The Great Release Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

In two weeks, my personal ship was completed. Gingerly, I would say, I crawled inside my small shuttle, thumbing in the equations and mulit-dimensional address as rehearsed and planned for. I saluted my team, and General Lemons. Then I pushed in the button that would start my engine.

I floated in space.

All proof that anything in my life existed had, at that moment, disappeared. At this point, the way I looked at things bent.

It is a scary thing for sure—to change—but I think I like it. Who knows, after all?

Seeing the stars, and knowing of the mechanics of their births and decay, I considered how true reincarnation is. The atoms of your body, dear reader, come from the bodies of that which you eat. In one way or another, as long as the possibility for sentience exists, all matter in the universe will eventually get the chance to think. And only those who think, dear reader, appreciate the time it takes to reach that point.

My mother’s atoms exist everywhere. I am not alone.

v v v

The clock on my navigation computer read “4:30am,” but I had embarked at “12:30pm.” My reference origin, a quasar, had shown I was on the other side of the universe from where I should be. I waved my hand through the displays so that the HUD would know to clear. I saw the Consilium . But it was in a sea of other objects, from which no human could have ever built.

Shaped with twisted, gigantic fibers, the thousands of star-shaped things moved towards my ship and the Consilium at the same time.

I radioed on a secure frequency: “Hello. U.S.S. Consilium ? This is Gregory Banks. I am here on behalf of a United States rescue mission. Do you know the nature of these beings?”

After two seconds of static, the reply came: “This is Captain Bell, of the U.S.S. Consilium . Negative, we have just arrived. How did you know we were at the wrong coordinates so soon?”

“You’ve been gone for two and a half months, correct?”

Captain Bell sounded uneasy. “What is your authentication code?”

“I don’t have one. I’m a scientist. I designed your ship. Ever heard of me? Gregory Banks?”

“You were captured by the Chinese.”

A third voice broke into the radio channel. “That is certainly the U.S.S. Consilium , Mr. Banks; do not fear. We have been holding it until you arrived. We knew you would come, Mr. Banks.” The voice sighed. “We have much to talk about.”

I materialized into a white room, with a five-legged creature hovering over me. It told me, “Your friends will be held in time for a bit longer.”

“What are you?”

“Hmm. We don’t have a name in your language, so I suppose you get to decide, Mr. Banks.” It deflated. “It would not be the first time you decided something for humanity…”

“What do you mean by that?”

The creature began a gate, utilizing all five of its appendages in an eerie way. “Humanity may have ended the day you invented the Roulette Drive, Mr. Banks. It is such a shame too, because you should be proud of yourself. You thought big. You figured it out. What you know, Mr. Banks, leads to all other answers. But it carries with it a curse, to which—we are sorry to say—you also have the privilege to name for your people.”

“What are you trying to warn me about?”

The creature grew tall. “What you call the Roulette Drive is the most basic of all quantum machines. There is a life-form that detects the use of quantum machines from anywhere in the universe, much like your ‘shark’ smells a drop of ‘blood’ in the ‘ocean.’ It senses quantum machines because it feeds off of civilizations. Sometimes, Mr. Banks, the civilization giving off signals is not prepared to fight the life-form.”

I knew my planet’s defense force. That was my job. “Well I’m sure the combined force of Earth and her colonies can handle any single life-form.”

The creature appeared as if it became saddened. “No, Mr. Banks. I am afraid humanity is not capable of destroying the life-form.”

“Really? ” I cocked my head. “Do you know of my people’s weapons?”

“We know everything about you, because we like to watch civilizations.”

I eyed the thing. “What sort of life-form are you talking about?”

It rose up sharply, bugling. “It has begun.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The life form has arrived to Earth, Mr. Banks. I advise you to stay here with us. Perhaps you could breed with the females aboard the U.S.S. Consilium ?” It swayed. “It would be such a shame to see you all go.”

“What has landed on Earth? Tell me what it is!”

“Like I said before, Mr. Banks, it is a life form that feeds on planetary civilizations.”

“What do you mean by feeds ?”

The creature lowered itself. “Just as on Earth a ‘bird’ absorbs ‘worms’ for ‘nutrition,’ the life form uses sentient intelligences to maintain its existence.”

“But how?” I asked. “What happens to humanity? Will they all die?”

“In a way. All individuality, personality, and awareness will be stripped away. Their materials will remain, but they will no longer possess the mental faculties to be human.”

This could not be real, I reasoned. So I continued to dialogue with the creature. “Surely you have a way to defeat the life-form. How did you survive?”

