The Rise & Rise of Homo Luminous
Chapter 1 In The Beginning
The date: 600 001 AD.
The place: Planetary Park Earth.
The event: Birth.
Introduction
The establishment of Planetary Park Earth, or Earth Park as it was commonly called, was possibly the most controversial decision ever made by any government of the United Federation of Planets (UFP). It came as a consequence, although not directly, of the likewise controversial Catharsis Act, which had readied UFP for the tremendous evolutionary changes that effected several species. By the time the evolutionary process had been completed, the impact upon the Federation had not.
Life itself had fundamentally changed. Several species, including Homo Sapiens, Vargary, Lyonies, Unis & the Zargah no longer required material possessions. Having evolved into non-corporeal entities, industries of all kinds went through a wild ride as the economy battled with change. Although the Catharsis Act was supposed to tackle the economic roller coaster ride that followed The Catharsis, it was still a tremendous strain for every citizen of the Federation.
Times of sever stress was nothing new for the UFP. Its very long history, of well over 500 000 years, is littered with emergencies of all kinds. Unlike many of these emergencies, though, the Federation had many years of planning this time around. It had survived previous stresses & many believed that, although this period was unprecedented, the UFP would survive. Indeed, within 10 years of the events of The Catharsis, the UFP appeared as strong as ever.
Ironically, this renewed strength came, in part, thanks to the evolutionary changes brought to those species that experienced The Catharsis. Those billions of Homo Sapiens (reclassified Homo Spiritous) that underwent The Catharsis, in particular found new vigour in their existence. As before, their need to champion righteous causes was as energetic as ever. So was their pragmatic approach. It is still amazing, considering the eons that have past, that these causes have actually brought few wars. If one characteristic can be made of the UFP, it is one of peace.
Only a handful of wars have taken place in close to 600 000 years. The worst being conducted at the Federations establishment that witnessed the Liberation War against the ancient & long defunct Blurgiss Empire. Since then, few other wars have taken place, even though several neighbours of the Federation are far from friendly. For them it is just as well that hostilities do not commence. Although the UFP lives & breaths peace, its United Defence Force (UDF) is without equal. The technological supremacy of the UFP ensures its enemies apply diplomacy in finding solutions to any quarrel instead of military adventures.
It is, however, the civilian United Planetary Explorations (UPX) that sees the most action. Its vast fleet of exploration vessels scout the galaxy, making discoveries virtually every day. Alas, occasionally the UPX suffers casualties as a consequence of its duties. Unlike the UFP & the ideals that it values, other civilisations throughout the Milky Way galaxy do not share in the peaceful activities of the UPX. Most of the time the UFP tolerates such attacks, but occasionally a visit by a Sparta class battlestation gets the message across to the offender.
Exploration, however, was not the only pursuit conducted with increased vigour. The Homo Spiritous home planet, Earth, had also gained new attention. Earth, from the very beginning, had always been a major centre of the UFP. At first it was everything for the original Federation; its political, social & economic capital. But after a few centuries of rapid expansion, the political capital had moved to Capital-Upon-Epsilon some 40 light years inward of Earth.
Earth, however, still remained as an economic giant. Few other planets came close & it thus also remained an academic & social powerhouse. Furthermore, even though the political capital may have moved, the politics did not. Earth continued to produce Presidents & in doing so retained political control. Although this had, at times, caused disputes & tensions with other Federation members, more often than not, the Federation grew from strength to strength.
But with The Catharsis, all that changed. Most of the sentient inhabitants of Earth were now non-corporeal. Although at first many still clung to their old ways, soon the advantages of living as a non-corporeal beings took over. On a planet that once had 12 billion inhabitants living on it in the late 22nd Century, fewer than 10 million corporeal inhabitants lived there after The Catharsis. The desolation was amazing & soon many became shocked & distressed at the impact that eons of civilisation had made upon the blue jewel. It was, thus, in such an atmosphere of thought that the controversial Earth Park was conceived.
Planetary Parks were nothing new in the UFP. At one point in time, 12 such planets had been declared such Parks. All were off limits to everyone & everything. These planets usually had an infant sentient civilisation or already had significant environments where colonisation would wreak havoc. But all such planets had been declared Parks as such upon discovery. UPX would, after the necessary analysis required, proclaim a planet a Park to ensure no contact would accidentally (or otherwise) take place with the UFP. There had never been, however, a declaration of a Planetary Park after colonisation. Needless to say, none had involved a planet like Earth.
