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Destroy Apollo: Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Blue Star’s Past
Gaia spoke, catching me by surprise: “Since I’m able to talk to you now, I suppose Alman’s plan succeeded. It feels so strange—someone who’s lost their body has, in some sense, achieved immortality. But that’s alright; the one with a body was also called Gaia.”
“Who is Alman? And what is immortality?” I asked, puzzled.
“Alman is my sister—your mother. As for immortality… let’s start from the year 5502.”
Gaia began her story: “In 5502, Blue Star entered an era of catastrophic disasters. Over a decade, events like tectonic shifts, tsunamis, and hurricanes hit repeatedly, devastating the population and shrinking habitable spaces. Faced with disaster, humanity didn’t unite but waged war over scarce resources.
Once-divided continents began merging, reshaping Blue Star’s geography—and its political landscape as well. An empire emerged, controlled by a power-hungry despot 1, while other regions formed a federation based on mutual aid.
Within the empire, men held all the power. Emperor Peter ruled with an iron fist, constantly waging war against the Federation—especially targeting the Ophir District.
Ophir was formerly a small, advanced country, both economically and industrially, with a governing team composed almost entirely of women, with over 50% female to male ratio. They were led by a noble-minded female president.
When the catastrophes hit, Ophir enacted strict laws within its borders, harshly punishing men who took advantage of women during the crisis by exiling or even executing them. They also took in female refugees from other regions, eventually becoming a territory with a female majority.
When the Federation was formed, Ophir held a referendum, deciding to make the Ophir District a female-only sanctuary. In times of crisis, some see an opportunity to seize resources—often viewing women as one of them. They were expected to labor, offer sexual or reproductive value, or even, in extreme cases, serve as reserve food supplies.
But in Ophir, the women formed their own armed forces. They used Ophir’s natural resources and its remaining industrial system to live as humans, not tools. In other regions, especially within the Empire, women lived in unbearable conditions, and many risked their lives to flee to Ophir.
Men throughout the Empire were outraged by this, but Ophir’s leader—President Michelle—refused to hand over the female refugees and publicly denounced the Empire’s leader as a ‘male chauvinist pig.’ In response, Peter incited his followers to harass them.
Fortunately, Ophir had warheads, so it barely survived despite the criticisms and covetous eyes surrounding it.
Then, in 9702, the Botran civilization’s fleet arrived on Blue Star. They claimed they’d accidentally entered the solar system during their interstellar voyage, but the true reason… who knows?
The Botrans detected an element they desperately needed within Blue Star’s core. They offered to help humanity achieve technological breakthroughs and migrate to other habitable planets, in exchange for Blue Star becoming theirs.”
I murmured, “And then? What choice did humanity make? Did they just… swap places with the Botrans and leave Blue Star?”
Gaia shook her head. “It wasn’t that simple. The Empire and the Federation set aside their differences and, on the surface, made peace, gathering all of humanity’s top minds to discuss their survival and negotiate with the Botran civilization. But under the surface, each side had its own agenda.
Who would leave, and who would stay? Where would those leaving go? Would those remaining have any chance of survival?
Peter didn’t care about Blue Star’s fate—his only concern was holding onto power. At that time, his subjects relied on his every whim, and even some Federation leaders, though resentful, dared not defy him. The core reason lay in his private army, which controlled Blue Star’s most habitable areas and drove his men to ceaselessly raid and plunder resources.
If they accepted the Botran’s offer, how could he ensure that, once they changed homes, he’d still reign supreme? In a newly reshuffled order, could he maintain his rule? And what about Michelle and the Ophir District, whom he saw as thorns in his side? He hoped to use this as an opportunity to eradicate them once and for all.
On the other hand, Michelle also understood Peter’s likely moves. The title of ‘Emperor’ didn’t mask his true nature—he wanted to trample everyone else underfoot and rule as an eternal monarch.
If he succeeded, the future humanity would face would be a regression to slavery. Women, in particular, would experience an eternal hell.
Michelle lobbied and forged alliances in many places, aiming to team up with the leaders of other regions, and, during the negotiations, bring Peter down from power, so that humanity could return to civilization and reason, and return to democracy.
