by Lea Tassie
Humanity was desperate to understand. People were willing to listen, but nothing of any intelligible logic came forth. People tried to reason, pointing out that the problem was not in accepting the giants as living beings with rights and privileges, but that their leader was the root of this hostility.
To the giants, this was intolerable. Their leader, their god, was perfect and pure. Their response to humanity was an increase in explosions, and so three targets, then four, became daily events. Thousands turned into tens of thousands before the Techno-creeps began to create a plan for the defense of the four worlds.
***
"What could possibly cause these noble creatures to behave so recklessly? Is it something in their diet?" Dart asked Brick and Della this question as the three sat at a café in the old town, their weekly discovery session to try and understand the horrific events. Their help had been enlisted as experts, now that the attacks were having an impact. They had originally presented their findings to a council now seen as ineffective, so it fell to these three to try to determine what the black sphere wanted.
"All I know for sure is that the black sphere gave me the creeps," Della replied as she licked sweets from her fingers. She retrieved another candy from the dish on the table, shoved it in her mouth, then continued talking. "Dart, how are you doing with the Mind Reader program? Oh, and how about your father?"
Dart scowled. "My father told me he will arrive to help when the time is right, but what that means is anyone's guess. As for the Reader platform, I have most of what I need." He would be blinking back to Earth in an hour or so, to finish telling her the story of humanity.
"Gawd, I hope Charger R/T shows up soon," Della said.
Her tone bothered Brick. "If I didn't know better, I would think you turned groupie on Charger R/T," Brick said, obviously jealous. Both Brick and Della had dedicated their archaeological careers to studying Charger R/T in hopes of understanding the beast.
Della blushed and, looking Brick straight in the eyes, seductively slid another piece of candy in her mouth.
"Kings Beard, if we are going to survive this, we need to yak!" Brick said.
Della just grinned.
"Sometimes the two of you unnerve me," Dart said.
It had taken about a year to get the Reader project fully committed, a year of continuous harassment from the giants, a year of allowing Spyder, with the help of the media, to spout intolerable stupidity at a desperate people.
Some humans felt they could not wait. Fearful for their existence, they chose to blink off the planets. However, with no safe place on any planet, the system was enabled to blink them into open space. Out there, the internal devices continued to monitor heart rate, blood pressure, and telomeres but, with no relay stations available, there was no way to return. Out there, millions of humans floated in the black void, paying for their cowardice by being forever unable to act.
When the black sphere started its slow and deliberate movement toward the four occupied planets in the solar system, with an enormous army of demented, violent giants in tow, Charger R/T finally arrived.
Della, Brick and Dart greeted the beast on his arrival. Della was so excited she was unable to stop her tongue from tripping over itself. "Now that you're here, everything will be all right. I have been studying you my whole life, and I'm sure I know more about you than you know about yourself," Della said as Charger R/T gave her a cool glance. "Is your armor actually attached to your body? How do you go to the bathroom? Is it true you do not sleep?" Della appeared to be asking questions without stopping to breathe.
Her questions continued and Charger R/T got annoyed at having her constantly jumping in front of him. He dodged around Della for the last time, stopped and snapped, "Hey, five-foot-five, get out of my way!"
"Did you just call me by my height?" Della gasped. She turned to Brick and asked, "Did he just call me by my height?" Offended, Della burst into Charger R/T's path once again and blurted, "I have a name! Della Dalrak of the clan Gorthrgarbelhak. That is Brick, of no importance, and that is Dart, your son!"
Brick just shook his head and kicked at a stone on the ground. Della was making a fool of herself and he didn't know how to stop her. Della went on for some time describing the importance of her family clan, while Charger R/T stood unconcerned and paid little attention.
When Charger R/T had had enough, he simply blinked and appeared beyond Della, then proceeded to walk onward into the council chamber. Della was incensed.
His arrival in the grand council room was met with harsh whispers. He was clearly not welcome.
"Humanity's end is about to arrive. I will not stop this. You should all be running now!" was all Charger R/T said, then blinked from the room.
Della was heartbroken. She had hoped against all hope that she somehow possessed the magic needed to bridge the gap in reasoning between this beast and herself. But her delusion had been smashed.
Charger R/T had no interest in his past or in Della's opinion. He simply had a job to do and he wanted it finished. Panic ensued as the news flashed out to the worlds that the one being that could put a stop to this was not interested in helping.
In the early history of humanity, when a tribal group threatened a small village, the local inhabitants would band together and fight. Now people tried to use reason to stop the giants and the black sphere from attacking, and an envoy was chosen. A representative of the people of the four worlds was sent on a diplomatic mission to try to reason with the oncoming horde. He blinked out to stand on the surface of a small dwarf planet at the edge of the solar system, hoping to negotiate a peace.
Shale was a tall, thin Elf, leader of the group that had approached Brick and Della, and head of the team which had studied the giants of Crenel. He was certain that he could persuade the black sphere to listen to reason. On a barren, gray, dusty surface, pockmarked with asteroid impacts, Shale waited for the army to approach his five-hundred-mile-wide platform of rock.
