From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Space city.

In fact, it is a large-scale engineering project jointly developed and constructed with the orbital elevator.

On the surface, Atlas has delivered a load bay containing a large amount of building materials, living supplies and necessary equipment to an orbit about 37,000 kilometers above the earth's surface through the Accra Rocket Launch Base in the southern hemisphere.

Once they reach orbit, these payload bays will be unmanned and docked to form a prototype space city with pressure maintenance, insulation and circulation functions that can accommodate hundreds of staff.

Subsequently, Atlas used the new civilian space shuttle to deploy more than a hundred experienced engineers to outer space 37,000 kilometers away, and began to expand the space city.

At the same time, the space city moved above Libreville, the capital of Gabon, maintaining synchronization with the earth's rotation speed, and began to cooperate with the engineering team on the surface to carry out two-way construction.

These projects and steps are publicly displayed on Atlas’ official website, and there are even fixed live broadcasts for global netizens to browse and watch.

And secretly, Atlas's Eneo space vehicle is constantly traveling between the Accra production base and the space city.

One transportation mission of Ernio was worth several rocket launches. In addition, the special model of Hex robot was put into use, which greatly accelerated the construction progress of the space city and orbital elevator.

Finally, the first phase of construction of the space city was completed on June 2000, 6. Its scale is large enough to accommodate the work and living of 30 people.

Observed from a distance, this space city, which belongs to Atlas and is shaped like a super giant elongated cone, is one of the most massive projects ever built by humans in the main universe.

Not counting the area connected to the orbital elevator, the height of the space city is about 9,000 meters, and the widest ring area where the living, working and nuclear fusion reactors are located is about 3,600 meters.

Atlas claims to the outside world that this is a super-giant space station for civilian use and serves as the basis for human colonization.

After all, orbital elevators are used to transport materials, and then the modular hull structure is produced through the space station's 3D printing factory. The hull structure is then transferred to the shipbuilding dock with fully automated robotic arms, and then the final splicing process is completed, making all kinds of ships The "water entry" efficiency has been significantly improved.

In fact, Atlas has already opened production lines for civilian engineering ships, transport ships, and Enio, Luna transport boats, Swift Shadow assault boats, and even Selune-class military transport ships in the space city.

In addition, even though Atlas claims that this is a civilian facility, it is still equipped with a large number of embedded close-in defense guns, plasma cannon arrays and vertical missile silos, which is equivalent to a super giant military fortress.

Therefore, the space city is a dual-use "transfer station" integrating construction, transportation, colonization, tourism, and extraterrestrial exploration.

at this time.

Located in the transfer area above the orbital elevator, in the reception hall numbered 03;

The space here is spacious, with an average floor height of about twelve meters. The panoramic glass placed on the top allows sunlight to flow into the hall unobstructed.

In addition, the green belt and artificial river, coupled with the holographic screen displayed in a conspicuous position, allow passengers who have just arrived here to feel a comfortable and warm environment without having to worry about being "disoriented" because it is different from the station or airport on the surface. The lobby is not much different.

Among them, the holographic clock hanging in the center of the hall displays the words "Monday, January 2001, 1, 22:10".

As for the potential safety hazards that passengers may not expect, Atlas Engineering Department has already solved them at the beginning of construction.

The panoramic glass looks fragile, but in fact it can withstand close direct fire from 14mm Gauss armor-piercing projectiles.

The superconducting magnetic device on the mezzanine of the deck can not only simulate the earth's gravity environment by adjusting the strength and direction of the magnetic field, but also protect everyone in the city from deadly cosmic radiation.

now.

At the far right edge of Hall 3, the field duo of the "Seattle Lunchtime News" are looking through the vertically placed panoramic windows into the vastness of the deep space.

After Robin Meade, standing in front of the camera, witnessed such a magnificent scene, her mood was indescribable, and she couldn't help but sigh:

"Dear friends, when I learned that I was going to take the orbital elevator and come to Space City to report live for you, I had already made considerable mental preparations.

But when I stand here in person, looking at the earth below my feet, and overlooking the bright stars in the distance, to be honest, I just feel that human beings are too insignificant, really too insignificant.

Political and economic struggles, armed conflicts and resource plundering are all illusory actions in front of the entire universe.

As Atlas, who built this city, preached, we humans should sweep away the moths and unite as one."

While Robin was reporting freely, he and photographer Jerry walked towards the rail station not far away.

At the same time, the tablet computer held by Jerry on the left side of the camera also generated two small holographic screens facing Robin, showing her the barrage and messages sent by netizens in the live broadcast channel, so that she could get the latest updates in time.

I saw that the comments and comments in the live broadcast channel also expressed sighs and sighs like Robin did;

User 3367: "Oh my God! This is so shocking. I really wish I could go to Space City."

The Supreme Power: "Go ahead. Anyway, the total cost from my place to Libreville and then to Space City is only 4500$."

Paratroopers face the enemy sea! : "Fake! It makes me feel excited. I want to become a member of Atlas!"

Naming 1237: "Hey! Guys, let's get over the excitement first. Robin will take us around the space city later, but we still have to go to the moon."

The Supreme Power: "I remember that the Atlas official website just released the concept drawing of the engineering ship not long ago. Maybe we will be the first audience to see the real thing."

Netizens who only watched the barrage and comments, as well as the entire "Seattle Lunchtime News", were surprised by the scene outside the window of the space city, but they also had a sense of "it should be taken for granted".

Affected by Atlas, especially the annual product launch on September 9, people in the main universe have long been accustomed to a life of rapid development, and there is no such strong shock and technological impact as when the Titan 3G mobile phone was launched.

Therefore, under the guidance of Atlas, people naturally began to look forward to space projects such as "colonizing the moon this year" and "setting foot on Mars next year", and some have even participated in them.

Even if one day suddenly, Atlas announces on its official website that "Atlas has established a space fleet" or "Atlas research team has discovered extraterrestrial life" and other information, it will not feel strange. .

Next.

The field duo of "Seattle Lunchtime News" took everyone on a rail train in the space city to browse the well-lit fruit and vegetable park, work office area and leisure and entertainment area, and also took a close look at a standard Atlas Single dormitory.

After that, the two spent nearly six hours touring the area open to the public, and also found a fast food restaurant to fill their stomachs along the way.

Until 17:15 pm Pacific time, Robin and Jerry arrived at the outer edge of the docking port located at the upper end of the space city. They were about to meet up with the Atlas engineering team and take a ship to the moon, which is more than 30 kilometers away.