The Nature of Predators

Memory Transcription Subject: Elias Meier, Former UN Secretary-General

Date [standardized human time]: November 16, 2160

With each passing month in this new form, I became more reacclimated to life as a synthetic. Being alive and feeling once more was difficult after knowing the peace of death, compounded by the sensory hell of this body. I wanted to be a moral compass for the Sapient Coalition and for Terra Technologies, and that purpose helped me carry on. Not even death could stamp out how much I cared for humanity, and how deeply I loved standing up for what was right. It’d been a wave of relief when I heard that Nishtal had escaped a second bombing; after winning two battles, this war could have a less bloody ending than the last. Assuming the scout ship we sent into enemy territory bore results, I was more than willing to risk a visit for peace talks. Perhaps they’d give up this silly conflict, if we persisted and found a way to reach them.

However, my first order of business was welcoming a person from the 21st century back to life. In a few minutes, I would no longer be the only synthetic, mind-upload human. It would be delightful to not be alone in this situation. Virnt had been successful in salvaging the encoded memory data from one cryogenically-preserved brain, where the ice crystals from the primitive process hadn’t damaged areas related to memory or personality. With some functions recreated by filling in the gaps from other brains, the experience of senses might be a bit different. I knew if I had to choose, I’d worry most about having who I was preserved.

Our revival subject was Kristin Haugstad, a futurism enthusiast who died in the year 2025 of incurable cancer. She was suffering gravely, but regretted that she hadn’t lived enough at a mere twenty-six years old. So as her final wish, she begged her friends and family to help her cobble together the money to freeze her brain. After that was completed, Kristin chose a dignified death on her own terms, but threw this Hail Mary in line with her fantastical interests, to hope she might live longer in the time of her dreams.

A sad story, but one that might have a happy ending if this is what she wanted.

“Remember what we talked about, Virnt. Probably not the best idea for you to be the first face Kristin sees, or the first alien we introduce her to,” I remarked.

Syba stared at the lifeless synthetic body in the other room with curiosity. “That’s why I’m here, but I’ll wait outside until Elias calls. Don’t want to give the girl too much of a shock at once. If I’m understanding, her brain’s already mapped in there? You just have to power…her on?”

Virnt’s antennae quivered with excitement; it was weird to see him hopping on his insect legs, but I thought he was skipping. “Yes! So much work to lead up to this moment. We used her government-issued ID to reconstruct her face, though the imaging isn’t as high quality as the 3D projections today.”

“What’s got you so excited?”

“It’ll be very interesting to see if there’s differences in the sensory experiences of a female human, compared to our male subject, with the anatomical differences. Scientifically, I’m curious overall if there’s any noted variance between how the sexes respond to a synthetic form. We’ll need full studies when we ramp this project up, which will mean waiting for modern volunteers who’ve had their brains scanned to die for the next, large class!”

I folded my arms. “Virnt, you shouldn’t celebrate that people who’ve had brain scans will die, just to further your research.”

“I’m celebrating that I can bring them back, and roll this out to the masses. It’s excitement for their new lives; I don’t see how what I said was in any way wrong.”

“Because it’s at the cost of their old lives.”

“Why is that my fault? I’m saving them from what will happen anyway. 150,000 people die every single day. It will happen, through no action of my own.”

“Why don’t we look back on this in a bit?” my Sulean diplomat friend interjected, seeing that Virnt wasn’t understanding my issue with him. “This is my one day to get away from the ongoing talks with our two dozen Shield converts. I’m quite excited to focus on our current ‘subject’ now.”

“You are, Syba?”

“Of course. I’m really curious what humans from the past were like! I would’ve loved to have spoken with the humans we revived from the Archives, but these ones are even better. Advanced enough to be accustomed to the internet, and a digital world.”

I chuckled. “You don’t need a cyborg to learn what mid-to-late 21st century life was like. You could just speak to me; I was born in the 2070s. There were people born in Kristin’s year still alive at first contact, so I’m sure their life experiences and their reactions to aliens are recorded. Hell, the oldest person in the Venlil exchange program was 103 years old.”

“That’s different,” Syba countered. “For the 103-year-old, they weren’t reacting as a 21st century person, because it didn’t happen overnight. They had time to change along with Earth’s culture and discoveries, rather than being a product of their era. Kristin is different.”

“You might have a point. I can see you’re both antsy to get started, so I’m going to head into the observation room and shut the door. I’m a little nervous about welcoming someone back to all…this, but no sense in delaying, right? Let’s…boot up Kristin Haugstad.”

I forced my legs to carry me into the room, where the second synthetic human would come to life. I settled down in a seat opposite the bed, leaning forward. My eyes lingered on my hands, wondering what I would’ve seen if I cut open the skin on that first day. I clenched my fist, despite the fact I couldn’t feel that tightness in my wrist anymore. Virnt had made a lot of upgrades from the initial awakening, but it was never going to be the same. Every time I forgot, and slipped into relaxation, I’d try to do something simple like breathing that would bring my mind back to it. What if Kristin reacted poorly to all of this? How could I comfort her, when I didn’t feel like the same person myself?

This isn’t about you, Elias, and it never was. The cryonauts wished for us to bring them back, so you’re trying to honor her wishes—to make it better for her, and give her a new lease on life. This has to be done right, with more sensitivity than was afforded to you.

Certainty took back the helm of my mind; whatever my qualms, I knew I could make this process better than it would be without my presence. There were many people who believed in me, and those friends were what made me determine this life was worth the cost. I lifted my chin, studying the lifeless body lying on the bed with a quiet, calm smile. Maybe, since I realized seeing Tarva’s children that I regretted not having my own, I could use this as an opportunity to offer fatherly comfort and teachings. Any 21st century human coming to our time would need help adjusting, especially with aliens being an integral part of our present society.

