LUX and the New TECH

Lux Blakely, the preteen son of a NASA scientist working on top-secret government projects, is not shackled by accepted scientific theory and dogma. His experiments in gravimetric research and the expanding capability of a nascent AI cause Lux to be closely observed by several government agencies. He discovers a way to use magnetic fields for propulsion, but he needs money. Lux and his friend, Prissy, come up with a way to use his father's developing AI to raise money through social media. Lux is trying to get out of high school and into college at age nine. Lux and Prissy take deepfake videos to a whole new level and make a lot of money doing it. The US military and intelligence community is not amused.

Lux Blakely, the preteen son of a NASA scientist working on top-secret government projects, is not shackled by accepted scientific theory and dogma. His experiments in gravimetric research and the expanding capability of a nascent AI cause Lux to be closely observed by several government agencies. He discovers a way to use magnetic fields for propulsion, but he needs money. Lux and his friend, Prissy, come up with a way to use his father's developing AI to raise money through social media. Lux is trying to get out of high school and into college at age ten. He buys a survivalist's homestead to pursue advanced testing, but the egos and prejudices of professors hinder his research as they want to wrest control of his technology. Lux makes an alliance with a branch of the military to relieve pressure from his illegal test flights. Prissy continues to expand Lummi's influence and increase her fame and their wealth. How could a person from a DeepFake video give a live concert or get arrested? What happens when a DeepFake personality becomes real? How will the military begin to use his tech?

Lux is finishing his Aeronautical Engineering degree at Georgia Tech. His father begins to support him again, but he is starting to get noticed a little too widely outside his peers. He has to hire a 24/7 security team. The Israeli intelligence operatives, alerted by Professor Helmann, are the first to arrive. SpaceX becomes interested when Lux tries to obtain spacesuits suitable for extravehicular activity in a vacuum. Lux starts flying frequently and upgrades SpaceX rocket shells with Blakely thrusters. Chinese operatives attempt to obtain the tech by any means and won't stop. The deepfake video personality, Lummi, has reached popstar status and is pressured to give live international concerts of her music. The deepfake videos produced by his AI, Anna, continue to improve and produce income to fund his research. Lux applies to MIT for a Ph.D. in their AeroAstro department to investigate the strange field effects of his discovery. The mystery of the effect is beginning to unravel.

Lux finds traveling outside Earth's magnetic fields is possible with the gravity drive, but the military from the US and other nations begins to push hard for the tech. Could they use it to help mine the moon, asteroids, and the moons of other planets? Who controls the areas away from Earth when humans establish bases on different planets? Lux becomes known around Earth, and the fame may be too much. He finds he is a target for governments and corporations that want to control him and his knowledge. He constantly has to fight off lawyers, greedy politicians, and corrupt corporations, not to mention the aggressive, autocratic nations.

Lux and many followers have moved to Mars to escape persecution on Earth. The ability for easy travel throughout the solar system has created nations and organizations on Earth who want to control Mars and the rich resources of the solar system. Mars has started its own military and is building a fleet to survive the brutal attacks from Earth. Mars has set up embassies on Earth and is facing spies and saboteurs intent on disrupting a content populace that is growing rapidly. Lux has developed new weapons, and Prissy joins the colony military. Mars (Lux) has developed interstellar probes to look for habitable planets and has finally found a habitable moon of a gas giant at Sirius A-8.6 light years from Mars. A preliminary ship is sent to examine the planet, but contact is lost, so a larger force is assembled to follow up. The story becomes more complex as a colony is established, but nation-states on Earth decide that a planet devoid of human life is a prize worth seizing. They intend to remove any human life so the large corporations can strip resources without any regulations holding them back. Surely, a new verdant planet with untouched resources shouldn't be hoarded by a few thousand people of little importance...it should be available to any people who want it... right? Mankind is using up the resources of the Earth-here's a new planet to plunder. How do you protect a nearly uninhabited world? Is it possible? Lux, Prissy, and Anna think it is... Lux has discovered a way to travel to the stars, but it is more like naval cruises into uncharted territory. It is treacherous outside the heliosphere, and people are still people. All the Earth's nations are producing ships within the solar system, and it's like a new gold rush. What happens to a civilization when interplanetary travel is unlimited, and the only law is the law of survival? What will the fanatics do when they feel too restricted by Earth's laws and policies, and they can set up their own colonies? Are humans the ones that claim the rest of the galaxy? Are we the first and only? Alexandre Dumas (circa 1865) said the difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limitations. This is particularly true in politics and space exploration. This is also true between morals and greed.

Lux keeps inventing things or adapting alien tech (ancient tech to the aliens) because the active alien civilizations they discover through portals and probes have gone through cycles of war, decline, and rebirth several times. Lux further develops the portals using discovered alien tech. Earth empties refugee camps the UN was running (1,200,000) and sends them with a military escort for their "safety." The military sends many ships for escort duty with orders to take over the colony and use the refugees as a labor force. Prissy commands the defense force, and they redirect the refugees to modern housing built rapidly with recovered alien technology. Other alien groups are contacted, and mixed groups of alien refugees from a war zone are brought back to Green. Alien medical technology was discovered that can expand the human lifespan threefold. Tourists are brought to Green in great numbers to discourage attacks from greedy Earth nations. A demonstration soccer tournament brings in fans and a large number of spies trying to tap into the alien technology. An alien race of Allung (slavers) arrives at Earth and Green. More technology is developed, but each new development adds new complexity to the situation. The situation gets more complicated until...