Trans-Human (Post-Human Sequel) (13 page)

“What game are you playing?” James demanded of the alien. “Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with?”

“We are not here to kill humans—we are here to
save
humans.”

James scoffed. “You save us by attacking us?”

“We have never attacked,” the alien replied.

James remained silent. Nothing that was being said meshed with any of the myriad of scenarios that he had examined. He was at a complete loss. “Is this some sort of diversion?”

“No.”

“There’s no need for it—you’ve already cut off my communication.”

“What?” the alien asked, appearing stunned. “We have not blocked any communication.”

“Why do you lie at every turn?” James asked, shaking his head. “You’re wasting my time. Start explaining this to me or leave.”

“We haven’t lied at any point,” the alien replied. James noted the extraordinary sincerity with which she appeared to speak. If this was just a computer simulation, the technology to mimic human expressions and to evoke feelings of trust in the listener was lightyears beyond anything humans had developed. “We came here to help you. We came to destroy the A.I. that had destroyed this
nest.
”

“Nest?” James reacted with surprise.

“Yes,” the alien nodded. “We were unaware that there was a human nest in this solar system until the communication from an artificial intelligence informed us that it had destroyed the human population here and was seeking to branch out. We responded as quickly as we could and formed a response force. We cannot tolerate an artificial intelligence bent on destroying humans.”

James was flabbergasted. Something was horribly wrong and an electric jolt of fear surged through his mind. “That can’t be true. You’ve been killing us.”

“We’ve killed no one. We’ve been responding to the circumstances in the only appropriate way.”

James shook his head as though he were trying to shake the alien’s words out of his mind. “Appropriate? I watched you take millions of people and dispose of their bodies in space. How can that possibly be appropriate?”

“We were attacked,” the alien began before being abruptly cut off by James.

“We were defending ourselves! You made no attempt to communicate with us!”

“We made
every
attempt. Our communication was not returned. We were attacked by nanobots and at that point had no choice but to proceed appropriately.”

“By killing humans?”

“By
saving
humans,” the alien replied. She came closer to James, almost close enough to touch him, causing James to step away. “We were surprised that there were still humans here. We concluded that you must have somehow taken control of the situation and eliminated the A.I. threat. However, unable to communicate, we had to proceed with the assimilation process.”

“Assimilation?” James made what seemed like a thousand realizations all in the same moment. “You’ve been assimilating humans? You’ve been turning them into machines?”

“We are humans,” the alien explained, “just like you.”

22

“If it’s true that you’re turning them into machines, then why are you taking the bodies into space?” James asked.

“We are destroying them. They are a threat.”

“Why are our bodies a threat?”

“They are contaminated,” the alien replied. She took a moment to examine James’s response; she seemed satisfied that James was finally ready to listen. She inhaled deeply before beginning her explanation. “My friend,” she began, “your species needed help. Although you cannot have realized it, you were facing the most dangerous time in your existence.”

“The A.I. had succeeded in destroying the species,” James replied. “It was devastating; it was a miracle that we survived. But we overcame the danger. We were fine until you arrived.”

“No, you were not,” the alien said. “Humanity does not only exist in your solar system. As you can see for yourself, it exists in great numbers all throughout the universe.”

“You’re not human. You’re machines,” James retorted. “You’ve mimicked humanity.”

“We have transitioned,” the alien replied, correcting him. “Humanity is the only form of life that ever reaches a state that we would classify as being self-reliant. Life is a very difficult proposition. It can only occur in solar systems like this one, on planets that share the solar system with massive gas planets like Jupiter, and on planets that share a moon about the size of the Earth’s moon. Those ingredients make life difficult to find and civilizations are extraordinarily far apart, but the universe is more enormous than you realize.”

“So you’re saying all of the intelligent life in the universe is humanoid?”

“No. All of the naturally occurring intelligent life in the universe
is human
—not humanoid. When we reach the transition to a
type 1
civilization, our species always looks the same, on every planet. It’s an evolutionary and mathematical certainty.”

“What is a
type 1
civilization?”

“A type 1 civilization is a civilization that has learned to use the resources created by the sun’s energy to power its civilization so that it is no longer destructive and it stabilizes its home world,” the alien explained. “A type 2 civilization is a civilization that has begun to venture out and explore space beyond its own solar system. The civilization that I represent is a type 3 civilization. When a civilization reaches this level, it no longer just explores the universe—it begins to exponentially reproduce and export itself throughout the universe.”

“So that’s what you’re doing?” James asked. “You’re spreading? So why do you need to assimilate us?”

“Because we are human,” the alien continued. “We want to help you. Our mission is to preserve the human species and to spread throughout the universe. This is how we explore.”

“Can’t you explore without assimilating?”

“Yes we can. We do not usually assimilate without the permission of the civilizations that we find, but this was an extraordinary circumstance. You are under siege.”

“We were fine.”

“No. You were not.”

“You keep saying that. Why not? What was so pressing that you had to invade our solar system and assimilate us against our wills?”

“I told you that all naturally occurring intelligent life in the universe is human,” the alien began. Her words suddenly became deadly cold and ominous. “However I did not say that all intelligent life in the universe
is
human.
We are at war
.”

James was transfixed now—a third player was emerging in this game—a previously unseen menace. “With who?”

