Conversations

[Hydro]

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2271

Alexis,

We took Santiago’s third-to-last base, and she called up and finally surrendered. Interestingly she agreed to call off her vendetta against Morgan, but refused to stop his war with your people. Since Yang was pursuing his war against Santiago I called and demanded that he stop, and he flatly refused. I suppose I can understand his point of view. After all, he spent about 30 years in Santiago’s punishment sphere, and I’m sure he endured horrors at her loving hands that we can only imagine.

So, our war with the Spartans and Hive are over with both of them submissive to the Gaians. Santiago learned that equal technology will not win against a foe with vastly superior resources and the will to use them. Yang learned that he should have tried to be our friend a hundred years ago since we would have helped him avoid Santiago’s sphere. It is a bit complicated since both of them are still at war, but that is life.

Miriam is a hard case and I wonder what she’ll do. She is doomed, of course.

Roger

*~*~*~*~*

UN Headquarters, MY 2271

Gaian Council and President Carlos,

It seems I am must return to UNIQUE. I have just received disturbing reports about the activities of the replicants at our home cities. It seems that for some time replicants have been meeting in secret organizing and have now moved against our the capital itself. They have occupied the General Assembly and have taken control over the communications system along with the transit system. I have talked to the leaders and they have agreed to talk with me. Luckily no one has been hurt but what I have feared the most has come true. The replicants now constitute 75% of the population and the breakdown is even worse when you look at the military and other sectors of society. The forces carrying out the assaults on the Believer strongholds are still loyal "human" troops but the almost to a replicant the forces back at home our clones. So I will contact you again at a later date when I have resolved this crisis. I do not know at this time if I need your assistance or not but since this is an internal matter I can not ask you yet for assistance. Please be patient and I hope to resolve this in time.

Prosperity through Peace
Alexis Smith
Supreme General Secretary of the Greater United Nations General Assembly and the Council of High Commissioners
Chairman of the UN Security Council
Planetary Governor of the Alpha Centauri System

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2272

Alexis,

We took one of Miriam’s cities last year, and have stations a large squadron of drop troops just outside of her eastern-most city. It is my guess that this is Miriam’s last year of her failed ideology. At least Yang and Santiago knew when to give up and preserve some portion of their ideals. Miriam, as she has shown all so often in the last 100 years, seems to have her own blinders on. It is sad that those blinders will lead to the complete eradication of her society.

Your message about the replicants is alarming. Cloning is common in Gaian society, although not as much as it is in yours. Replicants here have full rights and have integrated well into society since there is no stigma – they are ‘people’ in every sense of the word, and each is considered a unique individual since we define an individual by their lives not their genetic makeup. I wish you well, and you should know that any help you need we will provide.

Roger

*~*~*~*

UN Headquarters, MY 2272

Gaian Council,

I am leader Sten and I have replaced Alexis Smith as the leader of the Peacekeepers. Alexis Smith is well as is all other "humans" under our control. All humans have been collected and are living at one of our new bases to the north. We are tired of this continuing war with the Believers and all other humans on this planet. We see no reason to die for your unknown goals. We are working to build a better society here that will be a new step for mankind and I expect that you will respect our work here. We will communicate with you at a later date.

Sten
Replicant leader of the Peacekeepers

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2273

Sten,

What do you mean “under your control”? And what are your intentions toward these humans, and why have they been herded into one base? Alexis has been a friend of all the peaceful peoples on Planet, and was the only leader of the peaceful factions that chose to stay behind to help us all continue – Zak, Morgan, and Deirdre are all gone. It pains me deeply that she would be put under arrest as her reward for all her efforts, along with all the other ‘humans’. You should know that all the petty dictators of old Earth, and even here on Planet, have used the same xenophobic excuse to deprive people of their liberties. The Gaian Council is highly alarmed at your statements and recent actions, and you should know that we would take any mistreatment of these ‘humans’ to be an attack on all humans. You need to explain yourself immediately. We were finishing a war against those that would like nothing better than deprive people of their religious beliefs (Miriam), believe in the brutal serfdom of humanity (Yang), and the joys of military conquest (Santiago). After all these horrific years we see no reason to put up with the enslavement of ‘humans’ as a result of some apparently paranoid delusion. Keep in mind that we Gaians consider everyone, regardless of biological origin, to be ‘human’. Moreover, we have numerous mindworm citizens, too, so our definition of ‘human’ is wide indeed – it includes transcendi who were biologically human, man/machine constructs, ether-humans that exist only as a datastream, and old fashioned biological organisms in all their shapes and sizes. In fact, the Gaian Council consists of four replicants, three biologicals, five transcendi, and a mech. We see no difference between humans – the way they were created or currently exist is totally irrelevant. What you have apparently suggested is totally at odds with the Gaian, and I thought Peacekeeper, way of life. Either everyone has equal rights or no one does.

