Interstellar Age

Erich went to sleep immediately after sending Erika the message, not because he was particularly tired, but because he was so sick of living that he just wanted his mind to fade to black for a few hours, so that he did not have to think about how everything had suddenly imploded on him.

As for Erika, she performed on stage to the best of her ability, but everyone in the audience, and on the live stream, could tell that something was off about her. Whether it was the sound in her voice that appeared to be on the verge of cracking, or the expression on her face which made her look as if she was just barely managing to keep things together, everyone knew that something was going on with the young pop idol.

And while the grid began to theorize about what had caused the teenage celebrity such distress, she concluded her act, and went straight back to her changing room, where she gazed upon the message that Erich had sent her in total silence for some time.

Erika could not count the number of times she typed out a whole page worth of her thoughts, only to erase it time and again, fearing it was not a proper expression of her regret or her actions. In the end, after nearly three hours of trying to apologize in a way which was sincere and meaningful, she gave up on the idea and decided to simply cease her harassment of the man. This was the best decision that she could make after everything she had done.

---

Erich awoke the next day sometime in the latter half of the morning. Though his mind was clear, and his body was more than capable of moving, he stayed perfectly still, as if completely lifeless for well over an hour. The thoughts that plagued his mind were myriad and troublesome.

Losing his mother was perhaps the greatest blow ever dealt to his heart and mind. She was the only person who had ever really cared for him, and while he made some friends at the Academy, they were not remotely close enough to be considered family at this point in time.

He was truly alone in this universe, living in a society that hated him because of something he had no control over. Erich did not even bother accessing the grid, knowing that all which awaited him was harassment and death threats, something he could do without at this very moment.

Instead, he dedicated the rest of his morning to thinking about his life, and what he wanted to accomplish. Until now, he had just been going through the motions. Doing what was expected of him, performing his duty to the Empire like everyone else. But did he really feel any pride for the nation he was born into? It is not like The Germanic Star-Empire cared the slightest whether he lived or died. No, he was a pawn for those in power to wield as they saw fit.

The same could be said for everyone else, but at least his peers were rewarded for their struggles by the state. Every man was given a wife and encouraged to have a family. The state provided them with housing, food, water, medicine and every other resource that was required to live.

And while Erich would earn himself a house after military service, it would be empty, with only himself filling up the space. Was this the life he really wanted to live? All alone, just as he was right now, for the next two hundred and fifty years? And that was assuming he had an average lifespan. If he was particularly useful to the Empire, they had plenty of ways to extend his life, and by extension, his misery.

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This was what life had in store for him if he chose to remain in the Empire. However, defection was also not a viable option. Travel in and outside of the Germanic Star-Empire was strictly monitored, and if it was believed that you posed a risk of defection, you would not be permitted to leave.

Assuming he somehow did manage to escape from his home, what would he do then? How would he live? The galaxy was a vast and unforgiving place, especially if you were on your own, with nobody else to look after you. Civilizations survived the harshness of space because they were united together, usually by race, not by striking it out on your own.

However, a man who had abandoned his species would be looked down upon by everyone, and there were few safe havens that existed in the greater galaxy for those who were exiled from their homelands. In fact, Erich had never even heard of one existing. Thus, defection was simply not a realistic option.

His fate was tied to the Empire, because the only other place that might reasonably accept him was the Confederation of Human Worlds. However, would they even recognize him as a member of the same species?

After all, the Germanic People considered themselves to be an entirely different species than baseline humans, and would never accept one in their society. Would the same not be true for those people whose evolution had diverged on a separate path centuries ago?

Even if he did manage to be accepted by such a foreign and hostile society, their beliefs were simply too disgusting for Erich to tolerate. While he may have been discriminated against by Germanic society, he was by no means a liberal person, and despite the fact that the society which he lived in treated him poorly, Erich supported many of the things that his people believed, even if he was not as fanatical as the other members of his species.

After several hours lost in thought, Erich was beginning to believe that he would never find happiness in the world, and that his best option was to simply toe the party line, and endure the abuse, and harassment which came his way, just like he had always done. That is, until a specific memory suddenly flooded his mind, seemingly out of nowhere.

It was the first day he had met his friends, when they were discussing the leaderboard, and the rewards one would get for climbing its ranks. At first, Erich had assumed what he heard had been just another tall tale. After all, there were many rumors, such as the one that Karl had told him, which proved to be false. Thus, he did not even bother to investigate the validity of the claim. However, at the moment, Erich latched onto the words his friend had spoken, as if it were his only lifeline.

