The Methuselah Effect

Thousands of years had passed since the Emperor founded this planet, but in all those years, the plan had remained the same. The experiment had been completed generations ago, but the thrill of the design, of the shape of the outcome, and ultimately of the bet, prolonged its implementation. Now, the satellites were in place, the nations were set to hair-trigger and the globe-ships would soon arrive ... and, they would put it off no longer.