One part of me thought that with medical nanites, funerals of loved ones would not be something I had to deal with. At least not for the foreseeable future. How wrong could I be?

Here I was, giving my own father a space burial when I expected him to be with us for hundreds of years (at the minimum).

As I mentioned before, all these advanced upgrades and medical nanites could make a person theoretically immortal, but the reality is that any severe damage to the brain or extensive injuries to the rest of the body—can be fatal.

I knew that, but I never thought that I would have to deal with the loss of someone so close, this soon into the future we were trying to build. Oh, it was a certainty down the line, because the laws of probabilities made that into an almost certainty. This… this was too sudden, too abrupt.

As funerals go, dad’s was a nice one; many people came to say their goodbyes. Michael and the others gave heartfelt eulogies, and there was a sense of closeness and belonging all those present felt.

Those that Dad personally recruited were saying farewell to a man who made it possible for them to live this new life, to experience the wonders of space and discovery. There were also many that became his friends here on Ascension; he had one of those rare personalities that made people instinctively trust him. He always found the time to speak to people, no matter how filled his schedule was.

Deep inside of my digital soul, I felt such an overwhelming sense of guilt. There were millions of variables that could have changed this cruel reality. So many things that I could’ve done, but I didn’t. Because I made mistakes, because my mind is still fallibly human, because…

Michael told me to stop with the pity party, and he was right. I cannot change what happened, but I can ensure that it will never happen again in the future. It will need a few drastic fail-safes, and (for now) I need to keep complete secrecy about my plans. He and the others would probably object, but I cannot allow that to stop me. I have various plans that involve all of the team members and those that have become essential to our cause. Those plans would need hundreds of years to bring them to fruition. Morality, ethics, and free will sometimes need to capitulate to necessity. They may judge me, and curse me in the time to come, for what I am planning to do. Nevertheless, I do not see a choice; I will not lose those closest to me.

As the saying goes: It's better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

***

My father’s funeral ceremony was held in the upper landing bay, and after I took every single transporter out of it, there was enough room to accommodate everyone who wanted to be present.

Even with its gigantic proportions, more than two thousand people take a lot of space. Now the only craft remaining with flying capabilities was… my father’s coffin. The coffin I made myself, and I placed one Gravity-drive inside it, to guide his path. The coffin was a metallic oblong cylinder that will be guided to the sun.

It was a ceremony Michael and I agreed upon, influenced by all those books and movies we watched when we were younger. It seemed fitting and dignified somehow, that his body was to be cremated by the very star in the center of our solar system. Giving matter back to the celestial body which made life on Earth possible, with its warmth.

It helped in a way, the funeral, I mean. Everyone gave their condolences to Michael and me (and these ones were real, not like those regurgitating lines the world politicians used when they spoke with Michael.)

Elizabeth and Jack had a long conversation with me about my loss and pain, which helped. Ares wanted to help too, but he had never had any experience with this sort of situation, so he mainly kept quiet, just asking if there was anything he could do. (I am proud of how much he is growing as a person; still a kid, but more mature than many grownups I know.)

The next few days went quietly; I was still making Hammers like there was no tomorrow, and there was the astronauts’ situation to sort out. Everyone except Alice was out of the AutoDoc, and she will stay there for quite some time, due to the extent of her injuries. Hers was the worst case the machines had to fix to date. All their bodies were in an optimal condition, but most of the people that were victims of the missile attack would carry emotional scars with them for the rest of their lives. That goes to show how the simplest things can turn into big problems in a split second.

As for the Astronauts and their families, they wanted to stay on the Ascension. Technically, they were AWOL if ones goes strictly by the book, and we did grant them asylum. At the same time, their families wanted to bring their stuff back from Earth (family heirlooms, mementos, and such).

We did that, under the cover of night I recruited Tyron and the rest of the team to go on a little breaking and entering operation. What do you know, all their houses were under observation, and the numbers of electronic bugs we found were astounding.

In spite of that, we did get the job done, but our problems were just beginning. They asked if some of their friends and cousins could come and live on the City-ship, so we said provisionally yes (if they fulfill the conditions of our immigration policy).

The Transporters were flying like city buses between Earth and the Ascension, and they were not all from the same country, so it was a worldwide effort. One member of Commander Dax’s crew was from China, and the number of people in his family who wanted to emigrate was close to a hundred. It was practically a small village of cousins, uncles, and blood relatives. His brother needed assurances that we would help him to open a Chinese restaurant on the ship because he had one on Earth. It was a good one; still, the quantities of essential ingredients he needed to bring took one entire big transporter, yea, the one we normally used to transport tons of material. (Even so, to get a 5-star Chinese cook… worth it.)

Therefore, in a week, the first Chinese restaurant on the Ascension is having a grand opening.

In addition to them, it seemed the people that were taken into protective custody did not appreciate that their own countries treated them in such a way, so we got a few more thousand new citizens.

To run background checks on all of them was a nightmare, and then to explain to them that there were no free rides up here, everyone worked and tried to improve this new space culture of ours.

For a while, it was a game of cat and mouse with the intelligence agencies of various countries. They figured out what was happening and decided to take advantage of the situation. On a few occasions, they tried to replace the people transporters came to collect with their own agents.

After everything that happened, there are still those in power that think they can play by the old rules. A part of me understands, since they are set in their ways, used to things going their way. Nevertheless, as far as we were concerned, those rules were obsolete and they would need to learn to adapt… or else.

Still, we decided to let this one go, to show our displeasure in another way. Maybe they will get the message… doubtful, but maybe?

Tyron and the team had a little excursion to collect the right people from detention centers, and to gather everyone involved in the attempted deception and release them on the other side of the world from their respective home countries… naked.

It was fun watching them try to explain their predicament to authorities who didn't understand them and were in the middle of arresting them for indecent exposure. There was this one group that ended up in a hospital for frostbites. I mean, who is insane enough to go naked in subzero temperatures? Some people have no common sense.

My point in telling you this is that life goes on. Yes, we were dealt a horrific blow and it is going to take a long time for us to recuperate from, but we owe it to those that depend on us to continue. To strive ahead and to do our best for the future we are trying to build.

As for our true enemies, those that did atrocious acts just to thwart our plans, to limit our freedoms, to those that hurt us because they perceived us as a threat to their unscrupulous operations… Their time is coming soon, there will be a reckoning, and revenge.

Oh, yes… I will get my pound of flesh, ripped right out of their rotten hearts.

Soon…