Part 409b (Early half-finished release)

It's rare for me to do something like this, but I just feel a bit disappointed that I'm having trouble getting the words on the page. There's nothing wrong with this part (Other than it being unpolished), it's just incomplete. So for my patrons, enjoy an early release of a half finished part. The final part is likely to be somewhat different, and obviously, complete.

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"Actually, I would suggest starting  a little earlier, Master Hiro." Gyro's blank face hums around in front  on me and stares at me with his soulless eyes. "The formation of the  United Earth Federation came during turbulent political times, and was  part of a genius plan executed as a joint operation between yourself and  Miss Becker. However, it was the discovery of the Volgrim's existence  that put Earth on the path to mass cooperation."

"The Volgrim..." I echo Gyro's words and nod slowly. "Yeah, show me what happened on the day we discovered the Volgrim."

Gyro nods at me. "The Volgrim observed humanity for over a hundred  years before we detected their presence. Once Marie learned of their  existence, she scrambled to find out more about them. It turned out the  Maries of the other streams did not tell her of the Volgrim's existence,  nor of many other Red Level secrets."

I raise an eyebrow. "The other Maries? Streams? What do you mean?"

The AI before me stiffens and his eyes turn red for a moment before  reverting to green again. "Error, that information is available only for  the Root Admin. Would you care to see a different memory?"

"No. I want to see that one."

"You do not have the proper clearance. Would you care to see a different memory?"

I lick my lips slowly and turn away, fuming silently to myself. Then I get an idea. "Enable."

"I cannot enable access. Would you care to see a different memory?"

Huh? My Wordsmithing won't unlock it? Or maybe, because I'm inside a  simulation of sorts, my mouth can't actually open to form the words.  That's plausible. Well, if I can't access the memories and learn about  these 'other Maries', then I'll have to think of the answer myself.  Clones, perhaps? She told me there were no other Jasons, but now that I  think about it, Yama told me I was one of many clones. And if I suppose  that he wasn't lying, then perhaps Marie would have clones too.

And the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Marie forged a  partnership with a human who could kill her with a single word. Having  clones of herself would be excellent insurance to prevent him from  killing her off. However... if I'm not allowed to hear about the  existence of these other Maries, and Gyro is assuming I am the previous  Jason... then... doesn't that mean he didn't know about her clones?

Now that I think about it, that would be a poor defense. Clones he  doesn't know about won't deter him from taking over all the power for  himself. And what was the deal with the 'other streams'? Maybe that has  something to do with it. I remember from an old TV show that you're  never supposed to 'cross the streams' but that probably has nothing to  do with there being many Maries.

I tap my finger on my hip thoughtfully while Gyro hovers up and down  slightly, waiting for my next command. Frankly, if he's not going to  tell me about Marie's secret twin sisters then it won't do me much good  to speculate. Hell, maybe I can find out using my own methods on her  specifically.

A jolt of agony shoots through my head and I pause to rub my temples.  It feels like someone just stabbed me repeatedly in the right eye with a  pocketknife. But just as quickly as the pain sets in, it vanishes and I  feel fine again.

Whatever, I guess. "Gyro, take me to the discovery of the Volgrim."

He beeps in the affirmative, and for a second I think I see a glint  of hesitation in his binary-shaped face, but it passes just as quickly.  "Loading memory now, Master Hiro."

The world shifts around me and soon I'm staring right at a shocked  Marie. Her eyes are wide and her mouth is agape. "A contact? But how?  This shouldn't be possible!"

The room coalesces around us and I quickly take it all in. It's an  observatory, though its location is unknown. A giant telescope is aimed  up at the night sky above, and various women and men walk around holding  clipboards or other such things. My doppelganger stand a few feet away,  a bored expression on his face.

"Aliens? I mean, humanity always suspected they existed. Are they hostile or friendly?"

Marie turns back to face him. "You don't understand, Jason. My  contacts would have told me if they existed. There's no way the  existence of an alien life form, especially one as advanced as these,  would have been glossed over."

"What, are your 'contacts' all-seeing gurus or something? Come on,  you're the smartest woman I know. If you don't know about aliens, who  else would?"

Marie clams up and her expression softens. "Friends of mine. Never  mind, at least I know now. But first, we need to get in contact with  them. President Salvador will want to know about this, and we'll need to  gather the World Government together to oversee our first transmission  to them. Do they know we've discovered them?"

"We're not sure, Ambassador Becker." A brown-haired young woman  sitting at a nearby comm table pipes up hesitantly. "They're located on  the... ah.... the far side of Mars. We only spotted them due to a  discrepancy in an image taken by Voyager XIV. The image was ten years  old by the time we noticed it."

"Ten years..." Marie swallows audibly. "If they've been studying humanity for at least that long, perhaps they aren't hostile."

"Hard to say. Our leading scientist, Mr Nielsen, managed to spot the  reflective glare of their ship with this radio telescope. He was also  the one who noticed the image's out-of-place blurring and spent the  better part of five months searching for the object that caused it."

"Well, Mr. Nielson deserves praise, but we'll get to that later.  Jason, I need you to go and contact the leaders of the China-Russia  union, the presidents of the Eastern and Western halves of North  America, and the High Elder of Korea, Kim Jung On. I'll contact the  others. You have pull with the big dogs though, and you can... get there the fastest."

The other Jason stands up quickly and cracks his neck. "Yeah, no problem. I'll head out now."

He walks away and Marie pauses to stare at the floor for several long  seconds as an internal conflict rages that I can't perceive. When she  raises her head, her attitude is decidedly more optimistic. "If the  others didn't tell me about these aliens, they must have had a good  reason. This is something I can overcome."

Gyro flies in front of me and nods helpfully. "This day marked a  major change in human history. It helped put Miss Becker and yourself on  the path to leading humanity. Of course, her brilliance would have  helped make that possible eventually, but the acceleration enabled a  smoother transition to her vision for an ideal society."

I stroke my beard thoughtfully. "Her vision, huh? So she designed the society of today?"

Gyro stares at me blankly. "Of course, Master Hiro. My, your memory  really has suffered, hasn't it? I wonder what caused this dramatic shift  in your mental state."

My head stings suddenly and I stagger back and fall to my knees, but  it passes again within seconds. "Fuck, what is up with this stinging  pain lately? Every so often I get this migraine from hell."

"I am not certain. Would you like to view another memory?"