"Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the Republic of Alsace Trey Thompson!"
Applause rang through the television. John Hammond emitted a slight smile as he watched the man take the stage.
"John, why do you keep watching the speeches of the various heads of state?" Benjamin Lockwood asked him, sitting next to him. "You have already looked at every speech of every nation at least four times"
John gave a cough. Even if he tried not to show it, he felt life slipping away from him day after day. He knew he didn't have much time left. Even though the doctors had told him he could last another year, he doubted he would last another month.
Yet despite all the mistakes he had made in life, he was at peace with himself. His only concern, for a long time, had been to create a peaceful world for his grandchildren. And finally, even though he knew that he would not live long enough to see it realized, he was now able to glimpse the hope of a bright future on the ho
At least the first part of the plan put in place by the governments proved to be working: when the factories began to be converted into new plants, the population had flocked in search of work. As Sobek had predicted, providing food and shelter was not enough to ensure that humans could provide for all of their services. Even though they were no longer at risk of starvation or cold, people still needed to work.For the time being, governments and large financial groups were doing their job. The demand for workers to repair and modify the factories had greatly lowered the unemployment rate. Obviously, this was not a definitive solution: once the repairs were completed, further maneuvers would be necessary to guarantee the workers a permanent job. However, for at least a few months, many people could finally go home with a salary.Converting the entire energy industry of the country into clean energy was a titanic undertaking. Not only the factories: even the houses and
Throughout the day, the work continued without further hitches. Although everyone observed Owen in a strange way, no one had gone to disturb him while he was riding the einiosaur. Who, by the way, had discovered her name was Tricky.Around noon, it was time for lunch. The workers began to go to their tables and sit down, waiting for the ration. Normally, dinosaurs would eat on one side and humans on the other: it was one of the many unwritten laws that had formed in that short period of time. Neither Owen nor Tricky seemed intent on breaking that rule, in fact they were already about to say goodbye, when a mighty hand fell on the man's shoulder. "Hey friend! Won't you introduce me to your new helper? Who are you, brother?"It was Barry. Of course, he also worked there. As a good friend, he had followed Owen wherever he had decided to go.Three years earlier Owen and Barry had steady jobs as cops; but as soon as the economic crisis unleashed by the disastrous war
"I am seriously beginning to believe that humans deserve extinction"It was rare for Jocelyne to lose control like that, but she couldn't help herself sometimes. She knew that getting humans and dinosaurs to get along would not be an easy task, and that it would surely be much more difficult than what she had already faced in Beleriard. However, sometimes human stupidity really made her exasperate.The reports she received daily from the reforestation work sites weren't flattering. Seriously, were people really so stupid that they didn't even try to talk to those they had finally made peace with, and who were helping them out of famine and economic crisis? Maybe it was her fault since she was too much of a trade mentality, but from her point of view it was stupid to hold a grudge against someone. Yesterday's opponent could have been an excellent ally tomorrow. But apparently she was the only one who thought so.“Miss Jersey, don't do that. We knew it would
[Evolution complete: congratulations, you have evolved to Spinosaurus divinus!]Sobek finally opened his heavy lids. He felt as rested as he hadn't been for months, even though his body was a bit stiff due to the humidity. As usual, as soon as he woke up completely his senses now much more developed than before him hit him so hard it almost made him dizzy.It took him a few minutes to recover and familiarize himself with his senses. Now he had such powerful eyesight that he could see parts of a leaf without a microscope, his hearing could sense a raindrop falling to the ground more than twenty kilometers away, and his sense of smell could detect odors from at least a hundred kilometers.“Damn, my senses have gotten really powerful. I bet if I ate something I could taste every single molecule” he thought.He stretched and then stood up. The shape of the legs and the little body that he could see immediately turned out to be different from
In the center of the continent of Laurentia was a nation known as Kabolong, and it was not a nice place to live. Although on paper it proclaimed itself a federal republic, it was in reality a militarist dictatorship. Its leader, Svetlana Belikova, was a tyrant who ruled with an iron fist over the whole nation, putting any opponent on the gallows.For twenty years that dictatorship had continued without anyone ever daring to raise their heads. Now, however, things were about to change.The people were exhausted due to the lack of food and the economic crisis. The army struggled to keep the population at bay and it was not uncommon for it to carry out public executions. However, this had done nothing but further alienate the consent of the population from the current government.Moreover, things had further deteriorated after the proclamation of the Eden Union and Sobek's speech. Even though the government had done everything to limit access to information, it sti