The black sphere noticed him and, curious, drew near to hover above Shale's head. The sphere was almost as large as the small dwarf planet where Shale stood, and its surface looked like dirty black engine oil from some antique wreck of an automobile out of ancient history.
As it began to speak, the slick, black surface appeared to twist and contort. "Who are you, and why do you not kneel before your god?" boomed a voice that had Shale's elven ears wincing with pain.
Shale was a proud man and a leader. He never responded well to being regarded as anything less than a superior being. "I offer you a chance to stop and find peace with us. I'm sure that we simply have not understood your perspective clearly," Shale said, speaking slowly. "If we have somehow offended you, please know we had no intention of doing so, and that we wish to apologize."
The black sphere hovered motionless above Shale's head, a mile or so above the surface. It was, at times, difficult to see the outline of the sphere against the blackness of space, but once in a while sunlight would catch the surface just right, making the immensity of the sphere apparent.
"If it will help, we are prepared to compensate you for the loss of the Crenel giants who attacked our people," Shale offered, hoping that a bribe would send this army on its way. When there was no response to Shale's offer, he tried a different tack.
"We know that one of our kind, a being named Spyder, has approached you. He is not our representative. He is considered by us an enemy of humanity." Still no response, so Shale pressed on. "But if he is a friend of yours, then we are clearly mistaken in our opinion of him, and would certainly apologize."
Several giants moved closer to Shale’s position. They appeared twisted and insane, not like the giants Shale had lived among and studied. Their attitude was obviously the work of the black sphere. Shale decided to try communicating directly with these terrorists, hoping to break through to their former proud true nature. What had driven these once proud and noble creatures into such a perverse abomination would never be understood, for once their min
ds were set, they were immune to change.
"Please, you don't have to do this. We can still resolve our differences if only you will not continue this madness," Shale suggested to the nearest giant as it drew closer. "We have great technology, and are willing to share it with you."
The giant continued its approach and as Shale began to realize the danger, he stepped back. "I promise that we will turn off our defensive shield and welcome you into our homes if you will just promise to stop these attacks on our people."
The entire encounter was captured on media and shown to the people remaining on the four worlds in real time, so that when the giant attacked and the implosion cleared away, the gasps of shock and the sobbing were universal. Crying turned to panic as more people sought to escape and blinked into cold space.
The black sphere was not interested in negotiations, nor in peace. With its limited intellectual capability, it was the vilest force the universe had ever known. It again resumed its course toward the four worlds orbiting their yellow sun, intent on either obliterating the humans or forcing them to be its slaves and servants. This emissary of hate and oppression seemed unstoppable.
Brick and Della, like the other people of Ceres, had been convinced for many years that this was what would eventually happen, and the Dwarves had expanded and fortified tunnels occupied by humans thousands of years before. These tunnels had withstood the Grays' attack, and they could survive the giants, so it was thought. The Dwarves were always careful to hide the entrances to the underground cities they built, leaving their surface dwellings simple and basic. This had ensured they were never discovered by the Grays, and they felt certain the giants would be equally fooled.
However, when Charger R/T eventually acted, the tunnels were of no use. The only planet to escape was Earth, with its precious cargo, the Reader.
Chapter 17 Singularity
Dart speaks to Reader:
Our time is nearly done, Reader. The army of giants will arrive in only a day or so, maybe less. Yes, you're the bait drawing them toward Earth. They can't wipe out humanity unless they wipe out you, too. You are much cleverer than we ever dreamed you would be. But don't be afraid; I've remained here on Earth to make sure you're safely sent to the destination we chose for you. And Charger R/T is standing at the gate.
What's the gate? Probably humanity's greatest engineering construct, the most enormous thing we've ever created. We took all the material from the Oort cloud, a ring of debris that circles the solar system, and objects from the Kuiper belt as well, and built a wall which orbits the four worlds circling our sun. We left only one entrance and we call it the gate. That's where Charger R/T is now waiting.
Humans have been building fortifications for thousands of years and this is just an extension of that. This ring of space objects is really quite an impressive thing, and it's armed with our greatest technologies.
There's only one way in or out of our small solar system now, and that's through the gate. No, not a small garden-like gate. It's a massive opening, guarded by a being everyone should fear. And that's my father, Charger R/T.
What does the giants' army look like? You should be able to look into space and see it for yourself now, but I guess you need a bit more time to develop those skills. The army is, well, gigantic. It consists of beings that can move through the vacuum of space without technology. They're led by an entity that humanity truly fears, the black sphere. That sphere is something we faced thousands of years ago. It called itself our god back then, or so a tribe of desert dwellers wrote.
What is a god?
I don't even know where to begin in answering that. There are some who would consider you a god, once you have fully developed. The best I can do to describe a god is to tell you what it isn't. Then whatever remains must be what it is.
