Half in Fire

ALÍCIA

When did it all begin? Hard to say. Long before 2795, though that solar cycle marked the spark that set events in motion. I hadn’t even been born. The gears began turning when Nanoverse was uncreated. Perhaps you’ll ask, “What does a company have to do with this?” Well. Everything.

The other organizations rushed to coweave nanobombs.

My parents were Nanoverse scientists and worked at the company’s headquarters in Paris. They were responsible for secretly weaving and cocreating two visionary nanotechnologies. Those creations’ existence threatened other organizations’ positions, especially those aspiring to make their city the First City.

At some point between 2776 and 2795, information about that weaving leaked to the Aether Network. From there, hell began. Slowly.

First came small news reports about Nanoverse’s alleged involvement in corruption schemes, such as embezzlement and fraud carried out alongside the Luminaries, the French militia.

Then the accusations snowballed. Claims emerged that the company invested in mafias and criminal organizations.

In 2795 came the final blow. The World Criminal Court convicted Nanoverse of slave labor, trafficking in beings, financing wars in the East, and encouraging PyraTech to cocreate the 3-R nanobombs.

The harshest punishment, however, came from ARGOS. Invoking its own ARGOS Guidelines, the organization instituted a worldwide ban on quantum nanotechnology, QN-Tec. Precisely Nanoverse’s specialty.

Suddenly, demonstrations began appearing outside the company’s branches around the world. In France, civil war erupted. The French turned against Nanoverse and the Luminaries. Protests took place day and night outside the company’s headquarters. Paris’s streets burned with bluish flames while nanodrones recorded the clashes.

Nanoverse went bankrupt. Three nanotechnology giants began a legal battle over the knowledge behind that powerful qnanoengineering: Sessota, UNITED, and Kokusai.

My parents knew what could happen. Before the company collapsed, they disbanded the team, destroyed the research records, and fled to Saint-Tricat, southwest of Calais. The other scientists were arrested, tortured, or killed.

By then, organizations from different parts of the world had already massacred the Luminaries and imposed diplomatic, technological, economic, sporting, and military sanctions on France.

At some point, the Aether Network intervened militarily in the country. The official justification was protecting protesters from French police violence. But according to what my parents knew, that violence hadn’t even occurred.

Nanoverse’s bankruptcy dragged the world into an economic crisis.

It was the planet’s largest nanotechnology company, with branches across the globe and more than a hundred million employees. All lost their jobs.

The company also maintained relationships with thousands of suppliers and distributors. All went bankrupt. Twenty solar cycles later, the world was still trying to recover.

Thirteen cycles after that collapse, I was born. I grew up watching France rebuild its image before the world. The civil war ended. A new leader took charge of the Luminaries. For a while, everything seemed to be going well. I followed my parents’ footsteps and devoted myself to nanoscience, specializing in nanobiotechnology. When I reached twenty cycles, I had my daughter, Charlotte Relaisse. Around that time, in 2829, my parents finally told me what had happened.

The Aether Network had discovered the development of those QN-Tecs at Nanoverse and seized the opportunity to attack the Luminaries indirectly. The accusations intensified until the country collapsed. Documents and videos had been fabricated to support the allegations. But that wasn’t the only revelation.

My parents confessed that they had protected the nanoprototype. Despite destroying the research to prevent it from falling into other hands, they kept the creations. And when they recognized my passion for science, they asked me to help perfect them. Over the following cycles, I worked with them to improve the two QN-Tecs.

In 2839, a new French nanotechnology company emerged: Société d’Intelligence. Once again, a company threatened the Aether Network’s position and the militias established in the ten principal cities. Then they developed a new technique for a nanobomb. Something even more destructive than the 3-R.

I don’t know the details of what happened afterward. But I know the Luminaries and the French people suffered again. It all began with small accusations, growing until they assumed ever-greater proportions.

My parents died. I continued raising Charlotte. Left my profession and kept the weavings my parents had left protected.

From childhood, Charlotte showed extraordinary scientific talent. She invented little robots and secretly studied QN-Tec, connecting to her grandparents’ equipment and technologies.

When she reached twenty-one cycles, Société d’Intelligence invited her to assist with the nanobomb project.

There, she became involved with a colleague, Calixte Leblanc. He had white hair, white body hair, and rare amber eyes, giving him a peculiar appearance.

On 08/02/2850—Lilibe of Ritluna—their first child was born. Saymon.

On 08/00/2851—Lilibe of Silenluna—Maia was born.