Tokyo, 40 Stories High

Patrick Castle founded Nautlix with his friends, and Nautlix Inc. now boasts a market capitalization of 25.6 trillion dollars. Patrick, the richest man in America, possesses 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 media-given nickname, the Man Who Built the Future. Nautlix skyrocketed in value through groundbreaking advances 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, generate a combined 704 GW of electricity. California now exports abundant power to Oregon, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, forming the Power Belt and earning the nickname the Electric State.

Nautlix is renowned for GPSIS. Using terraforming technology, the company built the massive Nevada Water Genesis Megaplant in Tonopah, Nevada, producing 180 million tons of freshwater annually. In the Arctic, the TerraForce Rod S devices played a crucial role in addressing global warming. The successful launch of Magellan 1 propelled the company's valuation to new heights. Nautlix mass-produces the Evolve series robots, setting new standards in robotics. Designed as terminals for the GPSIS general AI, these robots rapidly replaced household and industrial labor. Just as the iPhone and Tesla defined the 2010s, the Evolve series defined the 2020s, becoming indispensable across America, Europe, Canada, and Asia. Production hubs operate in Austin and Munich, with major factories in Korea, Vietnam, and India. The robots function solely as terminals powered by GPSIS central data centers in dedicated facilities across America, Sweden, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and India. GPSIS also controls 70 percent of global autonomous driving through its terminal-based architecture rather than onboard AI.

Through innovations in general AI, nuclear fusion, terraforming, and robotics, Patrick expanded America's GDP from its previous scale to more than 3 times larger while greatly stimulating the economies of the EU, China, Japan, India, and the world at large. This marked the dawn of the hyper-scale era. Thanks to terraforming, world population surpassed 16 billion, yet humanity avoided the collapse economists once warned about. This was made possible by the combination of terraforming, nuclear fusion, and newly discovered oil fields uncovered with the help of GPSIS.

The Fifth Industrial Revolution ushered in the hyper-scale economic era. This hyper-scale economy boosted America's GDP to 87.894 trillion dollars, with its population growing to 714.8 million. Since the early 2000s, America 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, the country experienced sustained rapid growth, resulting in dramatic population expansion by 2026. America's GDP leadership and the arrival of the hyper-scale era became a global phenomenon. Economists now call it the hyper-scale economic era, referring to the previous period as the old economy or super-scale era. These changes extended far beyond America.

In this era of ultra-rapid growth, the global population reached 16 billion, fueled by nuclear fusion, terraforming, improved agricultural productivity, and new oil field discoveries. China grew into the world's second-largest economy with a GDP of 66.3 trillion dollars and a population of 2.073 billion. Japan achieved a GDP of 34.74 trillion dollars and a per capita GDP of 88,700 dollars, driven by advances in advanced materials, particularly titanium sponge and carbon fiber industries. The Greater European Union reached a GDP of 82.54 trillion dollars with a population of 883.192144 million. India recorded a GDP of 31.8 trillion dollars with a population of 2.83569 billion. Germany had a population of 184.07 million and a GDP of 18.65 trillion dollars. The United Kingdom reached 144.5 million people and 16.23 trillion dollars in GDP. France achieved 131.4 million people and 14.45 trillion dollars. Italy stood at 138.9 million people with 12.87 trillion dollars, while Canada grew to 112 million people and 10.32 trillion dollars in GDP. South Korea boasted a population of 98.404 million and a GDP of 8.48 trillion dollars. Population growth in most countries outside India and China came largely through immigration.

After Nautlix surpassed 25.6 trillion dollars in market cap, several companies broke the 10 trillion dollar barrier. Nautlix firmly held the top spot. Wall Street collectively calls them the 10 Trillion Dollar Club. Nautlix realized Alvin Toffler's visions, making his books bestsellers once again. Among its projects, the TerraForce Rod S stood out as the most decisive success in global 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 across the seabed. Engineers overcame seismic challenges with innovative vibration-damping capsule structures, isolated rod designs, and sophisticated GPSIS-based AI systems for earthquake dispersion and control. Launched as OceanForce Rod in 2022, the project delivered remarkable results in just four years. The world's oceans underwent dramatic transformation. Massive plankton blooms triggered explosive growth in fish populations. Marine biodiversity recovered sharply. Shark and whale numbers returned to levels from centuries ago. The surge in whale populations closely related to the restoration of Arctic ecosystems through booming krill that provided abundant food.

