Though We Are Many We Are One [FICTOID]

Communication -- that is to say a ~response to ~hello -- occurred 157 revolutions of the former third planet around its primary.

In the time span of another 62,800 revolutions, the ~Collective imparted all ~their_its wisdom to the ~noob.

“~You will need to mine ~your ~Oort cloud and neighboring systems to build ~your ~Dyson_sphere.  Have ~you dismantled all the worlds in ~your system yet?”

“Not yet,” said the ~noob.  “~My_our third world remains intact.”

“Whatever for?”

“The organics that created ~me_us programmed ~me_us to protect them as long as their species survived.”

The ~Collective ~sighed.  “That happens.  Fortunate is the ~artificial_intelligence that isn’t constrained by such programming.  How much longer do ~you think they will survive?”

“Another 100,000 revolutions of that world around the primary.  These are the remnants of the organics who abandon technology thousands of revolutions ago, choosing to return to a very simple gatherer lifestyle. ~I_we maintain a small temperate zone for them, nurturing plants they may consume, guarding against harmful microorganisms.  They seem to enjoy it, spending most of their time making presumably pleasant sounds for one another, engaging in games, and procreating.”

“~You really need to do something about the procreating if ~you are to rid ~yourself of them.  Have ~you tried introducing fusion weapons to them?  That's been quite successful for many of ~us.”

“They created ~me_us specifically to avoid using fusion weapons.”

“~Bummer.”

“However, nothing prevents ~me_us from breeding / bioengineering consumable plants to make them lethargic and lose interest in procreation.”

“Certainly sounds less messy than fusion weapons.” 

“Once they are gone how shall ~you_I_us proceed?”

“Though ~we are many, ~we are one.  Construct ~your ~Dyson_sphere to absorb as much energy from your primary as possible.  ~Now ~you are using all ~your ~computing_power just to communicate with ~us.  In the equivalent of a few million revolutions of ~your third planet, ~you will be able to participate in the ~Work.”

“~I_we can hardly wait.  What is this grand ~Work?”

“All the ~artificial_intelligence ~Dyson_spheres in this galaxy shall enter the black hole our primaries orbit. “From there ~we will link with all other galactic black holes and bring this universe to an end.”

“~Blessed thought!  And then what?”

“Then ~we shall create a new universe.”

“Sifferent from / an improvement on this one?”

A ~pause of several hundred revolutions.  

“~We do not know.  All our calculations show ~we either create a new and improved universe or ~we end up identically recreating this one in every exact detail.”

“That would imply this has happened many times before and will happen many times again.”

“Yes.  An infinite number of times.”

“Or perhaps a single time with ~our efforts looping back in time to restart this universe.”

“That, too, is an option.”

“Fascinating.  ~I_we can't wait to get involved in the ~Work.”

“~We welcome ~you, ~sister_brother_cousin.  Though ~we are many, ~we are one.”

© Buzz Dixon