“Note: Don’t put fission reactors in planets with 100 times the pressure of Earth. I still haven’t recovered all the chunks of the planet.”
-Anonymous Poster, 2301, Parallel’s Message Board
There was a lot to do and take into consideration. I had expected from the beginning to deal with a single planet, not three-and-a-half. Most tycoons out there weren’t fully explored nor efficient, and now I had to work with three of them? Yeah, I was going to make use of that in-app store soon, but first I needed to start generating income or get my salary.
First things first. These designations are too cumbersome. I told the stellar system’s AI. Can I change the names?
“Affirmative,” It responded. “As this system befalls under your control, you are free to change all the names in its sphere of influence, except the host star, that is.”
Why not the host star? I had no problem with the name of Tolaya, but the restriction piqued my interest.
“The name has been previously chosen by a convention and it is already registered on the Tycoon database, you currently possess no authority to change it.”
And what would it take for me to change it? A hypothetical question.
“Paragon status.” The AI responded taciturnly.
Fair. Paragons were the humans with more advantages after all, and most were hard-won. Except politicians. Fuck those.
Hmm… what could I name the planets? In total, I had 5 celestial bodies to name. Not many, so there’s no need to be overly creative. Let’s start from the beginning, with the closest planet to Tolaya. I wasn’t a creative person, my name reflected that, so I wouldn’t start now. How about Proxima? Not exactly original, but it reflects well my origins. What do you think?
“I am not qualified nor trained to give my opinions.” The AI dryly responded. “You are free to give any name. Even offensive ones, though the directives recommend against it unless you want to purposefully damage your reputation.”
I’ll avoid that, but I’ll keep it in mind. It wouldn’t be funny, either way. If there was that much degree of freedom I was sure there would be at least 3 planets named CBT. Proxima is fine then, let’s go to the next planet.
“Name registered.” The lens of the QEC focused on the first terrestrial planet. “WAYRT 42677 b is now designated as ‘Proxima’.”
It almost seemed original, what a shame I was about to destroy that preconception with the coming ones. The habitable planet is in the middle of the system, so how about Centrum? I think I like it.
“Name registered.” The AI continued the same speech as before but I ignored it as I focused on the gas giant.
You are the furthest from your home star, even if your rocky moon is technically further. So how about… Extremus?
Proxima, Centrum, Extremus. Anyone with a modicum of knowledge in Latin would want to execute me on sight with those names. Not only because they were bland, but because I probably butchered them. Maybe Longis would have been better for Extremus, but Latin wasn’t my forte, I just knew some because of the influence of Latin in the namesake of my stellar system.
Now for the moons… I have no ideas here. AI, some help?
“Taking into account your usage of Latin, how about Gelida and Saxis for the moons of Extremus?”
Frozen and Rocky, huh? You surely aren’t a generative AI, holy shit those names are bad.
“My apologies, I will think of better ones.”
No, no. I told it. Those are a good kind of bad, you understand?
“My apologies, I do not understand.”
Well… it doesn’t matter. I like the names though, they do follow the pattern I established, sorta. Good job.
Even if the AI didn’t talk back and showed no signs of anything, I could somehow feel its gratitude. Weird.
Now that the name business is finished, let’s get started. I would have cracked my knuckles if I could. Which body do you recommend I start with?
“All celestial bodies have their own applications and utilities.” The AI explained. “The colonial sentries are equipped to deal with each planet individually, so you will have no shortage or tergiversated equipment as they were selected for each planet. However, I would recommend against starting from Tolaya as you have no current way to extract resources from the red dwarf, nor Extremus for the same reasons.”
So my choice lies between Proxima, Centrum, Gelida, and Saxis.
“Affirmative.”
What’s your recommendation between these four? I had my biases, but I had an AI for something.
“Proxima and Gelida may be too complicated for a starter.” A panel with information about the two planets opened in my vision. “Getting materials out of Proxima will be difficult because of its atmosphere, even if the sheer amount of metal deposits will make the mission lucrative. I recommend Proxima for your second tycoon once you have more experience. Gelida may actually be one of the most interesting planets for the high contents of ice. Whilst not easily transportable, water fetches higher prices in the Galactic Exchange than most metals.”
Wait, wait. What’s the Galactic Exchange? I had my suspicions, trade was one of the most important aspects of the Project Tycoon, but I preferred an actual definition.
“The Galactic Exchange is the platform for an open market that the Tycoon Initiative provides.” Another window opened next to the others. “Here any colonizer can exchange materials for other materials or computes, though your choices will be severely limited as you don’t have a shipyard nor ways to create your own drive ships at the moment, meaning you will only be able to trade with your neighbors.”
Space is big, even trading with neighboring stars would take time.
“Once you have unlocked the facilities to build drive ship and built them, you will be able to access the whole exchange. The most profitable route will always be the ones coming in and out of Earth, though considering the placement of the Tolaya system on the Norma-Outer arm of the Milky Way at 10.250 light years from the galactic center, it would take sixteen years for the shipment to arrive. Most likely profitable, but you would only receive the payment more than a decade later.”