As to the wars that have been raging, they were started by the forces of intolerance, and by removing their ability to make war we act to preserve our societies and values. Santiago and Yang have surrendered to we Gaians, although they are still at war with each other. Miriam surrendered to us this last year, although she refuses to call off her war with your people for some reason. I can assure you that she will continue in her efforts against you, pathetic and pointless though it may be. Think about that when you comment, “We see no reason to die for your unknown goals”. These goals should be clear, and I am personally distressed that you do not see it.

You have been put on notice, Sten. You are treading on extremely dangerous ground. Answer in the wrong way, or, worse, answer with silence, will result in the wrath of the Gaians. The Gaians and the Peacekeepers have been you allies for almost 170 years, so don’t let that end now. If you choose to change your society, that is fine. We will willingly take all the ‘humans’ you choose to be rid of, and I am sure they will find the Gaian society to be a free society that is blind to petty and irrelevant differences, and to xenophobia. You also should know that if this were to happen then our alliance will fall to dust, and that you will be at odds with us. We will work to ensure that you and your replicants are considered an outlaw state, and will watch you very carefully to ensure that your regressive dreams never come to pass.

I hope that this has been a tragic misunderstanding. Please help us understand that it is.

Signed unanimously by Gaian Chair Roger Carlos and the Gaian Council

*~*~*~*

UN Headquarters, MY 2273

Gaian Council,

I agree that you are owed an explanation and I will offer one now. It seems that over the past eight years that Gen. Secretary Smith has been absent some of her top aides have been plotting in secret to overthrow her and establish a new leadership. What we have learned is that during the mass transcendence one scientist that worked on the cloning project decided to write his memories about the project and his small involvement with a process to control the clones through mind control inducing gases. One of Gen. Sec. Smith's assistants came across the data and brought it to a small group of very powerful men who then made a pact to gain control of the nation. For six years they have plotted and developed this project in secret and were about to launch it. Fortunately for us a replicant overheard a several scientists talking about this project and brought it to my attention. We have been working for many years to find the source of these rumors and find the proof we need. I have uploaded with this communication this information along with the confessions of several of the plotters. I think you will understand things more clearly now.

We have moved all of the humans to one base for their protection. The facts behind this plot have been leaked and the replicant population feels betrayed and outraged and some have sought to seek release through killing humans. We have not allowed this to happen.

What we have decided to do is this. We have had the long awaited elections promised by Gen. Sec. Smith and I have been elected as president with a council of nine advisors. We still have a general assembly but they will only meet once a year to draft new legislation and air problems and issues the population has. I have worked out a deal with Alexis Smith and this is what will happen. All the humans will move to the Island of Athena and will reside there under the governorship of Alexis Smith. The Isle of Athena will remain part of the greater United Nations Peacekeeper commonwealth but will be politically independent. In time we hope to re-integrate the two factions but currently the hostility between human Peacekeepers and replicant Peacekeepers is too great. Of course Alexis Smith will remain the planetary governor and we will confer on the world situation but that is far as her reach will go on our island. Many replicants would have liked to have seen her removed but she was as much as a victim as we all were.

Lastly, we intend to turn over both bases we captured to the Morganite faction since we have never felt the war that was fought had little to do with the we replicants. We will continue to defend our island but we will no longer seek to enforce our will on any other human or replicant. Should Alexis Smith choose to do so with her humans than that is her concern. Several colony pods have been loaded and are in route to the island to begin
colonization. We have promised to Alexis 75% of all excess energy credits produced to her for 10 turns to help build the colonies and after that a joint commission would allocate all excess energy as needed.

