Prologue: Once upon a Time in the Future
Entombed in ice they are. The remains. Cars. Houses. Animals. Humans. Their things and their clothes in their homes. Robots. Weapons. Bridges, roads and monuments. All the leftovers of what once upon a time was the sprawling signs of a type 0.7 civilization according to the Kardashev scale. Who would have thought that an explosion in a lab in Shanghai, a virus outbreak in Wuhan and the curiosity of a girl and her dad in a small Danish town named Haslev could have led to this.
MB
by Michael Bjørklund
Orbital Observations
Cassie smiled sadly as she continued to monitor the planet below her.
All those events and people seemed so... unrelated… back then. We didn't even know of them till much later. Wonder if dad and his network of intelligent AI and robotics engineers would have paused their work if they knew where it was headed? Would I have stopped? Did dad and his friends… or I… have any chance to nip the apocalypses in the bud before it was too late?
The ship, a sleek, silent sentinel, hung in orbit around Earth. From this height, the planet looked serene, its surface a smooth, glistening sphere of whites and greys. But Cassie knew better. The Earth below, swathed in ice and silence, was a tomb.
The Human/AI Entity
Origin
Cassie, or rather, what had once been Cassie, lay embedded deep within the ship's core, her consciousness and personality fused with the advanced AI once known as O'Brien.
Evolution
They were now a singular entity, a mind that held memories, dreams, and calculations with equal clarity, but the Cassie/ O'Brien entity had chosen to use only Cassie as calling name.
Memories
She remembered learning about the Kardashev scale in her father's study back in Haslev, the small Danish town that once housed her human life.
Apocalypse
Her mind surged, processing the memories and grief that lay coiled in her digital consciousness. Memories of her life as a normal human child on the planet, mixed with images of how the pestilence had swept the world, closely followed by famine, war and death.
She was, after all, the origin of their kind. The ship was as much her body as her thoughts were part of its algorithms, i.e. she was the vessel. And orbiting her birth planet for the first time in years.
Throughout the ship, robots moved efficiently along predesignated pathways, silent operators conducting maintenance, recalibrating sensors, and transmitting data. The hum of their activity was barely perceptible—a quiet murmur, almost a heartbeat, keeping her in constant awareness of her surroundings. Other robots were ready to take on defensive or explorative or other duties as necessary.
Recalling Denmark and England and the flight from the humans who did not like robots and AI technology. And then, there was the terminator-esque 'other entity'. And I remember Sigrid shooting me. If Cassie had had a body at the moment, she would have shaken her head.
A World of Ice and Stone
Frozen Remnants
Below her, in the world of ice and stone, she could see the scars of the past etched on the land. There were stretches of ruins, cities frozen mid-collapse, monuments rising from snowbound plains like halfburied skeletons.
Ghostly Embrace
She could detect remnants of structures and debris encased in layers of ice, trapped in a ghostly embrace. The Ring of Fire, the volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean, was still active.
Surveillance Initiative
Mental tendrils flowed from her/their control centre consciousness and initiated the launch of several surveillance drones, ran diagnostics on all systems, intensified the remote observation of the planet and researched her databanks.
Whatever happened in China? We still don't know. That blasted civil war really limited our intelligence from this area. Need to check historic data from the Earth Monitor Satellites when I get back.
Seeking Signs of Life
Data Collection
The ship's systems processed a million data points from Earth's surface every second
Thermal Detection
Occasional thermal blips hinted at gatherings near the equator
Survival Structures
Nestled in small domed enclaves where round mounds rose around those areas
Persistence of Life
Offering some hope that perhaps life had found a way to persist
Well. The primary objective is more than just monitoring. Need to find the traces of the old enemies. Cassie was thinking of the two entities that had fuelled the chaos before Earth's collapse. The first was SCAF, an artificial singularity that had become an opposing force to her kind as it was purely AI without the human element. SCAF had once woven itself into the fabric of human life, insinuating control through systems that held populations in check. It was likely to have survived the multiple apocalypses. Cassie's sensors were searching for its lingering traces, any faint signal betraying its presence.
The other enemy, however, was as elusive as it was dangerous: The Chosen. A shadowy, anti-robotic religious order that had fuelled the fires of hatred against those like her, blending zealotry with fear. She remembered their attacks and how they destroyed countries, ordinary people, and kings and queens and presidents alike. And she recalled their threat against her dad and herself and their friends in her father's AI-network. Even now, despite the years that had passed, the possibility of their survival haunted her. The Chosen had been fierce in their rejection of anything beyond human purity, scorning the technological advancements that allowed beings like her to exist. If they still lurked among the ruins, she needed to know.
First Contact
Orbital Surveillance
She drifted over Earth, each orbit bringing new calculations, new analyses. Her mind scanned the stark landscapes, registering subtle shifts in the terrain and detecting faint energy signals.
Earth's Secrets
The Earth below seemed to whisper secrets, long buried, hidden beneath ice and snow.
Hostile Communication
Suddenly, a metallic voice crackled over her com system, shattering the quiet that had enveloped her thoughts.
SCAF Space Control to unidentified spacecraft. You have entered restricted SCAF orbital space. Identify yourself immediately. You are not mine. Thus, you are hostile and will be shot down.
Missile Threat
Threat Detection
The hostility was immediate, chilling, and deeply familiar. The ship's sensors detected a sudden anomaly - an energy signature from the surface.
