The 160th Floor View

Patrick Castle founded Nautlix with his friends, and Nautlix Inc. has reached a market capitalization of 25.6 trillion dollars. Patrick is the richest man in America with a fortune of 3.2 trillion dollars and an IQ of 177. He earned his PhD from Stanford before most people even enter college. Fans called him the "Ice Prince," but Patrick preferred the nickname "The Man Who Built the Future" given by the media. Nautlix has driven enormous stock growth through breakthroughs in General Purpose Smart Intelligence System, or GPSIS, nuclear fusion, terraforming, and robotics. The company operates Teelium deuterium fusion power plants. Arc 1 and 2 in Milpitas and Palmdale, California, produce a combined 704 GW of electricity. California now exports abundant power to Oregon, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, forming an "Energy Belt" and earning the nickname "The Electric State."

Nautlix is famous for GPSIS. Using terraforming technology, the company built the massive Nevada Water Genesis Megaplant in Tonopah, Nevada, producing 180 million tons of fresh water annually. In the Arctic, the TerraForce Rod S devices have played a critical role in addressing global warming. The successful launch of Magellan 1 dramatically boosted the company's valuation. Nautlix mass produces the Evolve series robots, which set new standards in robotics. Designed as terminals for the general purpose AI GPSIS, these robots have rapidly replaced domestic and industrial labor. Just as the iPhone and Tesla defined the 2010s, the Evolve series defines the 2020s and has become indispensable across America, Europe, Canada, and Asia. Production hubs are in Austin and Munich, with major factories in Korea, Vietnam, and India. The robots operate solely as terminals powered by GPSIS central data centers in dedicated facilities across the United States, Sweden, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and India.

GPSIS also controls 70 percent of global autonomous driving through its terminal architecture rather than onboard AI. Through innovations in general-purpose AI, nuclear fusion, terraforming, and robotics, Patrick has tripled America’s GDP while significantly stimulating the economies of the EU, China, Japan, India, and the global economy at large. This has ushered in the dawn of the hyper scale era. Thanks to terraforming, the world population has surpassed 16 billion, yet humanity has not collapsed as past economists warned. This was made possible by the combination of terraforming, nuclear fusion, and newly discovered genes. Without these advances, it would have been impossible. The general purpose AI GPSIS also contributed to discovering oil fields that were previously undetectable.

The Fifth Industrial Revolution has brought the hyper-scale economy era. This hyper-scale economy has pushed America's GDP to 87.894 trillion dollars, with its population growing to 714.8 million. Since the early 2000s, America has maintained one of the highest birth rates among developed nations, achieving steady growth through natural increase and immigration. After surpassing 300 million on October 17, 2006, it experienced sustained rapid growth, resulting in dramatic population expansion by 2026. America's GDP leadership and the arrival of the hyper-scale economy have become a global phenomenon. Economists now call this the hyper-scale economic era, referring to the previous period as the old economy or super-scale economic era. These changes have extended far beyond America.

In this ultra-high-speed growth era, the global population has reached 16 billion, driven by nuclear fusion, terraforming, improved agricultural productivity, and new oil field discoveries. China has grown into the world's second-largest economy with a GDP of 66.3 trillion dollars and a population of 2.073 billion. Japan has achieved a GDP of 34.74 trillion dollars and a per capita GDP of 88,700 dollars through growth in advanced materials, particularly titanium sponge and carbon fiber industries. The Greater European Union as a whole has reached a GDP of 82.54 trillion dollars with a population of 883.192144 million. India's GDP stands at 31.8 trillion dollars with a population of 2.83569 billion. Germany has a population of 184.07 million and a GDP of 18.65 trillion dollars. The United Kingdom has a population of 144.5 million and a GDP of 16.23 trillion dollars. France has a population of 131.4 million and a GDP of 14.45 trillion dollars. Italy has a population of 138.9 million and a GDP of 12.87 trillion dollars. Canada has grown to a population of 112 million with a GDP of 10.32 trillion dollars. South Korea has a population of 98.404 million and a GDP of 8.48 trillion dollars. Population growth in countries other than India and China has mostly come through immigration.

After Nautlix surpassed a market cap of 25.6 trillion dollars, many companies have broken the 10 trillion dollar barrier. Nautlix remains firmly in the world number one position. On Wall Street, these companies are collectively called the "10 Trillion Dollar Club." Nautlix turned Alvin Toffler's vision into reality, making his books bestsellers once again. Meanwhile, the TerraForce Rod S project has become the most decisive success story in global scale terraforming efforts. It reversed glacial melting trends and protected humanity from the worst impacts of global warming. Shortly after, the company unveiled the Clean Ocean System. Ocean rods powered primarily by abundant geothermal energy were installed on the seabed. Engineers overcame seismic issues through innovative vibration damping capsule structures, isolated rod designs, and sophisticated GPSIS based AI systems for earthquake dispersion and control. Starting as the OceanForce Rod project in 2022, it delivered remarkable results in just four years. The world's oceans underwent dramatic changes. Massive plankton blooms triggered explosive increases in fish populations. Marine biodiversity recovered sharply. Shark and whale numbers returned to levels from centuries ago. The surge in whale populations was closely linked to the restoration of the Arctic ecosystem through a boom in krill, their abundant food source.

