Originally posted by darkage:
I hope this place stays open till i die and even longer...200 years...
Excerpt from documentary aired at Interstellar Information Web, subsection of the Interstellar Wide Web, at January 7th, 2201:
Documentary starts, showing images of computers, people browsing the net, etc.It was two hundred years ago, the day when mankind's evolution began. On january 7th, 2001, the first version of the Hard Light Productions website was brought online, a shy beginning for that which would become the greatest of all human societies. Since the very first days, enlightenment filled those web boards, a shining beacon of sanity and peace floating ominously above the sea of insanity and despair that was the world wide web. For the first months it strived, it grew, gaining members and knowledge, arts and science flourishing as the young community built strength. It's first anniversary was celebrated with much rejoicing, but even in their wildest dreams the creators and members of the Hard Light community could not have imagined what would become of it.
Five years passed, and the originally small band of players, artists and modders that created the site was still growing. Thousands of new members joined every month, and peace and prosperity still reigned. It was then that the revolution began. With a network of thousands, if not millions, of contacts all around the world, Hard Light Productions began it's march. Funded by several private companies and government agencies, among them Exys Connectivity and Opticnerve, HLP launched a massive campaign, reaching the farthest corners of the Earth, breaking cultural, historical and ethnic barriers, bringing not only modders and artists together - but bringing mankind together. It was seven years after that that the first physical Hard Light settlement was founded. Named "Arcadia", this settlement soon grew to envelop an area large enough to be considered a country, and soon enough it would be able to reclaim it's independence - on the first completely peaceful independence agreement in Earth's history, Arcadia was recognized as a sovereign nation, covering an area of over five million square kilometers in South America. It's first prime minister, Edward Woo, created and maintained peaceful and mutual beneficial relations with most nations of the world, and the community grew even more. But the march wasn't over yet.
Each day more and more people adhered to the Hard Light Productions phylosophy - that of peaceful cooperation, of benign competitiveness. Arcadia was no longer enough to hold all the newcomers, and soon other nations pledged their alliance and support, becoming not only protectorates, but integral parts of the ultimate dream. After a few decades it was the nation with largest surface area and population, at the same time being the single country with no poverty or illiteracy. A land of friendly and wise people it was, indeed. Extreme intustrial and scientific productivity boosted it's place among Earth's powers, and it became the first true superpower in history not to possess a true army. Democracy at it's best ensured great living conditions for those who worked, and a strong education system ensured that everyone knew their part to keep the society running.
The most notable fact of Hard Light Productions history, though, happened almost a century after it's original creation. In march 2098, the last of the world's nations, the United States of America, wilfully joined Arcadia, and Earth was finally united. The original humble objective of HLP's creators had grown into mankind's greatest achievment, as a world of hard-workers, scientists and artists could finally rejoice with peace and prosperity guaranteed. Arcadia strived ever since, reaching for the stars, the depths of the seas, and the most obscure reaches of the human min...
Voice fades out, the video now shows a sight from deep space, as a massive ship painted in blue passes by, surrounded by swarms of smaller vessels. On it's surface, a word can be clearly read, written in letters almost forty meters tall: Galatea
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