!The following is a section of an archive found in Press Garden premises.
!As it is known, Press Garden is an incorporated "public relations" firm whose main client is the Robotnik Corporation.
!Keep this in mind when reading these archives. This information is only useful as an example of RC propaganda or otherwise.
!Supplementary materials for verification of the contents of these documents are available with clearance level 10 or above.
!Possession of this document by personnel with clearance level 8 or lower is strictly prohibited.
This is the first time in a long while since I decided to start writing about my experiences.
I'm certain that everyone in the higher levels of our structure knows my ambitions, the destiny that unites our nations together under one banner. But I think that now, it became prudent that our citizens know about some of the members that our empire was born from, and the principles behind our vision.
To protect the identities of the members in our story pseudonyms would be used. The identities of the individuals represented through them would be known to your superiors.
Use White Checkmate to engage the audience with this narrative.
!"White Checkmate" refers to prioritizing white propaganda and counter-intelligence methods. The term wasn't used for 15 years.
!Normally it's indicative of confidence in that these events can be verified as a whole.
!Be advised that this could also mean that this document might instead be made as military misinformation.
There are several main characters to this story.
Infrared - protagonist, and narrator of this story - "I" refers to this character
Greco-Roman - grandfather
Morocco - cousin, female
Ultraviolet - female human, likes purple/blue, no family relation
Antitank - male human, no family relation
Scholar - male mobian, crocodile, resilient, skilled with forensics
Talon - male mobian, fox-like, extremely strong and resilient but seen as a traitor to his kind
Grease - male mobian, lizard-like, hates cold, hails from Kingdom of Acorn, skilled with electronics and machinery
Noise - major antagonist, fast, tough, male blue hedgehog mobian that acts drunk, impaired, or otherwise
Other persons not allied to Infrared characters would not have pseudonyms.
!Their loss. Makes our job easier regarding what message they are trying to send. It's not like he even tried.
The scope of this project covers a large time period - over 50 years of content. It's because of this scope that we need as many hands on this project as possible, to disseminate our understanding of the society we came from and the one that we will build next.
May chance favor those who know the odds.
Georgian Calendar, ARK Perspective, June 23 3180
Oakwood Calendar, Mobius Perspective, 1502.266
From this point onward, this journal's perspective of time would be measured using the Georgian Calendar from the ARK's perspective.
I step out of New Babylon High. By now, I completed the courses I need to finish my secondary education diploma.
I went into high school at the age of 11 in 3177, completing my primary education two grades ahead of everyone else. During the summer I advanced an extra grade ahead in two courses a year.
I even was able to squeeze in a calculus course as an elective in the last term!
...
Tertiary education was very limited back then. New Babylon, the first surface colony on Mobius for humans, had just recently opened its first university. Before then technicians on the ARK (and other satellite habitats) taken on-site training, and mishaps were common enough that eventually people had to descend to the surface to have an environment where mistakes could be made while training and the consequences won't be catastrophic.
We traded technology for territory where we could reside in and live freely, or so people said. That freedom, for reasons we'll see shortly, is a mere facade, an impossible ideal that would tear us apart eventually.
I obviously applied for a position as a student at New Babylon University. I was rejected from entering the institution at the time I wanted to start in, so I tried again while applying to take more courses at the secondary level for the summer and fall. Biology, chemistry... Maybe take the electronics course.
Looking at the present, I can take a lot more secondary education courses than most of the other people in this institution if I want to.
Someone approaches me while I browse the course catalogue. It's an instructor. Male, human, somewhat tan with sleek black hair.
"Many of these courses contain information that could easily be found in the ARK database."
I look up at him in confusion. The ARK database contains everything about human civilization that we could know before we emigrated from our home system. Our home world lie in ruins afterwards, and its secrets gone forever. Or so we are told.
"Do you want to learn how to use that information? To learn from the ARK, and the world around you?"
The instructor points at an entry in the course selection sheet. Philosophy 12. Requires English 12.
Might as well try it out this summer, considering I already finished every required course I had.
Next class was Social Science 11. Our final project is about World War 2, the final stages of the British Commonwealth, the Empire of Japan, the rise of the People's Republic of China, and finally, the applications these stories have towards our relationship with the natives of Mobius. The United Federation's education system emphasized applicability over theory. We were to become diplomats, creators of a new era where "Mobians and humans shall work together to bring prosperity to all, never to repeat the mistakes our ancestors made against each other." Stability over all else, including scientific progress, opportunity, and industry.
Unfortunately, the Kingdom of Acorn is built on... similar ideas. Their church, the Church of Oakwood, is a refutation of the civilizations of the past, saying that they fell because they relied on technology or concepts that aren't fully understood and therefore dangerous. Their flow of information is highly centralized, where technologies are forbidden from being developed if they aren't approved for use by the Church, and until recently the Church rarely hired outsiders. Its economy is controlled by organizations that are closest to medieval guilds when referenced from human history, all guilds requiring church sanction. Technology stagnated for the 1500 years that the Church of Oakwood was in power, since "the Discharge" in their own words.
