The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

In the swaying darkness, Shana was dreaming—she knew she was dreaming, but she just didn't want to wake up.

Because at this moment, she is dreaming of scenes from the past.

For Shana, who was unwilling to accept the terrible reality of this world, being able to see the past, even if only in a dream, was a kind of relief—after all, ever since the day she was forced to wake up, she had been trapped in a lonely nightmare, forced to wander in confusion and fear.

Of course, in the dream, this terrifying future felt more like an unreal nightmare: to her as a child, the world was indeed getting worse—but this "worsening" only came from word of mouth among adults. For her, living in the reservation, everything she encountered was "normal" and ordinary daily life. At least, that was the case until her fifteenth birthday.

Shana was born in the spring of 15 years before the end of the ancient era known as the "Old Civilization Era." She was born in a reserved area in the inland region of Eurasia.

At that time, human civilization had already suffered a severe split due to huge differences in values ​​and ideologies, becoming many groups that could almost be described as "species isolated." These reserves were the dwelling places of one type of people who did not accept mainstream civilization.

When Shana was still learning to speak, her parents told her all of this on the grass on a summer night.

"Those furthest from us are the 'travelers' who have gone and will never return," in Shana's dream, her mother, whose face was blurred, sat on the grass in the warm breeze, pointing to the stars in the sky. "Those people have completely abandoned the Earth, and even the solar system, and their total number is over 25 million."

"Abandoned...Earth?"

"Yes, they lost all affection for their homeland due to deep disappointment, boarded a high-sublight speed immigrant ship for cryogenic sleep, and sailed into deep space, never to return."

"Oh..." Shana looked at the starry sky and suddenly shuddered—in her young mind, "never to return" and "death" were equivalent.

In her eyes, the black velvet-like starry sky suddenly became as gloomy and terrifying as a giant graveyard.

"There are also 30 million people living in so-called 'near-Earth colonies'—that is, the region within a radius of 50 light-years around the solar system. These regions can theoretically still maintain regular contact with Earth… but only theoretically. Due to the vast distances, most colonized worlds only communicate with Earth once or twice per generation. Our civilizations, ideas, and social structures have already developed enormous differences due to isolation, just like the Polynesians who were isolated on different islands back then…"

"Mom, what are Polynesians?" Shana asked.

"They were the original inhabitants of the Pacific islands... Oh, of course, many of the islands they now live on have disappeared," Shana's mother sighed, "because of runaway global climate change."

"Of course, Mom used to participate in an environmental remediation research project, and she was the chief researcher there," Shana's father said to Shana, sitting under a birch tree in the distance on the grass—of course, his face was now just a blurry but familiar silhouette. "They were researching genetically modified reef-building corals."

"Yes, strictly speaking, they are genetically modified new types of zooxanthellae and corals with enhanced reef-building capabilities... The former can withstand high temperatures and more polluted waters, and is also more efficient at utilizing carbon; the latter has a much greater ability to create limestone exoskeletons than ordinary reef-building corals." Shana's mother looked up at the night sky and said thoughtfully.

"Your mother's creations are amazing. Like this, 'whoosh—' a coral island can grow in two or three years, replacing the submerged area." Shana's father gestured exaggeratedly to describe it.

“Yes, but in the end, what good does it do?” Shana’s mother sighed. “I’ve watched those submerged volcanic islands transform from rocky islands into barrier reefs, then into atolls, and finally into barren coral islands in just a few decades—not thousands or tens of thousands of years under natural conditions. Yes, on the map, these islands are ‘saved,’ but that doesn’t change the fact that they have already disappeared.”

"Indeed," the father said. "Atolls are different from original islands. The ecosystems are completely different. Especially the lack of groundwater and humus accumulation, and..."

"It's not just our job; in fact, a lot of attempts to remedy the situation using technology are doomed to fail," Shana's mother interrupted Shana's father. "Because the people using the technology are the ones with the problem."

"Can people... have problems too?" Shana asked, puzzled, when she was attending kindergarten in the reserve at the time.

"Yes, those who remained on Earth and in the inner solar system colonies... they have become utterly corrupt. Having mastered the technology, they have completely regarded themselves as gods... and gods who have no afterlife, no concern for the future, and live forever in a frenzy of the present."

"Yes, those who remained on Earth and in the inner solar system colonies... they have become utterly corrupt. Having mastered the technology, they have completely regarded themselves as gods... and gods who have no afterlife, no concern for the future, and live forever in a frenzy of the present."

"This kind of 'god' can be said to be the most terrifying calamity god," the father said softly. The resentment in his tone made Shana shudder once again.

"These evil sun gods have abandoned all moral principles of the past, willing to do anything for a moment of pleasure," Shana's mother scoffed. "They've been indulging in cyber illusions for years, or simply cramming their brains with worthless signals. Some are obsessed with creating twisted life forms... like those 'new humans.' I've seen them thrown into gladiatorial arenas, and even more horrific killing games. It was truly... beyond 'horrible.'"

"Technology that is abused and used maliciously is worse than no technology at all," Shana's father said sadly. "This is something that researchers in the philosophy of science in the 21st century already understood, but people today completely ignore this common sense."

"Hey, Dad, Mom, is the reason we moved to the reservation to escape those 'Sun Gods'?" Shana asked, half-understanding.