Yet, due to the radical changes that had taken place on Earth, a Planetary Park was exactly what was declared. Under the Catharsis Act, Homo Spiritous leaders pushed forward their claim for economic aid in achieving their goal. It was a huge undertaking. A tremendous environmental clean-up took place to return the Earths environment to what it was prior to Human impact. It cost trillions of dollars to implement & complete.
The political fallout from Earth Park was horrendous. The President at the time, Mark Sydney, was constantly hounded over the project; especially when the cost became public knowledge. In real term dollars, Earth Park cost the Federation tax payers five times than it cost to terraform the planet Epsilon & move the capital there from Earth. And the voters did not forget the matter at the next elections. President Sydney was booted out of office. He would be the last Human, let alone Earth citizen, to be elected President for close to 50 years.
Yet, in the scheme of things, it was just as well that Earth Park was completed. No one anticipated the miracle that would happen next. Out of the jungles of South East Asia they came. In locations once known as Thailand, Laos & Cambodia, a new specie of Humans were born. A small amateur tourist/observation group first stumbled across the examples in Thailand by accident. First thinking that the animals they were watching were a typical primate, closer inspection discovered a new specie. Further observation suggested that this species was sentient, highly intelligent, organised & enjoyed high cognitive skills. Immediately the tourists were kicked off the planet & a UPX observation/research team was sent it. The UPX team leader, Andrea Holtzen, after much thought, called the new Human specie Homo Luminous.
News of this discovery spread like wildfire. UPX
immediately quarantined Earth & sent several more personnel to learn
more about Homo Luminous. In the process, two more tribes were discovered
in remote areas of South East Asia. How long Homo Luminous had existed
for could not be discovered, but it was obviously a recent addition to
Earth. It was determined, though, that it was native to Earth. DNA tests,
taken from selected "volunteers", clearly indicated that its origins were
local to this region of Asia. More importantly, however, was that this
specie had evolved naturally. Unlike Homo Sapiens, there was absolutely
no evidence of genetic manipulation.
Origins
Homo Luminous had an extremely long evolutionary period. Long before Homo Sapiens had evolved into Homo Spiritous, the ancestors of Homo Luminous had lived on Earth for thousands of years. Although at one point they were almost brought to extinction by unthoughtful &/or uncaring Homo Sapiens, it was this same specie that also turned out to be the savour of Homo Luminous in more ways than one. (see Human Evolutionary Table 1 for the various stages in Sapiens/Spiritous & Luminous evolution).
It was sweet potatoes & tourists that began the evolution of Homo Luminous. On the Japanese islands Macaca Fuscata, commonly called the Japanese Macaque, survived as best it could in competition with Homo Sapiens. As the local Human population grew, the Macaques regions grew smaller & smaller. Thus, by 2001, they were under the threat of extinction. Yet, at the same time, the Macaques became a major drawing card for tourists. These Human tourists would often feed the Macaques, as had become a regular pattern since 1945.
What back then had appeared to be nothing more than a tourist thing, would inevitably save the Japanese Macaques from extinction. Furthermore, the Macaques discovered that the food, mostly sweet potatoes, could be washed in salt water. Thus this spectacle of Macaques washing their food on the beach or on rocks as the ocean waves came in, ensured more tourists to come, which incidentally brought more food.
As the years went by, the Macaques fortunate enough to be part of the "Ocean Tribes" continued to survive - in fact they prospered - while their counter parts in the remotte jungles slowly died out for lack of food & habitat. The "Ocean Tribe" Macaques even began to use sea shells & other useful items as primitive tools. Not only did this activity help in the consumption of the sweet potatoes, but the Macaques also dig up the beaches in order to locate other food sources such as crabs & worms. By the accidental introduction of a sweet potato, everything thus changed.
Yet it was an event many centuries later, which ensured that the next step in the Macaques evolutionary future would take place. Environmental damage over the centuries, even with safeguards, had still brought havoc to many areas on the Earth. By 3001, the number of extinct species had become alarming & more were not far off disappearing forever. Although not a new move, numerous National Parks had been created around the Earth. Earth Government, & the UFP, would strictly supervise these new parks, but unlike previous parks, no one would be permitted to enter them. Only the occasional authorised UPX visit to ensure that the animals were surviving would be allowed.
The Japanese Macaques would be one among many species to transferred to the South East Asian National Park (SEANP). Although the "Ocean Tribe" had survived extremely well under their "natural" seaside conditions, the others in the jungles of north Japan did not. Furthermore, many other macaque cousin species in other parts of the world likewise suffered. To ensure that the Japanese Macaques would continue to survive, they became a key candidate for SEANP.
