The crowd pressed against the viewing barriers, straining for a glimpse of the approaching vessel. From his privileged position on the VIP observation deck, Corporate Historian Tomas Reed adjusted his immacute jacket and prepared to witness history.

  "There," a woman beside him whispered, pointing to a glint of light against the rust-colored sky.

  The final colony ship from Earth had arrived at Terminus.

  Tomas activated his neural interface with a practiced thought, and the ship magnified in his vision—a massive interstelr ark carrying the st remnants of humanity from a dying pnet. Its hull bore the scars of a journey spanning decades and light-years, yet it maintained a certain dignity as it descended toward the nding fields.

  "A historic moment," said Marcus Voss, his voice carrying the weight of authority that came naturally to the head of VitaCore Industries. "The completion of humanity's evacuation."

  Tomas nodded respectfully. As corporate historian, he knew better than most how precarious this moment had been—how close humanity had come to extinction. His neural interface pinged, reminding him that the official broadcast would begin momentarily.

  "The masses need context," Marcus continued. "They need to understand the significance."

  "Of course, sir," Tomas replied, mentally reviewing the carefully crafted narrative he would present.

  Below, the crowd had swelled to hundreds of thousands. Members of every social strata filled the massive pza—Architects in their premium viewing areas, Privileged citizens in orderly sections, Servicers maintaining a respectful distance behind them, and at the very edges, Workers packed together in designated zones. Beyond the official viewing areas, Tomas could just make out the unauthorized gatherings of Unaligned citizens who had traveled from the outer territories to witness the arrival.

  Five distinct groups, one momentous occasion.

  A soft chime in his mind indicated the broadcast connection had opened. Tomas straightened, feeling the weight of millions of viewers connecting through their neural interfaces of varying quality and capability.

  "Citizens of Terminus," he began, his voice transmitted across the colony, "today we welcome the final ship from Earth, completing humanity's greatest journey. The Resolution carries the st five thousand souls from our ancestral home, closing the chapter on our exodus from a world we could no longer sustain."

  Images flowed from his neural interface to the broadcast—carefully selected footage of Earth's final days. Coastal cities drowning beneath rising oceans. Massive dust storms sweeping across once-fertile pins. The gleaming unch facilities where the colony ships had departed one by one over the decades.

  "One hundred and twelve years ago," Tomas continued, "the Settlement Council recognized that Earth was beyond saving. Resources depleted, climate in colpse, geopolitical stability shattered. They conceived the most ambitious pn in human history—the establishment of Terminus Colony."

  The ship grew rger in the sky as it approached the nding zone. Below, the crowd's murmurs swelled into cheers.

  "The first ships arrived here seventy-four years ago, finding a world with breathable atmosphere but hostile conditions. Through determination and technological innovation, our forebears established the first settlement. Under the guidance of the Settlement Council, they began the terraforming processes that have made our lives possible."

  As he narrated, Tomas was conscious of Marcus Voss watching him closely. The corporate version of history differed in subtle but significant ways from the records in the Personal Library that Tomas had accessed during his research—records restricted to Architect-css schors. The democratic principles of the original Settlement Council, the gradual corporate takeover, the increasingly rigid stratification of society—these elements were carefully minimized in the official account.

  "Today," he continued, "with the arrival of the Resolution, humanity stands united on Terminus. Earth is now a memory, but our future is secure under the guidance of the seven corporations that have brought prosperity and order to our new home."

  On cue, the names and logos of the corporations appeared in the broadcast: VitaCore Industries, AquaNova Corporation, TerraMin Collective, Helix Pharmaceuticals, FusionTech Enterprises, ProtectoCorp, and InfoSys.

  "From this day forward, we look not to the past but to the future we will build together on Terminus."

  The ship was now close enough that its massive engines were visible, the controlled psma burn creating a halo of blue-white light as it decelerated. Tomas had read the specifications in his research—the Resolution was the most advanced of the colony ships, incorporating technology that had been unavaible when the first vessels departed Earth.

  As he continued his narration, Tomas used his historian's access to pull information from his Personal Library directly into the broadcast—carefully selected images of the early colony, the triumphs of terraforming, the establishment of the corporate governance system. The library access was seamless through his Architect-css neural interface, a privilege unavaible to the majority of citizens whose interfaces offered only the information deemed appropriate for their css.

  The ship touched down with a grace that belied its enormous size, nding struts absorbing the impact as thrust vectored perfectly to settle it onto the pad. A cheer swept through the crowd, starting with the Workers at the back and rippling forward until even the typically reserved Architects joined in polite appuse.

  "And so begins the next chapter in humanity's story," Tomas concluded as the ship's main airlock began its cycle sequence. "United on one world, under one system, with one purpose—to thrive where our ancestors could not."

  He closed the broadcast connection and turned to find Marcus Voss smiling with satisfaction.

  "Well done, Historian Reed," Marcus said. "A perfect bance of inspiration and instruction."

  "Thank you, sir."

  "I have high hopes for humanity's future on Terminus," Marcus continued, gazing at the ship. "My sons will come of age in a world of opportunity and advancement."

  "Your twin boys, sir?" Tomas asked politely, though he was well aware of the recent birth of Alexander and Elijah Voss, heirs to the VitaCore empire.

  "Yes. They'll enter a world where the mistakes of Earth are behind us. Where proper organization of society ensures stability." Marcus's expression hardened slightly. "No more chaos of competing nations, no more wasteful democracy and endless debate. Just efficient progress under proper guidance."

  Tomas nodded, careful to keep his expression neutral. In his studies of the colony's earliest days, accessed through the most restricted sections of the Personal Library, he had read accounts quite different from the corporate narrative—accounts of the Settlement Council's original vision for a democratic society, gradually subverted as resource challenges mounted and corporate influence grew.

  But such thoughts were dangerous, even for an Architect.

  "If you'll excuse me," Marcus said, "I should greet the ship's captain. Helena will want a full report when I return home."

  As Marcus departed, Tomas remained at the viewport, watching the massive airlock doors finally open. The first passengers began to emerge—the final humans to leave Earth forever.

  In his mind, Tomas composed the entry he would add to his private journal ter, stored in an encrypted corner of his Personal Library:

  The st ship has arrived, closing humanity's exodus. The corporations speak of unity and progress, but I see the divisions growing sharper with each passing year. Workers barely subsisting, Unaligned surviving on scraps, while we Architects live in luxury. This wasn't the future promised when the first ships unched. I wonder if anyone remembers the original vision for Terminus, or if that dream died with Earth.

  But such thoughts would remain private. Publicly, Tomas Reed would continue to narrate the corporate-approved history of humanity's new beginning on Terminus, never hinting at the seeds of conflict already taking root in the colony's carefully stratified society.

  The st survivors of Earth stepped onto Terminus soil, unaware that the new world they had sacrificed everything to reach was already developing its own existential challenges—challenges that would eventually lead to the creation of the Game.