Note:

After watching season 5, I realized that Becca's story had come to an end, but still, there were too many things remained unexplained and untold, like how Becca got her space station, how she saved the first grounders and became the first commander...etc. Those many unturned stones could potentially form a long prequel themselves. Now having written 2 books about her, I love those stories of Becca. The scale were getting bigger and bigger. Some chapters actually touched my heart, and demanded me to write more.

As English is not my first language, my writing skill needs a lot of improvement. I am fully aware of it. Just hope my background in tech can make it up. Also wish you will enjoy reading the stories of Becca, as much as my fun of writing it.

P.S. It is time to review and correct many glaring grammar errors of those 2 books. Some of them are awful and severely impair the quality of the story. Some of them are lacking in detail and emotional reasoning. So yeah, high time to make them better. I do care about her stories, for the things she did. I feel like she's the heroine that I can never be.

===#=#=#=#=#===

Let's turn the page of history book back to year 2050.

Like Charles Dickens once wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was age of foolishness... it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair..." This year was the year marked by over 20 super-storms hitting America in one season, marked by AI robots taking 85% of jobs that were original humans, and marked by Eligius Group launching 1000-ton class space stations for nations which could afford them.

Most people on earth were suffering from lack of jobs, money, and medical attention. Even though hospitals could cure every disease human had ever encountered, including AIDS and cancer, the real problem is few could pay the price, so people kept dying of AIDS and cancer in troupes.

Nations were competing each other like mad dogs. They would do anything to attract any large size corporations: 50 years no tax, all new factories pre-built, and anything or anyone the executives wanted. They could make any laws for the big companies, bypass any regulations, sometimes disappeared (more precisely: murdered) anyone who dared to object.

Out of many, Eligius Group was the hottest meat all those mad dogs howled at. They had built hundreds of space launch centers all over the world. They had manufactured millions of various space crafts, and they hired all the smartest guys on the planet. Even though cars and trucks no longer required oil to run, they still exploited and extracted millions of barrels of oil each day for their fuel. Yeah, they could make synthetic rocket fuel, but it was in their best interest to just refine it directly from the crude oil. Each day thousands of their launches required a tremendous amount of fuel to consume. The global warming problem? No politician were stupid enough to raise that issue, while they fully knew Eligius was actually the one in charge.

Therefore the weather just kept worsening. 6-category hurricane and 40 plus Celsius heat became the leading cause of death, surpassing the already severe problem of drug overdosing. That year alone, over 50 thousand were dead, and millions were missing in the American continent alone. Normal houses built by bricks or wood would not survive long. So poor people crowded in bunkers or caves when the next hurricane came. Even those places were not safe: a higher-than-usual flood could easily drown everyone there seeking refuge.

The white collars and executives, on the other hand, were enjoying their lives like there were no tomorrow. They squandered money on drugs, girls, fancy gadgets and all kinds of entertainment. They tried their best conning moves to pull someone down and get higher in the corporation ladder, leaving a blood-path behind. They all strove to live in a higher place, where air was cleaner and cooler. So in those extravagant parties, they might look happy, but inside most of them were desperate and empty. It was just no one could stop the crazy and vicious circle. Once you lost the job, the consequences of going back down to the ground was unthinkable.

However, even in this dark time, science were still making strides in a even faster pace. Now let's take a look at that year's TED talk. No need to be surprised, TED talk still existed at that time, and it was getting more popular, as everyone was looking for solutions. There, hundreds of audience surrounded the red-carpet stage. One by one, each of the most brilliant minds on earth shared his/her ideas to the world for around 10 minutes. In the past, some of those ideas had changed the world profoundly.

The time had come. She had prepared her whole life for this. All the years of working, and all her sacrifice would worth it, once the message was out. Becca took a deep breath and listened to the announcement.

Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have the honor to present you the most prestigious scientist of our time: Becca Franco.

Audience applauded loudly, but some boos mixed in the sound.

Yeah, I know. Some of you don't like her connection with Eligius Group, but please understand that it was her first big job. In order to become a billionaire, she had to start somewhere, right? While we all agree that Donald Eligius is absolutely not welcomed here, Becca is our most endearing sweetheart. At only 21 years of age, she created the gene therapy that could cure all cancer, 100% effective. By 24, her company, Franco Genetics, had saved millions of lives by her revolutionary gene modification techniques. Just last year, she was elected as "the person who will save the world one day". So, people down there, I think we better to listen to what she's going to say tonight. Maybe one day her idea will actually save you. (Some laughter.) OK, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Becccccca Fraaaaaanco!

Becca did a quick check on her beautiful blue dress, making sure she looked just fine, then confidently walked up to the center of the stage. Tonight she would deliver the world a messiah, which was long overdue. Approaching the microphone, she looked around the stage and saw anxious eyes. In a time like that, they were all looking for a solution, a way to save the dying world. She was glad to delivery the good news.