"I heard from a rather reliable source about a Black Sun pilot who was a mutant like us, but because of his achievements on the battlefield, the party permitted him to have a wife and children."

Remembering these words, Erich quickly surfed the grid for any mention of such an unlikely story, and quickly found that it was indeed true. A pilot of the elite fighter squadron known by the name "Black Sun" had achieved such shocking achievements in combat that the restrictions which applied to mutants were lifted from him.

In fact, after decades of exemplary service, the man finally retired from the Navy at the age of 65, and immediately became a planetary governor. He had risen above the discrimination that mutants faced in Germanic society, and had even become a powerful member of the political party. However, there was no recent news on this individual, or what rank he currently held.

Still, if this man could achieve such a thing, then why couldn't he? Currently, Erich was ranked thirteenth on the academy's leaderboards, and that was without really developing the special abilities he had, or using them in any significant capacity which could affect his ranking. If he truly began giving it his all from here on out, he could reach first place by the time he graduated next year, guaranteeing him a spot in the Empire's most elite flight school, and an advantage over his peers when he finally entered military service.

Thus, in that moment, Erich decided to not only stay within the borders of the Empire, but rise through its ranks, until one day everyone would have to kneel before him. Once he was the Supreme Leader, he could abolish the restrictions that Mutants suffered through, and ensure that nobody like him ever had to endure what he had in life.

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Erich spent every waking hour during his vacation studying like a madman. When classes reconvened two weeks later, he had become a man possessed. Only through exceptional service to the state could he earn the right to have a family, something all of his peers had access to. Without a family of his own, there was no purpose to living in this universe, this was something which he felt in every atom of his being, and if he had to risk his life so that he could become a war hero, he would do it.

Surprisingly, the harassment he received seemed to have died down, as Erika was no longer targeting him with every chance she could get. Whether she had given up because she had a change of heart after his message, or because she had already ruined his life and because of this, there was nothing further to be gained. Erich did not know the answer. What he did know is that he did not care either way, and thus he focused all of his effort on obtaining first place on the leaderboard.

Whether it was PT in the morning, or all of his classes, Erich pushed himself beyond his natural limits, ensuring that he proved himself superior to the rest of his peers. It was not just his teachers and comrades who took notice of this sudden shift in behavior.

In another part of the Empire's capital, a man sat in his office. It was a rather large office, with an excellent view of the city below. The red, black, and white banners of the Empire hung from the ceiling, showing off a display of both utilitarian and authoritarian ideology.

This man was none other than the Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy. His name was Alaric au Emrys, a man born from Swiss ancestry, and who had climbed through the ranks of the Imperial Navy to the highest position after decades of exemplary service.

Why was he named Alaric, instead of something more contemporary? Because during the decade he was born, there was a societal trend to revive ancient Germanic names, as a symbol of the unity that existed between the various Germanic peoples who inhabited the empire. Ultimately, this trend did not last long, and by the time the next generation was born, they went back to more modern naming conventions.

After learning that Heinrich had disowned his son, Alaric was quite furious. Erich was a talent that was rare in the empire, and the boy had already proven to be quite innovative in his thinking.

If the Empire was going to survive the hardships of the Galaxy, it needed to invest in young men like Erich, even if they happened to be so called mutants. This was the reason that he had gone to such great lengths to bury the evidence of Erich's little dalliance with the aunt of the Oni Emperor.

The fact that all the hard work Alaric had gone through in his efforts to conceal this crime from the public was repaid with such foolishness on the part of Erich's father was enough to make the Grand Admiral frustrated beyond belief.

At first, Alaric thought that Erich would be broken by being disowned. And yet, the most peculiar thing happened. The young man had doubled his performance. Erich had become a madman in pursuit of his military training and academic studies. Spending even his lunch hour either studying or engaging in simulations. If it weren't for the curfew that was imposed upon all cadets, then Erich might even spend his entire nights in the holodeck.

This had only increased Alaric's opinion of Erich. He had become a man who had lost everything, a man who was scorned by society. And yet, he had not given up on life, nor had he chosen to abandon the Empire, which showed him nothing but hostility, but instead had decided to double down and work even harder to make something of himself.

How many men in Erich's position could do the same? The fierce determination that Erich displayed after being disowned was something that even the most prejudiced man should respect, and because of this, the Grand Admiral decided to watch Erich's future career with a close eye.

Unknowingly, Erich had gained a very powerful backer, one who would do his best to direct the promising young talent's career, so that he could best make use of his abilities for the good of the Empire.