Age of Cataclysm: I can light up the technology tree

Time flies by, and in the blink of an eye, the first batch of humans born from artificial wombs and raised under the social foster care system have reached adulthood.

And today, July 3, 2420 of the Earth calendar, is the time for the first batch of "public foster people" to hold their [coming-of-age ceremony].

…

For their daughter's [coming-of-age ceremony], Qi Yang and Xu Ting took a special leave and took a public starship to [Space Nursing Center No. 2].

In the past 25 years, they and their daughter have had happy times and heart-wrenching quarrels.

Even as their daughter gets older, at her request, the number of times they come to the foster care center has decreased year by year.

But no matter what, looking at their daughter who has grown up and exudes youthfulness, their eyes are full of emotion.

"Mengshu, after the [Coming of Age Ceremony], you will be an individual." Qi Yang's lips trembled slightly, and he said reluctantly, "When the time comes..."

Facing his parents, Qi Mengshu smiled politely: "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

"I have made an appointment with them. After the [Coming of Age Ceremony] is over, we will go to Shuguang Star together."

"The teacher of the social training course has told me all the precautions. Don't worry about me."

Hearing this, Qi Yang and Xu Ting smiled bitterly again.

The "they" in their daughter's mouth refers to the companions who grew up with her daughter.

They know in their hearts that children who grow up under the social foster care system do not have a strong sense of family affection, and even have a little bit of indifference.

In their daughter's heart, companions are far more important than parents.

The reason is also very simple.

In the foster care center, companions born in the same batch have long become a big family.

For them, when they encounter difficulties, asking for help from companions is often the easiest and most reliable means.

Of course, in addition to companions, there are also Zero and a number of foster staff.

Parents, on the other hand, are at the bottom of the priority list of "seeking help", an awkward position that is dispensable.

Qi Yang sighed slightly.

Since he could remember, the word "they" has appeared more and more frequently in his daughter's mouth.

At first, Qi Yang and Xu Ting still found it difficult to accept such a change.

After all, in traditional concepts, children should always be close to their parents.

But under the social foster care system, their daughter is obviously closer to her companions.

For this reason, the couple and even their daughter had several quarrels.

As time went by, the two gradually accepted this reality.

On the one hand, they knew in their hearts that they did not contribute too much time and energy to their daughter's growth.

On the other hand, the propaganda efforts of the Parliament and the Academy of Sciences were getting stronger and stronger. They gradually realized the potential population crisis of the Human Union, and at the same time, they also had a certain understanding of the social public care system.

At this time, all the people who woke up in the surface city were elites who had made contributions to the Human Union to varying degrees.

Although they were somewhat unwilling to make such sacrifices, they finally chose to accept it.

For the progress of civilization, someone always needs to carry the burden forward.

If the younger generations can gain a firm foothold in the dark universe, what's wrong with them making a little sacrifice?

Especially when the Academy of Sciences and the Parliament set an example.

"Go."

Xu Ting opened her hands and gently hugged her somewhat unfamiliar daughter in front of her: "Go to your coming-of-age ceremony."

...

Academy of Sciences, Sociology Division.

Lv Yongchang, who was originally carrying out the Guangwei 1 transformation plan, also put down his work and rushed to the Sociology Division.

If 25 years ago, the promotion of artificial wombs and social surrogacy systems was a key attempt, then today's [Coming-of-age Ceremony] and the development after [Coming-of-age Ceremony] are a test of all the efforts made in the past 25 years.

Thanks to the joint efforts of everyone, in the past 25 years, every year's quota has been "claimed" by couples.

Up to now, the three space nurturing centers located in the synchronous orbit of Dawn have been overcrowded.

Fortunately,

The first batch of "students" have successfully graduated. After completing the coming-of-age ceremony, they will set foot on the ground of Dawn Star, make every effort to integrate into the big family of the Human Union, and inject the freshest blood into the Human Union.

Lv Yongchang looked at the data in the holographic projection in front of him and breathed a sigh of relief.

The comprehensive fertility rate curve began to turn upward 25 years ago and left the danger zone.

After the implementation of the artificial womb and social surrogate system, the kiss of death between the fertility curve and the mortality curve was postponed indefinitely.

"Has the coming-of-age ceremony begun?"

Lv Yongchang asked softly.

The head of the sociology department responded quickly: "It has begun."

"According to the process, life extension transformation will be carried out first, and then human body strengthening transformation will be carried out."

"Including the adaptation period, it is estimated that it will take a total of ten days."

...

The space elevator, which had been silent for ten days, started to operate again.

One trip... two trips...

One after another, 10,000 young people who were only 25 years old set foot on the ground of Dawn Star.

Qi Mengshu was naturally one of them.

She followed her companions and boarded the public starship to City No. 1 in an orderly manner under Zero's command.

As the first of the six closed cities on the surface, City No. 1 naturally became the pilot city.

The first batch of "public-funded people" will find jobs in City No. 1 and start their new lives.

After a short wait, the port gate of the space elevator ground base slowly opened.

With a slight recoil, the public starship started.

Qi Mengshu subconsciously turned his head to look at the porthole.

Outside the porthole, starships of the same shape slightly raised their heads and flew towards the blue-purple sky.

It was early in the morning.

On one side of the sky, the huge Lumina 1 reflected the cold light under the illumination of the main star of Gliese 555.

It can be vaguely seen that there are several extremely large buildings on the surface of Lumina 1.

That is the renovation project of the Lumina 1 planetary fortress.

Under the reflection of the cold light, Qi Mengshu can even see several engineering ships as big as soybeans docked near Lumina 1.

On the other side, the main star of Gliese 555 has just risen.

The morning sun is always full of vitality.

It unreservedly casts light and heat to the Dawn Star, wantonly dispelling the remaining darkness on the Dawn Star.

Qi Mengshu's eyes moved downward.

Decades of environmental transformation have brought some vitality to the surface of the Dawn Star.

Some light green appeared on the originally vast yellow-brown land.

Some plants with tenacious vitality, with the help of the Academy of Sciences, became the first residents of the Dawn Star.