The world had ended. Humanity was no more. After a long war between the United Planetary Federation against invaders from another galaxy that sought to exterminate all intelligent life, humans fled their solar system on arks - ships capable of carrying millions of people and sustaining life indefinitely. For hundreds of years, humans lived this nomadic lifestyle, plundering resources from planets and asteroids that they passed by and continuously on the move to avoid detection.
They yearned for their time on a celestial body. The history and culture that they have lost. The flora and fauna. The blue skies of Earth, the red desert of Mars and the frozen frontiers of Titan - all lost and nearly forgotten. The new generations of humans only knew of life on the run. Sometimes they found glimpses of habitable planets, even those with ancient primordial life during their journey. But they know they could not stop, the invaders that were fearfully monikered Despair by humanity would always find them. The war never ended.
Slowly, their fleet of arks dwindled in numbers, lost in ambushes and skirmishes against the Despairs. They could not take this any longer. Struggle as they may, they were only delaying the inevitable. Their extinction was at hand.
Gaia, the last ark. After centuries of struggle, it was finally time for humans to meet their end. In this final battle, they knew that this was going to be their last, a final farewell to their species. And thus, in a magnificent explosion that could only be described as a miniature supernova, Man breathed their last.
And yet, even the frightful Despair did not foresee that a single carrier ship managed to escape Gaia and opened a hole in time and escape and entered it. The Despairs thought their mission with this puny species had ended. And thus, they continue their search for other civilizations
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The last of Man. The only human to have survived. Manusya could not comprehend his existence.
What the invaders did to us, we have done to many others. Manusya pondered. We were dangerous, a threat, a menace to all life on our first home, Earth. He gripped the arm of his seat tightly.
A tanned young man with hair to his shoulders and bangs nearly covering his face. A slender, fit physique, an ideal body granted to him by his Project Manager. A dead, thousand-yard stare.
And yet, we also had love and compassion. Many of those species that we exterminated we brought back to life through our advances in technology. If only it was not too late. If only they simply left us alone.
“Sapien, how many times does this make?” Manusya said out loud. He was alone on the entire ship.
And yet, a voice answered back at him.
“That was your nine hundred and eighty-seventh cryosleep, Manusya.”
It was a pleasant feminine voice.
987 times has he done this. 987 times did he travel through galaxies and closer to the edge of the universe. He did not care how many lightyears have he spent alone. He did not want to know, that knowledge might drive him mad. He would rather focus on his objective. As the last hope for humanity — the only hope — he could not lose this battle.
“And did you find a suitable planet, yet?” Manusya replied exasperated.
“There is one planet that might fit our standards, but there are complications.”
Manusya jumped from his seat. After millennia alone, there was very little that could provoke a strong reaction from him. To pass the time, he had been training his physique, learning combat skills to protect himself, and practising with weaponry. He had consumed as many films, literature and art as he could. He was born on the Ark, but he yearned for society, history and culture. He was sad.
He must stand tall. He was humanity’s only hope. And what Sapien just said had never happened throughout all the cryosleep cycles that he had undergone. Something about this cycle was different.
“Are you sure about this? Bring up the data.” He raised his voice.
“As you wish,” Sapien replied.
A floating hologram showed him what appeared to be a solar system.
Manusya calmed himself and replied, “A sun, ten planets. I see. And the habitable zone?”
“It is the third planet,” The pleasant voice answered.
“Just like Earth…our true home.”
Manusya was stunned, this was the first time after 987 cryosleep that they found planets matching their standards. Being habitable was not the only standard, other factors would allow them to hide from the Despairs and restart civilization undetected. That is, as long as they could.
Another chance. Manusya knew, given time, the Despairs would return someday. And yet, he could not let such thoughts hinder their plans. A new hope was the only thing he could grasp at in such a cold, lonely universe.
“But wait,” Manusya snapped out of his daze. “You said there was a complication?”
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“Yes. An unknown energy envelopes the entire solar system. We are unable to examine it from this distance, but my analysis predicted that it could have the potential to be dangerous. It might also consume much of our time and energy to fully examine the energy. This might pose a significant delay to our plans.”
Manusya sat back down and slumped. I knew this was too good to be true.
He sighed and asked, “How many more cryosleep can the ship take?”
“At most, three more. Two, if we want to reserve the energy to fully implement Project Messiah effectively.” Sapien replied.
Manusya massaged his temple.
Nearly a thousand times have I done this, and not one time did we find a planet matching all of our standards. This unknown energy…what could it be? His mind was in disarray. This represented both hope and the biggest gamble that humanity ever took.
Two to three more sleep with no guarantees that we will find another planet like this one.
He heaved a heavy sigh and looked to the endless void ahead outside of his ship. The stars were not as abundant here. He was at the edge of the universe, the frontier of endless expansion. Any further, who knew what he could find?