A god is not magic, not like a trick, though it may be seen as such. A trick is something that can never endure. Though it may deceive for a little while, it's always eventually understood. Nor is a god all-powerful and perfect, though throughout history, many people have described their gods that way, but such an interpretation of a god cannot be proven.
What do I mean by that? Well, one god is described as creating a devil. What kind of perfect being would create a devil, something to torment and destroy its perfect creation, namely us?
Oh, yes, most people like to think of humanity as something special, as the epitome of creation, as if evolution has a specific goal instead of simply being a natural process.
But, if the god willingly created this devil, then it willingly created pain and suffering and torture. I ask you, what type of being could be so malevolent as to create something so vile and yet still claim to be a loving god?
A god is not intelligent, that's obvious. There are hundreds of references to the sheer stupidity of gods. Okay, here are a few examples. Apparently gods are in favor of slavery, incest, and torture, all things we consider stupid at the very least and evil at the most. Gods have even chosen to appear to a people which couldn't read or write, when there were several other groups of people who did have the skills to record his words.
Gods are not kind. They show little compassion towards their flocks, though they claim to be loving. In one story, a god destroys the whole world. He murders every baby, child, woman, and man, regardless of their age, but spares a drunkard and his rather peculiar family.
Another god murdered several cities of humans just to save another old man and his promiscuous daughters, but not before murdering a wife for the crime of looking. This same god commanded the death of a son by its father and, when satisfied by the father's obedience, sent a lackey to stay the man's hand and spare the child, apparently giving no regard to the torment the child must have endured.
I ask you, if I tried to kill you, would you want anything to do with me in the future? No, I thought not.
Gods don't believe in equality; this is obvious. There are no female heroes in any of the stories of gods, where women are considered mostly useless.
So what is a god? Well, since gods are not fair, loving, intelligent, kind, learned, or even sane, whatever attributes are left over must be what a god is. So whatever you do in the future, don’t be like a god.
Is Charger R/T a god? After giving that some thought, I would have to say yes. He is all-powerful and incredibly destructive, since those that cross him have little chance of surviving. He wiped out the entire species of Grays, with no regard for either the morality or the consequences. He stands at the gate now, waiting to destroy another species of beings, hoping they will change their minds and not attack, but perfectly willing to kill them if they do. He can be at any place in space he chooses to be, without fear of what he might find there.
Most important, Charger R/T is our creation, as all gods have been. Humanity made him what he is, and we use him to our own ends. So yes, Charger R/T must be a god.
Am I a god? No, I refuse. I know that I am the son of Charger R/T, and that I share his blood, but I reject the powers I might have and choose to be simply a man.
Why? Wow, you are really in question mode! We have little time left and you have too many questions, Reader, but I will try to answer.
You see, I was born human. I had no gifts from my parents at first, so I grew up just being a kid. I had some friends, played games, laughed and joked, even fell in love once, just like any other kid, but I was different in one respect. At that time in history every kid was gifted with longevity, close to being immortal. I was easy to bruise, quick to bleed and cry, and no doubt I could easily have been killed. I was the first natural human in quite some time.
There were some crazy lunatics who followed me around for a while after I got older, claiming I was the son of a god, but I eventually shook them off with a neat ploy. I thought my demise was brilliant, really. I had just gained immortality but, before anyone knew about that, I faked my own death. They all thought I was still human, you see, and so when I died, they dispersed. There are some good stories that cam
e out of that event. My face popped up on stones, cereal boxes, and all sorts of weird places for quite some time. Eventually the stories faded and I was able to continue my life in peace.
I know, from observing my father, that it's impossible to have a peaceful life if you're a god. And I do like a peaceful life, so that's another good reason for my not wanting to be a god.
Then Abarth rediscovered my existence. That guy really made my life a living hell for years. I intended to tell you about some of my childhood adventures, but it seems the giants have arrived earlier than we expected. I will have to encase you now, Reader, and send you on your journey. We will never meet again and I wish you well.
***
Dart stepped back from the young girl in the gilded box, and blinked to a spot several miles away. Reader had been nine when Charger R/T found her. She was twelve now, and pregnant, ready to carry out her task. She had the entire knowledge of humanity, and would be the mother of the species in the future.
He folded planet Earth into a gas shell that had the properties of indestructible metal, carefully ensuring the structure was fully complete in order to protect its precious cargo. He then pulled space in on itself, creating ripples that echoed across the universe. He twisted and folded gravity and mass, bending the universe to his will.
Suddenly, like a silver marble in a vast emptiness, Earth and the Reader, the future mother of humanity, were hurled across the immense black depths of the universe to another solar system far away.
All Dart could do now was wait in the blackness of space, hoping not to be seen by the approaching army. Then he decided to stand by his father in this time of crisis. But he would not fight.
A major question struck him. When science recreates the human condition, do the molecules of the mind survive death? If our memory is a combination of molecules during life, then do those molecules survive the death of the body or do they die with us? In recreating Charger as Charger R/T, science actually used the memories of the dead Charger. But could that happen with ordinary humans?