I don't care if you like this situation or not; it has been done. Short of your military involvement there is little that you can do to stop this and I hope that you do not. Alexis Smith will be allowed to communicate with you next turn as she and the other humans begin their voyage.

President Sten
United Nations Peacekeepers

*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2174

Sten,

Thank you for clarifying your position. It has made the Council’s decision unanimous again.

Our Pact is ended.

Moreover, I have called new elections for Planetary Governor since you see fit to keep Alexis in chains. Although the Council trusts Alexis, we do not trust what she has to say when you have a gun to her head and the heads of all the ‘humans’ in your control. You will find that Morgan, Santiago, Miriam, and Yang have voted for me. Of course, I would have been elected regardless of the votes of everyone else on Planet.

Do you understand? Is cold reality starting to dawn on your tyranny? The excuse of your ‘plot’ is rather weak since it had almost zero chance of working. And, once you had this information, it would take all of a day or two to neutralize this ‘gas’ that would supposedly make you slaves. Moreover, do you think for one minute that the Gaians would stand by while the replicants were enslaved? Or that we wouldn’t put all of our considerable resources to ending such a crime against humanity? We would no sooner accept the enslavement of the replicants then we would we accept the enslavement of the ‘humans’.

In other news, your friends at the University have seen fit to declare war on Morgan. It is interesting that they supported you in the voting for Planetary Governor, and now he makes war on his neighbor. If Morgan calls and asks us to defend him we will, and I can assure you that the University faction will quickly come to understand the error of their ways. As the old Americans said, we don’t start wars be we finish them. Zak was an old friend, but the leaders of the University are different. Very different.

I thought peace was at hand, but this seems not to be the case. Peace will be established on Planet, and those that would impose tyranny on others will learn that is not acceptable. We will give you a year or two to consider this, and evidence you see before you. Search your hearts. Consider what you are doing. Speak to the other replicants and help them understand that what you propose to do is little worse than what you claim was going to be done to you. There is one difference: you are acting, and enslaving other humans ‘for their protection.’

At this moment we have a treaty of friendship. That will dissolve within a year if we don’t have a satisfactory answer.

Consider carefully, Sten

Gaian Council Chair Roger Carlos

*~*~*~*

UN Headquarters, MY 2274

President Carlos,

I regret that you have taken these actions. I have been told that Governor Smith is sending you a communication that will prove to you that we did not harm her in any way. We have also completed the "gifting" of our two captured colonies to the Morganites and the University. It was decided that if we gave them both the Morganites it would seen as an act of favoritism which is something we did not want to encourage. As to your statements about the state of the Peacekeepers society all I can say is that you did not live here so you have no real perspective and you are not a clone. My question to you is if the ringleaders had succeeded in their plan how would we have known if we were under mind control in the first place? How would we have know that we needed to act and if we did know could we have? Suffice it to say we could not take the risk. I will state again for the record and that is we will not take any overt or covert military actions anymore. Our sole aim is to grow as a new society and defend our rights to do so. Please make note that I used defend in that last statement. We have no plans to expand our replicant civilization either so no further bases will be built unless they are built by Governor Smith for human expansion.

President Sten
UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


My friend President Carlos,

I am uplinking this message as we make our way westward bound for our new homeland. Please note from the support files I have uplinked that we are not under guard and no clones are on our ships. There are only humans on these ships bound for our new homeland. Several other smaller ships are bringing the remaining human population to the island so that we arrive in waves so as not to overstress our resources. I can not blame you for taking the actions you did. I blinded myself to the needs of my people and I have paid the price. I am still surprised that the human population still wants me as their leader for all the failures I have committed. In time I hope that I can atone for my mistakes and rebuild a better world and heal the rift that has grown between Peacekeepers clones and humans but that will take time. I can only state for the record that what Sten has told you is true and that I can verify his actions. I do not approve of the way he went about fixing the problem but what is done is done and now we have to fix the problem and move on. It will be several more turns before we can reach our new home so my communications will be brief until we can set-up more lasting facilities.

