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<p>The high seas adventure continues....</p>
<p><em><strong>12 YEARS EARLIER – Year 2066 </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Euro-American Union Alpha Research Facility </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Southern Patagonia </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Secrecy Level – Quanta </strong></em><br>
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<p>The world-renowned scientist clasped his hands over his head and leaned back against the wall. His mind was racing. Would it work? Of course it would work. That wasn’t really the most burning question. The most pressing matter at the moment was….did he want it to work? Implications from such a massive breakthrough were swirling through the layers of his mind. </p>
<p>It had been known for decades that dark matter and dark energy were naturally combined throughout the known universe. It was also known that by separating the two, massive amounts of energy were released. Such a gargantuan power could not only supply near limitless energy, but it could also make faster-than-light travel a reality. </p>
<p>What was not known was how to separate the two in a stable fashion. Hence the human minds with the greatest capacity for scientific experimentation had been working on solving this riddle for decades. And he, Ventorin, was at the top of that list. </p>
<p>His wiry frame rose slowly and started pacing between holographic consoles. Why wouldn’t he want it to work? This was an even more complex question. He, like nearly all other land-based scientists, worked for various corporate and government entities. Ventorin worked for the biggest of them all, the Euro-American Union’s Alpha Research. The EAU, along with the Afro-Asian Alliance, were the only two political boundaries that remained on earth’s map. </p>
<p>Artificial Intelligence had combined with the ruling class of humans a couple decades earlier. Since then, A.I. had ruthlessly purged humans from the ruling hierarchy, only keeping ones around that it deemed essential. Most of the humans that remained in that ever-dwindling group were scientists, social engineers, psychologists, inventors, and a few military strategists. </p>
<p>The power of this ruling class grew every year, but it was confined to earth, save for a few mining expeditions on various near-earth-asteroids. It couldn’t reach out into the stars because it didn’t have the technology to do so. As brilliant as A.I. was at certain cognitive functions, it still lacked creativity and the capacity to feel necessity. It was an incomplete form of consciousness. It was this shortcoming that kept people like Ventorin around. To A.I. he was necessary, at the moment. </p>
<p>But what would happen if A.I. could go to the stars? Not only that, but what worried Ventorin equally was the substance necessary to perform the successful separation of the dark matter/energy. There was only one source the A.I. could use. </p>
<p>Ventorin shook. </p>
<p>A drone floated in swiftly. “Everything ok, Ventorin? Can I bring anything to optimize your conditions?” </p>
<p>The slender man stroked his modest beard, “Tequila, straight.” </p>
<p>Later that night Ventorin was tossing a holo-baseball around with his 3-year-old son. Simple things like this normally helped clear his head, but not this time. Another ball of light slipped through his hands and vanished into the floor. “Dad, what’s wrong?” </p>
<p>“What makes you think something’s wrong?” </p>
<p>“Cuz your drops. You almost never drop.” </p>
<p>A petite woman with neat, bowl-cut hair, hazelnut eyes, and pale cheeks peeked around the corner. “How are my favorite boys?” </p>
<p>Ventorin gave a nervous smile. If she only knew what was tormenting him inside. He had to get it off his chest. He had to make a decision. </p>
<p>He looked out the wall-length windows at the twisted trees and drew in a deep breath of crisp air. “Setarcos, will you please go and play in your room?” </p>
<p>Young Setarcos scampered off and left his parents alone in the fading daylight. Caro folded her arms, “I know that look. Tell me what that distant look on your face is about.” </p>
<p>“Let’s take a walk.” </p>
<p>“In this cold?” </p>
<p>He fixed his gaze into her eyes to communicate. They needed as much privacy as possible, which the ubiquitous surveillance within their home didn’t allow for. </p>
<p>They strolled casually for a while, until they came to a spot where the trees and vegetation were a bit thicker. Chilled southerly wind brushed their faces and a nearby brook gushed sweet flows of sound into the air. There was still surveillance, but they had worked out long ago where the weak points were. </p>
<p>“I’ve got it. I’ve solved the dark energy problem. Theoretically, in my mind, at least.” </p>
<p>She clasped his arm. This news made her nervous and excited. “But, you haven’t actually done it yet.” </p>
<p>“Not yet.” </p>
<p>“Why not?” </p>
<p>“Because.” He hesitated and looked up to the few stars that had begun to appear through cracks in the gray. “If it’s successful, I can’t bear the consequences. I’m thinking to not tell them.” </p>
<p>Her face twisted in disbelief. “And how will you do that?” </p>
<p>“Destroy all record of it. I know enough weak points in the system. I can make the results disappear.” </p>
<p>She shuddered. “And then what?” </p>
<p>Ventorin’s eyes shifted deeply into hers. “That’s what I need to talk to you about. What will we do?” </p>
<p>Her blood was starting to boil. “Well, it seems like you’ve got it all worked out! Why don’t you tell me?” </p>
<p>He drew a long breath and looked away. The wind sliced unrelentingly. “We can run.” </p>
<p>Caro interrupted furiously, “Run? Do you mean to the SeAgora, like I wanted to do years ago?” The delicate, fair-skinned face sobbed. </p>
<p>A few years earlier, Caro and Ventorin had come across information about the SeAgora. Not just the lifestyle and existence of a society almost completely separate from their own, but more importantly, the philosophy and principles that were the foundation of it. </p>
<p><em><strong>Everything voluntary. Non-violent. Non-coercive. A world where each individual governed him or herself. A world where external government didn’t exist, and where a high degree of freedom did. </strong></em> The philosophy had challenged their own belief systems. </p>
<p>Caro had wanted to make the leap into the SeAgora, but Ventorin was more hesitant. He had a good job, a decent lifestyle, and they were starting a family. He had feared the unknown, so they had stayed. </p>
<p>They did this despite the internal conflict they’d both experienced by knowing that the providers of their creature comforts were morally compromised, to put it mildly. </p>
<p>“You’re right. We should’ve gone. But that doesn’t change the situation now. If I do this, we have to be prepared. I can only buy us so much time before they discover what’s happened.” </p>
<p>They thought about little Setarcos. Young life was so pure and bright. Why did humanity change for the worse and suffer so much? Why did all these senseless things happen? </p>
<p><em><strong>Slice 4 Coming Soon!</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Thanks for your time and attention!</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Just say "NO" to slavery!</strong></em></p>
<p>Top image is from pxhere.com</p>
<p><em><strong>To download a heaping helping of my writings, including all of my fiction novels, go to</strong></em> </p>
<p><a href="https://archive.org/details/@todd_borho">https://archive.org/details/@todd_borho</a> </p>
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