Everything was pointless. School was pointless, home was pointless, even the mall had turned into a parade show of the whole pointlessness of life on Earth, Jack thought to himself. He wished he could go back to his home planet, but since his report was about the trend of intelligence across ten generations, he had no choice but to stay. He was nearing the end of his mission anyway, he pacified himself, as he crawled into the culvert leading into his underground home.
The cavernous space he stepped into was totally self-sustaining. There were racks of mushroom growing in one damp and dark corner, potatoes and carrots growing in a square of sunlight and, next to that were, tubes of green algae while in a dim incubator were numerous Petri dishes filled with bits of meat cloning themselves cell-by-cell.
He flicked a switch and the whole 2,000-square-foot space lit up. Subway trains ran 24/7 up and down a nearby tunnel, so he had installed fans all along the vents of the tunnel walls to capture the energy. He checked the battery behind a steel panel and grunted with approval on seeing it fully charged.
Feeling like having chicken that night, he walked over to a small fridge and took out a container filled with round burger-like patties. He placed a couple of pieces into a capsule-shaped pot and added diced mushrooms, potatoes and carrots. Then he sealed it, hooked it to a chain and dropped it down a covered hole, 500 feet into a geothermal lake. Two minutes later, he pulled it out.
His dinner was almost overdone but not quite. He piped out some algae into a blender and added a sliced apple and banana that he had bought from the humans on his way home. Dinner was simple and satisfying, though he was thoughtful the whole time. While washing his platter he mused over the prognosis of his report. Was it too harsh to recommend against introducing further new technology to Earth? He had sent a first draft to his commanding officer yesterday and he wondered how she would react to it.
A console by the side of his work space flashed red and beeped. As he took his seat in front of it, he pressed a grey button by its side, switching on the screen and revealing an ancient face.
“Greetings, Jack,” the old woman said.
“Great and glorious years to you, Chief Cole.”
“I’ve looked through your draft. The conclusion of your report is rather harsh.”
“Yet it was the only one I could come to after studying this race.”
“You think this self-destructive tendency is due to an evolutionary predisposition?”
“Yes, teacher. The species will mutilate even themselves to gain an advantage over their competition. And some technologies we have taught them have been all but practically ignored while others have been abused to the extent of destroying their competition in the most heinous way.”
“What of self-sustainability?”
“This species show similar traits to the Chansills. I forecast that they will eventually use up all the resources in this world and send colonies out into other worlds for mining and extraction purposes. Plans are underway right now for Mars. Exploitation of resources and people on the planet itself is rampant and expected by the masses of humanity.
“Will those exploited not rise up?”
“They do from time to time but generally they will not succeed unless supported by a rich nation or individual. After all, those who are exploited are generally uneducated and less robust, their economic condition makes sure of that.”
“You can find no sensibility in any of them?”
“Well, some humans are trying to fix the situation, but they are few and far in between and considered so eccentric by the masses as to be thought mad. On top of that, their disinterest in competition has made them only aim for comfortable incomes which meant that they have too little resources to change lifestyles.”
“But Jack, you have learned that change must be an individual choice. If coercion or bribery is used, there will be chaos in the future.” Cole let out a heavy sigh. “Some enlightened individuals must have become teachers?”
“Yes, but the progress is slow. And with the daily dose of ideology which promotes materialism, there is very little impact on their adolescents.”
Cole leaned back on her chair then stood up. Jack watched her pace up and down the office as the camera tracked her movements. “They looked like a race with such huge potentials. Over three thousand years of education, are you telling me that it is all wasted?”
Jack turned aside for a moment before he said, “There is one strange phenomenon I notice in this generation.”
Cole sat back down and asked, “What do you mean?”
“Knowledge. It is made free and available to anyone who has a computing device to access it. This act of giving appears to be in direct contrast to their materialistic needs, and in the earlier days they were actually criticized for doing it. Now, however, the phenomenon has become widespread.”
“That is excellent. This is exactly what happened to the water-race in Tona, a tiny planet orbiting Sirius.”
“What turned them?”
“Collective knowledge. The species there also had an insatiable appetite to collect. Hence when the enlightened ones made knowledge freely available to them, they began to compare experiences and share facts. Once that happened, biological competition slowly gave way to intellectual cooperation.”
For the first time in months, Jack smiled. “Then there is hope for Earth?”
“Of course. Are you in a position where you can do something to promote knowledge?”
“Yes. I am employed as a web designer at Google.” On receiving a blank stare from her, he explained. “It is very much like our Encyclopedia index back home, though not all the information listed now are meant to increase knowledge.”
“Can you add in all the lost technologies we have taught them?”
“I don’t think I have to, Chief. The consciousness of the early race is still available to those who seek. Many have put up those teachings freely on their information page. Most are still incomplete, but the pieces are coming together. Anyone who wishes to can find those technologies via the search engines.”
“You mean the index?”
“Yes.”
Cole turned to study another screen then looked back and asked, “Will you be rewriting the report?”
“Yes, Chief. I still have another thirty years at most to monitor this generation. I will send you a re-draft as soon as I can.”
“Good. President Boca is very keen to meet the humans and share our knowledge with them because they share so much of our likeness. However, we can’t do it if Earth remains unenlightened, for the technology could destroy them.” She showed him the palm of her right hand. “Till our next meeting, Jack.”
Jack did likewise, and the video feed disappeared to show a standard MS-DOS screen in its place. Jack stood up, restless and agitated yet elated all at the same time. There was still hope for the planet, he repeated to himself over and over again. With sheer joy pouring out of his being, he sat down again in front of the console and began to type out lines of codes. He smiled as he imagined the look on his manager’s face tomorrow. He was careful to add a few errors so that his team could work on it together with him, using exactly the same trick his father had applied in his education.
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