"Yes, this is the last normal land on Earth," Shana's mother replied. "Originally, this was the land of the ancient Amish sect—because of their distrust of modern technology, these people never used scientific products from the beginning, and as a result, they inadvertently escaped being corrupted by the endless power of technology."

"Then, people like Mom and Dad gradually moved into this land," Shana's father continued. "Over the decades, we integrated with the people who originally lived here, and new values ​​and scientific perspectives emerged. Unlike those 'gods of evil,' our principle is that science and technology should be for good. If it can't be, we'd rather not use it."

"But if we continue to hide here, those guys will gradually destroy the world, and then we'll still have nowhere to go?" Shana asked anxiously.

"That's not the case," Shana's mother wagged her finger. "We believe that science and technology for good are essential. If we don't, then people will be destroyed by their own technology—that's exactly what will happen to those guys out there. And we've already made the necessary preparations... Once those guys bring about their own destruction, we will use science and technology to build a better world."

"Really?"

"Really," Shana's mother said, extending her little finger and making a pinky promise with Shana. "Mom promises, Shana will definitely live in that wonderful new world."

After that night's conversation, Shana lived a quiet life for several more years. Like any ordinary child from hundreds of years ago, she attended primary and secondary schools in the reservation, received an ordinary education, wore an ordinary cute school uniform, and made some ordinary friends just like herself.

Of course, in her memory, the world had not been peaceful in those years: from time to time, all sorts of news would come from outside the reservation, mostly about new natural disasters, and sometimes, even more terrible news.

On one occasion, Shana heard that a group of people, in order to play a so-called "hunting game," accidentally released a group of dangerous living weapons called "Tai Sui," which they had captured during an exploration mission outside the solar system, into the wild; and on another occasion, she heard that six giant "labyrinth" arenas were unveiled around the world on the same day.

It is said that there, people can directly control so-called "avatars" through neural connections and engage in chases and battles with specially bred new human gladiators in various environments.

Shana couldn't understand why anyone would need to pursue pleasure through such crazy and extreme means. Her parents, too, grew increasingly depressed. On the last day of the summer before she entered the second year of junior high in the reserve school, Shana and five other children were suddenly asked to gather in the small square behind the school.

There, they were secretly picked up on a small hoverbus and taken to a remote mountain area.

Because her memory was somewhat hazy, Shana couldn't recall the scenery she saw along the way in her dream; she only remembered many, many tall trees. All the trees were lush and green, indicating that it was indeed the height of summer.

The small hoverbus eventually entered an underground facility sealed off by a heavy, reinforced armored door. It descended via an elevator to a vast underground hall. There, Shana and her companions disembarked and, led by a technician, toured a series of enormous hibernation pods.

"This is 'technology for good'," said the technician, whose face Shana could no longer recall, or even whether he was male or female. "Miss Shana, your father really likes to emphasize this word."

"What's the point of doing this?" Shana asked.

"It's very meaningful. We believe that the corrupt and decadent civilization outside is self-destructive," the technician replied. "They will eventually reach their end, and we have both the obligation and the right to ensure the continuation of human civilization—this place can accommodate enough people and store a large amount of plant and animal genetic material and technical data. Although we don't want it to really come to that, however..."

The man paused for a moment, looked at the rows of hibernation devices, and sighed.

"...However, if this failed civilization brings about its own destruction, then this will be the most severe insurance policy we have left for the human race."

"Um... what's the name of this place?" a girl asked.

"This facility is codenamed 'The Rotten Chessman.' Hmm, that's a very interesting story."

"Hmm..." Shana's companions seemed quite puzzled by the name. However, Shana understood its meaning: her mother often recited an ancient poem over the years, "Remembering the past, I idly recite the Ode to the Flute, returning home like a stranger." Therefore, she knew that this was a story about someone who had unexpectedly traveled to a very, very distant future.

When she first heard that short story, her first reaction was actually... fear.

Of course, this fear is inevitable: in the story, the woodcutter who finds that the handle of his axe is completely rotten when the game of chess ends can only feel deep fear and despair—everything he knows is gone, and no one in the world remembers him, this nameless man.

He was buried by history, cast by the surging currents of time onto an unknown, desolate riverbank, and died from everyone's memory.

Shana didn't want that.

In her dream, Shana cried. She and her companions were then hastily expelled from the facility. Over the next year, Shana noticed changes in the curriculum at the reserve's junior high school. The purely academic classes were reduced to less than half their previous level, replaced by a large amount of content called "practical courses."

Shana and her friends were required to undergo basic physical fitness and cross-country training, learn to identify plants and animals, dig hiding places in the wild, cook outdoors, receive basic mechanical repair and first aid training, and were even required to understand the working principles of individual weapons.

They also learned basic vehicle and boat driving skills, and how to use some specially developed props... The adults didn't say why they had to learn these things, but most people had already guessed a thing or two.

As these "practical courses" increased, some particularly terrifying news gradually spread into the reservation: rumors circulated that war had broken out on Earth, and that some out-of-control new humans had seized control of a large number of automated devices and transformed them into weapons to fight against those corrupted humans.

Although the war did not initially affect the reservation, Shana could sense that the people around her were becoming increasingly panicked and uneasy. Everywhere was busily preparing for "something."

Finally, "that day" arrived...

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