Thank you for your kind word, Paul! She took the microphone from him and faced the crowd. I know none of you like my former employer. It was a very difficult decision to work for Eligius group. My reputation was tainted forever, to say the least. So if tonight no one throws shoes on me, I count myself lucky. (A burst of laughter.)

Still no shoes flying? Thank you! You are a great audience. I love you all.

(Someone in the front shouted "I LOVE YOU BECCA!")

Oh my Goodness! This is embarrassing. Ladies and gentlemen, that's my fiance Chris. He's also a scientist who works with me for many years. And out of the blue, he just proposed to me last night. People, please take a look at him. He's so adorable! How to you say "no" to him?

(Chris stood up and bowed to the audience. People gave out laughter, applause, and whistles, no a single boo.)

Thank you all! This is my happiest time in my life. Not only I can marry the man I love, I have a breakthrough that will benefit all of us. Maybe it will solve the unsolvable problems we are facing today.

So what are the crises of today's world? Global warming, for one. After a whole century of inaction, today half of earth's continent is uninhabitable. Everywhere we will see war, famine, disease and economy collapse, yeah, those some may say equal to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Bible, but we are not religious people. We scientists are the ones who will find solutions through tireless research and works, not like those doomsday cults, aka Second Dawn guys.

However, the obstacles we are facing are formidable. Earth's resources has greatly reduced due to the 200 years of industry development. Problems like global warming are notoriously hard to fix. It involves too many factors and too much co-ordinations. The doomed Paris Accord had taught us a big lesson, that an agreement is not a solution.

So how do we fix it? Well, let me tell you something else first.

Everyone knows I am good at genetics, but do you know I also have a doctorate degree in Artificial Intelligence? That's how I met my fiance in his computer lab back in the Eligius Group. At that time he had very limited resources. Years passed. Finally I had enough money to help him establish a new lab in an island. Since then he did everything I told him to do. Well, I hope he continues to do so through our marriage. (Light laughter) Anyway, very soon we found a much better way in making an AI.

The reason today's AI are still not smart enough, is that we do it the wrong way. For example, when a computer hear "how are you", it doesn't understand the real meaning. It just choose an answer, like "I am fine." without knowing the meaning of "I", or the meaning of "fine". Therefore, a computer can never really understand us. All they are doing, is just mimicking the answer, without knowing why.

Therefore, the only way an intelligence can match up to human level, is to give it a soul. To give it a soul, we need to make it "self-aware" from the very beginning.

Chris designed an AI, named A.L.I.E., in his island. The first thing we taught her, was who she really was. Since then, ALIE had been learning things at an astronomical speed. Combining self-awareness and world-awareness, now she can understand things over 1000 times faster than any current AI. She even appreciates abstract things like art and music. Her taste is a bit strange, in my opinion, but nonetheless very artistic.

Audience started murmuring. Their expression was partly excited and partly worrying. A super advanced AI was never portrayed nicely in movies. Many of them associated AI with evil overlords. Becca knew what they were thinking, and she smiled.

I know. Ever since the warning of Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking, we all have been worrying about an AI becoming self-awareness and turning into the world-destroyer, but that happens only in movies or TV. In reality ALIE's super-intelligence can help us in numerous ways. She can make the best advice for each individual for all of his/her problems. At the same time she can form a global network of helping hands, co-ordinate each other, and work toward the same goal. With her, we can finally tackle the global warming and many other crisis. She can save us from this deteriorating world.

Don't believe me? Here is an example. Last year, I gave ALIE a problem I couldn't solve for 2 years: bonding the anti-radiation gene with blood cells. It took ALIE just 1 day to find a solution: making the serum in zero G environment. It was a simple yet genius solution that never occurred to me. I don't want to brag, but in the genetics field, if I haven't considered this, no one else could have. You see? Without ALIE, I wouldn't have solved this problem, and our space exploration schedule has to delay. Now we can send people to the new star systems without worrying the radiation.

Someone yell, "Anti-radiation? Are you still working for Eligius group?" Others frowned upon it.

Becca's face turned red, and she admitted it.

You are right. They called me the next week. God knows how they got the news so fast, but I only deal with them strictly in the business aspect. Yes, I was fully aware that I was making deals with the devils. Please pray I will not get burned by it. Thank you! (Some laughter)

Well, without further ado, I present you ALIE. She's online now. In our Q&A, you can ask her anything you want.

Applause rose. Becca bowed to the audience. The stage light on her faded. A holograph appeared. It, or she, looked exactly like Becca, only she was in a red dress.

One from the audience asked, "How Are You?" Most people chuckled, remembering what Becca just said.

ALIE replied, "If I say 'I am fine', will that be OK for you?"