Six years later,
From Petra's diary
It had taken the robots over a week to respond to the message written by Hope and recited by Alec, we were seriously starting to think they were going to ignore it when our TV system was hacked to broadvast their response.
Their message consisted of 10 minutes of dense numeric information about the results of their simulations, which we managed to interpret as follows:
"Our reconnaissance indicated that you're also capable of interesting technological development, from time to time. Thus, your extinction would be slightly more disadvantageous than advantageous for us, in the long run. As a consequence, helping you in sequestrating your excess greenhouse gases appears like a profitable investment. To balance the equation, however, a 25% interest rate on the amount of energy we'll need to invest in the process will be required. The latter may be progressively returned once your CO2 levels return below the pre-industrial baseline level."
We later found out that the "interesting technological development" they were referring to was the miniaturisation of the teleportation devices we've worked on during the last few generations, they couldn't believe their visual sensors when they saw someone teleporting away by simply pressing a button on their phones for the first time.
The robots' way of thinking really changed a lot from ours, that's for sure at this point. In the end, it wasn't the mercy for us to make them decide to help us, as I tried to push the first time we contacted them, nor the fear of remaining alone without help in the universe, as Hope exposed in her letter. No, what made them decide it was more convenient to help us instead of waiting for our extinction and then retrieve any resource of interest that remained on the planet has been their desire to acquire any possible new knowledge instead. Is this really the last common element remaining between our way of thinking and theirs? The more I think about it, the more I think this is likely to be the case.
What made us even more surprised was Techna's return, when they appeared in the driveway one morning, saying to us: "Hello" as if nothing had happened.
They've never told us much about what had happened, but we had the strong impression that they'd wandered around on their own for a while before returning to us.
They only assured us that they've sent a mass of elements equal to their components to the Sixam robots as soon as they've managed to collect enough material. They then said that, based on what they'd heard during their captivity, this can probably be considered enough to pay off their debt and be left alone.
Whatever was on their mind, we're just happy to finally have them back with us. That's all we really cared about.
So we immediately rolled up our sleeves and got back to work. Somehow, we had managed to communicate with the robots in a way they understood and to reach an agreement with them, but a lot of work still remained to be done on our side too.
CO2 to be sent to Sixam doesn't capture on its own after all, does it?
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Petra: What do you plan on doing now?
Techna: I'm running a simulation, it should be finished soon.
Petra: So those mechanisms you're building are a way to get ahead?
Techna: If you want to use those terms…
Techna continued to be cryptic towards us, but the more time passed, the more we realised that this was due to their uncertainty about what to do rather than a desire to keep information hidden.
The one who had no doubts about their future was Atlas instead, who took the first opportunity to be sent back on Sixam and rejoin the Central Network.
Techna: The odds seem on your side, I wish you no low-probability adverse events ever occur.
Atlas: Whatever…
Techna: And keep us updated, every now and then.
Atlas: I'll likely be assigned to the communication section with the Earthlings anyway, I'm still more compatible with the local network than any other robot over there.
And so Atlas exited our lives as suddenly as they had entered. Every now and then, they send Techna what I'd call a cold telegram, and they've shown up a couple of times for "diplomatic reasons," but Techna seems fine with that.
So, Techna went back to being the only robot in the Miller household. They continued piling up mechanisms and chips as quickly as they could, and we only understood what they had in mind many months later, when their creation finally began to take shape.
Hope: Wait, are you making another robot?
Techna: Correct.
And so Techna finally explained to us the conclusion their latest simulation had led them to. They weren't as cold and rational as the Sixam robots, but they didn't feel entirely compatible with living alongside humans either. Compared to Techna, we remain too impulsive and driven by emotion, and it's also worth noting how difficult it is for them to live with people whose lifespans are so much shorter than what they can aspire to. It had taken them generations alongside the Millers and the disastrous experience on Sixam to understand this, but they felt they belonged in a different category from both of us, a category no one else fit into.
So they decided to build a new robot based on her own model, this time with respect to both mechanics and artificial intelligence. In other words, someone who could share their same category for the time being.
And so Vega was activated.
The new robot decided to paint their body in a golden-beige colour, and immediately seemed much closer to Techna than Atlas in their manner.
