Recording…
It doesn't matter who I was; I probably lived a long time ago, and I am now just a voice someone added to the audio-visual records. What is essential is the recollection of events that lead to the current state.
So, a little history needs to be told.
The events happened 3,000 years AGP (After the Great Peace). As they say, I will start by enumerating facts to make a long story short. It is common knowledge that humans have been around on Earth for about 6 million years, but we became entirely humans about 300,000 years ago.
We were blessed, highly intelligent, and extremely adaptable, who began complex technology and cultures around 70,000 years ago.
I will fast-forward now. After around 6,000 years of human history, our species reached a high point in our evolution, but some primordial things had not changed in the millions of years since the first hominid walked the Earth. We wanted to exterminate other civilizations, other groups of humans that behaved slightly differently from us, that had resources we craved to make our own.
So, by the end of what we used to say in the second millennium AD (Anno Domini), tensions in our continental societies began to peak. By the end of the 21st century, small countries in what we called the Middle East started a war that made the great power nations of that time to be involved, and a 3rd World War began. This war pinched against each other continental countries. We saw the American and European continents going to war against Asia and East Europe. The war effort lasted five years and destroyed their economies; it also destroyed several countries.
Then, after they nearly destroyed each other, the emergent countries, the ones that did not want war and were now in better shape, dictated a new world order. They crafted the document that is our moral code of behaviour for 3,000 years now.
The Great Peace Agreement.
Leaders of the Great Continents of Africa and South America redacted them for all the countries to follow. The main goal was to eliminate all types of slavery, from individuals to entire countries. No individual, organization, or government should impose any agreement, contract or action that would make weaker countries or individuals submissive and poor.
The recovery effort was tremendous and lasted 200 years. These two continents led it, but no debt was imposed on the loser side, and no financial burden was created on all parties.
A new federation of States was created, and 190 countries signed at the beginning. At last. Peace for Everyone!
This new era was defined by solid collaboration among all countries to achieve the highest levels of Human Development. Borders began to disappear, as did the free flow of employment and knowledge. Care for other organisms that cohabit on Earth, and environmental actions to restore Earth levels of unpolluted waters, air, and soil. Unimaginable science and technological advances with the Collaborative knowledge of the world's great minds. Indeed, the last 3,000 years were a dream; we were finally living in paradise on Earth.
Our new reality.
Recording.
About 30 years ago (2,970 AGP), things changed.
Our astronomers were conducting their regular swipe of asteroids and their movements,
A comet hit a massive asteroid and set its movement in direct collision with Earth.
The Asteroid was 1/5 the moon's mass; our potent AI did massive calculations on its trajectory, and emergency plans were created to no avail.
The Asteroid would impact Earth in the Year 3,000 AGP. It would create a Mass Extinction Event where around 99 % of organisms would die out. Earth's orbit would change as a result of the collision, its rotation would stop, the change in Earth's atmosphere would create a massive hole, and it would no longer protect its inhabitants from UV rays; the dust blanket created would last at least a decade, and its magnetic field would disappear as well. Earth would be another planet.
For humanity, its fate was sealed; we were looking face to face at our extinction.
For the last 29 years, humanity has prepared for this. We have come to terms with our impending demise, but we still have hope!
Exoplanets like Earth have been studied for the last two hundred years, and we now have the capacity for interstellar flights; we have been doing routine flights to Mars and the Moon for several decades. None of them can sustain more people than what they already have.
Terraforming is still in its infancy, but with significant advances. So hope exists for at least 0.01% of humans.
I was an exobiologist, and a group of us, together with some astronomers and space engineers, came up with this idea that may or may- not work, but in the face of our inevitable death, whatever plan with a slight chance of success is worth trying.
The premise was to send human seeds to 4 exoplanets similar to Earth so they could start their evolution there. It would be like a tree sending spores through the air so new trees can grow in new environments.
We've been working on the program for twenty years. We will spend the last three years putting our seeds in space crafts and providing them with AI, robotic auto-sustainable systems, and confirming the space trajectory to all four planets. It is unbelievable, but what if they can adapt, grow, and evolve into new species of humans? Wouldn't it be the most outstanding achievement?
That hope, that idea, that slightest chance keeps us pushing forward. We have tried several ways to send human seeds, all inspired by Earth's nature, but only three have the better odds. Freezing male and female gametes, Gametes cryptobiosis, Human hyper hibernation. AI (Artificial Intelligence) will have the most critical role.
All ships will be human-manned for the first century of their journey to finalize the AI applications needed to establish redundancies and failure avoidance.
These are the last ten days of our lives, 3,000 AGP. We are living on the International Space Station in deep rotation. There are 20 ships; each crew will start with 20 but will be a team of 50 about 25 years from now. To all of them, our best, they are heroes! They are sending out our last hope!
We launched them all on August 25th of the year 3,000 AGP. I am crying; all of us are crying; we are now praying with all our might that they go well and find fertile ground where they can re-birth the human race.
The Asteroid is going towards Earth.
My love to you all.
Recording stops.
Bio:
I am a biochemical engineer in water resources. Worked for several years as an administrator of water utilities in Mexico. Moved to Canada where I started a new career as a support representative in an ERP solution for small municipalities. Financials, utilities, property taxes and payroll. I love science fiction and just started creating my short stories.