called friendship."
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Kay immediately threw a piece of fruit at him.
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Joshua caught it.
Ate it.
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"See? Friendship."
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Leon nearly choked on his drink.
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Virginia continued reading reports without reacting.
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Somehow that made it funnier.
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A New Political Problem
Across the world...
President Gabriel Okoye was having another difficult morning.
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Which was becoming a pattern.
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His chief advisor entered.
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"We have a problem."
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Gabriel sighed.
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"That sentence should be illegal before breakfast."
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The advisor ignored him.
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"Three neighboring states are requesting Omega development grants."
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"That's normal."
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"They're threatening to block transportation funding if they don't receive them."
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Gabriel closed his eyes.
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I miss simpler problems.
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Unfortunately, he couldn't remember when those existed.
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Hale Dynamics Makes a Move
Victor Hale sat at the head of a conference table.
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Unlike most corporate leaders, he enjoyed strategy meetings.
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Mostly because he enjoyed winning.
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An executive activated a projection.
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"Empire Corporation continues expanding market share."
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Victor nodded.
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Expected.
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"Energy systems."
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Expected.
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"Omega agriculture."
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Expected.
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"Industrial conversion technology."
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Still expected.
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The executive hesitated.
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"We're struggling to find sectors they don't influence."
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Victor smiled.
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Now that was interesting.
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Because monopolies weren't opportunities.
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Cracks in monopolies were opportunities.
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And every large system eventually developed cracks.
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UNPKI Headquarters
Director Amara Kline was reviewing economic forecasts.
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She wished she wasn't.
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The forecasts were depressing.
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Not because they predicted collapse.
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Because they predicted competition.
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Long-term.
Persistent.
Growing.
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Competition was harder to manage than crisis.
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Crisis ended eventually.
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Competition adapted.
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The Human Side
In Lagos...
A small business owner named Chinedu was staring at an energy bill.
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"This can't be right."
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His friend looked over his shoulder.
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"It looks right."
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"No, I mean reality can't be right."
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His friend nodded.
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"Ah."
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That was different.
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Omega-powered infrastructure had improved electricity reliability dramatically.
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Which was great.
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It had also increased demand dramatically.
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Which was less great.
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Progress, unfortunately, had side effects.
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Imperial Island — Afternoon
Leon found Kyle standing on one of the observation decks.
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Which wasn't unusual.
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Kyle spent a surprising amount of time looking at things.
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The difference was that Kyle usually understood what he was looking at.
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Leon joined him.
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"The world is becoming more complicated."
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Kyle didn't look away from the horizon.
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"No."
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Leon frowned.
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"No?"
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Kyle shook his head slightly.
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"It was always complicated."
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A pause.
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"We are only noticing more of it."
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Leon hated how often Kyle's answers made sense after a delay.
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Resource Negotiations
Later that day, Sarah joined a meeting involving six governments.
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By the end of the first ten minutes:
Two delegates were arguing about allocation formulas.
One wanted more agricultural support.
One wanted industrial priority.
Another wanted transportation investment.
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Sarah listened patiently.
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Then patiently.
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Then less patiently.
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Finally she raised a hand.
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The room became quiet.
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"We can build all three."
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Silence.
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A delegate blinked.
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"You can?"
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Sarah nodded.
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"Not instantly."
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Several people looked disappointed.
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"Human civilization has somehow developed the belief that infrastructure appears by magic."
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One delegate coughed.
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Another looked away suspiciously.
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Evening Training
Back on Imperial Island...
A group of younger members were sparring.
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Not seriously.
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Just practice.
---
One recruit landed a clean strike.
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The others immediately celebrated.
---
The person who got hit joined the celebration.
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Joshua watched from the side.
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"You know..."
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Kay glanced over.
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"What?"
---
Joshua smiled.
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"This is why we do it."
---
For once, he wasn't joking.
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Not completely.
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Because behind all the politics...
All the competition...
All the arguments...
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People were still growing.
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Still improving.
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Still moving forward.
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Final Scene
As night settled across the planet...
Construction projects continued.
Research continued.
Training continued.
Negotiations continued.
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Humanity kept pushing.
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Some for profit.
Some for power.
Some for survival.
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And some simply because they believed tomorrow could be better than today.
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Kyle watched city lights spread across the darkness below.
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Millions of people.
Millions of ambitions.
Millions of problems.
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A civilization in transition.
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Messy.
Imperfect.
Ambitious.
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Exactly as it had always been.
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And despite all the disputes...
All the competition...
All the uncertainty...
---
It was still growing.
--