I don’t know the details, but I know the ultimate result—one day during the negotiations, an explosion occurred in the conference hall, and everyone present, without exception, perished.
That included Michelle, Peter, and their respective think tanks.”
“That’s too suspicious,” I frowned.
“Indeed,” Gaia’s tone turned grim. “Sister’s speculation is that Michelle’s greatest purpose in her travels was to preserve the existence of the Ophir District as a female utopia. However, Peter used this very goal to turn other leaders of the Federation against her.
While the Federation could not tolerate Peter, Michelle was also at odds with them. The regional leaders of the Federation were mostly men, and the other areas outside of Ophir District also had a male-majority, with many women being siphoned into Ophir.
Michelle took in many women who were rebellious 2 or even universally shocking 3, and grew close to them, taking their advice in constructing the Ophir District—such as my sister, Alman.
Alman said that Ophir District could unite everyone outside of it because the women of Ophir challenged the very foundation of human society—the deeply ingrained foundation of millennia, known as patriarchy.
So, who was responsible for that explosion is now untraceable. It may have been a simple accident, or perhaps a maneuver by the Federation, or even the handiwork of the Botran civilization, but it had the most beloved outcome for the general public—
The crazies perished together, while the neutrals ushered in world peace.”
Greta asked, “And then, that’s when Apollo showed up?”
Gaia nodded, “Without Peter, the Empire fell into chaos. Ophir District lost its backbone, and its situation became precarious. The leaders of the other Federation districts were skilled at internal strife but lacked Peter’s iron-fisted rule or Michelle’s popularity with the people.
At this time, the Botran civilization offered Apollo. They said that in their travels through the cosmos, they had encountered many civilizations. The best fate for a civilization was to determine its own destiny. Apollo was that tool.
Apollo could see the past, learn from it, and read the hearts of all individuals. It could materialize the collective will of a group and make the optimal choices for humanity’s future.”
“Gaia, was this when the New Era we know began? Humanity’s decision to leave Blue Star, equipped with the technology granted by the Botran civilization, to find new homes and expand across the stars, from planets M1 to M5, and beyond… What about the fate of Ophir District? Did it vanish?”
I had a series of questions for her.
Gaia answered, “With Apollo’s help, humanity not only decided where to go next but also restored order and accounted for the rights and wrongs of the disaster period.
As for Ophir District, there’s no doubt—it was dismantled. Humanity was about to leave Blue Star, and a stable order had been restored. Ophir District was deemed unnecessary.
Humanity needed to rest and recuperate. Women needed to leave the utopia and integrate into mixed-gender communities, into Apollo’s order—the best order, the most benevolent order—which was, at the same time, the deeply entrenched old patriarchal order.
At this point, some of the former influential figures in Ophir District seemed rather out of place and were even considered guilty. They intended to preserve Ophir District, especially its original all-female armed forces, with their radical ideas. They viewed Apollo as an unaddressed poison and opposed the new laws calculated by Apollo, even opposing Apollo itself.
When the Botran civilization had drained the Earth’s core, and Blue Planet was about to become a wasteland, with humanity preparing to leave in batches for the newly surveyed homes, some of these women complied with Apollo and left with the majority, while others remained obstinate, left behind on Blue Planet.”
“This was premeditated murder,” Greta’s voice was cold.
A faint smile flickered in Gaia’s inorganic eyes: “But what Apollo didn’t expect was that, before going to the negotiations, Michelle had already left a backup for Ophir District—Clement.
Clement was Michelle’s lover, as well as an outstanding astrophysicist who had won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice.
After the Botran civilization arrived, Clement was one of the few humans who could communicate with them and even follow their higher-dimensional thought processes. She was an unprecedented genius, so much so that even the fleet commander held her in high regard, inviting her to join their voyage.
Clement ultimately reached an agreement with the Botran civilization. She would leave with their fleet, abandoning her lover, family, students, and friends, and join the Botran civilization’s fleet, heading for unknown star systems and civilizations.”
I seemed to see a vague sadness on Gaia’s face: “She even abandoned her own body and accepted the transformation offered by the Botran civilization.”
“Is it like you?”
I asked Gaia, who clearly had a robotic body but a human soul inside.
Gaia shook her head: “It’s not that she is like me—
Rather I am like her.”
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