670 An Early Christmas for Some
Aron, havingpleted his lengthy discussion with the fleet''s admiral and granted him leave, sat alone in his VR room, enveloped in silence.
{What’s on your mind?} Nova inquired as she materialized beside him, breaking the stillness of the room.
“I’m trying to imagine the range of emotions they’ll experience during their reunions,” Aron replied, ustomed to her probing questions.
“The majority will feel happiness,” he said, “but there will be a few who experience profound distress. Some of the soldiers might face the harsh reality that their spouses, whom they left behind, were unfaithful—either having cheated out of remorse or used the mission as a chance to wee others into their lives during their absence.”
“The opposite is also true,” Aron continued. “Some members of the crew, while on the exploration mission, were unfaithful to their spouses. Additionally, some will receive the devastating news of the deaths of their loved ones during their absence.”
He reflected on these scenarios, contemting the range of emotions the explorers would face.
“These are just a few examples of the difficult news they might receive, and it’s making me consider how I would react if I were in their position.”
Nova quickly essed the relevant information and understood the situation fully.
{Would you prefer I drop subtle hints to help them uncover the truth, or should I let events proceed naturally and allow them to discover it on their own?} she asked, offering him the choice between intervention and letting things unfold as they may.
Aron took a moment to think before he said, “For now, let’s leave it as is, but have Mnemosyne assign an Akashic Librarian to continue monitoring the situation. They should report anything that warrants my attention, and we’ll decide how to proceed from there.”
Although Aron wanted to intervene, he held himself back, knowing that doing so could set a precedent for future interference. Nevertheless, he recognized his responsibility to those who risked their lives for him, and he remainedmitted to monitoring the situation and he will decide how to act based on it from there on.
{Understood,} Nova replied.
{Henry is on his way} she added, reminding him that the energetic troublemaker in his puberty phase was heading towards his office.
“He’ll outgrow it eventually, but for now, I guess I’ll have to keep managing his boundless energy,” Aron sighed as he logged off, his resignation punctuated by Nova''s softughter behind him.
………
It took less than an hour for the public to learn about the news.
Some people discovered the news through emotional videos of family members tearfully reacting in surprise when they saw their loved ones in VR, their disbelief and joy captured in heartwarming moments. Others found out when friends, who had been expected to remain offline for a few more years, suddenly appeared online, sharing photos and updates about their recent adventures during the exploration mission. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Regardless of how they came across the information, the news quickly went viral. It became a hot topic amongizens, sparking widespread discussion and excitement across the inte.
With discussions and verifications quickly aligning, people connected the dots and realized that themunication link between the two star systems had beenpleted.
This revtion ignited a wave of surprise and admiration for the empire, marking a monumental milestone in interstermunication for both humanity and the empire.
What was once considered a distant dream and a topic of discussion had now been achieved.
The sessful establishment of amunication link between star systems signified the empire''s official expansion to a new star system, transforming it into a two-star system empire.
This feat, which many would have predicted would take at least a millennium if asked five years ago, was aplished in less than five years since the empire''s foundation—truly a remarkable leap forward.
Not everyone epted the news without skepticism. Even in the 21st century, there were those who clung to fringe beliefs, such as the t Earth theory. Among the dissenters, many questioned the empire’s achievements. They argued that the exploration fleet and the newly establishedmunication link were borate fabrications. They spected that everything observed from outside the sr system was merely a VR simtion, a im supported by the empire''s well-documented ability to create highly realistic simtions.
Their arguments included the assertion that instantmunication across light-years would require faster-than-light technology, which they considered impossible despite the empire''s previous confirmations of having FTL technology.
These critics dismissed the empire’s ims and continued to challenge the veracity of the reported aplishments.
The majority of people dismissed the conspiracy theorists as usual, treating their ims as baseless and ignoring them in favor of celebrating the achievement. The focus remained on the positive aspects of the asion.
Despite having ess to a wealth of information about the new star system for more than eight months and having people who actually lived and are still living there for over a year, many were eager to personally connect to thework on the other side.
However, their attempt to ess it were met with nothing but frustration.
No matter how hard they searched, they couldn’t connect or find anywork to connect to despite knowing that all of the Proximians were still in the VR simtion receiving training or not even a live stream to tune into from the new star system.
The absence of ess to VR was understandable, but the same couldn’t be said for the absence of live feeds, as that was especially surprising given the empire''s past practice of providing such coverage for events of great public interest, like during the Unification War, when they had live-streamed the war for citizens Eden and Espaira to boost citizens'' morale and show their confidence in winning it, which they did.
Thisck of transparency led to further spection and curiosity, even among those who otherwise celebrated the achievement.
Not long after, the reason behind theck of public connection to the other side became clear.
Members of the exploration fleet began sharing the emperor''s address, revealing that the star system was still an active exploration zone.
This meant that the area was kept under a controlled bubble to prevent public interference and maintain mission integrity.
Adding to the information, the emperor’s official social media ounts announced that a live stream showcasing various locations within the star system would be set up and made avable for viewing online a month from now. This promise of future visibility helped quell some of the public’s curiosity and spection while still maintaining the excitement surrounding the new milestone.