Population grew beyond 16 billion, yet only the Mojave Desert and much of Texas had been transformed into grasslands so far. Saudi Arabia signed contracts for ongoing terraforming, but not all deserts had been converted. As a result, most cities evolved into megalopolises. In America, traditional big cities expanded vertically into megalopolises while suburbs grew with single-family homes or terrace houses. Newer constructions favored terrace houses for medium density. Wealthy neighborhoods preserved mansions, but zoning distinctions blurred in cities due to widespread megalopolis development. Europe faced challenges expanding historic city centers, so megalopolises formed around suburban and secondary centers with high-rises. China and other Asian nations adopted megalopolis transformation most rapidly, centered on major metropolitan areas. Texas became a lower-density megalopolis because the entire state turned into grasslands through terraforming. Thus Austin developed at medium density similar to Los Angeles, while Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston achieved high density.

In these megalopolises, even in America, daily life shifted away from universal car ownership toward heavy reliance on public transportation, resembling Asian urban patterns. Although downtown areas featured wide parking lots capable of accommodating pickup trucks, most city residents drove cars no larger than a BMW 3 Series on average, with the majority using public transit. Buses came primarily from European makers like MAN, Scania, and Volvo, while subways featured American-produced versions of Japanese train cars. Suburban areas continued car-centric lifestyles from the super-scale era. America dispatched urban planners to high-density Asian nations like Korea, Japan, and Singapore, even Hong Kong, to learn zero-rush-hour policies and establish robust city and public transit systems. Subways adopted double-decker designs for express and regional lines, while metro cars mixed single-decker types. Buses avoided double-deckers due to higher rollover risks and lower operational efficiency, favoring articulated buses instead. In Asia the opposite occurred, with more double-decker buses and double-decker subway cars on single and regional lines due to population density. Europe followed similar patterns.

In America, California buildings averaged 35 stories due to height restrictions, airports, and earthquake zones, while the Midwest and East featured 40 to 200 stories. Europe saw buildings up to 200 stories, China reached 300 stories for technological display, and Korea expanded from 60 to 300 stories centered on satellite cities rather than Seoul. Japan, despite being in an earthquake zone, built from 40 to 200 stories driven by population pressure, supported by the world's most advanced seismic and base-isolation technologies. The United Kingdom developed 40 to 200 story buildings around secondary centers in its megalopolises and even constructed artificial islands eastward on the scale of Ireland. In the Middle East, Dubai pushed to 400 stories as a display of oil wealth and regional hub status. A common feature across megalopolis developments was the inclusion of rooftop green spaces on these buildings.

Japan could not escape megalopolis transformation. Prime Minister Morishita Ryuichi addressed the nation in a televised speech.

"We have entered the hyper-scale economy as well. We have grown to 34.741 trillion dollars in GDP with a per capita GDP of 88,700 dollars. However, we will not avoid megalopolis development. We will permit construction up to 200 stories, but we will encourage more buildings in the safer 40 to 60 story range and advise construction companies to focus on the 40-story level."

Prime Minister Morishita continued,

"But we will ensure balanced regional development as well."

You are watching Prime Minister Morishita Ryuichi's televised speech. Your girlfriend Fumiko turns to you and says

"Let's go out now. We can watch the fireworks too. How about a date at Tokyo Tower like old times?"

Fumiko adds

"Besides, kebabs are popular these days and I am craving one. Let's have dinner together while on the date."

Fumiko looks at you and you look at her. One thing is certain. You and Fumiko stand right in the middle of these profound changes.