This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/KyleKKent on 2025-05-10 22:18:27+00:00.

First

(A few months ago my good friend lost his mother, today was the wake. I was only told about it around midnight last night. This is not an excuse or apology, merely an explanation.)

The Bounty Hunters

“Looks like… a huge amount of servers. Playing the stock market across about eight different polities.” Lytha says as she pilots a small drone into the recently unveiled area. “Thank goodness, it’s just a great deal of theft, laundering and not another gigantic parade of horrors beyond the imaginings of the sane and sober.”

“Oh thank you. Thank you for the good news, I was clenching so hard I was going to cramp something.” Rebecca notes on the communication line. She had insisted of being kept in the know about everything so they had given her a link. Thankfully this seemed to be something she could deal with. “Alright, we can handle this. I just need the account numbers and the names she’s used and I can have all her assets frozen and trace everything. I’ve got a team for this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Just make sure there’s no insane trap or horrifying monster and I can get that place peeled open and all it’s secrets torn apart.” Rebecca assures her.

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“You know, I expected I would be one of the earlier interviewees, or interviewed or however it is.” Bike remarks as he sits opposite of Observer Wu. “All the craziness hold you up?”

“Something like that. You have to admit it’s been a busy few days.”

“It has, thankfully our latest break is exactly the type we can back away from and let someone else handle so we have some time to talk.” Bike remarks.

“Good, good. I was actually hoping to ask you about your implant and the use of it. From my understanding you’re one of the few crew member with a non-prosthetic augmentation.” Observer Wu says and Bike nods before turning around and lowering the collar of his shirt. “I see a small chrome box and a slight indentation in the skin that forms a larger rectangle surrounding it.

“That is my implant. It’s a one way transmitter that interfaces with wireless connections.”

“Why is it one way only?”

“Security reasons and practicality. This implant cannot receive signals and only send them. Meaning it’s impossible for it to be hacked. The data only goes one way.” Bike explains before his jacket lights up and his collar pops up and begins projecting small screens. “The information instead is brought to this jacket, a popular item for computer enthusiasts the galaxy over. Allowing you to see the information without any risk of being hacked yourself. After all, worse comes to worse and they only get my jacket and while it is expensive, it can be taken off if I’m in danger.”

“Very interesting.” Observer Wu notes before giving Bike another look. “But Mister Engel, there is something more I need to know…”

“My political opinion perhaps?” Bike asks.

“Yes.”

“I’m afraid it’s not too exciting. My aunt and uncle are the political powerhouses in the family. I’m afraid that I was the huffy, ‘no one will ever understand me!’ kind of teen.” Bike says putting the back of his hand to his face and leaning back dramatically. “But… if you want my opinion as someone who has family in politics before getting the orders, it did feel like an extra twist of the knife to me.”

Then his jacket starts projecting a screen for Observer Wu to read as it come out of the sleeve and Bike holds it out. “Can I assume that the people watching this can read galactic trade?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Bike says and then suddenly starts showing a few headlines in place to place. Each of them dictating numerous scandals and signs of corruption. “The sad truth of the galaxy is that even at our worst, we’re not standing out that much. We do terrible things to each other, and now that we’re out here we’re going to end up doing terrible things to the other species as well. But the fact of the matter is… that’s normal. As personally insulting, deeply frustrating and the no small sense of betrayal those orders brought about… it’s not odd. Or unusual. And that… that’s a pity. Isn’t it? The big screw up that’s going into our history books. That’s killing dozens if not hundreds of careers. It’s common.”

Drake sighs to himself and leans back before propping up his feet and conjuring a bottle of beer from nowhere. He then reveals a store of glasses in a drawer of the side table next to him and selects one to pour his drink into. “Care for some?”

“Is now the time?”

“It is rarely not the time for a good beer.” Drake replies as he swirls the drink, but rather than drinking himself he holds it out to Observer Wu, who takes it after just a moment and Drake then pours himself another glass. The bottle is noticeably not large enough to hold that much beer. He then caps it again and tucks it away. “I understand many of the worries that inspired those extra orders. I doubt there is any man in true ignorance of it. They were inevitable. They were near certain. But just because something is all but guaranteed to happen, does not make it any more or less terrible for it to happen.”

“And how did you come to that conclusion?”

“Humans… and many other races are a quarrelsome bunch. A single question can result in many different, wholly unique and entirely correct answers. Normally that’s a good thing. But when the question is, what is right? How do we live? How do we act? Or how do we treat others? Then the conflict is nigh inevitable. So of course everyone saw a massive chance to get a leg up and prove their answers the most right out of all the right answers. Proving the others wrong. So they took it. And ruined so much.” Drake explains before swirling his beer a little and then taking a drink. Slowly and enjoying the flavour of the beer. “Drink, it’s better cold.”

“So you think the extra orders, ostracization and even my being sent out was inevitable?”

“Yes.” Drake says. “Furthermore, when you return to Earth then one of several things will happen.”

“And what are they?”

“Pardon, I misspoke, several things will happen and there’s no telling which one it will be. IN fact they will likely vary from nation to nation among the sheer level of what’s going on. But the things that will happen are these: Ossification, some people will double, tripe, quadruple down on things this might work for some older populations that don’t want to leave earth or reactionaries that can’t change with the time. Liberation: Some will rush the space programs to let as many people out as possible, using it like an overflow valve to get rid of troublemakers. Disintegration: Some countries or political systems will not survive the information you bring back, I’m sure I don’t need to name names here. Reunification: There will be those that rally to remake something old with parts of the new, countries that were absorbed by larger groups or pulled apart due to political pressure might start showing up again. Revivification: Some factions will seek to create something wholly new with the changes happening, we might see anything from a truly united Mongolia or Middle East to the Uncontacted Tribes being made full and proper contact with. There are more. But those are the big ones.”

“You’ve given it more than just a bit of thought.” Observer Wu states and Drake shrugs before drinking more beer. Observer Wu matches it and his eyebrows go up, it’s sweeter and richer than he expected. “Do you truly think that some nations will entirely fail?”

“Even before we left a fair few were surviving due to momentum alone.”

“For a man that claims to have little in the way of an exciting political opinion, you have a lot to say.”

“Little exciting about the choices I’ve made and the choices my fellows have made. But I’m keenly aware as to what is likely going to happen. No doubt when my Aunt and Uncle hear this I’m going to both make them proud and confirm some of their worst fears. The first contact by itself was a complete paradigm shift, and the nations and peoples that can’t shift with it will be left behind at best, but more likely they’ll be crushed and broken by others.”

“A grim outlook.”

“Less than you might think. Look to history, nations rise and fall, cultures wax and wane, but people are always left behind. There were three hundred different peoples that the Prussian Kingdom brought together to form Germany, and they all live on in Germans today. Nations rose, nations fell, but the people lived and learned from the past to grow stronger. I believe that whatever nations emerge anew from this great shifting of the world may be the strongest ones yet. Or not, history is only ever fully understood from the backwards lens. We are in history now, but am I the traitor? The hero? The dupe? The trailblazer? Or am I even a footnote of a footnote? Only time tells us these things.”

“Indeed.” Observer Wu states.

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“Wait, wait, waitwaitwait! Pause it or whatever!” Terry says and then he points at the screen. “Look at that! Look there! They had the fake me stash the damn suit under his bed!”

He then starts laughing and a hand reaches the top of his head. It’s Todd. “Uh yeah?”

“… Just making sure.”

“Are you alright?” Terry asks him.

“Hmm… no. But I’m making sure you are. You’re not the only person I’ve met who’s been… taken by a cult. But it seems you g…

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