The stillness of Earth’s moon was interrupted by a figure who appeared suddenly on the surface. The man walked carefully along the dusty terrain in his spacesuit, one that was exactly like the AZL suits worn on the Apollo 11 lunar walk. In contrast to his outfit, by his side was a different creature, humanoid and completely silver, without a single identifying characteristic. Unlike the man in the suit, the automaton had no need to fear the vacuum of space. The robot bent his arm out in front of his face and a holographic image appeared above his wrist. It displayed a variety of information that flashed in rapid succession, far too quick for the human eye to discern, but for the robot, it was a simple matter to observe and analyze every last bit of data as if casually reading a magazine. Strangely, without even the benefit of eyesight.
The display vanished and he lowered his arm. “Transport was successful.” His voice had a definite tinny quality to it. “In the parlance of this era, the date is December Twenty-First, Two Thousand and Twelve.”
From behind the visor of his helmet, the man smiled. “Of course it was successful. Was there ever any doubt?”
“If I may query, what is the purpose of this garb?”
“Oh this?” He moved about in the suit, looking down at it. “This, my dear Progenitor, is a classic. While wearing this, mankind took his first steps onto a world other than their own. It was a milestone in human evolution, and it serves as fitting a point as any for what comes next.”
They continued to walk along the surface, the astronaut enjoying the feel of the moon’s low gravity as he jumped from one point to the next. Progenitor, however, simply followed along as normal, not comprehending his companion’s merriment.
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Just over the horizon, they found a four-wheeled vehicle, left abandoned for decades. And not far from it was a pole; attached to the top was a plain, white flag. The astronaut approached the flag, touching its fabric between his gloved fingers.
“A place of historical significance. And from here, we can bring mankind into another turning point.” He faced his robotic companion. “Are we ready?”
Progenitor nodded. “Are you certain of this? Unleashing such a force on this species could have disastrous consequences.”
“We’ve both seen the future, my friend. If humanity is to survive, this action must be taken.”
“Why this date?”
The astronaut smiled again beneath his helmet. “There’s a long-standing myth that this particular day will mark the beginning of a new era. I’m partial to that kind of symmetry. Do you understand?”
“I comprehend your words, yet the meaning escapes me.”
“Then let’s just say I’m sentimental,” said the astronaut. “You can begin.”
“Acknowledged.”
The Progenitor held his arms out and stared up at the stars. He brought his legs together and slowly rose above the surface and remained there for several moments, seemingly doing nothing. His silver body began to pulse with a golden glow from within. Within moments, the Progenitor’s entire body was glowing, expanding ever-outward. A brilliant burst of energy shot forth from him, forming into a ball and growing larger as it traversed the distance from the Earth to the moon. Upon reaching the planet, the ball exploded into millions of small streaks of light, fading away as they pierced the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Progenitor lowered back to the surface, facing the astronaut. “It is done. The energy will linger in the atmosphere and over time, will be absorbed by the human genome and encoded into the DNA.”
“How long?” asked the astronaut.
“This depends upon the individual. Some will develop new traits immediately. For others, it may take months or years. But for many, the transformation will remain dormant in their genetic code, perhaps for generations.”
The astronaut frowned. “I suppose we can only work with what we’ve got. The important thing is that the new age has begun.”