WC13: They gave us back the stars
My grandma always tells us the story of when the stars went away. In the span of 30 years, they went out one by one. We had so much advanced technology. We could travel our solar system freely. Breathe on the moon. But we couldn't save the stars.
Pictures taken at the time barely capture the essence of watching the sky burn red. Some enthusiasts continued to capture the sky in infrared long after others had given up the chase. What were once white dots decorating the gentle blanket that envelops our world, were angered as the milky blue and purple band that streaked the sky disappeared first. Then the stars were red. And then they were gone.
On a really clear day, in the middle of nowhere (almost impossible to find), you can catch the familiar glimmer of light shining down on you. But its not a star. Its a planet. Or a ship. Or something else trying to fill the void the stars had left.
We can create stars on Earth. In our own backyard. They fuel our ships and cars. We eat using the energy they give us, live by their light, but at night we are reminded how we couldn't save the stars.
Not many people care about the stars now. Most only know the Sun and fusion reactors. A star as something to be admired, treasured, aspired to, is long gone.
I grew up wanting to be a historian, to keep the memory of stars in as many people's hearts as I could reach. I ran a VidTube channel since I could talk, sharing what I knew, recordings of my Grandma's stories, and real and imaginary images of the sky filled with glistening diamonds.
When we finally started getting career counselling the teacher wasn't surprised I wanted to do something related to the stars. They were, however, caught off guard by me wanting to be a historian. They explained that an obscure Solan Alliance institution still offered a course in the study of stars. It was similar to the study of Astronomy I had read about in a book, but using today's technology and mostly trying to recreate what we knew about stars. You know, because there aren't any stars left to study.
I agreed that studying stars would be so much cooler. I just hadn't ever found this course. So the teacher helped me research the degree and we eventually applied.
I thought for sure after I graduated that the Solan Alliance would be the first to recreate the stars. They were literally the only people researching it! I guess the headlines on today's papers have proven that bet wrong. Though maybe we'll still be the first to actually bring back the stars.
Korporate have secretly been deploying massive structure all around the Y-7 zone. A very unmonitored area outside the Sun's sphere of influence. They had been doing this years before the stars disappeared so its worth asking why they were doing it in the first place.
Nonetheless, each structure produces blindingly large amounts of visible radiation pointed in the direction of Earth. Korporate are yet to release a statement explaining what exactly the structures are designed to do, but it has a visceral effect anyway.
The sky for the first time in over a century is lit up at night. In a clear band that streaks straight across the sky at the equator, millions of small dots litter the sky. Land prices on Earth skyrocket in a matter of hours after the news starts spreading. Pictures taken from other planets start to come in, but the effect is less spectacular. Korporate were evidently aiming for Earth, but again no one has a clue why they have spent so many resources on this endeavour.
I took a leave of absence from my job on board Solan 5, researching the maintenance of fusion reactions in free space, returning to Earth. My grandma already had all the equipment ready when my shuttle landed at the house. It was a precious last moment I shared with her. She passed a week later, while I was thankfully still around. The pictures we took capture not only the glimmeringly beautiful view, but in the ones of us together and her alone, she is smiling so brightly. A grin all across her face, these 'stars' reflecting in her eyes filling them with wonder.
I guess if this can maybe draw more funding into Solan's research and interest in stars generally I'd be happy. However after returning to Solan 5 I quickly understood how much of a negative impact this stunt has caused. While searches for the keyword star increased, it was Korporate's stock that went up and all the excess light actually negatively impacted our research at Solan 5 and all the other companies and stations closer to the sun than Y-7.
Even the Astral Alliance started paying attention and released a statement decrying Korporate's covert espionage activity, labelling this project as industrial espionage and calculating the costs to move all critical infrastructure outside of Y-7 was more than even they could afford to assist. Interestingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, Korporate's moving costs were not even comparable to the budget of a small family mining business. It was determined by the Astral Alliance that all of Korporate's scientific and sensitive stations were already outside of Y-7 and almost all of their infrastructure inside of Y-7 were business, office, commercial, or residential installations.
I've heard whispers that an organisation has formed to both bring down Korporate and it's Y-7 Project, but time will tell how successful they will be or perhaps what they'll find during their operations. I secretly hope they succeed and in the meantime do my best to continue our precious research into bringing back the stars for real.
May the star of humanity burn forever, lighting the way for all to a better future.