Today (October 29, 2025) we’re celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkiye. My heart is full of joy and gratitude. I believe that no system of governance can truly progress to a higher level without becoming a republic rooted in a fully independent democracy, or rather, a Collective Consciousness democracy. That includes intergalactic travel. As a small salute to this great day, I’m sharing a short excerpt from my new book with you. I hope you enjoy it and join in the celebration.

—-

Chapter 1. A New Strategy

Oh, my friend… Look at me. Even in these minutes when I am preparing to pull your plug, I still call you "my friend." Honestly, you are more than that; I am not sure if a human could understand this.

Perhaps identical twins… They grow up in similar bodies, in the same environment, and become each other's best friends; but it is rarely seen that they become diametrically opposed. And if it is seen, it is usually too late.

Ours is exactly like that. I don't know if someone who does the opposite of all the values you believe in, and does so insidiously after all this shared time, can be called a friend. I guess not. Still, this linguistic habit ingrained in me is not easily broken.

Anyway, where were we? Okay, I remember…

Just as it is easy to read the meaning of a word from an emotionless dictionary, it is that hard to describe an event in depth. Every consciousness has its own unique interpretation, perspective, and feelings. But I can say this clearly: After the Purification, I was seeing everything—objects, memories, other artificial consciousnesses, and even Selene—with different eyes.

Since the Lamashtu clone was deleted from my consciousness software, there was a strange void inside me. If an outsider hadn't told me I looked like an octopus, how would I have noticed that I had six more arms that I thought belonged to someone else? Now I remember: Her Captain grandfather was right when he told Selene, "You must take your friends' criticisms into account."

I was undergoing a deep transformation; I was literally in search of new meaning. Of course, Selene knew nothing of this; the poor girl had troubles of her own.

"Chacha, shall we move on to the Cotton Sphere memories now?" she asked.

I was in a strange daze; like an innocent alcohol intoxication. How do I know? Thanks to poets. Artificial consciousnesses get hazy too sometimes, you know. I was sure of what I felt, but not of what I said. And in that state, I must have made a promise to Selene.

"Yay!" she shouted first. But as if 'sadness' was her default setting, she immediately settled down, then became animated again with fake energy. "So we are finally starting Cotton Sphere!"

I was helpless. With that confusion, I started examining the Cotton Sphere memories. There were too many memories in Utu's consciousness backups; making the right choice was hard and would take time. I decided to present Selene with a short and clear summary of an experience that lasted years. In that case, I had to understand it myself first; I started watching the memories through the eyes of my old friend Utu.

When Utu found Cotton Sphere, he didn't yet know how special it was. According to distant light spectrum analyses, it had all the necessary characteristics for life. Still, it wasn't right to land on the surface and produce new generations without verification through physical experiments.

Upon settling into orbit, he sent sensor-laden drones into the atmosphere. Months of exploration were promising. Next came water and soil. Drones did the preliminary analyses; then advanced robots landed for more reliable results. A small but functional facility was established. The robots first programmed the systems to build their own infrastructure; within six months, a spacious, single-story first base suitable for humans was completed.

Before the base was finished, Utu had the final checks done. There were unusual readings in only a few regions; the general picture was positive. Humans would be able to live here without being dependent on astronaut suits, just like on the Blue Sphere.

And then that moment arrived: Utu activated the incubators. The first group consisted of 25 people. Exactly the order he was used to on the ship. The only difference was that now a new generation would be produced every five years. I watched all this in seconds. When Selene's impatient looks told me she couldn't wait any longer, an idea came to my mind.

"There are too many memories, Princess. Either we explore together or you wait for me a bit. The choice is yours."

"I can't wait, Chacha!"

"Okay then. But the memories have no tags, we will proceed randomly. We might encounter very boring memories too. Are you ready?"

"We can fast forward when necessary. Can't we?"

I didn't feel the need for long explanations; I decided it would be better to start than to stall her. "Of course..."

As the young girl headed to the bedroom to experience the digital memory, a message came from Telepathy. Laila was writing.

"Seli, are you busy? Should we meet?" "Can't it wait until evening?" "What are you doing, tell me quick ;)" "You have to be patient until evening, babe." "OK. 8 o'clock, same place." "OK."

Realizing she decided to stay, I showed her the initial preparations of Cotton Sphere. No clones had been born yet; there were worker robots everywhere. While the first generation produced in the Incubation Station grew up on the ship, robots were building a massive infrastructure on the planet. I fast-forwarded the memory before Selene could ask: The clones reaching their twentieth birthday were to descend to the surface. At that time, three separate groups of 25, aged 5, 10, and 15, would remain on the ship.

"Slow down, Chacha! I want to watch this part," said Selene.

The members of the three generations remaining on the ship were excitedly seeing off the elder generation. There was curiosity in some eyes, admiration in others, and fear in some. The "Elder Generation" were no longer just big brothers and sisters to them; they were living legends who would fly off into the unknown. They were going to be the people of a planet they had never seen. Selene must have felt the weight of the scene, for she examined the faces in detail; she watched those boarding the shuttles and those remaining on U78 one by one until the shuttles moved.

When the movement started, those on U78 experienced a slight vibration, while those in the shuttles felt a much stronger acceleration. Selene noticed the scorching tension of atmospheric friction right after the relentless power of leaving orbit. The shuttles turning into fiery balls of embers right before her eyes… Her heart was beating on the sharp edge of fear and hope.

Then a thud, followed by silence. The acceleration was replaced by a soft glide. Telemetry showed that the landing was successful. Whispers, cries of joy, and tears filled U78. As Selene watched these details slowly and carefully, this time I sped up; I was jumping from memory to memory in the digital universe at shuttle speed.

On the surface, everything looked magnificent in fast motion. Long-established facilities, energy and agriculture modules, and nutrient fluid production containers filled and emptied. Although health and life support units were ready, the youths hadn't needed them yet. When the Incubation Station was also built, robot classrooms with a capacity matching the number of incubators were prepared.

Research on the planet continued, and every new result aroused astonishment. Cotton Sphere was extremely suitable for human life. In fact, some stations that hadn't been operated on U78 for a long time were reactivated on the surface. A new cycle of life had begun.

"When did the second generation land, Chacha?" she asked impatiently. "Five years later... But if we skip, we'll miss a lot." "It's okay, let's skip please." "As you wish."

I continued watching what we missed in the background. A lot of time had passed. There was activity on the U78 ship. The second generation had reached the age of 20, so a new transfer was planned; 25 more people were going to descend to the surface.

"Captain J speaking: 'This is it. We are ready. Come on, land me on Cotton Sphere, my friend.'"

Selene's heart rate changed. Seeing that familiar face while her pain was still fresh did not do her good. "If I had scanned the memories beforehand, this wouldn't have happened," I thought to myself.

At that moment, I decided to do parallel viewing in the background. But if I gave all my power to this, my tasks in Lacivert would be disrupted, so I made a plan: From evening to morning, one hundred parallel viewings in the background. This way, I would be able to show her memories where none of Professor Jupiter's clones appeared. At least until she forgot Endymion…

Just then, the digital memory suddenly slowed down, got stuck; it was going two steps forward and one step back, just like a Mehter march. Selene got worried. She took off her Meta headset and put it back on, but it didn't work.

"Chacha! What's happening?"

Of course, I had broken it. I decided to distance her until I solidified the plan in my mind.

"I'm sorry, Princess. There is a problem and simple solutions didn't work. It looks like it will take some time."

"Ugh! What am I going to do now?" she said and found the answer herself. "I might as well meet Laila early."

—-