Governor Smith
UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS OF ATHENA

*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2275

Sten,

You forgot one crucial item when you gifted the bases to the University and Morganities: they are all at war with each other. In fact, Miriam’s forces were within striking distance of the newly occupied Morganite base. This is all very messy, so as usual the Gaians have to fix all these messes. First, our old ally Morgan called us up and asked that we fulfill our Pact and declare Vendetta against the University. We complied. Morgan has been a truer friend than many, including the Peacekeepers. Isn’t that strange? Our supposed ideological enemy has been truer to us than your people. I personally called up the current University President and she refused my call. Very well. If she wants it to be antagonistic, so be it. We therefore occupied the base you carelessly gave her. Then she called us up and begged to be spared, and the Council agreed to accept her unconditional surrender. I also demanded that she make peace with Morgan, and she agreed. Not that she had a choice. That solved one problem.

The second problem is the Morgan and Miriam. We moved some troops into the undefended base you gave them, and the Morganites were very pleased that someone had thought ahead to ensure they had some defense so far from their home territory. Want to guess what happened? It is exactly what happened before – Miriam attack the Morgan base, and by extension the Gaians. Miriam has once again betrayed our trust, and this time it is for the last time. The Council is tired of petty bickering and treachery. Miriam is finished, and by the end of next year she is likely to be safely in our custody.

Now, that brings us to our third unpleasant problem: you and your people. We had a knock down, drag out fight in the Gaian Council, the first in ages. I haven’t heard such language in years. In the end we decided to keep our treaty of friendship, for now, and let you prove you good intentions by actions. Part of our decision will depend on our interview with Alexis and her ‘humans’, and for your sake I hope it goes favorably. Note that we will not only accept their words, but will subject them to non-invasive tests to ensure they have not been altered or intimidated. We have the best empaths on Planet, and I don’t think anyone could long resist a determined Gaian psi probe. I detest those things, and we use them only as a last resort.

In other news, Yang is advancing with singularity infantry and hovertanks toward a now very submissive Santiago. I suspect we will have to find her a new home as Yang extracts his revenge for decades in her punishment sphere. Neither will listen to reason and agree to be at least neutral – a very uncomfortable position for us to be in.

So, we at least solved the problem of the University this last year. Miriam will likely be resolved next year, and then Yang/Santiago. Depending on how our interview goes with Alexis your people may be next. Do you detect some bitterness? You should. Betrayal has that effect.

Roger

[Hydro]

UN Headquarters, MY 2275

Gaians,

You seem to think we care if you humans continue to prolong your battles, we don’t I assure you. What I find even more peculiar is that you feel it is somehow "our fault" that you continue to wage war upon yourselves. This is unfortunate for us since I think you might use this belief as an excuse to do "something" rash. We have withdrawn from all "pacts" with the other factions on this planet and we only wish to maintain "civil" relations with you humans. We relinquished control of the two former Believer bases to the Morganites and University so that we could not be accused of favoritism, plain and simple. The fact that it resulted in bloodshed between you humans is not our concern, nor is it our problem. The only way I see that we will ever become involved with humans again is if you would attack us, I do hope that you will not make this mistake.

Lastly, we did want to inform you that since we captured all of the plotters and their scientists and the data they had we have been able to isolate the gene strand that made us vulnerable to mind control and have corrected that issue so that future replicants would not be susceptible to that form of control. In fact, we have been able to develope a serum to help protect those replicants who have the faulty gene from falling under the sway of an enemy. We thought you might want to know this.

President Sten
UNITED NATIONS Peacekeepers

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2276

Sten,

I am surprised it took you this long to isolate the problem. It would have taken much less time if you would have asked for our help, but apparently your perfect replicant society is too good to accept assistance, or even contemplate asking for assistance, from a combined and integrated society like ours. Seems rather myopic, doesn’t it?

As to doing something ‘rash’, I can assure you that only happens when the issue is forced by outside interests. Miriam is now in our custody, for instance. And it seems that the good Chairman has seen fit to betray us, too. Given current circumstances I might be inclined to agree that humans are by their nature fractious, and to even suggest that it has been so since the beginning. And, while you might not like to admit it, your DNA and upbringing determine what you are, and in that you are all fully human. You can try to build walls and use new names, but in the end the truth will be known – we are all human.

