Front Runner

Special Archive of the Human Diaspora

By Alexandra Durham

“Transgression”

Life, at its core, is the pursuit of survival. It claws its way through the most inhospitable environments, against all odds, driven by a biological imperative so deeply rooted that it transcends rationality. We have inherited this primal force from the extremophiles—our distant, microscopic ancestors—who thrived in volcanic vents and toxic wastelands long before humanity ever dreamed of space. It is their tenacity, their relentless will to survive, that pulses through our veins. Every leap we have made, from the taming of fire to the conquest of the stars, is built on this base, unyielding instinct.

In this way, the human diaspora is no different from the earliest organisms that fought to survive the caustic environments of the ancient home world. We have adapted, expanded, and carved out niches in every corner of the galaxy. We have shaped entire ecosystems to suit our needs, but the impulse remains the same: to endure, no matter the cost. All of our technology, our grand civilizations, our relentless expansion—they are all, in the end, the product of this ancient biological drive.

It was with these thoughts in mind that I approached the solar system of Sol 766587, curious to see how this impulse for survival had manifested itself in yet another corner of the galaxy. As my vessel crossed into the system’s gravitational influence, I was met with a sight that left me momentarily breathless. Before me was a carefully engineered marvel of human ingenuity, a system unlike any I had encountered before.

Surrounding the central star was a vast network of machinery, absorbing its energy in a complex web of relays and transmitters. The star’s light was harnessed and directed outward toward the system’s four planets, each of which was enveloped in a shimmering lattice of red and gold streamlines. The planets themselves seemed almost alive, their surfaces pulsing with luminous currents of energy. Each world was covered in a metallic sheen, its atmosphere suffused with the glow of the machines that drew power from the network above.

A scan of the planetary composition revealed an intricate blend of silica, nickel, iron, gold, and silver, the kind of material signature associated with advanced technology. Yet, despite the overwhelming display of engineering, I was left with a sense of unease. There was no trace of human activity on the surface—no cities, no vehicles, no evidence of biological life at all. It was as if the system had been abandoned, left in the care of its machines.

I had seen a great deal of complex engineering throughout my travels, but nothing quite like this. My mind raced with questions about the nature of this system. Who were these humans? What had they built here, and for what purpose?

Before I could send a transmission, a message arrived—unexpected, and unsettling.

"Do you come to end us, space traveler?"

The message was direct, almost plaintive, as if the sender had already resigned themselves to an inevitable end. I quickly composed a reply.

"I do not. Why would you think I came to hurt you?"

A pause. Then the reply came, laden with a sense of doom.

"We live with great sin, traveler. We have awaited our end for many years."

Curiosity and confusion mingled within me. Sin? What kind of sin could a people commit that would leave them awaiting destruction? And what was the purpose of this elaborate system they had constructed? I decided to press forward, hoping to learn more.

"May I approach one of your planets? I would like to speak with you and learn about your worlds."

"Our worlds cannot be walked in physical form." The message was cryptic, and yet I knew I had touched on something important.

"In what form can they be walked, then?" I inquired.

"The mind." Came the response, swift and decisive.

I paused, intrigued. Whatever lay ahead, I knew I had stumbled upon something unique, something beyond the typical societies of the human diaspora. This was a people who no longer occupied the physical realm in the way most civilizations did.

"Please show me what you mean," I continued. "I would like to see your worlds."

"As you wish."

Out of nowhere, six autonomous drones materialized around my vessel. Their sudden appearance caught me off guard, though I couldn’t be sure how long they had been there, hidden from my sensors. Their stealth only emphasized the technological prowess of these humans.

"If you wish to walk our world, allow the envoy to board your ship."

The message was followed by a single drone breaking away from the group, approaching my vessel with delicate precision. It sought entry, and I complied, opening my airlock to allow it passage. Inside, the "envoy" extended a small, metallic appendage toward me. I wasn't certain how it intended to connect me to this new world, but I knew that refusal was not an option.

With a quick nod, I granted the envoy permission to proceed. The appendage touched the side of my head, and in an instant, I ceased to exist within the confines of my ship.

My consciousness was transported to a new reality, one that felt as real as the waking world, though I knew it was constructed entirely in the mind. I found myself standing in a park, surrounded by towering trees and lush plant life. The air was crisp and fragrant, the kind of environment that would have taken centuries to cultivate in the physical realm.

"Do you feel alright?" A voice called out to me.

Turning, I saw two women and a man standing nearby, their faces calm and untroubled. They seemed at peace, as if the world around them was all they had ever known.

"I'm fine." I replied, though I felt more disoriented than I let on. "What is this place?"

"Our worlds are in the mind." One of the women explained. "We house two hundred billion minds in our worlds. Our physical forms are no longer of any consequence. We live in this world alone."

Two hundred billion minds. The sheer scale of it was incomprehensible. Their planets, I realized, were not mere machines—they were massive computational arrays, designed to sustain an entire population within the confines of a digital reality.

"Your planets are computers, then?" I asked, beginning to piece together the nature of their existence. "Is that why you need all of that energy from your star?"

"Our planets are facilitators." The man clarified. "They are the bridge between the individual mind and the greater mind."

The greater mind. I had heard of such concepts before—a singular consciousness formed by the collective input of billions of individuals. But to see it realized on such a scale was staggering.

"How long have you lived this way?" I pressed, still struggling to wrap my mind around the enormity of their existence.

The woman smiled softly. "We have lived this way for an immeasurable amount of time. Inside our worlds, one can manipulate their perception of time, thus neutralizing the potency of the concept."

