The dreams of the high society
20 Oct 2021Thimeus
If you are wondering whether there are still class differences today, in the year 3307, the answer is: But so what! But one should not misunderstand the upper classes. They too have their problems. Their biggest problem is the eternal boredom. They don't have to work, others do that for them, or their money itself. And leisure activities that are common for normal people, such as pub crawls with friends, are taboo for them. After all, one has to keep "form," which means nothing other than that they must always keep in mind to the rabble that they are above them.
So what do upper class people do when they have nothing better to do? They think about how they can better illustrate the class difference by moving away from Otto Normal and Anna Average. For a long time they tried to secure planets only for their kind or even whole systems, which one may approach only with special permission. It even worked for a while, but not everyone played along. Big corporations of the Federation have undermined the system to get resources and also the leaders of the Empire rule with more and more respect for the normals.
So what to do? It's obvious: You look for an uninhabited area and build yourself something from scratch. And as far away as possible from the currently populated areas. Wishful thinking, one might think, pure science fiction. But with money comes opportunity. And since the Digital Interstellar Shorttime Communication for Outer Range Device platform, or D.I.S.C.O.R.D for short, exists, they seem to really want to do it.
Why they are only starting now, I don't know. Maybe it took this long to find someone willing to explore the Formorian Frontier sector for months, maybe it took this long to develop the particular device they gave me. After all, it was a prototype. It was supposed to send the data received by my surface scanner to a server somewhere in the Bubble, where the data would be analyzed and evaluated according to a huge algorithm to filter out possible planets for elite colonization. That's how it was explained to me before the installation. When the time came, the technician said that this algorithm was actually made up of people who would select the system according to their preferences.
Of course, I was there during the installation and checked everything myself afterwards. After all, I would be out in the black with the ship for months, far from civilization and thus from any help.
Two days before the launch, my client invited me to a party. He spoke of a very exclusive party where, although I signed a confidentiality agreement, I was not even allowed to know the location. That's why I was picked up by a Dolphin, which was luxuriously equipped, but offered no possibility to see anything of the surroundings. There was not even a window. Who wouldn't get suspicious? But, what can I say? He had no advantage to harm me. And my ship was secured with a password that was entered by voice. Which meant that the words, the accent, the pitch and the clarity had to be exactly right. And because a little diversion would certainly do me good, I got into the black Dolphin.
Because of the confidentiality agreement I save myself the details about the party. I'll just say that it was really awesome and that I met people of the highest circles there. They were surprisingly friendly to me, a middle class man, they even gave me a gift that I could use if I ever need work. Well, maybe they were just in that mood because I was doing them a huge favor. So, that's all I was allowed to say, except one more thing: the event was about Jokers` Deck, one of the galactic myths.
Probably nobody believes me that I was really there. I only mention it because there was one event that I think is worth mentioning. After a few hours, I was celebrating properly, my client took me aside. His people wanted to do a very last check on my ship, but did not come on board. Tight as I was, I said the password into his implanted mike, but on the other hand they said it didn't do anything. That must have been because I was slurring my words, but that could not be changed so quickly. The last check had to take place the next day. In truth, however, that was acted by me. I read the logs of Jameson's Cobra. As if I would let anyone touch my ship now, let alone a device that is connected to my navigation, among other things. Of course, they try again the next morning, but since I wanted to get off this planet after breakfast anyway, complete with anti-hangover pill (I love those things), I insisted on doing the check myself.
So here I am, three months into Formorian Frontier and busy scanning planets. After only two weeks, the oh-so-great device did what prototypes always do on their first mission: it gave up the ghost. Of course I reported it to my employer and of course he ordered my immediate return. But I have my own reasons for being out here and because the device is also connected to my communications, I claimed in my second message that I could no longer receive anything on the secret frequency. Of course, I did not stop sending the collected reconnaissance data to my client. After all, I'm paid for it and it may be that such interference is only one-sided... haha.
D.I.S.C.O.R.D and GalNet are still working perfectly. So I am still in contact with my squadron and receive messages. In itself a nice thing, if it weren`t for the thing with Jokers` Deck. The ceremonial playing card was stolen, at some point within the last 12 months. Damn, what the hell is in that box they gave me? It is sealed and they have impressed upon me that the box is only of use to me if it remains so. After scanning it completely and detecting no energy activity, it was fine with me, but what if the card is in there? A reconnaissance trip like that is ideal for hiding something for a while, and with my constant reports, they always know exactly where I am....
Damn it, what am I going to do?
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)