KSGU:Volume 1 Prologue
Prologue
0001
“It’s past 20:00 GMT. How is everyone going to spend this memorable New Year’s night? For tonight marks the end of an old age, and the beginning of another. The era named after the most famous person in history, the Age of Christ, shall end in four hours.
Ever since humans stumbled from out of the dark ages and stood on their own two feet, they have learned how to cross vast oceans, fly in in the limitless sky, and have obtained the technology to explore the final frontier: outer space. Now, humans shall enter an age where we leave mother Earth, as the door to the new world is opened in front of us all!
Just as our ancestors ventured to new continents in search of opportunity and freedom and lit the fire of civilization across the Earth, we too bear the responsibility of kindling the flame of civilization in our new continents: space. From now on, those flying into space are not just astronauts and technicians, they are trailblazers who will remain in space, settle in space, and light the fire of civilization in space. They are called Spacenoids, chosen residents of outer space.
This new age needs a new calendar. Four hours from now, at 00:00 GMT, the Earth Federation government will start the ceremony of an age change. The stage of the momentous ceremony that will be forever marked in history is at the Prime Minister’s residence, ‘Laplace.’ A place that shall act as the bridge to outer space that is set on an orbiting plane around the Earth, no location is more appropriate for the declaration of the space age.
Under the eager and watchful eyes of the media, the United Nations representatives have gathered at ‘Laplace.’ Everyone in the world is waiting for midnight to arrive, on New Year’s Eve, the eve to a new age. Everyone has different thoughts, from those anxious and full of expectations, to those still clinging to the old age that has lasted more than two thousand years.Regardless, everyone is a witness of this historic moment. In the long and tumultuous history of humanity, only we, who are alive right now, shall be privileged with witnessing the beginning of the new age. So why don’t we enjoy this moment, and be thankful as we say goodbye to the old age? Let us smile and accept the arrival of the new age!
Goodbye, Anno Domini.
Hello, Universal Century--!”
The Earth was right below them. The reddish-brown surface accompanied the sea surface that looked like blue skies covered with clouds.
Looking down 200km from above, it was more like a landscape than a planet. It didn’t feel like there was an atmosphere, but more like a plane in the high skies looking down on the earth. As one would continue to look, there may be the false impression that they may land.
Even so, the look of the ever-changing landscape caused me to understand that I’m moving about in the atmosphere at an unimaginable speed—1 rotation every 90 minutes. Once I look forward, I can see the profile of the planet covering the atmosphere, forming a gradual gradient. Looking over, I saw that there’s only a strong and overpowering light of the Earth taking away the shine of the stars around, and everything around was a vacuum. It’s not enough to call it pitch-darkness, but rather, an endless darkness that sucked away all the light.
It seemed that I’m in outer space. Suddenly realizing this, Syam felt a chill riding on his back. Even though he was already tired of looking through the little window in the worker ship, it was a little completely different to be wearing only a spacesuit, working outside the ship and looking through the helmet visor. As there wasn’t anything to block his sight, he could comprehend all the more that his body was floating outside the earth.
Being separated from the gravity of the earth and the sensation of floating continuously outside the earth…it was extremely terrifying. He could feel the blood, bones, cells becoming hot because of this abnormal change that had never happened before. The sweat that formed became icy-cold chills, and the throat that was exposed in zero gravity state let out a terrified sound.
Syam looked at the emptiness in front of him, and amidst the darkness that erased all the stars, there was a lump of star letting out a sharp glow. It was the sun letting out white light like it was about to explode—no, its core was actually exploding continuously, and the radiation heat in the air reaches 120 degrees Celsius that was scorching the surface of his spacesuit. It was completely different from looking at the sun from under the atmosphere. Over here, the sun would only be an energy source that gives off white light, an object that will send fears into humans. Even when the visor and the light filter reduced the luminosity, that sharp and powerful light didn’t look like it would be reduced.
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