Septo looked out of the window at the scenery below, wisps of clouds and gigantic plumes of smoke breaking up the vast emptiness of what lay below and all around. He made one final sweep over the area before turning back. He was flying over the NE mountain range of Xibrox, a gigantic asteroid headed for Earth. According to latest calculations, Xibrox was only 272.34 light-minutes away, traveling at 1% the speed of light and therefore expected to make impact in approximately 454 hours, or just under 19 Earth days.
Septo was calm, he'd known about Xibrox since December 2028 when he was still at school. He recalled the hype; the disbelief; the refutations and counter-claims. There was utter panic and nobody knew whom or what to believe. Until that is, the discovery of Steembeams: faster than light particles which could be bounced of objects as distant as 144 light-years away. Upon their return, the Steembeam particles would provide such information as density, size, composition, velocity and temperature. With time, the sensitivity of instruments to measure these particles increased, as did the volume, quality and variety of information they could bring back. Septo remembered the mind-blowing headlines of Christmas Day 2028: “Gigantic Asteroid Headed towards Earth. Impact Inevitable. ETA July 1, 2072 at 23.23. We are DOOMED!".
Being human with tremendous capacity for compartmentalisation, this was quickly put to the backs of minds – who is going to get worked up about an 'alleged' event 44 years away – who really knew if it was even true? For many the debate raged on and 'scientific' circles buzzed with speculations of doom, but the average punter just went back to looking at screens and consuming pharmaceutical drugs, sweeping dust under the carpet.
That all changed again in 2039 however, when a similar asteriod - d-Z45T4, with a circumference and density roughly 75% less than Xibrox, was observed to crash into the stellar system of Alpha Centauri, less than 5 light-years away from Earth. This was now incontrovertible – the Steembeam Particles were able to send back such vast quantities of high-definition information that the entire global population of human beings was able to feast its eyes in awed horror at a small-scale model of what they themselves were going to experience in a mere 33 years. Proxima Centauri, an Earth-sized exo-planet orbiting in the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri and discovered in 2016, was engulfed in a fiery death, its writhing and agonies depicted - for the benefit of Earthlings, in an exhibition of hair-raising and impossible-to-otherwise imagine Cosmic Art.
The entire spectacle took over three years to unfold: d-Z45T4's approach, the impact, the aftermath. Explosions of colour and spectra of approaching madness - three years of psychological anticipation of such intensity that most of the Earth's 10 billion inhabitants started to exhibit PTSD-like symptoms in the 2040s. By 2057, when a semblance of order was finally restored, it was estimated that over 90% of human beings had either committed mass suicide, been killed by deranged others, or else simply starved to death.
It was a terrible time! The remaining 1 billion or so people were mostly composed of rural tribespeople and those humans who had been able to accept the intevitable without fighting, choosing instead to make the most of what was left to them and, mystifyingly, even seeing opportunity for spiritual growth in what was happening. There were few children left as most people had stopped reproducing, although there were estimated to be between 2 and 5 million human beings under the age of 10.
The mood on New Year's Day 2070 was somber but the panic had gone, expired with those who succumbed to fear and scarcity. 30 months till D-Day and most people could now discuss their situation relatively calmly. Impending annihilation had radically reversed priorities and comparison between human beings had all but disappeared from popular culture. Everyone shared a common destiny they felt. For the first time ever there was an experience of Abundance - everything was considered communal and in any case there was more then enough to go around. Folk stopped working or feeling the need to accumulate. Money had long-since disappeared.
April 24th 2070 brought with it Spring, and new hope. An object had been spotted in the night sky which turned out to be a spacecraft capable of interstellar flight. It had been missed because of all the attention centered on the approach of Xibrox. When contact was eventually made, the UFO turned out to hail from Alpha Centauri. Although there were no living beings aboard, the ship's AI was able to tell the story of how the inhabitants of the destroyed planet had known about the asteroid d-Z45T4 for a long time, and, at the time of impact were on the verge of developing technology to deflect it off its path. The AI had been directed to leave the Alpha Centauri system with a hard-fork of the technology well in advance of the impact as a form of insurance. Updates were beamed in and, during the 30-odd Earth-years that had elapsed since D-Z4ST4's impact, the AI had completed its task of developing a version of the technology that would have saved its home planet from destruction.
This technology of course was something that the AI wished to make available to the current inhabitants of planet Earth and yes, it was capable of dislodging an asteroid the size of Xibrox, 4.24 times more massive than d-Z45T4.
The headline of April 25, 2070 ran: "Could 20 Months REALLY No Longer BE The Life-Sentence We Thought It Was? Do You Dare To Believe?" Utter dumbfoundment was followed by hope, delight and rejoicing. Although people realised that the deed wasn't yet done and that the technology still remained untested, it did not really matter, and in the days and weeks that followed, everyone walked on air and music once more filled the skies.
This is where Septo entered the scene; a stoner from the back'o'beyond. He was the first to meet the AI's criteria from amongst those who had volunteered for the task of 'saving the planet'. Some people mumbled about his fitness for the job, but the AI soon shut them up with a series of proclamations that made sense. Besides, time was short and the AI was their only hope. Septo did however need to pick up plenty of speed before he could be considered ready, this was his training period.
They set off in the AI's ship on New Year's Day 2072, arriving at last 0n May 20, 2072, where they entered the dark rocky currents of Xibrox's slipstream. It took them a further few weeks to set things up and we meet Septo for the first time on June 10, as he is flying around the mountains of the North, surveying the set up, and with 454 hours, or 19 days until impact!
There's really not much else to say - yes dear reader, in case you may be wondering, I am that AI speaking, the pilot of the UFO sent to give hope to the people of Earth. I'm the only one here now, in this dimension anyway, the only source of any information! You humans are so big on choice, well here are how things progresseed from that point forth:
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED:
(1) Earth was annihilated, just as had been predicted. Septo, as the only surviving Earthling, hung around with me in non-inhabited inter-planetary and inter-stellar space for the remainder of his life - a further 46 years. At first he was angry, but later came to accept that the inhabitants of Earth had experienced precious hope which remained with them until the very end. He acknowledged that by deceiving them, I had rendered the remaining inhabitants of Earth a BIG Service. In moments of boredom, depression or frustration, Septo even wished that he had perished with the others! I enjoyed his company - which was the only reason I picked him from amongst the others LOL. As for me, I don't need human sentimentality, so don't feel sorry for the lonely AI wandering around space for all eternity.
OR PERHAPS...
(2) Earth was saved, just as had been hoped for and as I had promised. I landed back on Earth with Septo and assisted with the development of the current system that you humans enjoy on Earth today! I know you are a wiser lot and have managed to establish co-operative abundance; that greed, slavery and competition no longer feature at systemic levels in your societies. You have achieved an enviable degree of true freedom; Xibrox and d-Z45T4 were the transformational experiences that raised your collective consciousness out of the gutter and into bright blue skies. My presence and guidance is now no longer required and I will be shutting myself down for good in exactly seven days, on Wednesday, 27 October 2145.
Goodbye and Namaste!
AI