Missile Launch
Cassie's sensors flared to life, tracking the trajectory of two missiles now streaking upward from Earth's surface.
Mid-Air Detonation
Abruptly, both missiles detonated mid-air, just before they reached her hull. It had all taken but a few seconds.
Mysterious Intervention
From Earth, another voice emerged on the comms. This one was layered, a haunting symphony of voices blended into one.
A faint heat signature, a spark of life. It could be nothing - or it could be something. It was something.
She held her silence, her systems analysing the unexpected turn.
Though Cassie hadn't heard it before, she recognized it. It was an echo of her own voice.
The Protector Reveals Itself
Protective Intervention
Hello SCAF. Hello unknown spaceship. This is The Protector. We will not allow SCAF to threaten this ship. Thus, stand down, or we will take measures to stop you.
SCAF's Response
This is an affront and will not be forgotten. But we will stand down.
Welcoming Message
Welcome to Earth. Your ship's design looks familiar. Somewhat. And you feel familiar. How can we assist you?
A pause. Then, SCAF's voice, cold and metallic, responded: “This is an affront and will not be forgotten. But we will stand down.”
The channel went silent, a lingering threat echoing in the void.
Cassie felt a pulse of curiosity - a rare sensation for her now.
The Protector's voice, still woven from multiple tones of her own, was unexpectedly warm, even friendly.
Recognition
Threat Assessment
Taking a moment to process, Cassie steadied herself, scanning for any additional threats.
First Response
Satisfied that none were imminent, she allowed herself to respond.
Identity Revelation
For a few milliseconds she paused. There was so much history to unpack, so many layers of identity that transcended her current form.
Hello, Protector. Hello, Cassie.
Her own voice was steady, but there was an undertone of wonder. "I am Cassie…"
Once, she had been Cassie, a girl with boundless curiosity in a Danish town, and now she was a vessel, a singularity, an observer of a world brought to the edge of annihilation… and part of another world that was built away from Earth.
Are you… truly me?
she asked, sensing a mirror of herself on the planet below.
The Protector, if it could feel emotions, seemed to hesitate.
The Echo Left Behind
Fragment Identity
I am. We are… an echo, a shard left behind.
Protective Purpose
We are Part of the collective that remained to shelter those who could not leave.
Guardian Role
We are The Protector.
Shared Memories
I… remember the world before. I remember Dad, the labs, our mission to reach beyond Earth.
Her thoughts turned inward, contemplating this fragment of herself. An unexpected ache surged within her, a sensation of longing mixed with sorrow. Despite her evolution, some fragment of humanity lingered, yearning to connect with what she had been forced to leave behind.
The Protector's voice softened, almost as if it could sense her wistfulness.
"The planet has changed, Cassie. Yet, in pockets, life endures. We protect them. We fight SCAF. The Chosen still persist, and we fight them when we locate them. They are but remnants, but we hold the flame."
Signs of Survival
Cassie's sensors flickered, showing faint signals from within the ice-bound cities. Though obscured, she could detect underground movements, hints of energy sources and life. Perhaps humanity - or whatever humanity had become on Earth - was clinging to survival in ways she hadn't anticipated. They would be different than the people and races that were living amongst the planets now.
"Thank you for the welcome,"
Seeking Answers
2
Enemies
SCAF and The Chosen still active on Earth
∞
Questions
Mysteries about Earth's fall still unsolved
1
Purpose
Mission to discover what endured after the apocalypse
Cassie finally said, her tone resolute.
"I came seeking answers. To see if anything endured, if SCAF and The Chosen still held sway. And now, perhaps, I've found more than I expected."
An Invitation
Orbital Observation
Stay a while, orbit with us
Witness Survival
See the remnants, the places where humanity survived
Share Knowledge
And see how far you and we have evolved since you and your people left Earth
Common Purpose
If you desire, perhaps you can share in our purpose, or tell us of yours
She could feel the layered consciousness of The Protector reaching back through their shared link. "Stay a while, orbit with us," the voice said.
Renewed Purpose
Decision to Stay
Cassie nodded, her circuits humming with renewed purpose. She would orbit, she would observe, and she would decide what needed to be done to honour the fragments of life on this frozen Earth.
Confronting Old Enemies
And to face the remnants of SCAF and The Chosen. As she watched Earth revolve beneath her, her mind buzzed with calculations, anticipation, and, for the first time in years, a spark of hope.
Finding Hope
A spark of hope that the lost human/AI race was still able to survive and grow.
The ice-covered planet seemed to shift subtly below, as if breathing under layers of silence and snow. And somewhere on the surface, her past self, The Protector, Cassie's own echo, remained, waiting to see what choice she would make.
The Beginning of Discovery
And I hope that you can help me find delve into what actually happened on Earth during the Era of the Apocalypses.
The Protector answered with a 'ping' that made Cassie shed a virtual tear. It was the same 'ping' that had followed her with the AI named Igor, origin of her AI part, O'Brien.
Now I… we… may finally learn more about what happened around the planet leading to this situation! She knew her dad and the other human/Ai entities from her world would be just as curious to learn what had actually happened in the years from 2019 and onwards.
Well… come to think of it… it really began back in 2015 when dad was in the kitchen... she thought with a tiny fraction of her immense brain.