Amun. A student in the Physics and Mathematics Department at Urvashi University.
Their group entered one of the new taverns, now called bars under the influence of Earthly information. Amun didn't understand such blind attachment to a distant planet incapable of understanding its own woes, but she didn't resist it either. She and her friends had decided to take a break from cramming countless new physical laws within the framework of Goa'uld science, from solving problems that predicted how all mathematics and physics would change on another world. Or rather, physics would remain unchanged, only its manifestations would change. For now, they simply wanted to relax and have a drink.
There were five of them: two girls and three boys: Amun, Erda, Karun, Sav, and Zar. They all attended the same university and were on good terms, so they decided to spend the evening together at a bar. After finding a table, they ordered fried potatoes with cutlets and beer.
"Have you completed that task yet? I came across a planet with a gravity of 1.85," Karun complained, having difficulty applying the necessary formulas with the corrections.
"Yes. I'm done," Amun replied. "I had a planet with 0.78."
— Do all these planets really exist?
— Most likely, yes. There are billions of planets in the galaxy.
"Do you think we'll be able to visit them?" Zar asked.
"Why not? They teach us for a reason. Perhaps they'll even give us the opportunity to fly our own ships, exploring the universe."
- What if we meet evil Goa'uld there?
"All Goa'uld are evil, except for Szarekh," Amun replied, taking a sip from her mug. "Father says the Jaffa are kept separate only so they don't interfere with the others' work. They consider themselves superior in everything."
"An acquaintance from the army told me they train eighteen hours a day. In some ways, they really are superior to others. Their army training is aimed at fighting criminals and bandits. While it's not as grueling as the Jaffa's, it still exhausts you to the limit."
"Why did he even come here? He destroyed everything," Karun hissed angrily. "Father will have to close his workshop."
"But thanks to this, your father will live another hundred and fifty years," Amun said, pointing to the bracelet that controlled the nanites in her blood, ensuring absolute health. "And no one else will know the fear and horror you felt when you lost your mother to illness. Everything comes at a price. Despite all your talent, you would never have entered the University. No stars or other planets. You were destined for your father's work, or military service, followed by an apprenticeship with a blacksmith. Yes, some doors closed, others opened."
- It's easy for you to say, your father is an official.
"Do you think he didn't have to retrain? Learn new languages, new work methods, and so on? It wasn't easy for anyone, but we pay for the benefits that came with it. Medicine, better transportation, increased food production. Take Earth, for example: the average person is richer than their ancestors two hundred years ago. And more comfortable: washing machines, electric stoves, microwaves, ovens, boilers in homes—all of this has made our lives more convenient. I sincerely feel sorry for your father, who lost his income, but he could change his specialization. Because we all have to learn to do that. You will become a scientist, the intellectual elite of the planet, making people's lives better. Perhaps your inventions will take jobs from future generations for the sake of progress. The Phaetarkh of Isara also organized a retraining program for those losing their jobs, funding their time for training.
- Yes, I know... It's just that everything is changing so quickly.
"We all realize this," the second girl, Erda, interjected. "Everything is changing very quickly. Our children will live in a completely different world than the one we grew up in. But this speed is necessary. We are far from the main Goa'uld Empire, but they have already sent two ships to us. Who knows how many will come after that. Now there are only two options: either us or them. And we need to be fully prepared."
- Oh, too much politics, and I'm still sober.
"That's logical. Logic should be our weapon; it's our profession."
— While we don't have our own work, we repeat what the earthlings and the Goa'uld did.
"My term paper could be useful. I want to show it to Professor Omok."
"Or maybe because he's so handsome?" her friend asked. The boys rolled their eyes. The young and extremely intelligent man served Phaeron Szarekh and also occasionally taught rather complex topics. Half the girls in the class were in love with him.
"It's an added bonus," Amun replied.
On Uravshi, there's a fair amount of sexual freedom, and no one has to be a virgin to marry. However, for women, this generally had certain consequences in the form of pregnancies. But nanite technology, allowing pregnancy at any time, has expanded the sex lives of many. Amun herself valued the fact that she would retain her twenty-year-old appearance for 30-40 years. In the past, that might have been her entire lifespan. Now, a new world has arrived, where she could live to be 300, perfectly healthy. And she could explore other planets (when military command approved) for as long as she needed. And there are also stars, nebulae, and other celestial bodies. They were promised that in practice, they would be able to explore the celestial bodies of their own system on a real spaceship.
"Okay, we're too sober. With these nanites, it takes more alcohol to get drunk now."
"To the delight of the alcohol producers," and they clinked their mugs.