The year was 2048 A.D. when scientists made a huge breakthrough in observational astronomy. Astrophysicists had been skeptical for decades, but a naked singularity had finally been discovered as part of the Alpha Centauri system. A singularity such as this could house a wormhole allowing us to travel through hyperspace and into the far reaches of the universe. It was close enough to visit, and being a naked singularity there was no event horizon to be sucked into. The possibility for a major scientific breakthrough was huge! After a decade of intensive efforts by Earth’s leading physicists and aerospace engineers to build a craft to visit Sigma Centauri – as it was now being called – a successful launch finally happened in the year 2060 CE. A crew of 3 scientist-astronauts volunteered for a “Return Improbable” mission. It took 40 years for the Seeker I probe and the Seekers to reach ∑ Centauri. Initial telemetry data indicated the singularity was approximately 50 billion solar masses!
After studying the singularity for months, one of the crew made a startling confirmation. The singularity was in fact a wormhole held open by strange exotic matter. This was unbelievable – a prediction made generations ago, finally confirmed! The bold crew made a decision to plunge into the wormhole.
They watched spacetime distort around them. The craft rattled under the immense pressure but ultimately survived. Back on Earth, scientists monitoring the Seeker project began receiving telemetry data faster than ever before – almost instantaneously. Strange phenomena were being reported. Temperatures and acceleration were varying wildly. Contact with the crew had slowed significantly over the past several years, but now mission control was listening live to the Seekers’ experience. The communication, unfortunately, was only one way.
As the crew came out on the other side of the hyperspace tunnel, a large blue-green planet was visible. The resemblance to Earth was incredible! They saw signs of life, even cities! Where was this planet? Astronomers back on Earth had never discovered such a thing!
Their contemplation was interrupted by a beam of white light coming from the planet’s surface. After their vision returned, they found themselves in a strange, unfamiliar room. A disembodied voice spoke a familiar language – it sounded as if it were a combination of English, German, French, Russian, Afrikaans, Dutch, Greek and other world languages. The crew lead attempted to communicate using the few languages he was familiar with from his days in graduate school to no avail. A short while later, a very tall humanoid woman entered the room speaking an unfamiliar dialect of English. She introduced herself as ðçƛƪɐ – roughly Eisska – and explained that nobody had spoken English in over a thousand years. The year was 1024 A.L. (Anno Lucis), and her knowledge of English came from studying old tablets discovered in what were thought to be urban centers of an ancient civilization. A civilization that was obsessed with pictorial images of emotional felines with text they hadn’t yet deciphered superimposed thereupon.
The crew explained why they were there and how they arrived. The woman apologized and informed them that her planet’s civilization, Sciencia, had recently opened the wormhole and did not anticipate any arrivals. Regardless, excited that real-live speakers of such an old dialect of English were in her presence – and themselves scientists – she proposed a tour of her planet.
She began by giving them a tour of the Planetary Defense Command. The facility was originally built for observations, but as old technology gave way to its successors, it was converted into a complex for the global government. Eisska explained that a thousand years ago, a cataclysmic event had torn the world apart. Their world was taken to the brink of extinction from nuclear warfare. Only because of the work of a few charismatic scientists was their world saved. They were very public advocates for science, and unlike many of their colleagues, comfortable in the spotlight. Therefore, they negotiated a treaty in which all nations committed to pursuing science and technology for the benefit of their kind rather than destruction. A new government was ratified and a new language formed and adopted by the top linguists of the world.
The crew left the facility to see the world outside and the first thing they noticed is how clean and crisp and crisp the air was. They had never breathed a more pure atmosphere in their entire lives. Eisska explained that their kind, in pursuing beneficial technologies, were able to reduce atmospheric pollutants to practically zero.
Computing technology had become biomechanical and quantum, allowing for computations to happen on the quantum level while also integrating with cybernetic and neural interfaces. This made computational fields really fast, and is the reason for such a rapid pace of technological advancement. Also as a result of biomechanical and quantum technology, significant boosts in artificial intelligence had been made. Although not completely sentient, most scientists appreciated having them around for intellectual conversation and quick “back-of-the-napkin” calculations about a particular topic.
The global nation had also achieved true equity among gender, race, creed, religion, and ability. There were plenty of differences among them, but none were discriminated against or hated. Differences were accepted, even encouraged, as the different worldviews and experiences provided a basis for further scientific and technological innovation.
Global healthcare had been achieved from the technological advancement and subsequent reduction of costs. Such technology included digital prosthetics interfacing with the nervous system and advanced surgeries for those with disabilities, repair of genetic material and the subsequent eradication of cancer and ease of cosmetic customization for all gender presentations. Drugs were available for most common ailments, including pain and a cure for the common cold, with side effects successfully removed.
The society enjoyed a large variety of cultural events and rituals such as the Eclipsing of the Horizons, a moment of quiet every evening as the sun set. There were scholars who continued to study the lore of ancient astronomy, and artists worked closely with scientists to illustrate new discoveries and help explain their discovery to others not as well versed.
Their language, as mentioned before, had been adopted by the people after a council of linguists agreed upon a new vocabulary that incorporated various elements of each language’s grammar, structure, word choice, syntax, etc which allowed for both flexibility of speech and the specificity of detail. Over the years, the old languages fell into disuse but there are still many scholars who study them to be acquainted with passages in old archives that are sometimes discovered from thousands of years ago. These scholars are intimately familiar with ancient civilizations and advocate for the preservation and education of these cultures, which help to further cement the encouragement of differences in thought that lead to innovation and knowledge.
Despite all the services that the government offered, there was no overreach. Individuals were allowed to do as they pleased so long as it didn’t hurt anyone. Conflicts were handled amicably through self-organizing councils. There was no single dictator, but a compassionate, rational democracy in which the needs of all people were heard and the majority’s voice did not always rule or have the final say. The ultimate goal for resolving conflict was to find a win-win situation for all parties involved.
There was a strictly defensive military formed to defend the planet against further nuclear incidents, hostile space-travelers, space pirates, and other nefarious entities but military personnel were otherwise kept busy performing jobs related to defense and exploration. They were essentially a reserve force, activated only when external threats to the planet were identified. They also occasionally escorted convoys and engineers deploying energy collection arrays to protect them against thieves.
Citizens were also fairly well off. The scientific breakthroughs of the last several centuries had afforded them a comfortable way of living. Reclaiming passing orbital debris and mining material from asteroids provided rich resources for the global community, which were in turn used to create and boost production. Each citizen received dividends once they reached their teens and were able to begin contributing to a scientific, technological or engineering discipline.
A form of currency could be found in qubestring technology which was 100% digital. It was entirely voluntary and yet served little purpose; it’s primary use was recreational entertainment, as many individuals within the society enjoyed solving the puzzles required to unlock qubes. Nobody ever lost their wallet because the trading system was distributed but accountable. This allowed everyone’s qubes to remain safe from theft or loss but also verifiable and viewable by other parties. Qubes were most frequently passed around as a form of social surcy (e.g., “I like your scarf! Have a qube!”) but never used for purchasing power.