A Visitor to the Future - 124 - The First Forum
From far above, the skyscrapers of the First Forum were much like looking at a giant tepee. They were conical and white with a large footprint, and scattered randomly over the area as they were, there seemed to be a nonsensical design to the layout of the space. There were no streets or grids of buildings here. As the drone-craft drew closer, however, more details came into focus. The dark-green haze which hugged the ground of the Forum was in fact a glass-like translucent surface made of triangular shapes, connected in the thousands to form a wave-like covering which extended to the very horizon. Various spaces - gardens of lush green trees and entire fields full of vibrant flowers - were nestled inside, next to parks, plazas, and even underground entrances. Irrigation channels flowed around the complex to wherever they were needed, the clear water visible through the covering.
It was hard to believe that we were in the middle of the Sahara desert. The First Forum was an oasis of massive scale. From the size of the skyscrapers alone, it was possible to call this place a city - but the word didn't sit right with me. Cities to me were dense places, filled with a flurry of activity and convenient access to everything, at the expense of personal space. This was more like a field. A field hidden away and protected under a layer of glass.
As our drone-craft descended towards the grey covering a circular aperture opened in it to permit access to the landing pad. We descended into the structure with in the beam of bright sunlight from above. I blinked in shock as I realized I had misjudged the scale of the ceiling and covering - the clearance between the ground and the covering was several hundred meters. Pillars could be seen every five hundred meters, looking far too thin, spindly, and sparsly placed to support the vast ceiling above. Architects from my time would probably have accused the Consortium's equivalent of witchcraft, with all the seemingly impossible feats of construction they seemed to be capable of. It was almost like being in a huge cave - but one that let filtered sunlight in from above. I'd never seen anything like it.
Tearing my gaze away from the ceiling, I looked around the various gardens and plants of the Forum - there was a rainforest theme here, with leafy ferns and many tall trees which stretched up into a canopy, their offshoots reaching towards the sky - but none were anywhere near tall enough to reach the ceiling. The feeling of being in a jungle was only reinforced as I stepped out of the drone-craft, finding the air humid and warm - but not unpleasantly so.
"Wow," said Gatecrash as they stepped out from the drone-craft and looked around, Dela close behind, "They've really downsized this place in the last 100 years! It's a good look, though!"
I glanced up at the aperture through which we'd descended, which was now folding back to close in on itself. The pad beneath the drone-craft split in two, swallowing the vessel into the machinery below for maintenance. Besides the faint whirring of the machinery, there was another audible, almost whooping-like noise.
"Birds," I said aloud, "I can hear birds."
"I remember reading about this," said Gatecrash, "It's going to bother me if I don't ask - Consortium, what bird did we just hear? Speak aloud."
The voice of the Consortium sounded from the landing pad nearby - though from what speaker it was playing, I couldn't see. "The call you just heard was that of the white-crowned hornbill."
"I've never heard of that one before!" said Gatecrash, "Is it from the extinct species bank? Elaborate."
"Yes," responded the Consortium, "The species was formerly extinct, and cloned from archived DNA. It was re-introduced to this structure as part of conservation efforts by the Fellows of the Forum. The species is not native to this region, but was chosen due to the desired interior climate of the space."
"I never think to do that," I said, "Ask the Consortium to elaborate directly, I mean. I usually find someone to ask. I've met a lot of interesting people doing that."
"Oh, same - I just didn't want to hold us up," agreed Gatecrash, "Stamos is waiting for you, right?" Gatecrash glanced around to where Dela was nosing at a ground fern with a leafy rustling noise. "Just a moment."
They kneeled down and called Dela, who immediately snapped to attention and bounded forward. Gatecrash balled their left fist and held their right fingers open in a sort of claw-shape. "Reskji, van rezick?" they said, moving the claw as they said the first word, and the fist as they said the second. Dela seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before approaching Gatecrash's side and sticking there. They sprung back up to their feet and we started walking again, in the direction of the nearest skyscraper.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Oh - a little Verrin. I was offering Dela a choice - either come with us or wander around the place. It seemed like a nice place for her to have a roam around, but she's always shy in new places. She decided to stay with us."
"How hard was it to train Dela to do that?"
Gatecrash winced a little, "Dela's really intelligent, but I'll admit that took a very long time to get right. That's the reason the command is in Verrin, not Human. That's how long that one has been in the works. Some ideas and commands are easier than others. There was one really difficult one with her - teaching her that if I leave the room, I'm not leaving her forever. Friendly Lynxes were engineered for interaction with people, so she used to have severe abandonment issues. That's long in the past now, though. Good thing, too."
There seemed to be a bit of a lamenting tone to Gatecrash's last sentence, which had me curious. "Why is that?" I asked.