The new habitat for the Japanese Macaques was, however, radically different from their previous ocean location. Nonetheless, it was their natural habitat. Knowing this, it was decided that they would have to be well catered for until the Macaques had become used to their original environment. Sweet potatoes were planted in their location in abundance. Furthermore, the Macaques were split up & located in three different regions within SEANP. It was hoped that, just as they had previously, they would adapt quickly to the new situations. They did not disappoint.
Although the Japanese Macaques were originally tree dwellers, centuries of being on the ground in Japan had altered their behaviour dramatically. They could still climb trees with ease & often slept in them as security, but spent most of their waking life on the ground. This changed little when relocated to SEANP, especially when their favourite food supply (sweet potatoes) was soon discovered. As previously, the Macaques would get their sweet potato & take it off to wash. Unlike earlier, however, the Macaques had to dig for their potatoes. In a similar manner, they had to wash their potatoes in a river (located within walking distance) & not the nearby ocean.
Upon digging & having to walk longer distances, once again their behaviour changed, albeit not as drastically as before on Japan. Yet other things (mostly food), just like at the beach, were discovered whilst digging. And the walking brought them to discover other food supplies in their region. Thus they began to spread out, establishing their new territory along the way. In doing so, the "troops" (as groups/families of Macaques were called) began to settle down in suitable locations akin to a village. The same process was repeated across the three regions where the original "colonists" had been located.
And thus the Macaques lived for almost 150 000
years, forgotten by everyone.
Macaca Habilis
The archaeological records cannot say exactly when the first new Macaca spice was born, but it is estimated to be around 150 000AD. As the UFP continued with its glorious existence with Homo Sapiens leading the way, Macaca Habilis took its first steps on the Earth. The remains of this Macaca, like that of Macaca Fuscata, are now all that is left, but from them we can see the first evolutionary stage leading to Homo Luminous.
Ironically it appears that as Macaca Habilis was being born, Macaca Fuscata was dying out. No one really, until this day, understands why Macaca Fuscata became extinct. But the archaeological records indicate that Habilis simply took over everything, including the regions & villages that had housed Fuscata for so long. The most widely held theory is that the first Habilis were born to Fuscata & that within a generation or two only Habilis was being produced. As nature had determined that most Homo Sapiens had transformed into Homo Spiritous, so too Macaca Fuscata had transformed into Habilis.
Macaca Habilis, even with this transformation, was not that much different to its forbearer. Still covered in fur, & not much bigger at about 120cm (4ft), Habilis still could not stand fully erect. Having said that, Habilis had developed feet as against hands. Furthermore, its thumb grip, which like Fuscata had always been good, had evolved more like the opposite grip of Homo Sapiens. And like Homo Sapiens, its brain had developed too.
In any event, although it still looked like Fuscata, Habilis was a major improvement. It could now walk five times as much while using the same amount of effort & energy as Fuscata. It could hold things much easier & use them in a more precise manner. In doing so it could throw an item further & more accurately. Few archaeologists were thus surprised when primitive spears were discovered with the remains of Habilis.
But the really important evolutionary step was the brain. It was double that of Fuscata & Habilis put it to good use. Unlike Fuscata who was always a hunter/gatherer, Habilis is thought to have begun farms. Although Fuscata established their villages near good food supplies, no evidence was discovered of cultivation. This, however, is not true of Habilis. Clear signs have been discovered that indicates that Habilis cultivated sweet potatoes & other vegetables. These farms may have been primitive, but they clearly indicate that Habilis were able to realise they could grow food stuffs rather merely gather them. Thus food was in constant supply.
This was fine for vegetables, but meat was another matter. But as with cultivation of vegetables (and possibly fruits), a revolution occurred in meat procurement. As stated earlier, archaeological evidence clearly shows that Habilis had spears. There is no stretch, thus, required of the imagination to accept the fact that Habilis hunted other animals for their meat. Whether this was done by an individual, or as part of a team is not known, but as both Fuscata & Habilis were very community orientated, it is safe to assume that an organised hunt took place for meat supplies.
Both situations indicate an ability to organise & manage the community as a whole. There is no evidence, however, of any formal governmental structure, or for that matter a sexual hierarchy, but the leading theory argues that an "alpha" male ruled each village. There were then several lieutenants that were responsible for various duties. There is no evidence to confirm whether females & males acted in this lieutenant capacity, but the theory goes on to argue that females were responsible for the farms while males conducted the hunting.