“Oh. Yes, of course we can defeat the life-form. It does not dare come back to us.”

“Then will you help us?”

“Certainly not,” said the creature.

“Why not? I thought you said it would be a shame to see us go.”

“It will be. But we cannot stop the life-form from maintaining itself with primitive civilizations. What right do we have to stop it? Besides, the life-form has a purpose in the universe. It acts as a filter.”

“A filter? ”

“Please do not take offense, Mr. Banks. Humanity is a great species, and, given sufficient time, it could truly contribute to the universe. We do believe this. But, we must say even we are frightened by the proposition of humanity becoming totally mobile. We have seen your wars.”

“But our weapons must not be able to threaten you, if Earth’s firepower is inferior to the life-form, and the life-form dares not attack you.”

“Sound logic, Mr. Banks.” The creature inflated. “Yet, it is the sting of your principles we fear, not your present arsenal.”

“There’s more to us! We believe in peace. We create art, we console ourselves, we attempt to understand nature.”

“Like I said, Mr. Banks, humanity is a great species with promise, but—I am afraid—not ready for your invention, the Roulette Drive.”

I lost my footing. “Is it too late?”

“Indeed,” the creature said.

“I will not accept that.”

The creature spread its five legs evenly (perhaps stretching?). “Interesting resolve. Then we suppose you should return to Earth. We will keep the U.S.S. Consilium here. We are certain you will be unsuccessful.”

“Where is your compassion?”

The creature’s eye twitched. “We speak frankly and realistically, despite our judgments of you and your kind. We speak truth.” It positioned itself against a wall. “It would be curious to know whether or not you believe you deserve our compassion.”

“I believe all sentient life deserves to exist.”

The creature exploded with noise. “Entertaining contradiction, Mr. Banks!” Blue lines scrolled into the air, dancing around the creature’s eye. “Let us read once more your record, Mr. Banks, chief military scientist for the United States of America—one of the many nations of planet Earth and her colonies. Ah, a weapons designer, we see. You even created a medication to numb certain aspects of a human mind to be more apt for the task of killing.”

“That’s only used for the clones. They’re not the same as humans.”

“Your understanding disappoints us.”

I sighed. “I know it’s wrong. But, sometimes you have to do the wrong thing, so that you can achieve a greater thing.”

“We fail to see how destroying humans with greater efficiency is a greater thing. But, most of all, we fail to see why you disagree with the life-form’s annihilation of humanity. It would seem you self-destruct all on your own.”

“It’s not so simple. Humans have conflicts for freedoms and beliefs.”

“What is the reason for the war that you designed weapons for, Mr. Banks? We are interested.”

I did not know, so I changed the subject. “Are the other colonies of man gone as well?”

The creature cocked its head. “They are still there. Just, the life form exists there too, which, we can only surmise, means humanity is no longer there.” It sniffed the air. “Remember: humanity’s bodies will continue to function, just not the minds.”

I stood up. “Can’t you help me at all? I want to make it right. What advice do you have?”

The creature brightened. “Love.”

v v v

I returned to my shuttle. The readings showed I arrived to the location I originally dialed in. “Was it all in my imagination?”

My navigation computer showed five years had passed.

I detected no signal from the U.S.S. Consilium , so I entered in the coordinates for the orbit around Earth.

v v v

I let the radio scan for anything—anyone. It really happened. Earth represented a dead civilization, as satellites and ships and space junk clanked together in a void with no purpose.

The radio locked onto something: “—hearing this, that means you somehow escaped what has been happening for so long. Oh how gradual it was! How could we be so blind to perfection? Had our egos truly entertained the idea we could attain world unity without a price? And isn’t it funny that I’m the last one—floating in the sea so alone? Or, I suppose, if anyone else hears this, I am the last irrational, emotional human on Earth. I, Ha Thach, the last one to hold onto something other than logic.

“I figured it out, and they ignored me. I know it’s an alien source, an alien force . People don’t just become reasonable all at the same time without conflict. It isn’t right . By the time anyone had realized that, though, they were already making the force its soup . Oh, God, if you hear this, stay away from the soup.

“Everyone in the world works together, in harmony, without violence, for the common goal of making soup. Sounds almost peaceful, and maybe it is, but art is gone. Meaning is gone.” There was a brief moment of static, and then: “If you are hearing this, that means you somehow escaped what has been happening for so long. Oh how gradual it was!”

I turned off the radio and leaned back in my chair. “What have I done?”

(Click here to read Chapter 5).