Please note this is a preview of Neo Ace that includes the first eight chapters only of this 30+ chapter book. Check out my blog at peterlok.blogspot.com for updates on Exocrisis Blue and my other stories set in this universe.
Shadows faded into twilight darkness. It was the beginning of night in Tokyo. The brilliant lights of the city combined with its enormous holographic video displays to repel the darkness in districts like Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Ginza. Around their busy train stations, thick crowds of people moved under 3D parades of fantastical beasts, anime heroes battling villains, and flashy advertisements. Music, sales pitches, and catchy jingles filled the air with a cacophony of sound. Up close, augmented reality glasses and mini holo-projectors showed targeted ads to people who had enabled their personal location identifiers.
Overlooking the vibrant city was the recently constructed Tokyo World Tree, also nicknamed of Yggdrasil, after the tree from Norse mythology that reached into the heavens and deep into the earth. It embodied the hopes of Tokyoites for the rebirth of their city onto the world scene after the destruction wrought by the Alien War and the subsequent Kanto earthquake. World Tree was about half the height of Mount Fuji, the tallest point in Japan. At a height of 1600 metres it was built to be bigger and taller than any free standing tower built by man, including the previous record holder, the Tokyo Skytree. Only the advanced materials technology developed during the Alien War allowed it to exist and withstand both massive earthquakes and typhoons. It was so tall that its top received an earlier sunrise than the rest of the city and a later sunset at the top. The only structures taller than it were the orbital elevators that reached into space from the mountains of Ecuador, Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya, and the artificial island of Sky Hope that was south of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.
An external elevator car rapidly rose out of the tower's massive base footings and began ascending to the observation decks just below the canopy that crowned the tower. The elevator was a silvery speck on the brightly lit surface of the tower whose built-in lighting subtly shifted in color over time. Twelve main struts fanning out in all directions comprised the main canopy structure at the top. Each strut in turn had extendable micro-struts which formed the branches and leaves of the great World Tree. During the day, it was a glittering silver and gold canopy. At night, the built-in holo-projectors turned the canopy into a brilliant lightshow that played animations for everyone to see.
Mayumi Shimizu and Hiro, her godfather, rode the glass walled elevator up with two dozen other excited people. The passengers were a diverse lot that ranged from families with children and grandparents, dating couples, and obvious tourists from other countries. The World Tree had already been open for a year and a half, but it still drew large crowds every day. Ceiling mounted displays on the inner walls of the elevator showed their rising position and facts about the tower as they climbed. Mayumi ignored the displays and pressed her face against the glass. She wanted to get the most of the breathtaking view while the less bold stayed well back from the glass. She could almost imagine she was flying in the dimly lit elevator. Next to her, Hiro observed her happiness and was content with that fact as he contemplated the view himself.
Most of the landscape below was composed of tightly packed points of light that extended to the horizon, except for obvious dark patches. Most of these areas of darkness were parks or rivers, but he knew that some of them were still ruined city areas full of rubble. Vast swathes of Tokyo had been devastated when they were heavily fought over between the Japanese Defence Forces and the invading Blue Newts. A great reconstruction had followed the Alien War, with the following Kanto Quake creating another setback, but the restoration work continued. Tokyo had been rebuilt again, for the third time in 200 years, but it would still be a few years before everything was complete.
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Neo Ace Academy (an Exocrisis Blue Mecha story)
Science FictionAuthor's Note: This standalone novel takes place almost seventeen years after the short story HARM, which introduced the giant humanoid robots called HARMs. These robots are piloted by humans who can neurally synchronize with the robot control syst...