In any event, the evidence does indicate that
Habilis society was structured & organised. However, little development
seems to have occurred during the 150 000 years that Habilis existed on
Earth. This included expansion of their respective territories. It seems
that, even though they had the ability to walk 15 kms (9 miles) a day,
they were content to remain within a days walk from their village. There
is no evidence, thus, that any exploration took place, or for that matter
any communication between the three "nations" during this entire period.
Homo Erectus (Macaca)
Even though Macaca Habilis was a major evolutionary step on the way towards Homo Luminous, the revolutionary specie in this regards was Homo Erectus (Macaca). Everything about this species was different, thus ensuring that it would be classified as Human rather than Macaca. In fact the resemblance of Homo Sapiens ancestor (taking the gene manipulation by Spiritous Sanctus Sapiens into account) was uncanny. There were some differences, but that was not surprising.
To begin with, as the name suggests, Erectus (Macaca) could stand erect. This was unlike any of its ancestors. As a result, its straight back alone added to its overall height which was about 160 cm (5ft 3 inches) for a typical male (females were about 7cm or 3 inches shorter). Similarly, the legs had become more in line with Homo Sapiens as well as the feet. It has been estimated that an Erectus (Macaca) could walk about 30kms (18 miles) a day, doubling that of is immediate ancestor.
Another important factor was the development of the hands. As Habilis had a major improvement over Fuscata, so Erectus (Macaca) was improved over Habilis. This insured that items could be held even better than before &, for the first time, the "workmanship" & thus quality of tools improved. Instead of primitive spears, well refined ones capable of being thrown a respectable distance accurately, were made & slowly improved over Erectus (Macaca) long existence.
If these evolutionary improvements were not enough, again the brain grew in size & ability. In order to control all the improvements, this brain clearly had to be, not only bigger but smarter. Even though there is no direct biological evidence, most archaeologists concur that Erectus (Macaca) was the first fully sentient specie of this group. Some argue that Habilis, due to its organised & structured society was also sentient, but no archaeological evidence exists to support this. But taking into account Erectus (Macaca) primitive paintings depicting hunting & farming activities, wherein Erectus (Macaca) are clearly behaving in a certain manner, strongly suggests a self awareness.
Much has been said of this evidence & not only to support theories of being sentient. Going further, many argue, with much in their favour, that the paintings were used as an educational tool. That by having the particular event pictured, a teacher can pass on knowledge to the next generation. If this is the case, then it would be very obvious that Erectus (Macaca) was fully sentient. No similar evidence exists, however, for Habilis.
In other areas, though, there appears to have been no or little development, especially in societal matters. As with Habilis, farming & hunting activities continued as before. It was as if the practices of thousands of years were satisfactory now as previously. These practices may have been enough to feed the rather static Habilis population, but it was not for Erectus (Macaca).
Having said that, there is evidence to suggest that both species lived side by side for centuries. This could explain for the real sudden rise in population, for there appears to be a doubling of the villages within a century of the first Erectus (Macaca) as discovered by archaeologists. In turn, this brought about the first known expansion of territory in almost 250 000 years. Although there is no evidence that the three "nations" knew of each others existence, evidence does support the fact that the territory occupied by Habilis & Erectus (Macaca) doubled once again the century after that. At the same time, the same farming & hunting practices remained the same.
Like with Fuscata, no one really knows why Habilis became extinct. There are two main theories to explain this event. The first is basically survival of the fittest. Basically the new Erectus (Macaca) were just too competitive for Habilis on every level. Once Erectus (Macaca) numbers became the vast majority, there was little Habilis could do. Either they were breed out or simply died out. The other theory runs similar to what happened to Fuscata: that is Habilis were eventually transformed into Erectus (Macaca). In either event, the overall population became stable after 300 years. It would somewhat remain this way, although some evidence does indicate that a very slow increase in numbers continued throughout Erectus (Macaca) existence.
At this point, it must be asked why the UFP, or the Earth government for that matter, knew nothing of these developments taking place on Earth. When SEANP was established, UPX was supposed to look in from time to time ensuring that everything was going fine. But 500 000 years is a very long time to continue dropping in. Simply it got to the point that the National Parks on Earth were doing fine without Human intervention. After a few thousand years, no one dropped in to have a look. In fact the environmental groups & political parties even got their way eventually & turned the parks into fortresses. By 45 000AD no one was permitted into the parks. Life & nature was left to do its thing.
