We no longer live in the sandbox of our own little worlds. There is a far more dangerous galaxy out there and we must be ready for it. But we dare not lose ourselves in the process. How does a society prepare to defend itself from an enemy without becoming that enemy? The history of our civilizations shows how hard that question is to answer. So many great societies have failed. So few have weathered the test of time. I intend to weather well.
Some Cowboys stuck around after The War to train a new generation of Cowboys. A lot of us retired and found something else to do. We’ve done good in the extreme fighting circuits for one. Not me. I don’t like getting my white suit dirty. But I’ve dealt in the conflict business myself. Sometimes even with other Cowboys. We’re all kinda full of ourselves you know. Sometimes we get into it with each other. But all’s good as long as nobody gets killed dead.
Almost everyone meets many AIs today. They run houses, cars, and even clothing. You’ve probably given them money at the registers of your local store, or maybe you’ve flown in a ship built by them. Most of you have met them in computer games or been escorted into a real life meeting by one. AIs are an integral part of life in the First Worlds Cities and few could imagine modern society operating without them. But they will always do only what you programmed them to do.
Contact changed us. The War changed us. We were content with our own little power plays before them. They were the games of children squabbling over a sand box. Most of us never saw the wide world outside the sand. Then They came. Now we see. I funded Wolfenheim in answer and continue to see it as one of our possible futures. A bright one I hope. I do not wish to see us go the other way.
Cowboys are something else you know. Point us at an enemy and we’ll knock their blocks off, tell us we’ve got an enemy to fight and we’ll wait until its time to go in guns blazing. But what do a bunch of Alpha Male and Female supersoldiers do when the fighting ends? It’s hard to go back to the homes we used to know, the lives we lived before The War. And some of us have nothing to go back to. So what do we do? Most of us find a way to keep fighting.