No other region (well, not that many) had this degree of tendency to feed upon itself. No aspect of the culture or existence was completely accepted and this even went to laws of physics or biology. What a non-alien would call common sense had little place in the laws and culture of that region.
To say it was a mess was an understatement of massive proportions. There was even a massive movement within all three societies away from the concepts of personal responsibility and honor that would have been unthinkable a century before.
Kachoo wondered if this was why Sailor Mercury had chosen a contest she couldn't possibly win for that region. Had she been foisting a problem off on him? Ah well. It was 1994, given time things could have gotten insufferably worse no doubt.
"Governor Weinburg, this is Governor Kemp. Sending you data on something interesting." The governor thought about it for a moment before clicking the record function again. "Take a good look at those ships. A real ragtag fleet if you recall the old 'Battlestar Galactica' series. Some of the designs are fairly easy to figure out. There's bulk transports, scouts, repair ships, also the space-going versions of passenger liners and what I'm guessing is a system defense ship from all the gun turrets. There are no life signs on any of these vessels and we know from size of the hatches and internal atmosphere data that we're looking at ships built for humans. Right now we've mapped 150 of 10,000 vessels though, so others are possible."
The Governor paused the recording again, scrutinizing the ceiling. "It may be that our friendly alien dictator may be planning to lose this contest and has left us this 'prize' to go after. According to the math, they'll reach the Oort Cloud in three years. They are not going anywhere near full speed - I suspect that this is something we and some of the free nations were meant to notice.
"I also suspect that this is another case where alien logic falls short of understanding human stupidity. If our observations are correct, he's simply too evolved and too civilized to consider what might come after. Which, of course, will be war. If, as we mentioned to the UN Security Council, his loss means that all trace of his advanced technology is pulled from planetside - there is going to be a mad scramble to reach the Lunar Base and after that those ships. If we're left with what we've got and he just shuts down the "black box" technologies, we've still got enough that one of us will reach those ships long before the rest of Earth.
"And then what? Some will want to destroy any of these new technologies. Some will want to grab it for themselves, and I include the UN in that group."
Governor Kemp looked out his window, seeing the distant specks of hover vehicles and trans-atmospheric aircraft flitting about. "I do have one advantage right now. The Jedi. Even if the future is always in motion, a glimpse is better than nothing. Contact me when you've reviewed the relevant data and come to your own conclusions. Kemp out."
Doctor Mizuno considered carefully. She considered each plus and each minus. And there were indeed plenty of both.
She was under no illusions. If the alien didn't win the battle for the area that included Japan, then her decision would remain secret. If the alien DID win and she accepted, then she would likely never practice medicine again. At least not in this manner and likely not in any manner for a long time. She would have to wait until a suitable time had passed and use a falsified identity. Neither concerned her that much.
Bonuses.
The Governors were the high post of a new terrestrial aristocracy. Before taking on the rigors of their posts, every health flaw or problem was corrected. Genetic problems that might produce birth defects or other unpleasant effects were eliminated. From a genetic viewpoint, any children of the new aristocracy would be completely and totally healthy. There was an Italian village, for example, where a strain of chicken pox 300 years previously had altered a genetic sequence. Because of the way their bodies processed cholesterol, they had a much lower incidence of heart attacks. That was just one enhancement that had been analyzed and added. There were nearly a hundred similar ones, minor tweaks of a genome by a science that had analyzed potential repercussions ten thousand generations hence.
The New Aristocracy were healthier, lived longer lives with a slowed aging process, and would gain other more tangible benefits. Doctor Mizuno thought it likely that she could start out as Governor, eventually cede to Miss Tsukino, and then settle down somewhere and do the sort of work she loved to do - which was her profession as a pediatrician.
It was tempting.
If the alien left at the end of the whole thing, having won Japan but then lost the world later, then she would have to run for her life. There were many who would see her as a traitor for all that she had nothing to do with the actual takeover. It was quite likely that if she failed to get away in time she'd die in a very messy and painful manner.
So there were good points and bad points involved.
Even if everything went as planned, she might have to wait a generation or two before rejoining the public. It might take that long for those people most unhappy about the change of government to die off or at least calm down.
Between eyeblinks, the doctor noticed one of Usagi's friends had mysteriously appeared. "Waiting for my decision?"
Setsuna inclined her head slightly.
"I think most likely I will take the position if it is still open and the alien wins Japan."
Setsuna nodded again.
"So what of this 'Crystal Tokyo' my daughter's friend wants to found?" Doctor Mizuno asked.
"I was born in Crystal Tokyo," said Setsuna after a moment's consideration. "A perfect gleaming utopia ruled over by the Princess."
"Right. And the truth?" Doctor Mizuno pressed.
"That is the truth. Absolute harmony, peace and joy. No one is violent. No one is harsh. No one ever gets angry. No one ever gets sad." Setsuna said.
"Sounds boring as hell," summed up the doctor. "It's human nature to want perfection. It's not in human nature to keep it."
"I spend more time in the past than my own present," admitted Setsuna. "For one thing, I like tea. In the original future, that was one of the missing things. Nowhere but Crystal Tokyo was inhabitable, so no hills for the growing of the tea plant. Hence no tea, no coffee, no chocolate."
"How can you have a utopia without chocolate?" Doctor Mizuno wanted to know.
"It doesn't matter," said Setsuna. "Time travel is one of those things you're best not working with too much. The paradoxes and problems are such that all you can do is hang on and hope for the best sometimes."
"Hmmm?" Doctor Mizuno hmmmed. "So you can go to the future and see how this turned out a year from now?"
"No. Even if I could open the Time Gates, it wouldn't be that easy," said Setsuna, making a corkscrew gesture in the air. "Picture time as a vast spiral. It's relatively easy to go straight up or down so that you end up at the point in the spiral up or down one level. Going a year forward would be enormously difficult. The next point in the spiral ahead of us would be the time of my origin, Crystal Tokyo. The point in the spiral behind us is in the Middle Ages, and two down from that is the Silver Millenium. It would theoretically be possible to go back to the Moon Kingdom but the paradoxes and energy expenditure would be enormous."
"Ah. So not a set period, but probably based on the local gravity as we pass through the Milky Way." Doctor Mizuno nodded. "Einstein would have appreciated that."
"Nice to work with someone who doesn't require a lot of background information," said Setsuna. "Have you come to your decision?"
"A decision, yes," said Doctor Mizuno. "As to whether I'll accept Governorship of the Far East region if it becomes available. I've decided
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(Posted Mon, 01 Sep 2003 13:11)
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