All this changed though when The Catharsis took place. As Erectus (Macaca) was educating the next generation with paintings, Homo Spiritous was born. Thereafter, education for Homo Spiritous was done through telepathy. The contrast in education style, let alone the knowledge transferred, could not be so dramatically different. But that was not all, the freedom of movement that came to Homo Spiritous permitted interplanetary travel. Travel for Erectus (Macaca) was, on the other hand, vastly different.
Many Homo Spiritous, when they became aware of such freedoms, travelled out towards the unknown stars to see what was out there. Although they could not travel fast than the speed of light, it really did not matter at first. Many other Homo Spiritous remained where they were & continued their lives as before. After the novelty of "freedom" wore off, however, many of the travellers returned.
Before they did return, Earth was basically vacant. As already mentioned the UFP established the Planetary Park Earth. Although politically disastrous, for planet Earth it was a huge environmental bonus. Furthermore it left to the Earth what was soon to come. The date around this time was 599 500 AD.
And come soon it did. The freedom to travel to
the stars for Homo Spitious was not solely restricted to space travel.
As non-corporeal creatures, Homo Spiritous could travel wherever they wanted.
As many of the "star travellers" returned, having given up their voyages
due to boredom, some considered going where one had for some 500 years.
The Planetary Park Earth, among other places, awaited their visit. And
many a sight, it was said, was there waiting for them. Great surprises
there found: animals such as tigers, lions, elephants & zebras were
among the fascinations. But the most surprising discovery of all
were primitive humans. Homo Luminous to be exact. The year was 600 001AD.
Primitive Homo Luminous
As the political situation within the UFP reacted to crisis after crisis due to The Catharsis, Homo Luminous was born. Only a few generations had come into existence as Homo Erectus (Macaca) began to make way for the new specie. Unlike Habilis, Erectus (Macaca) did not hang around. Again there is no direct evidence as to what eventually happened to Erectus (Macaca), but by the time UPX began monitoring Luminous, Erectus (Macaca) had already vanished.
At first the Luminous population levels were rather low. The overall population had shrunk to about 100 000. Although this may still seem like a large number, when compared to the Erectus (Macaca) of approximately one million, it is a significant reduction. Needless to say, it took a few centuries before there was any expansion of Luminous territory.
As Erectus (Macaca) was a major improvement over Habilis, so Luminous was an improvement over Erectus (Macaca). Now standing erect, the average height was about 170cm (5ft 7inches) for a male. Females were about 5 cm (2 inches) shorter. The bodies had lost almost all their fur. Only hair on the head, under arms & around genitals remained in a similar fashion to Homo Sapiens.
The only significant difference to their Homo Sapiens cousins was the location of the ears & nose shape. Unlike Sapiens, a Luminous ears was located on top of the temple rather than the bottom. Furthermore, the shape was triangular in a fashion similar to their Fuscata ancestors. Again the nose resembled that of their ancestors & was rather pyramid (four sided) in shape with the nostrils either side of the bottom half, but it was not too dissimilar from a Sapiens nose. Other than these differences, it was very clear that both were Human in appearance & shape.
As such, the skull was almost identical between the two corporeal human species, while the brain within looked the same. Other than DNA testing, a Luminous brain was exactly the same as a Sapiens one. However, the UPX researches noted very early in their observations that, although the brain was the same, Luminous was far more intelligent. Even though UPX could not interfere in any way with the development of the Luminous, various tests were left around for an individual Luminous to undergo. These at first were relatively easy by Sapiens standards & it became apparent that they were likewise easy for the Luminous. The tests got harder as time went by & UPX calculated that a typical Luminous was about double that of a typical Sapiens in intelligence.
To confirm these findings, several surviving Homo Sapiens were given the same tests. Not all Homo Sapiens had been transformed by The Catharsis & a few billion of them continued on with their lives. Why they had not been transformed, no one knows until this day, but they nonetheless continued to be a part of the Federation. Having said that Luminous, even at this youthful primitive level, were more intelligent on average. They were also just as adaptive too. It was also soon discovered, after their number had reached the 1 million mark, that like Sapiens, they reproduced their numbers quickly. They were also very curious of the world around them. They were not, however, highly aggressive, although would resort to violence if needed.
But the most important aspect, probably above all, was a spoken & written language. It is unknown what language, if any, that Luminous ancestors spoke, but it was apparent from the first observations that Luminese was a highly developed form of communication. Furthermore it was shared among the three "nations", even though there was no evidence that any of the "nations" knew the existence of the others.
