Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Amelia, Ch 247


Stan Vickory took a look around our world's landscape through the portal. "So, this is like Aleph, only we can actually cross over instead of just transmitting signals?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Lisa replied. "But don't let them try to fool you, it's just as easy to physically cross into Aleph. Probably shouldn't tell anyone about that. I don't think there's a law against it, but it would make waves, and not the ones that get you a juicy story."


"I understand," he answered, watching his film crew as they wandered the area. He had a dozen camera people with him, including a few I was pretty certain weren't trained camera operators. Made sense, what he needed right now were people he could trust to keep a secret. Editing could handle shaky cameras and poor lighting. "If I may be honest with you for a second. When I first talked to you, I was expecting that you'd self destuct within a month or two."


OffendedDispleased. Well, at least he's being honest. ReluctantAgreement.


"Oh, I knew that," Lisa replied happily. "New unproven group, lots of enemies right from the start, flirting heavily with Class S status, pretty much daring the PRT to come at them with guns blazing. Frankly, it was as much luck as anything that got us here."


He chuckled. "I had your eulogies mapped out in my head by the end of my first conversation with Khepri. I'm glad I didn't get to use them."


"Me, too," I agreed, thinking briefly about how Taylor actually did die. ConcernSupportLove. I smiled. Thank you.


"Mister Vickory? The stage is ready," a boy informed us. When did I start thinking of college students as if they were younger than me?


"Thanks, Tim," he replied. "And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Stan?"


"Sorry, sir," the kid replied as he rushed back to his job, which as near as I could tell was the electrical work for the interview stage.


Stan smiled apologetically. "Still working on that one," he informed us. "So, shall we get this show started?"


"Absolutely," Lisa replied. "Have fun, boss ladies. I'll be right here watching the whole time."


We approached our stage, which was deliberately outdoors. It was a beautiful day on Avalon, mid fifties instead of near zero, and we wanted to showcase our world in all its conveniences. We sat down on chairs I had created, in full view of Avalon's first city. Vickery took his position and waited for a hand signal, then he spoke.


"This is Stan Vickery with Channel Twelve, reporting in from Earth Avalon. Before speaking with my gracious hosts, I must offer a disclaimer to the audience. This interview is being recorded on January thirtieth, and not scheduled to be aired until February Eighth, possibly later if the next Endbringer conflict occurs within the next few days."


That was part of our agreement, and Stan had agreed to abide by the rules to get a preemptive interview. Of course he agreed, we had pretty much just put his career on the international stage for the rest of his life. He'd be insane not to go for it.


"By the time this is seen by the public, the world will be aware of many other worlds, with portals in dozens of nations and a plan that can only be described as the largest act of colonialism in history. We are now going to speak with the architects of this plan, Empresses Taylor Hebert and Amelia Lavere. Let me be the first to congratulate you on the your new status as heads of state. And thank you for allowing Channel Twelve to be the one to deliver this news to the world."


Taylor nodded. "Thank you," I replied nervously. "We're happy to have you. And, if I'm being honest, I'm still not used to the idea of being called an Empress." Apparently calling myself a goddess for several months didn't prepare me for it, either.


"Let's start with the simplest question," he continued. "Amelia, I note you are no longer using the last name of your adoptive parents. Are you officially acknowledging that you're the daughter of the infamous supervillain known as Marquis?"


"Effectively, I suppose so, at least for the time being," I replied. "I see no reason to hide the truth. I am not, and never will be my father, but hiding from the past accomplishes nothing. It's relatively moot anyway, since I'll be taking my fiancée's surname when we get married." I reached over and squeezed Taylor's hand. LovePrideConfidence.


Vickery paused for a second, letting that statement have a moment to catch in the minds of the future audience. He understood his showmanship. "I was led to understand you discovered the dimensional gateways and started this project over six months ago?"


"Correct," Taylor replied. "The details of the gateway creation system are being kept secret for security reasons. However, we have taken the knowledge to the international community and agreed on a plan to open access to a number of Earths for a number of nations on the planet. We aren't sure how much of that information will be public knowledge by the time this interview is publicized."