Obviously the course material for Social Science 11 was designed as to not recreate another Empire of Japan or Third Reich when our generation begins shaping this planet, but such efforts would prove impossible. No matter, for now, since I am no more than a pupil, and this is a classroom. I have three other exams to look forward to - (English) Advanced Literacy 12, Calculus 12, and Physics 12.
I have all the materials for all four subjects in front of me. Very few people currently think I was here because I skipped grades - I am very large for my age. Someone walked up and teases me for being in Socials 11 when I have the next grade's materials in front of me.
"Look at this dunce. Taking Calculus 12 but doesn't know anything about history. I bet the next time we see him he'll be dressing up in a trashy green suit, selling us a "personal hygienator", and getting sued because a hundred poor souls bought his crap!"
I ignore him.
"Hey knucklehead, I'm talking to you!"
"Perhaps you should spare your judgment on lesser lifeforms, like the potato you call a computer that you used to emulate games played by Generation X. If you must know, I haven't failed a single course."
"Oh yeah? How old are you?"
"14."
SLAM! My face, to the desk.
"Ya think I believe that? Look at you! You're as tall as my cousin!"
"Not my fault he missed his growth spurt."
By now the instructor walked over to my desk. His figure loomed over the both of us. He grabbed the bully's hair, and stared at him in the face while speaking in a deliberate, stern tone.
"Mister Underwood, if you insist on assaulting your classmates at least do so outside school grounds. Your father should be very disappointed about this. But if you insist on living without rules, I think I'll return the favor. I think this lesson would serve you well outside school grounds."
Throwing him to the ground, the prick skids across the smooth floor by around a foot.
"And for you, !Infrared!, if you would be so kind as to not draw attention to your... capabilities... and destroy the morale of this classroom, I'd highly appreciate it. Head to the nurse's office and get us a few ice packs, if you would be so kind."
I stand up, and walk out the classroom. I can swear I hear the following as I closed the door.
"You mutant freak."
I heard steps behind me as I was walking to the nurse's office. I turn around. It was a girl with bluish-purple hair - I recognize her from my social science class.
"Hey. Why are you following me? It's not like ice packs are hard to carry."
She says nothing, and turned her head away from me.
"Or are you some creep that wants to take advantage of me because I'm only 14?"
Her eyes widen in shock at my accusation, and she stops immediately, while I keep walking. For some reason, I feel compelled to stop too.
"Well? What is it?"
"Y-you said you were just 14 right? As in, you're supposed to be in grade 8?"
"Yeah, what of it? I can prove it to you. I have my ID card with me to prove it. See? Date of birth - June 23, 3166."
!Anyone asking of the significance of that date must have clearance level 10 or above.
She fell silent.
"Wait... are you having trouble with social sciences?"
If that's the case, I don't think I could help her out that much. I much prefer hard sciences and naturally excel at them. Social science however is something that requires a lot more intent and attention from me to get passing grades, especially at the rate I'm going through them. However, she shakes her head. Instead, she points towards my physics textbook.
"You want help with physics?"
"Since you're around a million grades ahead of everyone else... Pa won't approve of me bringing a boy home though. Or staying overnight at a friend's place."
I stay quiet for a few seconds.
"I can pay you..."
My face scrunches at the prospect. Depending on the amount, the weight of the risk may outweigh the rewards.
"How much?"
"$500 down payment, $1000 if I pass my exams, and an extra $100 if I get an A in the course."
That's a lot of money. I could become a wall street tycoon with that cash early on in life. But the numbers depend on her deciding to wholeheartedly commit in completing the course. If she fails, she has a $1000 advantage over me, regardless on how hard I try.
"... I won't accept a contract that binds you to failure like that. Flat rates, per hour, no commission. I want you to pass these courses too, and your contract as it stands holds a perverse incentive where your failures grand you rewards."
She falls silent again, but her face hardens a bit. Facing a flaw to her decision-making, maybe? Or is she just being caught in the midst of her scam? I'll never know.
"How do you know the nature of money like that?"
"I don't know if I could ever explain that."
"What protects me from you trying to waste my time and stiffing me?"
"You're obviously rich if you can throw around $1600 like that. Wealth can be used to ruin people."
With a shrug, I continue to head down to the nurse's office. Grabbing three ice packs, around the size of a tablet computer, I put one over my face, and head down to the classroom, opened the door, and threw one onto the bully's face and another down his pants.
"Took you a while."
"Got interrupted. I have a question."
"Alright, shoot."
"Exactly. Why is one of The Five missing from our migration away from the Solar System?"
My instructor's face withered at the question.
"They were... following the same path that the Empire of Japan and Germany went through, with the benefit of a nuclear arsenal. Consumed with revenge and grief, they taken their frustration out on the rest of the world, triggering the Evacuation of the Sun. It was far too late to salvage anything, they won't stop until all of us are either dead, or enslaved."
We'll see if that statement remains truthful, or hides accountability from the leaders of The Five.
!And so shall we...