Just as important than the spoken language, if not more so, was the written version. It was a highly developed form of hieroglyphics. The leading theory argues that this was a significant & sophisticated development from the early "educational" paintings dating from the Erectus (Macaca) period. In many respects, primitive Luminous hieroglyphics are not too dissimilar to ancient Egyptian ones from Sapiens ancient history. And again all three "nations" had basically the same written language.
As mentioned earlier, Luminous was curious about the world around them. Although few at first went off exploring, the increase in population soon made this a necessity. At first explorers wondered off looking for suitable land to cultivate & farm. Hunting was also a factor, however Luminous had, by this stage, began farming animals as well as various crops, fruits & vegetables. But still, all this took space & obviously land. As the combined Luminous population reached two million, thus new villages were established.
This expansion cycle soon took over a life of its own. As more Luminous were born, so too was the need for land increased. Thus it did not take long for explorers from the three "nations" to eventually meet up. However, instead of instant conflict over land taking place, the Luminous were more amazed than anything when it was discovered that others like them existed on their "island".
This discovery more than anything else propelled the Luminous to explore more & more in an effort to discover the world about them. As part of this process, elders & scholars from the three tribes met constantly in order to discuss & share what they knew. A healthy appetite quickly grew about what the others knew & what they were about. This soon enveloped most Luminous people everywhere. All of a sudden the Luminous world had tripled over night.
Yet this still did not solve the land/population problem. Although impossible for the elders to control, population growth continued in all three "nations". Wisdom, however, solved the problem. Unlike Homo Sapiens, who the Vargary often said that Sapiens had about as much wisdom as a new born baby, the Luminous agreed to come together in order to solve this growing problem. This was radically different from primitive Sapiens time when open & aggressive warfare followed by conquest would have probably been the answer.
The result for the Luminous, however, was their first civilisation. Known as the Great Community, a capital of sorts was established in the middle of the combined territories. Each "nation" would explore & expand in the opposite direction from the others. Some form of coordination would come from The Capital, but each nation basically expanded according to the guidelines.
Soon the "nation" in what was once called Laos, expanded north into China from the coast inland towards the mountains. The "nation" to the south, in what was Cambodia, expanded along the coast down the Malay peninsular. While the "nation" along what was the Thai-Burma border region, expended west into Burma & eventually north-eastern India.
Soon millions of Luminous colonised a large part of Asia. Again Humans spread out across the globe. Again it would be for various reasons, but as their lives became more secure, other things caught the interest of the Luminous. Curiosity grabbed the attention of many & explorers began going out just to see what was there. Now free of merely looking for land to settle, they went to satisfy their wont. Much of this was haphazard & thoroughly unorganised, but some settlers followed. And as they did so, more area became Luminous territory.
The Luminous Government, an oligarchic structure of elders by this stage, tried in desperation to control this activity, but to no avail. Yet instead of eventually enforcing its orders, turned around & began supporting the explorers in earnest. Not long after, as explorers entered Europe & Africa, two significant exploration campaigns took place.
The first exploration team, Terra Australis, used small boats that went from island to island within the Indonesian Archipelago. Using nothing more than the sun & a hand written map (which was added to enroute), the Terra Australis Troop landed on the southern coast of New Guinea after six months of exploration. After a further week of travel, a land mass was spotted to the south. As they had done throughout their journey so far, they paddled across the stretch of water to Australia. An entire landmass once more awaited new human inhabitants.
The Terra Australis Troops discovery, however, was nothing compared with what came next. Terra Americus set out in freezing conditions heading east, from what was once the Pacific shoreline of Russia. Although the weather was not to Luminous liking, they nonetheless set off on foot across the ice that joined Asia to North America. This was soon abandoned in favour of boats. This idea was not, however, any better, yet they persevered. Thankfully, no one in the expedition died whilst attempting the transit of the Bering Sea. Needless to say, the sighting of landfall was greeted with enthusiasm by everyone, not for the fact that they had discovered the Americas, but because it was land.
Another year would go by before the two explorer troops could get back to report their news to The Capital. Although neither the Australian or American continents had been fully explored as yet, this decision was quickly forthcoming along with colonisation plans. As the Luminous primitive period came to and end, the stage was set for the future. All the continents, except Antarctica had been reached. Colonies had thus been established that would be the cornerstone of the great Luminous civilisations to come - The Grand Community (Asia), The Southern Union (Australia & Pacific Islands), Western Luminous (Europe), The Eastern Territories (Americas) & the Far Luminous Frontier Counties (Africa).
The beginning was over. The great golden age of
Homo Luminous rule on Earth was about to begin.
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