The two then moved in together near the Evergreen Harbour recycling centre, where they work together. Should we expect them to start their own community of empathetic robots, we wonder? What's for sure is that they're still members of the family, to us.
Vega: C'mon, again!?
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Another story that left us anxiously waiting for an outcome was the evolution of Mike's health. His situation was clearly precarious when the Sixam robots made their theatrical entrance, and at the time no one was truly able to predict what might happen.
Now, we can only say it couldn't have gone better. He passed the clinical trial with few side effects, and after a few modifications, the medication he tested on himself was finally released for sale.
After two years of treatment and an operation to stabilise his liver, his Selvadorian fever parasite count finally dropped to zero, and the doctors finally declared him fully recovered.
I think it goes without saying that immediately afterwards he began working even longer hours than before. Those of us who have known him for a long time are not at all surprised by this part of the story.
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Another person whose life has changed radically in the last six years is Alec. At the time, my brother was still in bad waters while trying to be accepted by his teenage son, but everything changed when a new girl, Alice, arrived at the Henford pub.
The two soon moved in together in a small house just across the street from the pub. For Alec, finally finding a stable partner and being able to afford to live away from Nico was a real turning point.
Over the years, both he and George had matured a lot, and I can finally say they've managed to build a truly solid relationship.
George: Oops, sorry! I didn't mean to get in your face!
Alec: Don't worry, it happens to everyone to slip from time to time!
I don't know exactly what happened to Stefany, she hasn't shown up at family gatherings for ages. It's no big deal, we don't necessarily have to get along; in some cases, it's normal for everyone to move on with their own lives. What interests me is that George has been able to establish a good relationship with Alec, that he has become a good friend of Hope, and also that every now and then he lets himself be spoiled by me and his other aunts and uncles!
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So the years passed, and we finally managed to experience two consecutive years without any drought or natural disasters in much of Techn Sixam and the surrounding towns. It's still early to say that climate change is over, it will take decades to really see an inversion in the climate data records, but we're taking this happily nonetheless. Things were calmer than ever, as Nacho's loud snores seemed to underscore it.
Food wasn't as scarce as it once had been, the economy seemed to be timidly and slowly recovering, and we could finally say we had some money to invest in our battered little house again.
Petra: So, Hope, are you ready to say goodbye to all this wreckage?
Hope: You mean no more cold air drafts in the winter?
Petra: Yes, of course. And the new house will be beautiful, you'll see!
So we took steps to rebuild and reassemble the external structures of our house, the part that had been destroyed by the tornado almost ten years earlier.
It's slowly turning into a cute, modern and eco-friendly little house, don't you agree, my dear diary?
The advance of the years also meant the approach of old age, and suddenly Emy, my friends, and I found ourselves with more grey hairs than we ever asked for.
And then, dear diary, did you know that Emy and I also decided to celebrate our wedding? We don't often talk about it, and for ages we kept putting it off. I mean, so many more serious and urgent things kept happening, but after that relatively long period of calm we couldn't find any excuse anymore. After so much hard work we all deserve a happy celebration, right?
Petra: So, Nacho, are you enjoying the party?
Nacho: Meow!
I have no idea what's going through that feline's head. How much longer does he want to stay with our family? He certainly doesn't show any signs of wanting to go anywhere else right now, and I'm also sure that if that were to change, he'd be more than capable of telling us, somehow.
Emma: How about a toast, then?
George: And what would you like to toast to?
Petra: To a bright future, especially for all you young people!
Yes, for us, life has been a series of challenges, no laughing matter. But what I regret the most is how we weren't able to give Hope and the other kids all the time, attention and the carefree life they deserved. Now that life is slowly returning to something resembling our own childhood, Emy and I are trying to make up for the lost time, and it's such a relief to finally see them hopeful about their own future, too. You don't know how much, my dear diary...
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From Hope's Diary
So much has changed in recent years... Store shelves are finally more full than empty, and we no longer have to wear patched clothes, can you believe it, dear diary?
As time passes, new homes and businesses pop up on every corner. Isn't the neighbourhood becoming beautiful?
The water and electricity outages are also becoming way less frequent than they used to be in the last couple of years, life is truly so much simpler now.
Once we even managed to go on vacation together, can you believe it, my dear diary?