We are practically extinct. This ship holds embryos for humans, flora and fauna that would restart our civilization. But I am the last human alive. What difference does it make if I make this gamble? It does not matter.
Indeed, he was alone. He remembered the faces of the scientists that sent him away, they knew I was going to fail. He was a dream to them. A fleeting hope that would never arrive. A hug in their last moments, a vision of humanity’s salvation.
Manusya steeled himself. “Take us there. I do not care anymore”
“May I ask if this is an emotionally-driven decision? I would very much you to reconsider and think this through logically.” Sapien still held a pleasant voice even while saying such a thing.
“Yes, it was. I am, after all, human” Manusya replied. We did not get this far with only logic. I must make a decision and follow my intuition for once.
“Understood. Redirecting our course. It is time for your next cryosleep.”
“Hold on, there is one more thing,” Manusya interjected. “I hereby impose an alteration of the plans. The new humans, I want you to let them be and only guide them when necessary.”
Sapien did not reply for a few moments. An uncharacteristic thing for such an Artificial Intelligence.
“I cannot understand the logic behind such a thing. Project Messiah’s directives were to restart civilization by building a new home powered by the history and knowledge of the entire development of human history. Both civilizations and technology would be accelerated to be at our previous level of being a species capable of colonizing the entire solar system. Your plan would revert humanity to hunter-gatherers and it would take thousands of years to reach your previous state. You would have new humans repeat the same mistakes?” Sapien argued.
“I want to give them a life!” Manusya interjected passionately, “ The original plans would simply have the children of these new humans wake up in a world on the brink of extinction again. The new humans would create weapons and prepare for the arrival of the Despairs. They would look up at the night sky not with wonderment and hope, but fear and dread. I could not let them have such a sad life. If only for some time."
“But is that not the logical thing to do? The survival of your species outweighs this…happiness that you spoke of, Manusya. The new humans can continue where we left off with our research and find a way to defeat the invaders.” Sapien rebutted.
Manusya shook his head. “I was chosen for this project for a reason. There were people smarter than me, stronger than me, and more qualified than me. But can you remember why I was chosen by our Head?”
“Yes. Our files stated simply that the reason you were chosen was that out of all the candidates, you held the most love for humans.”
Manusya nodded and sighed. “That is an embarrassing statement, but no one but you could hear it anyway. Indeed, the numerous psychological tests performed on candidates filtered people driven purely by logic and perfection. Did you know my occupation in the Ark before the project?”
“You were a filmmaker. If I were honest with you, purely by my analysis, I would not have chosen you as well.” Sapien replied.
“It was a dying profession, no one saw the value of art and entertainment in our final years. Everyone was conscripted and battles were frequent. The cities inside the Ark were filled with death and gloom, everyone lost hope.” Manusya held back tears, it was the first time he felt such emotion in a long time.
He sighed once more and his pitiful face returned to its calm state. “I understand why you think simply feeding the new humans technology and information would solve everything, but I do not think so. If that was simply the case, then we would have stopped at any habitable planet that we could find and restarted civilization. But you know full well that it would not be remotely enough to defeat the Despairs.” Manusya explained.
“...That is indeed the case,” Sapien replied. “ But my analysis still says it would be better to provide the new humans as much support as we can.”
“I know. Another war is inevitable. That is where you and I come in, we would guide the new humans when they are ready for it. We will reveal everything in due time. I simply want them to develop their own identities, culture and history first. And it’s not like I am asking you to take your hands off the wheels fully.” Manusya smiled.
“Please elaborate,” Sapien replied.
“I want you to be a guiding force throughout their history, steer them in the right direction when you can. Let them make mistakes, but nudge them ever so slightly so they still advance their society. In what form does this aid take, I will leave it to you. You may use some knowledge from our history for this. What do you think, Sapien?” Manusya smiled even wider and asked.
“Understood. As you command. I will make alterations to the directives. Then, if it is decided, it is time for your cryosleep, Manusya.”
Manusya nodded.” I am delighted you agree with me. Will you take care of everything while I am asleep?”
“Yes, I will make preparations for the terraforming and cultivation of new flora and fauna. I will end your cryosleep when our analysis deemed humans to have developed enough to be fed the truth, as per your directive.” Sapien answered.
Manusya stood up and started walking to his cryosleep pod deeper inside the ship. He opened the hatch of the pod and walked inside it. His body was in an almost upright position, but numerous straps started to tighten his body in place. The hatch closed and only darkness greeted him.
“As for the unknown energy…try to examine it without diverting energy away from the project, even if this will take thousands of years,” Manusya said as he closed his eyes. “I am ready.”
“Understood. Cryosleep initiating. Good night, Manusya.”
And thus did humanity find another chance to carry on.