Fifty-five minutes later.The entire Proxima Centauri star system returned to a semblance of its previous silence before humans arrived. The majority of the machines were put into automatic mode, while those requiring human control were switched to power-saving mode.Everyone who wasn’t engaged in an essential task had already donned their VR devices and logged into the local VR network. They clicked on the invitation link, which transported them to a massive meeting hall capable of accommodating all of them. The hall reminded them of their last gathering of such magnitude, right before they embarked on their exploration mission.“What do you think they gathered us for?” Yavuz, a mechanical engineer standing next to Lee, asked him, as Lee was currently one of the most well-known people in the exploration fleet.He was on the same level of being known as the fleet admiral, with everyone knowing and jokingly addressing him as the father of all the created Proximians since they were lite
Aron, having completed 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, accustomed 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 welcome 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 s
Aron had been spending more and more time with his family since he had decided to go to Proxima Centauri at the Proximians tree folks' request, and that decision was further reinforced after the two-star systems were connected.An hour before, the Emperor addressed the Proxima Centauri exploration fleet.While the fleet admiral was sending out an emergency call order for the meeting Aron had requested and scheduled for an hour later, Ayaka was seen leaving the mothership and heading back to the planet, having been assigned another mission.Upon landing at the designated zone, Ayaka wasted no time. She stepped off the ship with a suitcase in hand and walked purposefully toward a lone tree.When she was about a hundred meters away, the lone tree began to shake and transform. Branches and leaves twisted and rearranged until a humanoid figure emerged, facing Ayaka with an uncanny valley smile."Welcome, Ayaka," the humanoid tree said. Her tone and manner of speaking seemed to have evolved
Ayaka wasted no time and immediately logged into the VR, reporting the results of her discussion with Birch to the emperor. After logging off, she opened the suitcase, which immediately materialized a physical copy of the emperor thanks to the nanomachines inside it.The physical copy's eyes had been closed since its creation, but they shortly opened, revealing golden irises as the body looked around, adjusting to its new environment.He extended his hand and closed it into a fist, testing the responsiveness and sensation through the nanomachine body. Feeling the smooth movement and the sensory feedback, he nodded with a satisfied expression.But that didn't last long. ‘I don’t like this stuffy feeling,’ he thought to himself. Currently, he could be considered to have his consciousness transferred into this body, and as a result, he could only sense what this body was sensing. With it being a purely technology-based nanomachine, he wasn’t sensing a single bit of mana or experiencing
Two weeks later.The fleet members had wrapped up their vacation and returned to their duties, brimming with excitement and enthusiasm—at least the majority of them. The fleet's exploratory mission was now in full swing once again.As usual, a meeting was taking place somewhere within the fleet, but this one was special because of one of its attendees – the emperor.Although the mission had shifted from a no-direct-contact protocol to an active-contact protocol, its core procedures remained unchanged. The only notable difference was that fleet members could now stay in touch with their families after their shifts.This meant the fleet continued to operate as a self-governing entity, with no interference from anyone other than the emperor. His oversight remained the only exception, and it would only extend beyond his usual limits if he explicitly stated otherwise.This rule, combined with the fleet's unique circumstances, led to the emperor's personal attendance at the meeting he had c
Two weeks later.It had now been a month since the two sides had been connected, and the empire had spent that time efficiently setting up the necessary infrastructure to live stream throughout the star system.However, due to it coinciding with the Proximians finally awakening from their VR pods, the live stream was momentarily restricted to viewing areas of the star system other than the planet. This was to respect the privacy of those awakening, who would be in a vulnerable state. Despite this limitation, the live stream still attracted a few million viewers, eagerly watching different locations of the star system as the exploration fleet continued its work.Generally, such events would have attracted even more viewers, but a significant portion of the usual audience for this type of livestream was currently focused on something else.………..High Earth Orbit.Outside Earth, a fleet of about a thousand military-style spaceships could be seen, their sheer number a testament to the empi
About an hour after the emperor's journey had commenced, the activity in Proxima A reached a dramatic crescendo.Ptssss, A soft hiss echoed as air escaped from a pod that began to open. The lid slowly rose, revealing a stunning dark elf woman lying peacefully inside.She remained still for a moment longer before her closed eyes began to flutter and then slowly open, revealing striking green eyes that gradually came into focus.“Mh…” she groaned slightly as she grasped the edge of the VR pod, using it for support as she shifted from a reclining position to a seated one.“Although I believed it was real, I still had a slight suspicion that we were merely part of a simulation undergoing a test,” she said, her voice initially crackling. As she spoke, her vocal cords gradually adjusted, growing clearer with each word, signaling their first true use after being constantly stimulated by the pod to prepare for movement when the time for their awakening came.“It’s good to be skeptical and que
Task Force Teegarden.It had been more than a year since their arrival, and they had discovered two planets in the Goldilocks zone, both shrouded in nuclear winter as a result of a devastating war. This discovery marked the beginning of their exploration.Inside a private office, Fleet Admiral Jason Ryfczinski could be seen going through the final pieces of collected data from the entire star system. The majority of important data had been collected from the two habitable planets within the star system, Teegarden B and Teegarden C, both currently experiencing nuclear winter.Despite the primary goal of the exploration fleets being discovery, the selection of specific star systems hinted at the empire's fervent hope to find intelligent life. Each of these star systems boasted planets within the Goldilocks zone.However, after meticulously searching every nook and cranny within the two habitable planets within the star system, they were certain there was no intelligent life remaining. A