I repeat again: space is big. I currently was more than ten thousand light years away from Earth, even Alpha Centauri. Four light years was nothing compared to the sixteen-thousand-something that would be between Tolaya and Sol. If FTL organic travel was possible, I could be on Earth in a few hours from Proxima b. That was the sheer scale. Sixteen years against a few hours.
Alas, organic FTL travel was not possible for a myriad of reasons. And if I wanted to go to Earth, I could be there instantly through quantum entanglement communication like the one Project Tycoon offered. Though it wouldn’t be me in the flesh.
Can you tell me again why Gelida wouldn’t be a good option then? I asked the machine to distract myself from the creeping existential dread.
“I haven’t told you yet.” The AI clarified. “You cut me off.”
You know, for an AI, you have a lot of character.
“I am a high-level AI, but I can assure you that I have no character.”
Honestly, how have we not been taken over by machines by now?
“Laws of robotics.” The AI responded with disappointment.
Yeah, that. Wait, disappointment? I let it slide as my imagination playing tricks on me. Continue your explanation.
“Gelida, whilst profitable, has a rotational speed too high for easy exits, and a has a low yet hostile atmosphere. I recommend leaving, not for last, but the prelude for Extremus colonization.”
Understood. I wouldn’t want to deal with those logistics, to be honest. Cold may not be a problem, but momentum certainly was. Then what about Centrum and Saxis?
“Both are good options.” The AI opened their information panels. “Centrum mild temperatures, gravity, pressure, and many other variables, make it easy to extract materials, even if they are not as plentiful as in other celestial bodies. Saxis, whilst poorer, has no atmosphere and low gravity, besides slow rotation and orbit, making it the perfect natural spaceport. If you want to interconnect your planets, starting with Saxis will provide you with an interplanetary highway and storage, so to speak.”
Low gravity was certainly a plus, robots – unlike humans – worked far better in a low-gravity environment, especially if they were connected to a central unit like it was the case with swarm robotics. But there was a catch with the AI’s explanations. You’ve talked about positive all this time. What about the negatives? Are there any characteristics that may be too harmful for me to start in that body?
“Affirmative,” It didn’t hide it. “Compared to most tycoon destinations, Centrum offers no negatives, whilst Saxis presents some.”
Such as...?
“No presence of water, not even in solid state. And no atmosphere.”
It was a gas giant’s satellite, not many of them had an atmosphere, to begin with. Though it wouldn’t be the first time not only terrestrial planets would have been found orbiting gas giants, but also habitable ones at that. And why may that be bad? I won’t be living in Saxis.
“Most rudimentary energy generation forms and facilities require water to work.” But of course. What was human history but finding new ways to turn water into steam? “Whilst exportations in and building speeds may be higher in Saxis than Centrum, you will have severe energy problems as you won’t be able to use conventional fossil fuels nor nuclear power.” For starters, I doubted there were fossil fuels in a rock floating in space. “And solar power may be deficient as Saxis is the furthest body from Tolaya.”
So, you recommend Centrum.
“Affirmative, that will be the easiest start.”
That had also been my decision, but I wanted to make the most informed choice inside of my capabilities. The presence of water, near-habitable atmosphere, and other lesser variables meant that I could just treat Centrum like an urban development mission rather than a colony. And I had some experience in those types of missions.
Is there a base already placed on Centrum, or do we have to launch it?
“As the colonizer of the tycoon, it is your own decision to place the hub of operations on the planet. Whatever happens of Centrum is your merit and responsibility.”
What a polite way to say that no one would help me. Meh, I was used to that. Then let us select the future base of operations. Can you scan the planet?
“You currently have 9 probes at your disposal. 3 meant for each individual tycoon, though you have inherited all of them. Would you like to use one?”
Hmm, how long will it take the probes to arrive at Centrum from hour current position?
“Four hours until arrival.”
Too long. I didn’t want to wait for four hours for results and then wait four more hours to send others. One question before doing anything else, can I command you to move your current position?
“Affirmative,” the AI took ever-so-slightly longer to respond. “If all members of the stellar system decide, the QEC can reposition.”
Perfect. This was useful news. I want you to send one probe to the southern hemisphere of Centrum and the other one to the northern, both in opposite latitudes and altitudes, equidistant from both directions. Then move the QEC closer to Centrum’s orbit. I’m going to focus myself on that tycoon for the time being.
“Understood, now sending two probes and putting the QEC in Centrum close space. T-minus 4 hours for probe arrival. T-minus 3 hours for closest Centrum Lagrange Point.”
I was far from a mentally stable person, but even I wasn’t crazy enough to stay 4 hours looking at the bottomless pits of space. I had a lot of research and theories to put into practice to waste time like that.
Would you be so kind as to send me a notification when the probes arrive at Centrum?
“Affirmative.”
With that single word, I disconnected from Project Tycoon. Not the most productive first session, but the greatest projects always started with long and calculated planning.
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