"Ah - I haven't told you yet," responded Gatecrash, "It's a difficult subject for me. I'm thinking of taking a trip offworld. I talked with some of the Kesslerites after the Resiliency tournament, and I wouldn't mind trying what they do for myself. They're at the very edges of the solar system - something about being so far removed from it all seems so peaceful. The problem is, it'd be a trip that takes years. I've never left Dela in someone else's care for that long, so I'm really conflicted about whether to go or not."
"Who did you have in mind?" I asked, "I'd be happy to help if you need it."
"Oh - no worries there," Gatecrash smiled, reaching over and brushing a large leaf by the footpath with one hand as we passed by, "Chisom has repeatedly told me that I can leave Dela with her. She's practically a second carer to Dela at this point. But still, I'd be leaving her for a while."
"You can't take her with you?" I asked.
"No. Dela hates space travel," Gatecrash sighed, "All the training in the world doesn't seem to make it any more comfortable for her. Maybe she's more sensitive to the motion than most people are, I'm not sure. Our last attempted trip to Luna was a disaster - the less said about it, the better."
I didn't press that particular subject.
"I'll tell you one thing, Nat," said Gatecrash, gazing off into the distance, "One nice thing about effective immortality is that saying goodbye to people gets easier. I've had friends that I've waved off at the space elevator - and it's not as hard as it once was, because I know I'll see them again - whether it's in a few years, or a couple of decades - or even longer. But Dela isn't a person like me or you. Even though we've worked on her abandonment issues, she can't consciously understand that I'll be back. I've looked after her for such a long time. That makes this trip really difficult."
I looked down at Dela, who was still happily walking at Gatecrash's side, completely unaware of what was being discussed.
Gatecrash's earlier words came to mind. "Weren't you just telling me that what keeps you going is finding what you want to do next, and doing it? You're probably going to have to leave Dela for longer periods to do that."
The CI's face was still and calm at that, their optic-like hair paling for a few seconds - but just for a few seconds. Their expression brightened, and they spoke to me in mock shock, "You dare turn my own powers against me? We'll make a sith of you yet."
The word stuck out, a note of familiarity, and the last thing I was expecting. "Wait, are you referencing Star Wars?" I suddenly realized.
"Of course I am!" said Gatecrash, suddenly halting, Dela doing the same to match, "Wait - you didn't realize? That's why I've been calling you my young apprentice all the time! I told you when we first met, I enjoy dated science fiction references!"
"Wait, that's meant to be your Palpatine impression?" I said, realizing that Gatecrash had used that same tone of voice before, "I just thought it was a meditation thing!"
Gatecrash shrugged and resumed walking, "I thought it was good!" they said as we crossed the threshold of the building, "Dela never complains about my impressions."
I smiled as we walked into the massive lobby of the skyscraper, the sliding doors delicately closing behind us. Inside was a tall, lavishly decorated space with a central gantry adorned with what must have been a hundred hanging flags, many of which I recognized, but many more that I didn't. The circular walls of the space were also lined with corporate emblems of all varieties, which were mounted on silver plaques instead of emblazoned on cloth flags. I walked over to the nearest one, pointing it out to Gatecrash. It was a spiraling blue pattern embossed onto a red orb.
"Oh, wow. It's been a while since I've seen this logo," commented Gatecrash, "Kuiper - they were something to do with rare-earth metals. And hey - look, this one is from West Crensolt Genetics! Look Dela, that's who engineered you."
Dela's ears pricked up at the mention of her name, but she was far too busy sniffing at a scent in the air to pay attention to the plaque.
"Are these all Multisphere logos?" I asked, looking at the array of symbols in front of us, "I didn't realize there were so many."
Gatecrash nodded, "There were even more than this. These are the ones that managed to retain some influence leading up to the Forum. The ones you won't see here are those like Mosmos. They collapsed before the Forum came to pass."
"I guessed from the name that this place might be significant," I said, "But what exactly is it?"
Gatecrash thought for a moment before making their response, "Some people call it the birthplace of the Consortium - but I think that's misleading - that was Mars. That's where the initial spark started, where the Decree was issued from - look, there's a copy of it, hanging up there."
There was a large, thin sheet of metal, suspended from the ceiling by chains. Its texture was a pale silvery grey and inconsistent - in places it seemed rough and in others shiny-smooth. I hadn't noticed it as we walked in as it had been hung at a right-angle to the entrance, but from where we stood by the logos, it was visible. It was huge, covered in writing in many different languages. One of them was English - I squinted a little to read it.
All thinking beings shall have the right to live a life of their own choice, free from harm from any other, provided that those choices do not seek to cause harm themselves. The Consortium will protect any individual who wishes to exercise this right.
"This," Gatecrash continued, "Was more where the Consortium was refined. The First Forum was the conclusion of the Consortium's roadmap for Sol following the war against the Multispheres. The idea was to have an open forum where interested people could debate one of their first, most important choices in the post-Multisphere solar system - whether to join the Consortium properly, or to leave it."