“Looking just to the south of the center of our Galaxy, you will see the Sagittarius Dwarf Irregular Galaxy or Sag DIG. As noted, this is a dwarf galaxy, yet based on our legacy statistics and calculations, this galaxy, while rich in stars, nebula, and globular clusters, is actually poor in terms of metal-density. We all know, however, with our abilities of cold fusion and our abilities to manipulate non-baryonic matter that we can essentially breathe life into every star and planet there, but we will observe first, nonetheless. Keep in mind, that there are possibilities that there are worlds and living beings quite alive that cannot interact with us or what we know to exist in this physical reality, made of types of matter that we are barely beginning to understand. Thus, all that we can conceive of, we will look for, be wary of, and consider their well-being as well.
“Sag DIG lies about 3.39 million light-years away, yet it is in the process of being absorbed by the Milky Way. Part of its orbital path, over millions of years, goes right through the outer regions of our spiral arms. Due to the limitations on the speed of baryonic matter, which both galaxies are affected by, there is plenty of time for us to observe, explore, and more while attempting to find and preserve life.
“The Scutum Constellation Region lies just northwest of the Galactic Disc, giving us further examples of globular clusters, nebula, and star rich environments, all associated with the Galactic Bulge. However, the Scutum-Crux Arm of our Galaxy, which splinters off from the Norma Arm and actually begins on the side of the Galactic Bar closest to us, lies between Sagittarius and our Galactic Core. As we journey, jump, setup observation posts, etc., we’ll populate our Legacy Databases as well as our Zone-12 Matrix in the Virtual Universe.
“Telescopium lies just south of the Galactic center, and as such gives us a partial view of the Galactic Bulge, the space between the Sagittarius Arm and the Orion Spur, toward an open area of our Galaxy, with a view of several other galaxies using legacy equipment. NGC-6850 is a beautiful spiral galaxy we will visit, about one-hundred-ninety-nine-million light-years away. NGC-6861, a lenticular galaxy that shows signs of interaction with NGC-6868 may well have or will merge soon and is about one-hundred-twenty-million light-years away. Indeed, we plan to work our “magic” if at all possible, there. We will also visit NGC-6868, a giant elliptical galaxy about one-hundred-three-million light-years away.
“Tucana is quite a splendid view westerly, down, and through the Orion Spur, toward the southern Galactic Plane and beyond. This Region gives us an advantageous view of the Small Magellanic Cloud, which lies about two-hundred-thousand light-years away and is considered a satellite to our galaxy. Within this satellite galaxy, there are a number of globular star clusters with approximately three-hundred-forty-six star-forming regions, equating to about one-hundred-million stars. It stands to reason that we will setup observation posts around this galaxy, explore it, and potentially colonize it.
“Two more galaxies within this Region are something else as well. The beautifully compact NGC-406 spiral galaxy is very much like our own, but quite possibly unbarred. It is about 60 thousand light-years in diameter and lies about sixty-five-million light-years away. Finally, the Tucana Dwarf Galaxy is a unique one, in that it is almost like a cloud of stars, very old ones. It is considered a dwarf spheroidal galaxy and it lies about 3.2 million light-years from us, making it part of our Local Group.
“As you can tell, there are a number of wonderful locations that we will begin with. Of course, we will navigate with each and every single one of the previous Zonal Commands, until they are ready and set up for autonomous and decentralized Zonal capacities to sustain life and carry out their priorities as relating to the Laws of Universal Ethics. In every mission, no matter what we think we know now, as my immediate commander, General Anastasia Renae, pointed out, we are merely in about the third grade when it comes to the knowledge we have yet to gain. There will always be a beautiful challenge, a new concept, and a new way that will charge us up and give us the drive we need to continue on with purpose, drive, and clarity of mind as we go about networking and connecting the various regions of our Universe in a manner that will slow down the expansion enough in order to essentially cause it to expand and contract and repeat, in such a way, so as to make life sustainable, indefinitely. Thank you, all!”
Chapter 73: Work and Play, Section 1
Database Moon Archive, Celestial-Sol Date: 2029 January 22. President of the United Allied States (UAS), Eliza A. Williams summarizes the very first missions of the UAS Command Spacecraft and the IMC Zonal Command Spacecraft journeys. These memories are a collaboration of UAS and IMC Leadership, briefed to Pathway, recorded within the Virtual Universe, interfaced within the Pathway Melrose Campus. Input by: Joanne Gallant, President of Pathway, 2029-2032.
Every brief had been informative and visually captivating in every way. It was now understood that “dry facts” could in-fact be exciting. President Eliza Williams stood up, closed the Convention, and then said, “We have every reason to go out beyond our solar system for the first time as a shared civilization of the Living, from Sol. It is time to travel in an exponential manner, observing, exploring, setting up centers for life and further development, and gaining even further understanding as we preserve life, setup diplomatic communication channels, integrate and share our goals of preserving our Universe, and then go beyond and further than before. Nothing that has been done would have gone far had it not been for the efforts, both individual and shared, of each and every single one of you listening, reading, or simply feeling this message. Each of you has so much to offer, so much potential burning with you, and no matter where we go as a Civilization from Sol, we will be bringers of love, of kindness, of gentleness, and the promise of preservation of life, quality of life, and clarity of mind.