"So the Meilong Republic wants to join the Eden Union?"Pauline was on a private video call with President Palma, who seemed rather irritated by the satisfied smile on the lips of the Queen of Prettania. “Queen Mackenzie, with all due respect, by the time I formally submitted the application, you should already know my intentions. Why this call?""I just wanted to know what she convinced you to change course" Pauline replied.Palma bit his lip. “It was going too far. In order to prevent any other nation from abandoning the NMWA, those madmen have decided to finance the dictatorships. It wouldn't take long before one of them proposed dropping the nuclear bombs”. The president shook his head. “I was willing to use them against animals, but I will not accept that they are used against humans. With two superpowers united against them, the NMWA will think twice before pulling the trigger"“In that case I have to thank you. You may
That day, it was a rainy day. It was strange: on the human continent it was rare for it to rain in the height of summer. But that day, however, it seemed that heaven had decided to cry to give one last, worthy greeting to the man in the coffin.Jocelyne was under her umbrella, staring blankly at the cemetery. The chapel in front of her was besieged by countless people, and many others were out waiting, like her. All of them were dressed in black and had a mournful face. After all, no one could be happy at a funeral.Jocelyne just waited for her turn. She could have used her position to get in before her, but she didn't want to. Even though there were dozens of armed guards around her who kept an eye on her to protect her, she at least wanted to pretend to behave like a normal person.Finally, her turn came. Entering the chapel she noticed the dejected looks of some people staring at her curiously. She paid no attention. She just went quickly to the altar. There,
"Mr. Hammond's vault is this here"Jocelyne stared at the door indicated by the butler. It was a huge circular steel door of at least three meters in diameter, located below the villa of Hammond, similar to those of the banks. Judging by the size, it was likely that not even a jackhammer would be able to break through it."How did Hammond open it?" muttered Mitch, not understanding how a single person could open such a heavy door."The key currently in miss Jersey's possession triggers the automatic opening. Also, disable all safety devices inside" replied the butler."Safety devices?"“The key in miss Jersey's hand has a microscopic design on her handle, invisible to the naked eye. Inside the door lock there are sensors that detect this design. If someone tried to cast the key, the sensors would activate the alarm devices and anything inside the vault would be instantly incinerated, including people"Ian wrinkled his nose. "Hammond di
It took Sobek a few moments before he realized he was back in the room where it all began. That room where time and space ceased to exist, and where everything and nothing seemed to have changed at the same time. He already knew where he had to go; walking through the infinitely large (or perhaps infinitely small) room, in a few minutes (or perhaps a few centuries, who knows) he reached the familiar armchair on which was seated a woman with white skin and light hair.God didn't even seem to move since she sent him to Eden. Even her expression didn't seem to have changed at all. She was still the same, beautiful and terrible at the same time, whose gaze was both magnetic and loving on him. “Welcome back, son,” she greeted him in her crystal clear voice.Sobek advanced on her. This time there wasn't an armchair waiting for him, but a large mattress wide enough to allow him to lie down. She lay back on it and gazed intently at God. Even now, after he'd grown i
On the continent of Maakanar, near a river that was once a typical spinosaurus nesting place, something immense could be seen. A huge creature was lying on its belly, but nevertheless it was so tall that its dorsal sail towered over the surrounding masts.Sobek was now thirty-three years old. To say he had grown into a behemoth was an understatement: he now measured 150 meters from head to tail and reached 45.6 meters in height. Even without activating the mutation he was now larger than Godzilla: the gigantic atomic reptile was a tiny lizard compared to him. All kaiju would be small compared to him. Even King Ghidorah would have been forced to acknowledge its superiority.In the last five years he had hardly moved. After the death of his last loyalist he returned to his birthplace and settled there. He ate what was provided to him from the [Personal Manger] and drank the water from the river. Otherwise, he remained calm, warming himself in the sun or admiring the star
After a few days Nefertiti settled at the lake together with her father and her last remaining uncle. With the help and indications of Sobek she built a comfortable nest and there she laid her egg.Thus began the brood. The female spinosaurus never moved from above her little egg, keeping it constantly warm. Sobek and Buck brought her food and water. When Nefertiti was hot, Sobek used her huge wing as a parasol and Buck fanned her with his tail. In the rare moments when it was cold, the two of her huddled to help her warm up.That routine went on for three months. Finally, at the end of the third month, a familiar clicking sound came from under Nefertiti's paws.The female spinosaurus reared up and looked down. A small crack was opening on the egg. With a smile she moved from above it. The crack widened more and more and finally a large piece of egg broke off, showing a lively green eye that stared intently at Nefertiti.“Hello, baby. I'm your mothe