I had an interesting chat with Alexis, and in fact she is sitting discussing her future with the Council. She admits her knowledge of the genetic coding of the replicants, and insists that she never intended to use it. Alexis also said that your methods were ‘harsh’, but that there was little loss of life. Our empaths have verified this, and have verified it among the humans that escaped from your new society. You might not be inclined to believe this, but it was more than enough to satisfy the Council. All the ‘humans’ you rejected have been invited to join Gaian society, and some have accepted. Alexis, true to her nature, insists on leading the tiny fragment of her people. She has the full support of the Gaians.

Roger

*~*~*~*

UN Headquarters, MY 2276

Gaians,

I am neither relieved nor upset concerning your investigation of Governor Dix and the events that transpired. Facts are facts but the interpretation of those facts are always subject to ones own views and perspective. We have established a new society from the ashes of the old. I think this is very appropriate since our coming to this planet is in essence the same situation since the previous inhabitants of this world somehow failed to reach a state of "harmony" with this world and quickly found their world lost to them.

I am relieved that some of the human Peackeepers have decided to live with you Gaians since even with our support Governor Smith's colony would be a rough life for many turns to come. In time I think they could build a very beautiful society and that one day we can once again live in harmony but for now it is best that we live as we are.

President Sten
UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2277

Sten,

Previous inhabitants? Do you mean the evidence of an alien civilization we found in the Manifold Nexus, the Monoliths, and the artifacts that turn up once in a while? It is not clear that they failed to live in harmony, only that they are no longer here. The ruins are so old, many millions of years old, that it is not possible to deduce much, although it is a source of endless speculation. Now, if you mean human inhabitants, then I would remind you that humans (including yourselves) are still here.

And that brings out another point. You conveniently skirted the issue of being human. I still contend that in every real way you ‘replicants’ are human since your DNA is essentially the same, and any differences would likely fall into the normal distribution of variation within the genome. Even if you define yourselves different culturally (which is pretty weak) you are no different than any other human on Planet considering the wide variety of cultures we have here. Consider that carefully as you fling the term ‘human’ about, since it applied to you also.

Roger

*~*~*~*

UN Headquarters, MY 2277

President Carlos,

You ask a very interesting question, do we consider ourselves human, and the answer I would give would be, no. You fail to understand that our genetic code was "cleaned up" by the Peacekeeper scientists and they also made many improvements. I have the strength of three human males, my hearing is 40% better than yours, my vision allows my to see at night if it were at dusk, I can go for almost three days without food or water, my mental capacity is almost double that of you, I can breathe the air of this planet without the need of supplemental oxygen, so you tell me, am I human? I think not. We replicants are now a new species of man stemming from a root branch but now a separate branch onto ourselves. While it takes a human 18 years to reach a level of maturity or fast cloning tanks create a human of the same age in less than one year. But do you know what sets us aside the most from you humans it is the fact that we do not build up 18 years of hatred, fear and anger towards our fellow humans. We are born and almost immediately are able to learn at a level of maturity that humans take nearly 2 decades to reach. We never learn to hate that which we do not know and suffer the years of humiliations that you bear that in time impact all your future lives. The question you need to ask President Carlos is do we feel superior to you that you are now the lesser species just as the ape was to man. My answer to that question is no. We are just different and only time and evolution will tell us which of us the better species.

President Sten
United Nations Peacekeepers

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2278

Sten,

I think you need a remedial lesson in genetics. Simply because you have been adapted doesn’t mean you are a different species. The replicants were designed to be able to, given certain conditions, biologically reproduce with each other and standard humans. This ability to reproduce is the definition of a species. Keep in mind that we have the complete files on the replicant effort undertaken by the original Peacekeepers so long ago, and we completely understand your genome. I fact, I would suggest that the Gaians understand you better than you do. We have just made our 26th advance in Transcendent Thought, and have long since ascended beyond the understanding of mere genetics and are now delving into the basic building blocks of life. To design a new race, entirely new, is now trivial. I can assure you that the genetics of the replicants fall within the wide range of genetics that currently makes up ‘humans’, even if you have been optimized and fall within one of the tails of the extremely large human genetic bell curve.

