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Bella has watched a simple, managed Martian ecosystem and a glitteringly colorful first city pour procedurally out from assorted points of origin on her computer with a variety of rand seeds, and picked the prettiest result.
She's standing on that ideal origin spot now - the top of Olympus Mons, under a blue-dyed sky and a breathable layer of atmosphere - holding her laptop which holds this specification under her left arm. All present to witness this moment are Alice, Libby, Lazarus, and Bridget.
She defangs a trio of stars: one for the terrain, one for the wildlife, one for the city of Olympus. To be dramatic, she squares them off her bandolier and holds them high in the air between the fingers of her right hand.
"Welcome to Mars," she says.
Wishwishwish.
Moss ripples out from under her feet and carpets the landscape, giving way to forest further downhill and, further away, to freshwater ocean. Birds, startled by their existence, take off. An instant later they're all standing at the foot of her crystalline tower that sits at the center, watching skyscrapers riddled with magical appliances sprout from the ground, and streets pave themselves with smooth tiles.
Bella defangs more stars and lays down what she's taken to calling Ground Rules with another gesture. Mars is going to be peaceful. Mars is going to be safe. Mars is going to watch its people and report to her.
Mars is going to be the seat of the Empire of the Stars.
(There's a flag, on the spire of her tower. It's sky blue, and there are half a dozen seven-pointed stars spangling it. It ripples in the breeze that's begun to waft in from the sea.)
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self_composed
self_composed
[Aptenodytes?] suggests Bella, narrowing down the penguin variety. [Or I could make it a pigeon and we can have a Columbidae.]
regularsized
[Columbidae sounds much better, as much as I love penguins. My rule of thumb here is, is it easier or harder to spell than Wednesday? Harder is out.]
self_composed
[Lazarus thinks the bills are terribly cute, but he didn't mention the penguin specifically the way he did the ostrich, so perhaps he won't miss it overmuch.]
regularsized
[Maybe the penguin can be a collectible,] she suggests. [Like a coin with a stamping error, or whatever.]
self_composed
That seems to be that. [Any news from NASA?] Bella asks Libby idly.
prima-sequentem
[I think your note should maybe have specified that you're human,] says Libby.
self_composed
Bella laughs.
[Adding that now.]
The sign now has her original message, and her website, and "I am a human, by the way."
[Adding that now.]
The sign now has her original message, and her website, and "I am a human, by the way."
self_composed
[I wonder if I should visit them. Or the UN, maybe. There are not really instructions on the Internet for how to start a Magic Space Nation.]
self_composed
[What, and sit around on Mars waiting for them to put together an expedition? Or metaphorically by sending me a polite email?]
prima-sequentem
[I'm betting they're going to go the email route,] says Libby. [And I'm betting it won't be long.]
self_composed
[I'll keep an eye out,] Bella says. She writes a guide to the Martian calendar and puts it online, and tells Harriet where to find it.
Then Bella decides that every Cygnus she will eliminate one Earthly thing that annoys her, such as a disease or a form of natural disaster. She puts this announcement up in a pretty banner on top of each page of the site and invites suggestions.
Then Bella decides that every Cygnus she will eliminate one Earthly thing that annoys her, such as a disease or a form of natural disaster. She puts this announcement up in a pretty banner on top of each page of the site and invites suggestions.
prima-sequentem
The first three entries in the suggestion form are from spam robots.
The fourth is a suggestion that she eliminate spam.
The fourth is a suggestion that she eliminate spam.
self_composed
It does happen to be Cygnus.
Bella debates with herself, but finally shrugs and kills spam with one defanged star. It's the sort of category magic is smart enough to figure out without elaborate specification. She adds a line to the banner announcing that on Sagittarius 7, the target of the day was spam.
Bella debates with herself, but finally shrugs and kills spam with one defanged star. It's the sort of category magic is smart enough to figure out without elaborate specification. She adds a line to the banner announcing that on Sagittarius 7, the target of the day was spam.
prima-sequentem
Not very long after that, Bella gets another message from her website's feedback form.
It says:
It says:
I have a few questions about your new empire, and something tells me it would be easier for you to arrange a diplomatic visit to me than the other way around. Do you have the time?
Pat Madison, President
self_composed
Bella grins at this. Just grins. She wishes a quick look at the President's computer screen as of the moment that form was submitted; it does indeed show the correct image. [The President just emailed me!] she brainphones both Libby and Alice.
Sure. Promise not to have anybody shoot at me if I teleport into your office? Because I'd find that upsetting,Bella replies from eos@eos.eos. (She can't have her primary official email be a Mars email. What about when she colonizes other locations?)
prima-sequentem
[Congratulations,] Libby brainphones back. [Did she say anything interesting?]
self_composed
[Wants a visit, has some questions. I've solicited a promise that the Secret Service won't gun me down if I appear.]