Wait a second, before we start – have you wondered how this book ended up in your hands? Where it came from, who delivered it?
Of course you haven't – nobody ever wonders about things like that. It's a shame, because the answer's quite interesting. I'd go as far to say it's fucking fascinating.
Not so long ago, most shipments were made via sea on freighters. Cheap, quick and (relatively) safe. But during the Fourth Corporate War, some genius in Arasaka had an idea – to release automated, self-replicating mines controlled by an AI into the ocean. What could possibly go wrong? A lot, it turns out.
The AI had a single objective: "Destroy enemy vessels." Simple, right? NUSA/Militech ships would get blown out of the water, while the Arasaka/Free State ships would sail by untouched. Except for the AI's iron-clad logic – since there was a non-zero probability that a vessel waving a friendly flag might also have enemies on board, in the interest of optimization it would also be sunk. Of course, when the leadheads back at Arasaka HQ realized what they'd done, they rushed to update the software – only for the AI to reject it as a virus. And thus, because of a handful of individuals' complete lack of imagination and foresight, the history of maritime travel came to an end.
So let's come back to the question – how did you end up with this book? Unless you live in Chicago, where it was published, then surely not via the Net – since that was destroyed by Bartmoss. Maybe it was shipped by plane? But air freight is incredibly expensive, so most likely not. By car then? We can't rule it out. But if I had to bet on it, I'd say it came to your city via train.
Imagine that trains (that's right, the ones that go choo! choo!) have survived into the present-day? Just last year, 15,526 miles of new train tracks were put into use, including the underground tunnel connecting Tokyo with Shanghai. At top-speed, an armored train can complete the distance between the two cities in under five hours! Now that's something I had to experience for myself. Two days later I was in Tokyo, standing on the platform of Sayonara Station...