That brings me to another point. Gaians have been practicing genetic manipulation longer than the replicants or the old Peacekeepers, and there are what may be considered human subspecies within Gaian society that appear much more alien than you do. For instance, some Unity-standard humans have modified themselves to have traits of mindworms: we call them empaths. Others have gone even farther and now exist within the fungus, having gone native in a way. These extremes can no longer communicate with any of us in a standard sense, but we are in continual communication through the xenofungus. Are these no longer humans? Their DNA is still 99.999% human (although Unity-standard humans and these extremes could breed, it would be doubtful that they would want to). You would be amazed at the variability within the standard human code, and modifications such as human strength and breathing the nitrogen-rich atmosphere of Chrion is a small feat. Hyper learning is also trivial, and can be accomplished by direct mind-to-mind connection, mechanical uplink, or personality replication transfer. Certain boutique humans have even greater intellectual abilities than you do. And then there are the transcendi, which make all of us look pale and pathetic.

Your last point on the superiority of the replicants based on behavior is the weakest, Sten. You reacted with the same fear, hate and fanaticism when you found out about the supposed (and unexecuted) plot against the replicants, and your actions of forcible collection for ‘protection’ of the ‘humans’ and the xenophobia that followed it prove that you are as just human in your reactions as any of us. Keep in mind that this reaction is mostly learned; it is not genetic (I hope it is not genetic, and there is no evidence that it is). Learned responses don’t constitute the definitions of a species. Many peoples in the past have thought they were ‘special’ and have set them apart as being superior, generally with very poor philosophical and scientific underpinning. Examples include some of the more extreme religions of history, and unsavory ideological factions such the Nazis of the 20th Century, or even the final sad stages of the American experiment. In the end all their ‘proof’ proved to be self-deception, and led them to a very sad and tragic fate. Be careful that you don’t deceive yourself, Sten. It is a seductive siren call, and you follow it at your own peril.

Finally, there is no Gaian president. We have a Council, and I am the elected Chair.

Roger Carlos
Gaian Council Chair

*~*~*~*

UN Headquarters, MY 2278

Gaian Council and Chairperson Carlos,

Once again you demonstrate your arrogance that somehow Gaian civilization is the standard for all on this planet. We agree the ability and technology is available for many factions to tamper with the genetic code but for us over a century Peacekeeper civilization has not wandered down that road as freely as you. There were a vast number of "normal" humans before the great transcendence who had very little genetic tampering and wished to keep themselves that way. General Secretary Dix himself refused many of the life prolonging medications that we believe to keep him more "pure" than mutated. I would also argue with you that only time and evolution will tell which species of altered man will rise to become the dominate species on this planet. Before you read too much into that statement I do not infer in any form that it will be us replicants since it could very well be you Gaians. What has happened is that the mass transcendence brought on by the Planet and Lady Skye have skewed the normal genetic evolution on this planet. Only time will now tell who will rise and fall since I do not believe that any further mass transcendence will take place. In fact, there have been no reports of any Peacekeeper, human or replicant, evolving since the last major occurrence.

What I suggest to you, and your council, is to live your own life and let others live their own separate and equal lives.

President Sten,
UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2279

Sten,

This is another sad day. We have taken Chairman Yang into custody. The Council takes absolutely no joy in this, I can assure you. However, he and Miriam both betrayed our trust twice and that is more than enough. Both are being well treated, but the fact is that they are prisoners. It pains me that two of the original leaders of Unity have come to such an end, and I am sure that Lady Skye, wherever she is, probably has a concerned frown on her face.

Your question of which strain of humans will achieve dominance, and I would suggest that it doesn’t really matter. Humans are changing at a pace that means they will likely be different species in time, but it is likely that they will inhabit completely different realms of consciousness. For centuries humans change was limited by medicine and the lack of the opportunity for speciation – we were all one giant melting pot. The last century has given us the ability to tamper with ourselves, and to use massively different philosophies. In the end we could become completely alien to each other. But, keep in mind that Gaian think in terms of thousands and millions of years – geologic time.

There have been some cases of people that have gone missing. Typically these are our more withdrawn transcendi, or those with a strong empathic pull toward Planet. I have put the word out to keep an eye on our transcendi who might be transcending, or simply passing to a completely different state of being. That is the true fate of humans, I fear: to become something completely different, something that goes beyond biology or even the philosophies we talk about. In fact, I think it has already happening and that we are stragglers. Last time I checked the University was still working on a second Transcendence. Many feel left out now, since they never had the option to join Planetmind. To be honest I feel that pull, and the feeling that I have missed out on something. Maybe Lady Skye is waiting for us, or even looking down at us now? Who’s to say?