Time had passed again. Sobek couldn't even figure out how much time had actually passed now. One year? Two? Maybe three? He didn't know.After his retirement, Sobek had gone deep into the forest of Maakanar. It was hard for him to move his huge body through the trees and very often ended up destroying them: his passage was evident as a trail of uprooted trunks was always behind him. He had moved permanently to the lake where he had met Buck and where he had established his first army. And he hadn't gone there alone.Carnopo and Buck had joined him just a month after his departure. They, too, had decided they'd had enough and abandoned their roles entirely. After all, in the new world there was no longer a need for either an army commander or one of the shock legion. Now there was peace, and the old war veterans had no reason to try to find their place in their world. So they had decided to do what they had always done: follow their pack leader.The trio spent th
Another year had passed. In Sobek's eyes, time seemed to have begun to flow more rapidly. The months and weeks all passed almost the same and in a flash the morning turned into evening.Humanity had continued its advance. By now, Aphrodites had been fully colonized. Whole cities had sprung up on it and millions of settlers had begun to live there. Davis had now reached more than a billion inhabitants and Hermes now owned thousands of mining establishments.Thanks to teleportation technology it was so advanced that traveling between planets was even easier than going from one city to another. Since energy and material consumption were now no longer a concern thanks to solar panels on Hermes and mining plants on asteroids, everyone had a portable teleportation device. By now, being hired to work a mine on an asteroid was no different than being hired to work at the local convenience store.Colonies on the moons of Leviathan and Behemoth had multiplied, providing e
More time, more changes. In just one year, many things had changed.Nefertiti had assumed control of the entire astrophysics division of the dinosaur pack, effectively acting as acting pack leader for them. After the first shared mission, she had begun to promote more policies of integration and union between humans and animals. She had facilitated interspecies interspace operations, sending animals and humans to work together in the new worlds to be colonized. Furthermore, there was still much to colonize, as human attention was slowly shifting beyond the outer Solar System to the dwarf planets and comets of the Oort Cloud.The work was not cheap and with it the possibilities of working together. With the Dyson Sphere nearing completion, energy was no longer an issue. After determining which moons to colonize, the Eden Union had begun an intensive mining program in the asteroids of the main belt in order to be able to build huge lenses to capture the sunlight and also
One more year, more innovations. The more time passed, the more progress seemed to accelerate. It was like a speeding train that multiplied its speed every second: first slow, then faster and faster, until it turned into a giant projectile.Sobek knew that progress was bound to accelerate more and more, after all it was his nature. For each new discovery, countless doors open. And every door leads to other doors. This was the nature of progress. It was no coincidence that it took humanity less than two hundred years to go from horses to aircraft capable of leaving the orbit of their home planet.He recalled that on Earth, where he came from, progress had become so fast in the 21st century that it was enough to be born even a generation later or further back to find oneself in a completely different world. While in 1990 the main communication system was the satellite phone, in 2020 people used social networks for the most disparate things. While in 1990 movies were watc
More time had passed. This time it was a year… or maybe a year and a half? I don't know. Not that it mattered much, actually.The world's attention to the inner solar system was gradually waning. Now that three planets had been terraformed, even if one of them still wasn't enough, and Hermes had become a stable colony that was continuously producing large panels of glass that joined in the orbit of the Sun to form the Dyson Sphere, the humanity was beginning to anticipate new challenges. From the inner solar system it was time to move to the outer solar system.Although some colony outposts were already present on some moons of Behemoth, they could not be defined as true colonies. However, now that energy consumption was no longer a problem thanks to the Dyson Sphere, which although not completed already released enormous amounts of energy, the Eden Union decided to start an exploration program of the entire outer solar system, or at least of the space between B
Two more years had passed. The advance of humanity towards the stars continued inexorably.The hypotheses of the scientists had proved to be correct: using a combination of gravity control technology and energy obtained from the Dyson sphere, although still incomplete, they had managed to accelerate the rotation of Aphrodites. The planet was slowly accelerating, though not too fast. There was generally talk of an hour each week. At this speed there was no risk of destroying the infrastructure already present on the planet. Yes two years, the rotation period had gone from 2082 hours to 1978 hours. Continuing at this rate, it was expected to reach 24 hours in 'just' another 38 years.Once this process was completed, the huge orbiting mirrors could finally be taken off. The day/night cycle would no longer be artificially determined and there would no longer be the risk that something would go wrong due to the impact of a micrometeorite. In addition, the accelerated rotati