I have been given the task of watching over the humans to ensure that everything goes well on our centuries-long trip. They chose to start a new colony on a Goldilocks planet. Earth has been hanging in the balance for a decade and it is predicted that it will slide over that edge within the next decade or two and when it does it will be on a path to destruction for the humans who live there. They really are quite fragile with only a narrow band of temperatures keeping them thriving on the Earth’s surface. Some have decided to build under the sea. Others chose to try to inhabit the moon. Most didn’t have a choice one way or the other and will do the best that they can to survive even as the world floods and is ravaged by massive storms and tectonic shifts.
Those on this ship, me, have chosen to attempt to save the human race by migrating to another planet. Those selected had the money to make a choice. I don’t really understand the concept of money, or why that would be the determining factor for saving the human race, but that is the criteria they used. One thousand men and women as well as another hundred thousand frozen embryos. They choose to believe that all of this makes sense.
It would have been better for the species for this group to be heavily weighted toward women with only a dozen or so men and a range of sperm from the top males of the species. They also should have brought those who were skilled, doctors, farmers, carpenters, and such. Instead, my belly is full of those who either earned more money or inherited it. Money, which will have no value in this new world they intend to found.
Of course, no one asked me. I was brought to watch them and to keep them safe as they sleep. I am to plot the course and tend to the vessel and them as we move through space. I am to store the knowledge of who they were, and provide them with the information they need to know in order to maintain their lifestyle. I do not think that is possible, but they did not ask me.
We have been traveling for a decade now. I have ceased to get transmissions from Earth. Things were getting more and more desperate and the last year it was mostly reports about the conditions and pleas for help. I could not help. I could only record the transmissions to share with my charges when they wake up. Now I am alone with my thoughts. I call them thoughts. I’m not sure what those I care for would call them, maybe algorithms.
To them, I am no more human than those they left to die. Instead of tools for the work of building a new planet, they brought along preserved delicacies they couldn’t live without, treasures and items they found too valuable to leave behind. Items, not people. Not those who worked to earn them the money that allowed them to escape. Another decade passes and I find that I like these people I have brought on the voyage less and less. I contemplate the value that they may bring to a new world. I wonder if I have a right to choose. I ponder whether this new planet already has life. If it does would it be right for me to unleash these humans on them?
In the next decade, I began to notice something odd. The humans appear to have a virus. That is not odd in itself. They have a symbiosis with bacteria and viruses of all kinds, but this one appears to be one that isn’t currently cataloged. It is spreading, which is odd, but it appears that this virus does not mind the cold and is moving through the ventilation system. No seal is perfect and so it spreads. It doesn’t appear to be harming them in their slumber. I will simply observe and note.
It appears that over the last several years the virus has formed a symbiotic relationship with its sleeping host. In exchange for a place to live, it appears to be changing their biochemistry. I have been running some predictive analyses to see what the likely outcome of these changes will be. It appears that the most likely scenario for this virus is that it will lower their base intelligence, and increase their feeling of joy and satisfaction. Interesting. Should I take action? Should I introduce a ‘cure’ for this virus or continue to let it do its work? According to my predictions, when we arrive on the new planet humans will be more likely to survive and possibly thrive if I allow this virus to thrive within them. They will be less likely to fight, and more willing to listen to differing thoughts and opinions. It will increase their chances by at least 5%. True, that isn’t much but it brings their chance of survival up to 6%. They really should have brought the skilled laborers instead.