"In exchange, you were given an earth of your own?" he asked. "Some might view that as conspicuous consumption, as all other organizations who received a colony world were national governments. In addition, you were recognized as a nation when you agreed to this project." One of the hard questions we'd requested be asked.


"Avalon is a unique case. Part of the international treaties defining acceptable colony worlds is we may only access Earths that do not have human life. Whether because humans never evolved there, or they went extinct," I informed him. "Avalon takes this to its final logical extreme. Life on this world was eliminated by a celestial event some three and a half million years ago. When we found it, the atmosphere was toxic to conventional life, and even if you could breathe the radiation levels were so high that the average expected lifespan would have been around five years. Even today, were we to remove the Yggdrasil from this planet, it would quickly return to an uninhabitable state."


"So you see," Taylor followed up. "Avalon could never have been a colony world to begin with. Which is why we chose it. We didn't want to effectively steal land from the whole human race. Not when we could just as easily create our own." That assurance wouldn't persuade everyone, but hopefully it would do enough that most people would dismiss the ones who had a problem.


"That would explain the rather monotonous landscape," Vickery remarked, and I could imagine the cameras scanning the mostly flat blue-green Yggdrasil coloration that extended to every horizon. "Now, let us talk about your titles. Empresses. Is that expression of an intent to have a form of monarchical system?"


"Of some sort," I agreed. "The details are complex, but the governing powers available to Taylor and I are mostly limited to shared military defense and handling foreign affairs. For almost all other purposes, our world will exist as a federation of nations, each independent of the others. Each colony will have its own government and freedom of rule, with only a few laws that apply universally, such as rights to religious, cultural, and lifestyle equality."


"Fascinating," he replied. "Speaking of colonies, how do you plan to recruit colonists? As I understand it, most major nations will be doing their best to build their colony worlds. I imagine competition will be fierce."


"Plumbing, for starters," Taylor answered with a smile. It earned a polite chuckle from Vickery. "Thanks to the Yggdrasil, we will have a significant head start for infrastructure. We can produce temporary shelters in a matter of minutes. Grow homes and supply food for entire cities as quickly as people can find places to put cities. Then there's the matter of health care. Illness and injury that would be more or less trivial on Bet will become serious threats to the colonists. New diseases that never existed on Bet to begin with. Harsh winters without electricity. These are problems that simply will not exist for Avalon."


"In addition, there's the environmental concerns," I added. "Or, specifically, the lack of them. Avalon was a dead world. We don't have an environment to preserve, and the Yggdrasil isn't at any risk of being destroyed by industrialization. We project fully modern cities in a matter of less than ten years. Better than modern, as we'll encourage parahuman involvement and advanced technology from the inception."


"Then there's the military concerns," Taylor followed up. "Historically speaking, colonialism has faced a number of perils, most of which can be summed up simple enough. The needs of the colonies are rarely the same as the needs of the homeland, and eventually people will start to think in terms of 'us' and 'them'. That's why so many wars are a matter of seeking independence."


"Avalon will be the only colony world that is will be its own independent government," I finished her point. "We will rule ourselves from the very beginning, instead of being ruled by foreigners."


"Do you believe other countries will face rebellions from their colonies?"


"Insurrection and violence, at the very least," Taylor replied. "Some worse than others. Not everyone trusts or loves the countries they come from. They'll seek new lands and new opportunities with the intent of no longer having to answer to the authorities. And some of them will just be scum looking to take advantage of the less established populations in the colonies. Conflicts will happen, it's just a question of how bad it gets. And considering the involvement of parahumans, it could get very bad."


"You believe Avalon will avoid that?" Vickery asked.


"I believe anyone who starts a battle on Avalon's soil will regret it quickly," Taylor replied. "We are capable of defending ourselves and our people in a way the other colony worlds simply won't be able to achieve. The term 'Empress' is more than a political title for us. On this world, we have absolute control of the entire biosphere. We can and will use the full extent of our powers, including the anti Endbringer weapons if we have to, on anyone stupid enough to hurt our people."


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A/N- Seriously though. No fucking with Avalon. It fucks back. And it's a lot bigger than you.

Also, this chapter gets a part 2.