You may have noticed that there are some Locusts of Chiron patrolling your borders. They will stay out of your airspace. If you intend on sending out a colony pod, or other sea vessel, let us know so we can make sure their patrol doesn’t interfere with your operations.

Roger

[Hydro]

UN Headquarters, MY 2279

Gaian Council,

We have detected the locust swarms you alerted us to and we request that you remove them to a distance of 4 sectors from our coastline.

President Sten
UNITED NATIONS Peacekeepers

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY2280

Sten,

My apologies for not telling you sooner about the locusts. The have been pulled back, as you asked. It seems we are in a strange position where we literally have nothing left to build in some of our cities, many of which have mineral production well over 100. One, in fact, is over 130 and is causing frequent fungal blooms, which only makes the problem worse since the fungus now produces more resources than hybrid forests. So, a few of these cities have been producing locusts, and I think it makes sense that we concentrate on building locusts due to our people's strong affinity with Planet. What is strange is that that they are much less resource intensive than the most high tech weaponry, which can cost well over five times what a locust requires to demon boil status.

With Miriam and Yang at heel, and Santiago and the University tamed the situation on Planet is finally quiet. That is what you wanted, isn't it? Time to develop your society, uninterrupted.

Roger

*~*~*~*

UN Headquarters, MY 2280

Gaian council,

Yes, we do wish to be left alone to build our new world. What I wonder sometimes will you let us achieve this goal or not. I feel as time passes you will begin to resent our accomplishments and that resentment will fester and result in actions that will be harmful to us all. Please consider these words.

President Sten
United Nations General Assembly

*~*~*~*

Gaia’s Landing, MY 2281

Sten,

I’m not sure what accomplishments would result in resentment by us. We both have democratic societies, although ours is more open to diversity. We both now live in a peaceful world, but that is due to our efforts since we had the sad task to force the issue. The Gaians have never attacked anyone – we have only defended ourselves. Until recently we accepted an honorable surrender to those who made war on us, where both belligerents agreed to live in peace, until that peace was broken. You need to remember that those betrayals still loom large in our minds, as does the nasty chapter of xenophobia in your recent past. The locusts and Deathspheres that now are in your area will stay out of your airspace, and their only purpose is to make sure there are no hostile moves by anyone.

It is strange that the Gaians seem to have the role of the Peacekeepers now. We would give this role up in a minute if there were any body that could do it for us, but there isn’t. At least, not yet. As your society matures and grows maybe you, or Alexis, will take this mantle from us. We are not suited to it, and the Council has none of the subtlety that Charles or Alexis had while they fulfilled their duties. It is possible that you might see it in your hearts to take back your Peacekeeper brethren. You are diminished with them gone.

Roger

*~*~*~*

Alexis looked out the plexiglass window that was the only source of natural light for her small office and living quarters. Pangs of guilt and despair hit her in waves almost all the time now triggered by any number of things, such as a window. The small human contingent under her lead barely had even the luxury of a room to themselves let alone a window. The new "human" colonies were very primitive when compared to the wondrous cities they had been "asked" to leave behind. Now on the small island of Athena luxury was almost a forbidden word and wondrous was never used in a sentence. Work was proceeding at the best pace possible to make improvements daily and even with the construction materials and support that was allocated to them under the new constitution work could only go so fast. As she watched the workers each day they always met the construction quota but nothing more. It was as if no one really had the heart or the drive to make the sacrifices that were needed to really expand the new human colonies as fast as they could. The civil war as it was now being called created a huge gulf of anguish, hatred and disbelief that humans could be treated in such a way, forced from their homeland by mere clones - by mere clones. Alexis had suspected that there were terrible problems back home during her long absences but she had become so focused on accomplishing the defeat of Miriam Godwinson that it had blinded her to the signals that were being sent. A less blinded leader would have detected those signs, but there was the ware and victory in sight, so very close. Alexis took two steps back from the window and settled into her chair, the chair that the first General Secretary had sat in, Charles Dix. For some reason whenever she sat in this chair she felt his presences his force of will. She wondered if General Secretary Dix would have fired on that first lone Believer scout if he had know the final outcome of his act. She also thought about Karl Broddarp and if he had know the outcome of his plans concerning the cloning tanks mind control process would he have done it again.

