I will try to give a brief account of our history from memory.
There is no other source of information left and no device to record it other than a piece of paper. All the knowledge left is that in our minds now. It is what we will have to depend upon for the future.
I don’t know how many times in the past it has been claimed that something was mankind's last hope.
How I see it, we‘re at the point where there is no more hope now. But what else can we do but to go on as long as we can?
At one time our last hope was to make it to the stars and we did.
We had ruined our own planet to the point where it could not sustain life much longer and we scrapped it of its last resources to leave it behind.
We almost didn’t make it.
We did not just leave the planet behind. We left everyone behind who couldn’t get on the ships. Only about ten thousand of us reached Mars to start over.
It turned out Mars used to carry life a long time ago, and it could be rejuvenated and turned into a habitable planet a lot faster than anticipated. Back then people regarded it as the miracle that saved us.
Still there was no miracle to save the billions that died on Earth.
Mars was never intended as a new home though. We tore into its resources even faster than Earth. All focus was on building ships and technology for deep space exploration.
It took less than a hundred years for us to find another habitable planet only a couple of light years away. Another ideal candidate for population. We sent generation ships with hundreds of people, but we were not able to migrate on a large scale.
That all changed with the discovery of the gravity well. A constantly shifting point in space that simultaneously exists inside all solar systems. It can be used to jump to any system inside the galaxy. It is hard to track and even harder to navigate, but once we figured it out, we could go anywhere we wanted.
It turned out the galaxy was full of life. We found millions of planets with plants and animals, tens of thousands with breathable atmospheres that required little to no effort to make habitable. It was like we discovered paradise and we made it our own. Humanity thrived for thousands of years without any serious conflicts.
We had become a race of explorers and pioneers, and we populated our galaxy. We settled on every habitable planet and terraformed countless more.
At some point in time the view of our own past became muddled and mythical. When we eventually searched for our roots, we were shocked to discover a dead Earth, scattered with the remains of billions of people. There was no life left, no air to breathe, no untainted water, nothing. Our home planet had never recovered after we left, and our ancestors had fought and killed each other to the bitter end.
It was frightening to uncover a history of endless violence and wars that almost led to our extinction. Behavior like this was unthinkable now in this age of endless resources, and it left us wondering if this type of self-destructive aggression still lingered inside us.
This discovery may have been the trigger that pushed us towards the idea of travelling to other galaxies.
The idea brewed of a gravity well that existed on a galactic level, that would allow us to jump inside the universe. If it existed, it had to be somewhere in the space between the stars, a place we had never been to. We sent research expeditions and probes into this unknown void to look for evidence.
All this time we had never discovered artefacts or remnants of other civilizations on any of our planets, but when we explored the deep space in between, we found the Seed.
We called it the Seed because it looked like one. It was a grain-shaped artefact the size of a small moon, floating in space.
It appeared to be organic. We tried to study it as well as we could. Its exterior was an unknown type of resin, impervious to any scans or penetration.
When we tried to drill into it with one of our mining ships that could crack whole asteroids, it disappeared.
That was when we realised that the Seed was a ship. A ship somehow capable of generating its own gravity well. A technology that we had not even theorised about. We had never encountered other intelligent life, but suddenly we had made contact with another species that was technically more advanced than us.
At that time, we had no idea what it implied.
The event was analysed and discussed all over the galaxy for months. We were so preoccupied, that when the first attack happened it was completely disregarded or even recognised as such.
The reports said that Earth had been hit by an unprecedented number of meteor impacts in rapid succession.
Nobody lived on Earth any more, so it was not big news.
Mars was devastated shortly after, and none of the few remaining colonists survived. It was a tragedy, but people claimed they should have seen it coming since there was obviously a meteor swarm in the solar system.
Only when several other systems were hit shortly after did we realise that it was a deliberate attack.
Seed ships came swarming out of the gravity well and attacked planets by dropping out of orbit. They hit the centre of cities with frightening accuracy. The attacks were disastrous in the short term, and the fallout and biological poisons they carried rendered whole planets uninhabitable in the long term.
Any ships trying to escape were destroyed by the Seeds emerging from the gravity well.
