Cosmic Void: The Origins of Tessa

London England, March 5th 2104

It was the hardest thing Lara had ever done but as she held Tessa in her arms for the first time none of that mattered, "Just look at her Adrian ... she's perfect."

"Of course she is perfect, we made her after all! I told you the designer gene options were pointless, not that we could afford it anyway."

A nurse nearby places her tablet computer down on a desk and turns to face Lara and Adrian, "Congratulations guys, all the health checks look good so you should be able to go home tomorrow. As part of the new child safety initiative we now provide free implants for newborns but it's completely optional. Not only will the implant allow her to better integrate with todays highly connected world but it also provides you the security of knowing where your child is at all times. Once again it's not mandatory but it does help keep our kids safe."

"Why would a baby need to be connected to the internet?" Adrian questions with a blunt tone.

"Well those features wont activate until your child is older and you can disable any features you don't like as an authorized guardian."

"Adrian it sounds like a good idea, if it's free and keeps our Tessa safe then I want it."

"Hmmm fine... but it better not hurt Tessa."

"Don't worry sir it's a very non-invasive procedure, almost completely painless."

... 7 years later ...

"Happy birthday my darling! Do you like it?"

Tessa looks on in wonder as blue lights create a shape she hasn't seen before, "Wow it looks so cool. What is it daddy?"

"It's a holographic Tesseract, it's what you were named after!" Adrian enthusiastically explains.

"Ooooh I love it. Can I use it as a night light?"

"You can use it for a lot more than that! It's a holographic computer, look you can control it with your hand."

Adrian makes some hand gestures over the holographic display and the projection changes to a 3D female head.

"Hello my name is Synthia, how can I help you today?" inquires the 3D assistant.

"This is your own personal assistant, I built this AI just for you. Since you hate online school and we don't have time to home-school you, I thought Synthia could teach you instead. She can even keep you company when I'm not here."

"She's going to be my best friend and teach me everything! When I grow up I'm going to build robots just like you daddy!"

This would be the last birthday Tessa would ever spend with her father, soon after he would leave Lara and they would never see him again. The dedication Adrian had to his job and the long hours he worked would leave Lara feeling lonely and ultimately caused a divide which couldn't be healed. Tessa knew it wasn't her fault but still felt some responsibility as children do is those situations. Most of all she felt hurt that he never returned, it made her wonder how much he really loved her.

As a single parent Lara wouldn't be permitted to have any more children due to laws designed to combat global overpopulation. The limited contact Tessa would have with other children would cause her to become an introverted loner. Her time would mostly be spent learning about the world from her room and developing an obsession with science and technology much like her father. Her life existed mostly on the internet, but she quickly learned how censored and controlled it was, leading her to the dark net.

... 9 years later ...

"Tessa put down your phone and eat your dinner young lady!" Lara demands.

"In a minute the video is almost finished. I hate this crap anyway, why can't we eat normal food?" Tessa moans.

"I've told you before we can't afford it with these food shortages. Plus this stuff is really nutritious and by eating it we are doing our part to save the planet."

Tessa places her phone on the table and picks up her spoon, "I don't get it. These YouTubers from 100 years ago seem to have what ever they want but we have nothing, the future sucks!"

"Well there's a lot more people in the world now. Why do you even watch those guys if it just makes you mad?"

"Because all the government approved content creators these days aren't allowed to say anything funny!" Tessa complains.

"You just be careful talking like that around others, the world isn't the same as it was 100 years ago."

Not more than a year would pass before Tessa decides to run away from home at the age of 17, fed up with the strict rules of her mother she rebels and falls in with a bad group of people. Tessa figured she was almost an adult anyway but she quickly learned how hard it was to survive in the real world with a low social credit score due to her petty criminal history and association with other low scoring individuals. In order to survive Tessa was forced into the underground black market economy.

She would have her tracking implant removed and use only anonymous cryptocurrencies which were prohibited by the government because they posed a threat to the official cryptocurrencies. Cash had long been a thing of the past so it was really her only option to conduct secure transactions without being caught. Her advanced programming skills quickly made Tessa one of the most trusted coders and she helped to build one of the most successful darknet websites used to sell drugs and other illegal items.

She often questioned the morality of the work she did but at heart she was a rebel and she believed in freedom of choice. Even if she did want to find a legitimate job it would be nearly impossible with her low social credit score and lack of social media history. Most companies rely on social media profiles and social credit scores but Tessa was lacking in both areas. Not only that but she had stopped being vaccinated since leaving home, meaning she couldn't legally work or travel anywhere.

At this time the world was "unified" under a One World Government but each existing nation-state maintained some small amount of autonomy. People were free to live in any nation, they called it "open borders", but for people like Tessa it was hard to travel anywhere legally. At age 22 Tessa is caught trying to leave London and her criminal history would catch up with her and change her destiny forever. Due to overpopulation and food scarcity, law makers of the time used less conventional punishments.

"For the crimes of aiding in drug trafficking and other organized crime, the accused is hereby found guilty and sentenced to 120 years of cryogenic imprisonment." the judge declared as Tessa stood watching in shock.

At this moment it seems to Tessa as if her life is over, little did she know that this was only the beginning of her story. When Tessa awakes from her cryogenic prison in 2246 she will discover a secret left behind by her father Adrian, this will lead her to cross paths with another free spirited rebel called Zark. Together they will uncover the mystery of why Adrian left Tessa and why his work was so important. In this journey Tessa will learn the meaning of freedom and find a true home with Zark and his crew.

For those wondering this is a sort of spinoff / side-story to another story I wrote back in 2014:

Cosmic Void - Chapter 1: Setting the Stage