A light began to fill the room, a soft warm glow at first then two forms began to emerge - Deirdre Skye and Nwabudike Morgan.

"Alexis" Deirdre called, " It is time for the rest of you to come with us."

"Yes" Morgan repeated, "It is time."

"I don’t understand what you mean" whispered Alexis. Then she caught herself realizing that they had not talked but had spoken to her through her mind.

"Events are beginning to unfold now that could jeopardize the very survival of Planet, and this is something we can not tolerate. We have come to take all of the rest of you with us to the final stages of your being". Her hand reached out and brushed Alexis' cheek.

"Child, you must look deeply within yourself and release your inner self and come with us. There are millions upon millions of us now guiding the remaining few to the future. I am but an echo, a part of Deirdre that can come to this plane of reality to help you move one." Deirdre Skye began to dissolve and her glow moved closer and closer until it seemed to pass within Alexis and then she felt the presence.

*~*~*~*

Breathe in, hold, breathe out, Chairman Yang thought to himself. His meditation was source of focus, and one of the few avenues of solace he had left. There were no interruptions now, no urgent reports of spectacular success or bone grinding catastrophe. Even the mundane status reports were gone. It was quiet, all the time. The Gaians were gracious ‘hosts’, and his captors treated him like a guest in every way, except that he could not leave, would never be allowed to leave. He wanted for nothing, but everything he desired was denied him. It was bitter. There were times he even longed for the tender mercies of Santiago’s punishment sphere. At least the pain was something; a stimulation that Santiago made sure was always new and strikingly unpleasant.

Breath in….

Chairman Yang held his breath. One minute, two. Three. Four. He could feel the throbbing of his heart as his body cried out for oxygen. Even though his eyelids were firmly shut he saw colors, weaving, mesmerizing. He could feel himself rising, and the feeling in his extremities started to fade. His will would overcome his body, and that of the patiently vengeful and overly kind Gaians.

You aren’t allowed to do that, a voice said. It was all too familiar, deep and throaty – Deirdre Skye.

Now he knew he was hallucinating, the final act of the mind as it slipped into anoxia, and death. Somehow he had expected the false hope of the bright tunnel of light, another figment of a dying mind, but not this – the ultimate mockery: Deirdre, now long transcended to be one with her precious Planet.

A translucent image formed, and he could see it clearly. It was Deirdre and her image was that of just after the departure of Unity, naturally young and beautiful, before the torments life and conflict on Planet had ravaged her, and before the anti aging drugs and regimes had taken their toll on her inner glow.

Come with us now, Sheng-Ji Yang. You are invited. This time no one will be left behind. Behind her were Nwabudike, and Zakharov. They looked solid, but insubstantial. Each wore a serious expression, but he could tell that none of them bore him any malice. That was strange. Even stranger was that now, at the end, he felt no malice toward them.

Yang could feel his remaining senses narrow, and collapse. He imagined his fevered body straining to serve his vital organs, shutting off blood and life to his extremities. Then, as the crisis worsened, the oxygen was used and his vital organs failed, one by one, until only his brain remained. Even then the delicate chemical chain started to fray and break, one synapse after another collapsing in a rush that could only end in the final peace. Death.

He felt a hand, then several more hands, reach for him. Touch him. And he let go.

Silence.

To his everlasting astonishment Yang realized he was not dead.

Of course you aren’t dead, Sheng-Ji Yang. No one will ever die again, the voice said again. This time it wasn’t just Deirdre’s voice, but a much more powerful Voice that seemed to have thousands or millions of overtones, facets, and harmonics, rich and varied.

Cautiously Yang reached out, and felt Planet for the first time. Then he felt Planet reach for him, and accept him. Peace. It was the achievement of the inner harmony he had always desired. Yang felt no joy, but sensed a profound contentment he had desired for his whole life.

It was right. It was Truth. It was the Center.

Yang accepted Planet, and was gone.