The idea was mesmerizing. Time, the constant force that governs our every action, rendered meaningless within the confines of this digital existence. And yet, despite the tranquility they had created for themselves, I sensed something darker lurking beneath the surface. A question lingered in my mind, one that I had to ask.

"If you all live inside the mind," I began cautiously, "how do you deal with outside threats or problems when they arise?"

"We interact with the outside through envoys, seers, and other machines." The man answered smoothly.

"Drones." I concluded, recalling the fleet that had surrounded my ship.

"Yes." One of the women affirmed. "However, you are the first traveler we have interacted with in a very long time."

There was a strange tension in her words, a subtle implication that their isolation was not entirely by choice.

"Why is that?" I asked, my curiosity deepening.

The woman sighed softly, exchanging a glance with her companions before speaking again.

"We live with great sin." She said quietly. "We await death."

There it was again—that strange notion of guilt and impending punishment. I hesitated, uncertain whether to press further, but I had come too far to turn back now.

"I’m sorry to ask so directly," I said carefully, "but what exactly is this great sin you keep speaking of?"

The three of them looked at me, their expressions unchanged but their eyes heavy with an ancient sorrow. They began their story, their voices almost mechanical in their recounting, as if they had rehearsed it a thousand times.

"Many generations ago, when we were constructing the greater mind, it was weak and fragile." The man began. "We deployed thousands of envoys to cleanse the solar system of any debris. Even the smallest particles could damage the greater mind’s inner mechanics. Our worlds never had strong atmospheres, so anything—from micrometeoroids to cosmic dust—was a threat."

He paused, and one of the women took over.

"We lived in constant fear." She continued. "At that time, the greater mind hosted close to fifty billion minds. Even the slightest impact could have caused catastrophic loss. We could not risk it. And so, we built the Regents."

"The Regents?" I interrupted, my heart quickening. "What were they?"

The woman’s eyes grew distant, as if she were seeing the memory unfold before her.

"The regents were terrible tools." She explained. "They were designed to protect us by any means necessary. We monitored the surrounding star systems and saw that several civilizations were advancing rapidly. Even if they came here with peaceful intentions, their presence alone could destroy us. The fear of this—this loosely justified fear—is what drove us to commit our sin."

Her voice faltered, but the man continued, his tone unwavering.

"We sent the regents to every inhabited world within five hundred light years."

He said, his words chilling in their simplicity.

"And we extinguished their stars."

I stood frozen, unable to process what I had just heard. The genocide of entire systems, the deliberate extinction of countless human civilizations, all reduced to a matter-of-fact statement. For a moment, I struggled to breathe, the weight of their confession pressing down on me like an avalanche.

They had extinguished their stars.

The implications were horrifying. To destroy a star is to erase the very foundation of life for the planets orbiting it. They had obliterated entire ecosystems, wiped out civilizations that may have spanned millennia, all in the name of protecting their fragile "greater mind."

The enormity of their sin hung in the air between us, unspoken but palpable. I wanted to scream, to rage at them for what they had done, but I knew that I could not. I was standing within their digital realm, completely at their mercy. And so, I forced myself to remain calm, to ask the questions that burned inside me.

"Are these regents still used today?" I asked, my voice steady despite the turmoil in my mind.

The woman shook her head, her expression solemn.

"No." She started. "We choose not to employ them anymore. We are eternally plagued by the guilt of our past. That is why we know that someday, someone will come to make us atone for our sin."

They spoke of retribution as if it were an inevitability, something they awaited with quiet resignation. And yet, I couldn’t help but notice the contradiction in their words. They spoke of guilt, of the burden of their transgression, but they continued to live, day by day, within the safety of their artificial worlds. They had constructed an entire existence around the avoidance of death, and yet they claimed to long for it as a form of penance.

But guilt alone, I realized, was not enough to make them seek their own end. For all their remorse, their instinct to survive—the same primal force that had driven the first organisms on the home world—was stronger. They awaited their punishment, but they would not invite it. They would live, for as long as the machines allowed them to.

I had heard enough. There was nothing more they could say to justify the horrors they had wrought, and nothing more I could gain from remaining in their world.

"Thank you for sharing your story." I said, though the words felt hollow in my mouth. "I will take my leave now."

The man nodded, and with a subtle gesture, I felt the connection sever. My consciousness was pulled back into my physical body, and I blinked, disoriented, as I found myself once again aboard my ship.

The drones that had surrounded my vessel slowly drifted away, their presence no longer necessary. I activated my thrusters, pulling away from the planet’s orbit, and as I watched the glowing lines of energy recede in the distance, I couldn’t help but think about the paradox of it all.

These people had achieved what so many civilizations had only dreamed of—immortality in a digital paradise. And yet, it had come at the cost of untold lives. They lived in the shadow of their own sin, forever waiting for the day when their survival would be cut short. But in the end, they were no different from any other life form, clinging to existence despite their guilt. Their guilt was real, and they felt it deeply—but not deeply enough to end themselves.

They were like the organisms of the old home world, adapted to survive in the harshest of environments, driven by a force that was far more powerful than any emotion.

Survival.

That was the truth that lay at the heart of their story. They had survived not because they were righteous, but because they could not do otherwise. Even their greatest sin could not override the biological imperative that had been passed down through the ages, from the first extremophiles to the last human consciousness embedded in their machine worlds.

And perhaps that was the most damning revelation of all. Even in the face of overwhelming guilt, we are still creatures of survival. We tell ourselves stories of atonement, of punishment and penance, but in the end, we are no different from the life that crawled out of the oceans billions of years ago. We live because that is what we are made to do.

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