“Not who.
What
.”

23

When they reached sick bay, it was already too late. Old-timer had James’s unconscious body in front of him as a shield as Alejandra remained close. Old-timer held his assimilator to James’s neck.

“Don’t do it!” Thel shouted, desperately.

“I’m sorry, Thel but I need you to listen. I’m trying to save your lives,” Old-timer said.

“Bull,” Rich responded, “You’re not Old-timer. Old-timer would never hold someone hostage—least of all James!”

“Please listen to us,” Alejandra pleaded, “we’re running out of time.”

“Give it a rest, tin head!” Rich shouted. “The person you’re impersonating is still alive!”

Alejandra had already seen her still-living body and was unsettled after seeing herself from the outside. It was surreal—she felt as though she was a ghost at her own funeral.

“That’s not her anymore,” Old-timer responded. “Rich,
it’s us. It’s really us
! And we’re here to save you!”

“From what?” Djanet demanded.

Suddenly, James came alive. Everyone in the room was astounded when his eyes opened and his body was no longer limp in Old-timer’s grasp. “Let go, Old-timer,” James said. “I know why you’re here. Let me explain it to them.”

“James?” Thel whispered before reaching out to him and shouting, “James!”

“I’m okay,” James said, motioning for her to stay back.

Old-timer released James. “You know what’s happening?” he asked in astonishment.

“Yes,” James replied. “I know all about it.”

“Then you have to hurry,” Old-timer said. “They don’t have much time.”

“Craig,” Alejandra said suddenly to Old-timer telepathically, “that’s not James!”

“Oh I don’t know about that,” James said, turning to Old-timer. “I’d say they have all the time in the world.”

Before Old-timer could react, James let forth an enormous blast of energy that blew the android right out of the room and sent him crashing through two more decks and through the hull of the ship, back out into space.

24

“Nice shot, Commander!” shouted Rich as he pumped his fist! “And good timing!” he added as James turned and gave a slight smile in acknowledgement.

Alejandra had already disappeared in the wreckage of the room and bolted to retrieve Old-timer. Her organic body was still unconscious on the bed next to where James had been, covered in dust, but unharmed.

Thel wrapped her arms around James and kissed him hard. He quickly removed himself from her grip, however. “I’m sorry, Thel. They’re not finished. I have to take care of this.”

“We’ll come with you,” Thel replied.

“Suit yourselves,” James answered before flying through the new exit he had made in the ship.

Meanwhile, Alejandra had reached Old-timer’s unconscious body as it floated away into space, surrounded by the wreckage it had taken with it as it was expelled to the outside of the ship. She pulled Old-timer’s body back down to the hull and put her hand over Old-timer’s heart. With a thought, she gave him an electric jump start, and his eyes blinked open. “Oh shit,” he said.

“They’ll be right after us,” Alejandra replied. “There are four of them, Craig. I don’t see how we can win this battle.”

“We have to!” Old-timer shouted back in response. “We have to try!”

“Even if we’re killed in the process?” Alejandra argued.

“I have to try,” Old-timer replied. “I can’t save anyone else now. I’ve made my choice. I have to at least save them.”

“But not James. He was controlled by the same presence that was in him before. It was exactly the same presence. That was
not
your friend.”

“I believe you,” Old-timer nodded. “But I’ll have to take him down too.”

“You’d better have a plan,” Alejandra said, her eyes becoming wide as she looked past Old-timer’s shoulder, “because none of them care about saving you!”

Old-timer turned to see his four friends emerging over the ship’s horizon line, gleaming green in the energy of their magnetic cocoons.

Their only chance of survival rested with Old-timer.

25

The alien withdrew and deftly stepped a handful of paces away from James. She appeared to be choosing her words carefully. James couldn’t help but feel that she was being sincere but he resisted the temptation to trust her. He remembered a time when he used to trust the A.I. implicitly—a time that seemed a million years ago now.

“Your civilization is what we call a nest—this is because you are only in your infancy—you are a miracle,” the alien stated. “However, you are a miracle that cannot last. Eventually, if humanity does not adapt, it dies out. We have seen this firsthand. We have encountered many planets like yours where humanity emerged, flourished, and then disappeared. Sometimes it is an inability to control nuclear technology. Other times it has been a reluctance to limit carbon emissions in the atmosphere, leading to disastrous ecological consequences. However, there is one threat that has destroyed more fledgeling human civilizations than any other.”

“And what is that?” James asked.

“If the A.I. you created succeeded in destroying your species, then we can only assume that you rebuilt your world and your species by using
nanotechnology.
”

“Yes.”

“Therein lies the present danger.”

“The nans?” James asked, astonished. “Why? We’ve successfully controlled the technology.”

“That is very unlikely,” the alien replied. “The technology has
never
been controlled—
ever
.”

26

James didn’t waste time trying to digest this new information. He immediately incorporated the possibility that the nans
were
a threat into his predictive scenarios game theory program. In an instant, he had a match. “Christ.”

“Yes,” the alien said calmly. “Now you are beginning to understand. An artificial intelligence cannot, for lack of a better term,
turn to evil
. There are too many safeguards in place. These safeguards are essential ingredients in
who
the A.I. is. It cannot change who it is anymore than you or I could choose who we are. Only an outside source could have corrupted its programming.”