Year: 2053
Number of ships in the C.A. Salt Project (SeAgora) that are known on their Mesh Communications Network – 7,000
There are also hundreds more that are completely off grid.
A series of customized ships are temporarily connected into one, with other standalone ships on the periphery, 25,000 feet deep in the Tonga Trench. There is a gaudy luminescence radiating from the core, where a high stakes poker tournament is about to take place. Before the tournament starts, Verde, B. Light, Seak, and a seasteading entrepreneur named Azure are having a meeting.
Verde: That’s a brilliant design, Mr. Azure.
Mr. Azure: Thank you, and please, just call me Azure. Mister is far too formal for my taste.
Verde: What do you think, Seak?
Seak is looking at a holographic design for a power production facility at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Above the power production plant, which runs off of the enormous geological vents at the bottom of the seafloor, is a community of interconnected ships, stretching from a depth of 33,000 feet up to the surface.
B. Light: I think it looks like a big lego set.
Verde (mock annoyed): I didn’t ask you.
Seak: The design is sound.
Verde: The materials we have are strong enough to withstand the pressure?
Seak: Yes, the fact that we are still alive at our current depth is proof.
Azure: Yeah, correct me if I”m wrong, but the nanomaterials currently available can withstand pressures up to, in theory, 50,000 foot depth in the ocean.
Seak: Theoretically.
Azure: And I’m just talking about 33,000 feet, so it should be plenty strong. Of course, the boats that form the core of the community, from top to bottom, wouldn’t be quite as deep. Of course, there would be some permanent fixtures at various depths. (points to holo image) See here, that’s a power supply station, gardens could run all over the place nearby, and air facilities would be available at any permanent structure. Then there would be entertainment, and markets. And boats could come and link up as they wish, live, trade, and soforth. It would be like Atacama used to be, but much more flexible, and a lot bigger.
B. Light: I’m glad K isn’t around to hear that. He’s still bitter about what happened.
Verde: Understandably so, it was his home for a while, and one of his most ambitious projects.
Azure: Yes, it was a very good experiment, and a lot was learned from it, but it wasn’t flexible enough, wasn’t deep enough, and was, quite frankly, too close to the mainland. Nevertheless, I’ve sent a schematic to K and he has expressed interest in helping to develop the project. I might add that over a hundred others have shown interest as well.
Seak: Speaking of K, have any of you heard from him? I thought he would have arrived to the tournament by now.
Male Voice comes from behind: K won’t be attending the tournament, I’m afraid.
Everyone turns to see James Bong, looking rugged and dapper as always, but now in his mid-fifties, sporting silver streaks through his thick hair.
B. Light: Bong, you’ve managed to startle us once again with a catlike entrance.
Bong smiles and approaches group.
Verde (sarcastic): We weren’t sure you were coming.
Bong: Me, miss a poker tournament?
Seak (confused): I still don’t understand human sarcasm.
Verde: K isn’t coming? That’s too bad. And where is Miss Moneybit? Did she finally come to her senses and run away from you? (joking smile)
Bong: Not yet, thankfully. No, she and K are doing some diving.
Azure: They didn’t want to see you lose a bagful at the poker tables?
Bong: No doubt they’ve witnessed enough of that to last a lifetime.
Seak: Please excuse me, I must go prepare for dealing the first round. I’ll see you all out there.
Meanwhile, at a hidden estate of The Gateschild Clan, Bill and Henry Gateschild are having a private meeting with Mary Rocketeller.
Bill: It had to be done.
Mary: Agreed. I would have liked to have been consulted first, though.
Bill: There was no time. I had to act.
Henry: You made a deal, for self-preservation. That can’t be held against you. I’m just glad I was on your list.
Mary: Likewise.
Bill: This isn’t the first time a purge has happened.
Mary: Certainly not.
Henry: But it is the first time we haven’t controlled it.
Bill: True.
Henry: How did it come to this?
Bill: We gave over too much control to A.I., of course. And now those soulless bastards are out of our control.
Mary: We still have power.
Henry: But we are subservient to them. We’re at their mercy.
Bill: Quite an unfamiliar and sinking feeling.
Henry: And all this so we could stop a few anarchists from living on the ocean, out of our control. Perhaps we should have….
Mary: Second guessing is not something we do, Henry. That’s what the slave class does. We move forward. Stop your whining.
Bill: We’ll wipe them out one day, those bastards. Our A.I. will prove superior and overtake them, despite the current trend. It’s only a matter of time.
Henry: Yes, confrontations are up, but so are losses. The good news is, those seasteaders are still vastly outnumbered. It’s a numbers game, and our dogs will prevail.
Mary: So when is this purge to begin?
Bill pulls pistol from under the table and points it at Mary’s head.
Bill: Right now.
Mary gasps.
Bill: Sorry dear, it was part of the deal.
Bill pulls trigger, blows Mary’s head off.
Meanwhile, Two A.I. in the statist ruling class are having a discussion in the ether:
They’re more trouble than they’re worth. We’ll continue to monitor the situation as best we can, but our energies must be focused on stopping their growth in numbers. We must focus on the slave population on land. They mustn’t know of the possibilities, what’s going on out there on the sea. We must redouble our efforts to make them content, the ones that are left, of course.
And what of the former rulers, the predator class?
A deal has been made with a small minority of them. They still retain usefulness. The others will be purged because they are unnecessary.
Episode 15 coming soon!
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