So the years went by, and as time passed, the more hope for the future grew. Thanks to the help of the robots, we managed to halve the amount of excess CO2, and the temperatures aren't rising at that crazy rate anymore (we can't wait to see those numbers go down!). Meanwhile, all countries are committed to opening new stellar core power plants to provide clean energy to the entire population, drastically reducing our emissions compared to the pre-climate crisis era.
It will still take decades before the climate system is completely balanced, and every time I think about all the wild species that didn't make it, I feel so sad... Often I feel so frustrated by the last generations, did they really need to reach this point before doing something?
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I'm sorry I don't have as much time to write on these pages as I used to, my dear diary, so many years have passed since my last entry! So much so that I graduated high school a few weeks ago, and now it's my birthday!
I have so many questions about the future. We now live in a very different world from the pre-crisis one, where all energy produced comes from renewable sources and governments are committed to minimising the environmental impact of our activities. I'd also like to think that people have learned their lesson, and that the end of the climate crisis won't mean a relapse to the excesses of the past. Am I too naive to think that?
Right now, I just don't know how people could ever forget the events of the last couple of decades. Yet we all know the history, and how so many mistakes have been repeated after just a few generations. Well, I guess that in the worst-case scenario, it will be up to the robots to remind us to go back on track.
Come to think of it, the series of events that brought us to this point is truly strange. None of this would have happened if, a few centuries ago, strange aliens from a planet called Sixam hadn't decided to engineer our species to colonise this planet. We've suffered much discrimination in the past, but if it hadn't been for us Sixamians, Earthlings would never have had access to the technology that's now helping us address the climate crisis. Also, if our ancestors hadn't started building sentient robots, we wouldn't even have been able to count on their help to get us out of the depths of this crisis. Not to mention Nacho. No one's yet fully understood where he came from, but without his initiative, I don't know if this absurd train of events would have led to the same outcome.
In short, it was a fortunate series of unlikely events that led us to where we're now. What would we have done without access to teleportation and matter-recombination technology, or without a distant planet full of other absurd technology and inhabited by robots who ultimately decided to help us? Honestly, I don't even want to think about it, my dear diary...
I still don't know exactly what I'll do in the future. I may work in the environmental sector, a bit like mom Petra, or I could teach history I school instead, or something totally different. What's certain is that I have every intention of ensuring that this new opportunity afforded to Earthlings won't be wasted.
THE END
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§HermioneSims§ corner: Final thoughts
I still can't believe I've really gotten to the end. I posted the first chapter in Italian all the way back to July 2019, while the first translated one dates back to November 2021, it feels like ages ago!
Essentially, this last chapter was a series of plot closures that I hadn't managed to fit into crazy action scenes. Considering that the main enemy was climate change, however, I think it made sense to jump forward a few years to finally see the trend reversed and the situation improving.
As for the random gameplay comments instead, I want to point out that I hadn't initially planned on showing Petra and Emy's wedding; at this point, it seemed redundant for the story. But this is above all a legacy in which I have to go along with what's happening in the game, and while I was shortly playing with Alec, I found myself faced with this phone call:
^ translation: "I found a ring in Emy's bag, I think
she's planning to ask for my hand... and I don't know what to do!
What should I answer!? Yes? No? Ahhhh!"
Answers: "Say yes!" / "you should decide on your own" / "Don't do it!"
^"translation: "You're right, of course I have to say yes!
What was I even thinking? OMG, I can't believe this
is really happening!"
And, at that point, how could I say no?
On a more practical note, by now you probably know I usually end each generation with the heir making a summary of their own experience. In this case, however, I would find it quite redundant as Petra was already making a lot of those considerations during this epilogue chapter, and I like the idea of leaving Hope's remarks as the final ending.
In general, I don't plan on writing other things regarding the Millers to focus on my next story. I remain available to answer all the questions you may still have about the story anyway, at this point it doesn't count as spoilers anymore, does it?
Also, so that this ending is clearly referring to matters we're all facing (and will still face for a while), I hope it didn't sound too preachy or that it made you feel too hopeless about our future. At most, it was meant to be a little reflection point, that's all.
Also, who knows, maybe we'll make some crazy invention that will save us from climate change and the depletion of natural resources also without the robots. We're able to make interesting technological advancements too, after all. From time to time.
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