Their attacks had a pattern. The older worlds were hit first, and they followed along our paths of migration. We used this knowledge to our advantage. It allowed us to predict where they would strike next.
We began to stop them at the point of entry by targeting the gravity well with nuclear explosions, to take them out before they could attack.
This strategy was successful, but it put a strain on resources and supplies in the affected systems, requiring a constant barrage of missiles while the planets were isolated from receiving external support.
Eventually, the Seeds sidestepped our defences by jumping in with their larger ships, a kind that didn’t require the gravity well.
They destroyed our missile launchers to make way for the smaller units to wreak havoc on our planets.
Every time we found a new way to deter them, they would send more ships, new ships, bigger ships.
We lost hundreds of worlds before we were ready to fight back, but eventually, we learned to wage war again.
We built weapons and ships of unimagined magnitude. We discovered technologies nobody had dreamed of before, and we fought back without remorse.
We not only learned to fight but to sacrifice our own kind in the name of defeating our enemy.
We began a massive campaign sacrificing hundreds of systems to deal a decisive blow to their attacks.
In order to conceal our strategy, the planets involved had not been informed. They were only told about a new weapon designed to stop the Seeds once and for all. Their own forces received and launched gravity bombs into their suns, not knowing they were designed to collapse them into black holes that would swallow the Seed armadas.
Billions of people died for the element of surprise.
The cluster of black holes had another purpose than tearing into our enemy‘s fleets. We could never locate the galactic gravity well, so we made our own in the centre of these new gravitational forces.
It worked out perfectly. While the Seeds were being swallowed up in our traps, we sent a giant fleet directly into their homeworld.
Fifty thousand ships and tens of thousands of gravity bomb carriers.
We never heard from them again. Not a single ship returned, and the attacks on our worlds continued.
We had thrown everything we had at them, and they kept coming. They just kept coming.
Building the gravity bombs and the attack fleet had exhausted the resources of the remaining worlds, but we still kept fighting.
The war lasted for another eighty years, but all our efforts were in vain. No matter how many Seeds were destroyed, they would continue to attack.
System by system they eradicated all our worlds.
In the end, we just ran away.
Five thousand ships scurried off into deep space. That is all that was left of us.
Everyone tried to make it to the closest uninhabited system without the gravity well. We didn’t dare to use it for fear of detection.
We didn’t dare to communicate either.
We just tried to hide.
The only time we would send a messages was right before the end. It would be the last message, telling all the others that there was one less of us.
Five thousand ships reduced to less than two hundred in the first year.
I was fortunate to be on a ship that made it to a planet that could sustain life.
Humanity had never been here before, and we hoped that we had left no trail.
The thought that they might find us here terrified us. We tried to wipe out all sign of our existence. We broke up the main carrier ships in space and let its parts burn up in the atmosphere.
Once we had stripped the landers of anything useful, we remotely dropped them into active volcanoes to get rid of them.
We didn’t even dare to build shelters, instead settling in caves to remain invisible from above.
We know, if they find us here it will be our end
We acclimatised ourselves to the planet. We foraged for edible plants and fruits and tried to impact the environment as little as possible.
We tried not to depend on any of the technology we brought with us, knowing it would run out or fail eventually.
The only thing of our past we cling to is the transceiver. We ripped out the parts that could emit any signal and saved all the cells that could keep it operating.
There is always someone listening to it.
They will come and get me if we receive a message, and if I’m not available, they will try to remember and tell me, so I can document it. They never learned to keep records without the help of electronic devices. I am the only one who knows how to write on paper reasonably well.
So here we are.
Hiding, scared, waiting for last messages.
We never met our enemies. We never found out where they came from. We never found out what they wanted. They never tried to communicate, and in turn, ignored all our efforts to make contact. They never made any attempt to colonise our planets or to exploit our resources. They never took anything from us except our lives.
I have so far tried to write a short factual account of what happened. What follows is mostly speculation and conjecture, but I want it to be documented as well.
We assume they came from another galaxy.
An intelligent species so advanced that they could travel the universe determined to wipe out any competition.
The first Seed we discovered must have been a trap, triggered by our efforts to find the galactic gravity well. It told them that we were coming, so they came for us first.
