Chapter Eighteen
March 4, 2231, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Apartment of Erik Blackwell
Erik stared out his window at the lines of flitters forming strings of light in the early evening. It was never truly dark in Neo SoCal, but the line of vehicles was a reminder of the hundred million people who lived in the metroplex. His years on the frontier had imprinted so deeply into his soul that it was strange to think that most colonies had fewer people than this one urban center.
It reinforced a conclusion he shared with people far more educated than him: humanity hadn’t spread out because they needed to as much as because they wanted to. Resources and territory were convenient excuses, but arguably, the species could have been happy and satisfied on Earth, let alone the other planets