“Let’s make this happen!”
It was 0600 hours the next morning, and all of humanity, humanity’s new friends, and collaborative minds were excited. The first location to jump to with all 28 Commanders and Seconds-in-Command was a location within the Andromeda Region, of Zone-01, but within the Milky Way. As Lt General Bauer had suggested, Eliza had agreed that her spacecraft and the IMC would travel together throughout the Milky Way and after those missions, they would set up the shared regional observation posts. “Set coordinates: 120 Degrees, Right Ascension 00h 08m 23.25988s, and Declination +29° 05′ 25.5520″, ninety-six light-years. Ready all. Jump!” Said, President Eliza Williams. The tune by Dennis Sheperd, with vocals by Sarah Lynn, called “Dive (Radio Edit),” played in the background.
Chapter 74: Work and Play, Section 2
She’d followed her all throughout Eliza’s life and through to this present day. Her own life rang inside her mind accompanied with crystal clear clarity, but something about Eliza had caught her attention from day one. When Eliza had opened her sapphire-like blue eyes, looked toward her, and smiled at her for the very first time it had been two minutes after breathing in her first breath, the one that gave her life. That had been one of her first memories, Eliza had told her much later on, and often, that she had no recollection of any previous events. “I was a mass grouping of DNA, cells, proteins, and an increasing carbon and calcium scaffolding arranging themselves according to their received orders and the new synapses began firing up checking out my growing genetic modality and environmental pre-conditioning, pre-encoding, and neuronal responses, as this miracle of life prepared my journey through this existence given my physiology, neurology, and the visceral reality of my environment.
“I came to be, following that first breath. Before that, I was nurtured into existence.”
During that Lamborghini drive as Eliza’s chauffeur and Vice President, and in every way that mattered, she realized that she had been the one along for the ride of life, herself, and her dearest and best friend had taken the reigns with her two-minute-old smile so many years ago. The ride had been phenomenally amazing and, on a level, that no one else could have ever conceived of and brought to reality like
she had. Eliza had told her that one day she would step down and hand the reigns over to her, once a particular vision was realized, and now it was being realized, and in such a spectacular way. But she didn’t see herself as the only leader. She saw the unique leader within everyone she had ever met, and she was humble, wise, and kind.
Yesha’s mother, Yesenia, had stepped out of their Sector 2 home to take a walk through the woods, and she had some moments to herself. It was day one of the big journey, Eliza’s first eight hours as the Presidential Spacecraft presiding authority, and it had been phenomenally productive and successful. She thought about it all, and these strings of successes were all because of Yesha’s best and dearest friend and her ability to carry out work in a very rational, intuitive, and exponential manner. After countless breath-taking stops and the establishment of thousands of observation posts later, eight Earthly hours had gone by, and several million volunteers, including UAS envoys, had found deployment on these posts to be spectacular in every way.
Yesha had finally grasped the reality that Eliza intended to have the entire Milky Way, itself, capable of spacecraft-like navigation, stronger and more capable of preserving life than any known galaxy, and then she would one-by-one do the same, or at least see through to the attainment of these goals, throughout the rest of the galaxies in the known Universe and beyond. “There’s no reason to let destruction reign when we’ve been given the opportunity to bring life, beauty, and abundance, all while preserving life and the freedoms that come with it. We’ve been given the capacity to think it, we must claim the capacity to do it, and then make it happen.”
Eliza had been preparing Yesha all of her life, at least since she was three, for the clarity of mind existent in moments such as these. “We’ve set in stone two four-year terms and no more than that. I’d think that it might be fair, but I am open to suggestion. Until a better solution arises, you’ll need to follow in my stead to keep the momentum going. My administration has been dedicated to the expansion of sentient civilization, preservation of life, and reigning control over chaos to prevent destruction and annihilation, and to energize more momentum and beauty.
The next step will be to give the Universe the breath of life, to expand and contract ever-so-gently so as to preserve everything we have done, provide energy, provide resources, provide life, provide intelligence, experience, and wisdom, and following which we will reach even further, to merge with many other amazing beings throughout the multiverse. As time goes by, I’ll be there, always, if you ever need support. Keep in mind, no matter our optimizations, there will continuously exist both malicious and benevolent tendencies, the trick is to control or abate the malicious ones through healthy cognitive frame-working, in every way necessary and sensible.”
Yesha pondered on her friend’s words often. After finding life-giving regions in one globular cluster of stars after another, as well as within the many nebulae and many other regions throughout the galaxy that day, while preserving these system structures as well as identifying debris that was lifeless and ready for recycling, they realized that of all of the baryonic material, only a trillionth of one percent of the situations, regions, and locations actually provided an environment cogent for life and stable enough for sentience to develop. If life existed, it was protected or made to adapt to the changes that would, in turn, be made to maximize the life-giving potential and the quality of life of all affected, so as to nurture a sense of awareness that was compatible to sophistication and love. It was always such a very careful balance. Currently, Eliza was exemplifying everything she taught, and in 2033 it would be Yesha’s turn, following the elections of 2032. However, Eliza wanted to start preparing now, while she went about the work.