Tens of thousands of worlds destroyed. A galaxy full of life left dead and in ruins. For what? Superiority? Fear of the unknown? We will never know.
I wonder if that is where the evolution of a sentient species inevitable leads. I keep wondering how we would have treated other intelligent species. Would a conflict have been inevitable? I don’t want to believe it. The universe is vast, and there is no reason not to share it, not to coexist and learn from each other.
Is this was the evolution of intellect inevitably leads to? Did it make them feel superior that they regarded us as some kind of nuisance?
They may never have come here at all. They may not even know about us. The Seeds may have just been an automated defence mechanism designed to wipe out any potential intruders.
It makes me sad and angry just to think about it. We had never done anything to them. How did we deserve this? How can they justify their actions?
I hate them. I hate them so much, and I feel so helpless.
I don’t know what else to say. I will continue to document any significant developments and anything we learn from the last messages.
---
Messages are coming in, but there is not much to write about.
Some crews have encountered Seeds that attacked them.
Others died on uninhabitable planets.
Most messages are from ships that perished in deep space. They never reached a planet before their supplies ran out.
Some of them decided to program their transceivers to send automated messages while their ships drifted through space. To report their journey and as a memorial, but also as a last effort to draw the Seeds away from others.
The last messages are never good news. Our numbers are dwindling.
---
We have received a last message from a ship that got caught in one of our own traps. They were pulled into one of the black holes we created during the war.
They say the Seeds are still attacking. They are sending in ships of gigantic proportions. Nothing like we have ever seen before.
What are they doing? Why are they still fighting? Who are they fighting?
---
There is no one left now. All known crews have sent their last message. All except us. We may be what remains of Humanity.
---
It has been fifteen years and we are still here. We relaxed somewhat and continue to live. There is nothing else we can do.
We have turned off the transceiver. There are no more messages to wait for.
We try to explain to the children what happened and why we are scared of the sky, but I feel like our stories sound like superstition and fairy tales to them. The older ones are at an age now where they question everything.
---
We are growing old, and the younger generations are getting away from us. They don’t have the treatments and enhancements we received. Their lifespans are severely reduced, but they are eager, and they have so many ideas. They grow increasingly weary of our rules and restrictions holding them back.
They don’t believe what we tell them about our past and the Seeds.
I have turned the transceiver back on to convince them our stories are true. There are still automated messages coming in, but they mean nothing to them, and they don’t care.
I am scared they are preparing to do something to prove us wrong.
---
They started a fire outside in the middle of the night. The most forbidden action. It quickly grew out of control and became a huge blaze, burning down part of the forest.
We lost the cover the trees outside the caves, but most importantly, we lost the last remaining faith the young ones had in us.
They go outside now at any time without fear.
---
I was one of the youngest when we arrived. Now there are not many of the original crew left.
We still live in the caves, but the young ones have moved on. I don’t know where they live now.
Some of them bring us food. I think they do it in secret. I am grateful, but I don’t talk to them. I don’t want to know about the life outside.
We still listen for messages, it keeps reminding us of our past, while the future is moving on without us, but even the signals from the ghost ships grow fainter and fainter over time.
Some of them reached their destination and entered a planetary orbit to be destroyed.
The Seeds don’t seem to care about the messages from deep space, but they will attack when a transmission is sent from the vicinity of a planet.
There are not many cells left to keep the transceiver operating. A few more years maybe.
---
A ghost ship made it to Earth and transmitted a final report before it burned up in in the atmosphere.
The ship detected life.
Life on Earth.
There had been efforts to restore life to our home planet in the distant past before the war, but we had so utterly poisoned and devastated it that they all failed.
I don’t know what to think about it. Did the Seeds finally start colonising after all? But why Earth? Why restore a dead planet when there are so many others out there? I don’t understand.
---
No one else but me is left now from the original crew, and the transceiver is down to its last cell. I turned it off before it ran out. I may need some power in case I have to send a last message.
Now there is nobody else who can read what I’m writing. I don’t even know why I keep documenting this.
Some of the young ones who bring food asked me to go live with them, but I refused. I don’t have much longer myself. I will die in these caves.
---
They found us!
A giant Seed ship has appeared in orbit.