The population has grown beyond 16 billion, yet only the Mojave Desert and the entirety of Texas have been transformed into grasslands so far. Saudi Arabia has signed contracts for ongoing terraforming, and not every desert has been transformed. As a result, most cities have become megalopolises. In America, former major cities expanded vertically into megalopolises while suburbs grew with single family homes or terrace houses. Recently built homes favor terrace houses for medium density expansion. Wealthy areas maintain their mansions, but in cities the zoning distinctions have largely disappeared due to megalopolis formation. Europe faces challenges expanding historic major cities but has developed megalopolises through high rise buildings in suburban and secondary centers. China and other Asian nations have adopted megalopolis development most rapidly, centered on major metropolitan areas. Texas alone has become a lower density megalopolis amid the global trend because the entire state was terraformed into grasslands. Thus Austin maintains a medium density similar to Los Angeles, while Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston have high density. In these megalopolises, even in America, daily life has shifted from universal car ownership in the super scale era to primary reliance on public transportation, creating lifestyle patterns similar to Asian cities. Although downtown areas have wide parking lots capable of accommodating pickup trucks, most urban residents drive cars no larger than a BMW 3 Series on average, with the majority using public transit. Buses are mainly from European makers like MAN, Scania, and Volvo, while subways use American produced versions of Japanese train cars. Suburban areas continue car centric lifestyles from the super scale era.

In this hyperscale economic era, America has entered the megalopolis age and sent urban planners to Asian countries like Korea, Japan, and Singapore, even to Hong Kong, to learn high density policies for achieving rush hour zero and establishing advanced urban and public transit systems. Subways feature double decker designs for express and regional lines while metro trains mix single decker types. Buses avoid double decker designs due to higher rollover risks and lower operational efficiency, favoring articulated buses instead. In contrast, Asia has seen an increase in double decker buses and double decker subway cars for single and regional lines due to population density, a trend shared with Europe. In America, California buildings are mostly limited to 35 stories due to height restrictions, airports, and earthquake zones, but the Midwest and East feature 40 to 200 story structures. Europe has buildings from 40 to 200 stories, while China reaches up to 300 stories for technological display. Korea has buildings from 60 to 300 stories, centered on satellite cities rather than Seoul. Japan, despite being in an earthquake zone, has 40 to 200 story buildings due to population pressure, supported by the world's most advanced seismic and base isolation technologies. The United Kingdom builds 40 to 200 story structures in secondary centers around major cities and is constructing artificial islands the size of Ireland in the east during the hyperscale era. In the Middle East, Dubai is building 400 story towers for both oil dollar display and to showcase its role as a regional hub. A common feature of the megalopolis era is the inclusion of rooftop green spaces on these buildings.

You live in Shanghai, China, where this megalopolis transformation has taken place. You reside on the 160th floor of a 300 story building. China has fully embraced megalopolis development, with high rise buildings dominating cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong due to its population exceeding 1.6 billion. The government even promotes eVTOL adoption because it has become essential after cities turned into megalopolises. Chinese state media has stated:

"Our country will promote megalopolis development to build a moderately prosperous society and actively embrace it for the 2050 China Megalopolis. By aligning with hyperscale, China will lead this era alongside America as one of the G2 powers. Although we do not yet have nuclear fusion, the nation has pledged to actively increase nuclear power plants and gas power stations."

Your wife Mei enters and turns off the TV as she speaks.

"Honey, my friend Ling was crying yesterday. When I asked why..."

Mei sighs.

"Her husband Jianjun is infertile..."

Mei continues.

"We are in the middle of this hyperscale economy boom, and the country is going crazy building high rise apartments for megalopolises, yet infertility remains the same as in the old economy days. So I told Ling to go to an infertility clinic for IVF, but she said doctors in Shanghai are expensive."

Mei takes leftover dim sum from the refrigerator, heats it in the microwave, opens a Tsingtao beer, and drinks while speaking.

"Our population has exceeded 2.073 billion, our GDP is over 66.3 trillion dollars or 464.1 trillion yuan, and per capita income is 31,500 dollars or 225,000 yuan. Yet in Shanghai you need 200,000 to 500,000 yuan to live comfortably. Even in hyperscale, life is still tough, and doctors for IVF are not cheap."

Mei looks at you while drinking her Tsingtao beer. It is clear that no matter how much the economy has grown in hyperscale or how advanced the megalopolises are, life remains harsh. Time continues to pass.