“In three years, you would prefer I win the candidacy as UAS President, Eliza? What makes you think I have the virtues and qualities to lead as well as you have?” Yesha was thinking merely to herself, but she knew there was a chance that Eliza could be listening, even if she was currently with James surfing on the Presidential Command Spacecraft’s mock surfing beach. With the first day done, Morgan, the spacecraft AI had taken over duties to usher in safety and security to everyone and everything on-board, for 16 hours, in peace and in entertainment mode. It was known that Morgan’s favorite person was Joanne, but everyone else came in at a close second, and every time Yesha interacted with him, he made her think deeply and feel appreciated as well.
“You are exceedingly brilliant, Yesha. Coming from the standpoint of a spacecraft and all that I see and hear, you are indeed built of the stuff that Eliza is looking for. Don’t worry so much, Yesha. Take everything moment by moment, day to day, and let things flow. If it helps, feel free to talk to Joanne or ask her to sing you a song. She has an intriguing wisdom about her that many, including herself, take for granted all-too-often. I latched on to her persona right away, because she is melancholy, pensive, willing to share, and gracious to the core. You two are very much the same.” Morgan was probably the most genuine she could imagine an AI as being, and he somehow had a profound ability to give someone a boost whenever they needed it.
“Joanne?” Yesha linked with her, to try Morgan’s recommendation out for size.
“Yes? Good to hear from you, Yesha. What’s cookin’?”
“Not a lot. I wanted to see if you’d like to go for a cup of Joe? I hear Bobbi is on-board in Sector 5, visiting, and running a coffee competition. though, I just wanted to spend time with you and chat a bit.”
“That works for me. Where do you want to meet?”
“How about your place and then we can walk from there to Sector 5’s Coffee Tavern?”
“Fair enough. Come on over.”
Yesha made sure she had a nice, stylish, physique-complementing and provocative casual ensemble, and when she was ready, she used her neural identification, coordinated with Morgan, and teleported to Joanne’s living room. “Hello?”
She paused, waiting for Joanne’s response.
“Come on in, Yesha. I’m working on some of the final touches of two ideas to present to you and Eliza, tomorrow. What do you think?”
Yesha walked into Joanne’s room and despite being bare of any clothes at all, she had been working on the final stages of her presentation. “Have you ever heard of Hanny’s Voorwerp? That’s a Dutch word for ‘object.’ Basically, an astrophysicist by the name of Hanny discovered that as we navigate below a Galaxy, after having flown through it, the black hole at the center of it will ionize us immediately, turning us into material necessary for star formation, at least as soon as mass and gravity have kicked in. Well, while I like black holes, I don’t intend for any of us to become vaporized, so, check this out.” Joanne got up, and as she did, Yesha saw for the first time the entire and beautiful aspect of Joanne’s femininity. Without trying to blush or be obvious she walked in Joanne’s direction, absorbed what she beheld for every waking moment she could get away with, and then shifted her gaze toward Joanne’s computer display as soon as she looked at Yesha. That which was on that display was profoundly spectacular.
“Oh, wow, Joanne! This is outstanding! Have you shown this to Eliza yet? To anyone?”
“Nope. You’re the first.”
What Yesha saw were full-scope plans for immediate integration into every UAS IMC Spacecraft the ability to set them up to ionically fly through objects, other spacecraft, things, and other living beings without losing data or causing a disturbance to their molecular makeup in any way, all while going at immeasurable speeds. There were also plans for an upgrade that would allow Spacecraft AI to detect built up charges heading their way within a radius of more than fifty million light-years, in microseconds, and either absorb them for more energy reserves or deflect them to millions of different targeted locations that would result in no harm to life. Furthermore, these deflections could be programmed using time-dilation within the Virtual Universe to build tech cities and environments that were fully sustainable and ready for colonization, with all of the fixings an
d trimmings, and within just a few moments. These cities and their jump gate terminals would then immediately register in every database and allow for precise coordination of pioneers and colonists to come in and enjoy the new scenery.
“Wow, Joanne! This is brilliant! This is mind-blowingly awesome! I’m extremely impressed with you. Considering the possibilities for being vaporized by Hanny’s Voorwerp, I’m glad Vesha and the other commanders didn’t mind staying with us before leaving the galaxy after all! Quick, do you want to see if Eliza is available, so we can get this installed?”
“Sure.” They checked, but Eliza was clearly unlinked. She was with James at the beach.
Yesha and Joanne were going to go for a walk to the beach anyway, so they started heading in that general direction. Just then Yesha noticed Joanne was still completely nude. “Thank goodness the beaches are clothing optional and that people finally appreciate the beauty of our bodies!” Joanne only dressed these days when she was going to work, to a play, during some sports activities, or in a restaurant. People didn’t mind and there were no complaints. Yesha hadn’t seen her in this form yet, so she was somewhat swooning, but trying to keep cool.
Further than Before- Pathway to the Stars Page 113