The young ones are scared. They remember the stories, and now they come to me for answers.
I’m lost. I don’t know what to tell them.
---
There have been no attacks yet. The Seed ship just looms above us like a dreadful moon.
I can’t tell if they are even aware of us down here. The young ones tell me they don’t dare to walk out in the open when it is in the sky.
---
I turned the transceiver back on, and I am receiving a repeating message that does not come from any of the ghost ships.
It comes from the lost attack fleet. After all these years.
When they jumped to the home of the Seeds, they emerged in a dark space without worlds, without planets or suns.
What they found in this emptiness between galaxies was a cluster of Seeds so massive that their sheer number created their own galactic gravity well.
The fleet was almost instantly wiped out. Only a few ships escaped back into the well, but they had to jump blind and ended up in an unknown galaxy.
It was much like our own with vast numbers of planetary systems that carried life, but they had to stay away from these. Each had a Seed in its orbit, just like we do now.
They never discovered any sign of civilisation on these worlds, but they found artefacts, remnants of ships floating in space as proof that there had been technically advanced species before, now wiped out.
They tried to return home, but without a navigational reference, they could do nothing but jump to random galaxies, hoping they would find a clue as to where to go next.
All of them were the same. The Seeds had conquered them all.
Before they perished, they launched beacons to travel randomly through the well in the hope they would find their way home one day to tell their story.
I had been listening to another last message.
---
I finally understand the Seeds. It all makes sense the more I think about it, but thinking about it also terrifies me.
The Seeds are not the weapons of a distant superior race. There is no hidden enemy. They were not sent by other sentient beings. It is quite the opposite. The Seeds‘ only purpose is to wipe out sentient beings.
The Seeds are the immune system of the body of the universe, and intelligent species are the disease.
There is no superior race that has sent them. They never came to destroy our galaxy. They came to repair it. They became aware of us; they caught our scent and sniffed us out through the gravity well. Then they began cleaning the planets we had infected and restoring the life we had destroyed.
That is why they restored life on Earth. That is why they are still pouring into the black holes, even though none of us are there any more.
They repair the wounds we have torn into the body they are protecting.
They react with pure instinct to a danger they detected. They are how the universe fights against cancer.
We are the cancer.
---
I still don’t know what to do with this knowledge. Does it change anything?
What do I tell the young ones? The Seed appears to be dormant for now, and I have no idea what will activate it.
Is it watching the planet‘s surface? Will it react to the change in environment?
There is a god in the sky, and we don’t know what will anger it.
How do I set up a future for them that won’t trigger an attack?
Should I tell them to worship it? Create a religion? Tell them the god above doesn’t want them to build, or to create, or to farm? To stay out of sight? To stay hunters and gatherers forever? To live off the land without changing it?
How long would it last? How many generations before they would again call it superstition and fairytales? How much time before they forget?
What if the Seed doesn’t care about this planet? Maybe it is here to make sure we don’t leave. Maybe it will only activate once we travel through space again.
I don’t know the answer to any of these questions. I don’t know what to tell them.
---
They brought the bodies of several people into the caves today. They had been killed for disobeying my orders.
I have never given any orders.
I recognised most of them. They are the ones who have cared for me all these years.
I chased them out. I don’t think they understood why I was angry. I believe they expected praise.
I’m scared of them now.
---
They have not come back, and I dread the day they will.
I wanted to say that mankind has reverted back to savagery, but I don’t think we have.
We have always been savages.
Looking back at how we treated Earth, the millennia of peace before the war did nothing to change us. It only delayed matters.
If we had gone on, I suppose we would have done the same thing to the galaxy. Maybe to the entire universe.
I never thought I would ever side with the Seeds, but now I wonder if we deserved what happened. If it was necessary.
If I imagine the universe as a living entity, I feel bad about the damage we have caused it, and I hope it will recover.
I have said that I don’t know what will trigger the Seed, but I know one thing that will.
---
I have replaced the parts in the transceiver that will allow it to transmit. Once the Seed detects a signal, it will attack.
No, not attack. It will repair the planet. Restore it to the way it should be. Full of life, without us.
I know, if I send something, it will be our last message.
I will decide tomorrow.
ns 15.158.61.46da2
