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Earth, Solar System. Year: 2035
The Solar System was no longer lonely. No longer a handful of humans clinging to one blue marble, staring at the void and wondering if they'd ever reach it.
In the decade since the Anteverse Treaty and the formation of the Planetary Warfare Council, humanity had exploded outward. Magnificent ring-shaped space cities now orbited Earth—O'Neill cylinders and Stanford tori glittering like jewels against black velvet. Mining stations barnacled the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Automated facilities stripped asteroids for raw materials. Humanity had finally taken its first complete, confident step toward the stars.
By any reasonable metric, human civilization had reached Type I status on the Kardashev scale. Planetary-scale energy manipulation, resource extraction across the entire solar system, unified governance structures managing interplanetary operations.
They'd done in ten years what should have taken centuries.
On a barren asteroid designated ED85, orbiting near Earth, the surface was a scarred landscape of grey dust and dark yellow mineral streaks. It should have been roughly elliptical, but eons of meteorite impacts had left it pockmarked and irregular, cratered like Swiss cheese.
But now, that dark surface blazed with artificial light.
Massive mining excavators—designs clearly influenced by Cybertronian technology salvaged from Aidan's time in the Transformers universe—chewed through rock with mechanical precision. This asteroid contained rare earth metals worth trillions of dollars, plus abundant deposits of iron and cobalt. It had been discovered way back in 2016, but reaching it, let alone mining it, had been impossible then.
Not anymore.
The mineral veins here were enormous. Some reached a mile wide—fragments of ancient planetary cores shattered in the solar system's violent formation, now ripe for exploitation.
But resources, however abundant, are still finite. And the fight for mining rights to this trillion-dollar rock had been fierce. Seven years of negotiations, lobbying, political maneuvering, backroom deals. No final decision, so the rights had been held temporarily by the Planetary Operations Council—the administrative arm of the Planetary Warfare Council, managing off-world assets.
Inside the central command spire—a tower-shaped building that looked like a grounded rocket—Trolope Jean sat in his office reviewing production reports. He was a Council member, temporarily in charge of supervision and base management. Grey work uniform, curly hair slightly messy from months in low gravity, eyes tired from too much screen time and not enough real sunlight.
A portal opened in his office without warning—scarlet geometric patterns materializing in mid-air, reality folding like paper.
Jean barely flinched. After ten years, magical teleportation was just another form of transportation.
Aidan stepped through, looking exactly the same as he had a decade ago. Actually, he looked younger if anything. The Life Evolution Equation was doing impressive work on his biology.
"Dr. Ryan?" Jean stood, surprised but pleased. "I heard you were looking for me?"
"Mr. Jean, hello!" Aidan extended his hand, polite and professional.
Jean shook it, nodding respectfully. He knew exactly who this young man was. The savior. The architect of the new age. The magician who'd bent reality and dragged humanity kicking and screaming into the future.
"Regarding the mining rights for ED85," Aidan began, dispensing with small talk. "A decision has finally been made. Primary control goes to a cooperative conglomerate led by China, Germany, and Russia. The adjacent asteroid, DA, will be controlled by a cooperative led by the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia."
Jean absorbed this, expression carefully neutral. He'd known this day would come eventually. The POC had been mining here for seven years, using the profits to fund global operations—especially the massive logistical support needed for the Anteverse missions. But giving up such a vast mineral deposit still stung.
"This was... expected," Jean said carefully. "But it will significantly impact our independent funding."
"There's one more thing." Aidan's smile suggested good news was coming. "Ceres. The dwarf planet, four hundred million kilometers from the sun. Latest probe data confirms massive water ice deposits in the mantle. Rocky core, differentiated structure, everything needed for colonization."
Jean looked up, interested now. Ceres was the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system, perfectly positioned between Mars and Jupiter.
"That world," Aidan declared, "will be handed over exclusively to the Planetary Operations Council for construction and colonization. Full sovereignty."
"Really?" Jean's eyes went wide.
"Yes. With considerable effort on my part, all nations have agreed."
This was huge. Over the years, the POC had grown powerful, but it remained tethered to Earth's governments, subject to their whims and political pressures. Granting exclusive rights to an entire dwarf planet meant independence. True sovereignty. The Council would become a genuine spacefaring nation rather than just an administrative body.
"That's... that's excellent," Jean said, mind already racing through logistical implications. "But I wonder how many people will be willing to relocate that far out. Population will be our biggest challenge."
"Don't worry about recruitment." Aidan waved dismissively. "The special metals in Ceres's core are essential for the next phase of the Space Great Wall project. It'll be a major mining and industrial hub. People go where the work is. Where the opportunities are. You'll have colonists."
"The neutron star has been found?" Jean asked tentatively. He didn't fully understand the physics—that was way above his pay grade—but he knew Dr. Ryan's obsession with locating a neutron star was somehow central to the entire Space Great Wall concept.
"Not confirmed yet. We have a candidate signature. If we're lucky, verification happens this year."
"It seems I'll witness the birth of a miracle in my lifetime," Jean mused.
"You've probably seen quite a few miracles already," Aidan shrugged.
"Haha, true enough. After the Kaiju War ended, I honestly thought your plans would take centuries to implement. I didn't expect to see asteroid mining operations within ten years."
"This is nothing." Aidan looked out the office window at the busy, automated mining landscape below. "The star fleets are still just scattered ships. A handful of capital vessels. We're barely getting started."
Previously, Earth had relied heavily on Aidan's AI—the White Queen—for complex logistical coordination. But with the technology he'd shared, nations had developed their own specialized artificial intelligences. The facility beneath them ran almost entirely autonomously, requiring only minimal human oversight.
"Achieving this level of development in ten years is already astonishing, Dr. Ryan."
"So," Aidan asked, changing subjects, "do you want to come back with me? I can give you a ride to Earth."
He knew Jean was the only human supervisor on this entire rock. Despite constant communication links with home, the isolation of space could be psychologically crushing. Months of solitude broken only by video calls and android companions.
"That would be wonderful!" Jean stood eagerly. "I don't have much to pack. Just let me grab Linda."
He pushed open the door to his private quarters and disappeared inside.
A minute later, he returned with a curvaceous woman—red hair, stunning features, pleasant expression fixed in a perpetual slight smile.
Aidan raised an eyebrow. "I would've figured you for someone who preferred... innocent-looking models."
The woman was clearly an android. With societal development and the robotics boom, companion bots had become a massive industry. Initially designed purely for physiological needs—sex dolls, basically—they'd evolved with sophisticated emotional programming to become genuine companions. They were common throughout the space frontier, especially popular in Western cultures. Less so in conservative regions like China, where traditional values still held significant sway.
"She has a good personality," Jean said defensively, taking her hand. The android squeezed back with perfectly calculated pressure.
"I'm sure she does," Aidan said, smirking slightly.
He raised his hand, and a shimmering portal tore open in the office—geometric patterns rotating, revealing warm blue sky and Earth's familiar atmosphere on the other side.
"After you."