“What the—” Kristin’s arm flew to her throat, and she snapped upright as her eyes came into focus. Her pupils stared directly at me, the gears turning in her head; she flashed her teeth. “I’m not in pain. I have a body. You did it. You people really did it! This is fucking awesome!”

I manually blinked, not expecting the immediate excitement. “You didn’t even question if this was the afterlife for a second.”

“I don’t believe in any of that. I remember dying, and now I’m back, so I know I’m alive and this must be the future. It’s too real, and…sanitary. Lab-like. Well, there’s a lot of stuff that’s a bit funny with how I feel too. My voice doesn’t sound like mine. I’m not breathing, and I don’t feel any saliva in my mouth. You stuck me in a robot, didn’t you?”

“Um…yes. Basically. How did you…?”

“This is too cool. Thank you! To answer your question, I considered this as a possibility. The idea was that you’d do something with my brain data, so maybe uploading it to the cloud: wait, am I in a simulation? A digital world? Perhaps all humans live in a metaverse.”

“You’re taking this very calmly, but I assure you, this is not a simulation. We’re on the physical planet Earth, attempting to make synthetic bodies and install recreated brains inside them. We had yours because it was cryogenically preserved for over a century. The year is 2160, before you ask. Please, before we go any further, what else would you like to know?”

“How many others are there, that have been digitally uploaded?”

“You’re the second.”

“Oh wow, so this is all still extremely new territory then! Who was the first?”

I pointed a finger to myself. “You’re looking at him.”

“You? But you seem…I thought you were one of the scientists. Who are you, exactly?”

“The name’s Elias Meier. I was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 2129 until my…assassination during a terrorist event in 2136. The UN is a lot more of a global government with proper enforcement power than it was during your time.”

“So you’re saying you were one of the highest-ranking officials on all of Earth. It’s hard to imagine the G-7 countries letting the UN tell them what to do, unless there was no ‘letting’ involved with it.”

“There was a major series of wars called the Satellite Wars, and part of the treaty involved giving the UN authority to make decisions in order to enforce international law and maintain peace. The kind that concerns all nations. On matters that threaten the whole world, we can’t afford to be divided.”

“I can agree with that, Elias. I still have so many questions for you. How did they bring you back, if you weren’t cryogenically frozen? Or were you, after you died?”

“They scanned my brain in the moments after my death, which provided the necessary information. That’s how I got here, I suppose. It was much less my choice than it is yours, but I understand they needed someone to be the…face of this all.”

“I’m sorry they brought you back like that.”

“It’s not your fault, Kristin. I just hope that I can be of help for you, and all of those to come after us. We have a lot of work left to do.”

She nodded, fiddling with her blond hair as if testing how it felt. “Not to bombard you with questions about your assassination, but did they catch whoever did it? Why did they target you?”

“That’s an entire can of worms.” I closed off my posture instinctively, leaning back in the chair. She’d scarcely batted an eye to the rest of the news, so perhaps she’d take word of aliens’ existence in stride. “As far as we know, there are still cells of the organization in question today; there’s no way to know if we did catch my killer, barring evidence. The why, I don’t have an easy way to say it. In 2136, under my leadership, humanity discovered the existence of extraterrestrial life.”

I studied Kristin’s initial reaction carefully; her face lit up for a moment with wonder and curiosity, before disappointment and horror flashed on her features. After thinking it through, perhaps what I’d said had given the impression that humans hated aliens, and lashed out because of it. The reality is that it was the other way around. The entire story of first contact was a saga of itself to unload on her. It was better to break the news in segments, especially since there were two aliens outside—and many on Earth that she’d need to interact with. It would also help guide my wording, to be able to address her exact concerns. Pursing my lips, I waited for the newly-awoken synthetic to speak before offering a continuation of the story.

The positive is that Kristin seems very open-minded and excited to see the future, so as long as she doesn’t take the full story the wrong way, maybe she’ll be able to handle meeting Syba and Virnt. I might wish I knew what she was thinking, but this is better than taking a shortcut and reading her mind—like a certain Tilfish.

“That’s terrible. I always hoped people wouldn’t be reactionary to that news, but I worried they might panic or treat other intelligent life poorly,” Kristin said. “Chaos and violence, from learning something that should be so exciting. I don’t know why I hoped for better; we’re lucky not to scare the aliens off.”

I raised my hands. “Oh, you don’t understand. Humans took the news pretty well at first, and wanted to be amicable with the aliens. I tried to make us presentable, because it was more…complicated. The extremely short version is that the aliens hated and feared us. They were herbivores, except for one species that…ate them…yes, I know this is a messed up story.”

Kristin looked speechless, jaw hanging open. “What?!”

“Tell me about it. It was a complete disaster. The union of hundreds of herbivore races thought we were monsters, because we are a ‘predator’ race, and we had to beg them to give us a chance. Beg them to see that we’re capable of basic empathy, not cannibals like the Arxur, who kept them as cattle. Some of the herbivores listened, but a few dozen attacked Earth.”

“What became of Earth? Is this like some post-apocalyptic future, where the surface is in ruins?”

“Something tells me you watched a lot of futuristic media,” I said, wagging a finger at her. “No. We lost over a hundred cities to bombings, and a billion souls were marked as casualties. That’s why I was attacked. For trying to cater to and befriend the aliens, and not being able to defend Earth.”

“That’s terrible! I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. If it’s any comfort, we’ve rebuilt our world. After my death, we found dirt on the herbivore union’s founders, showing they forced their ideas about prey-like behavior and even genetic modifications on species that came after them. We got enough allies to win the war, make our own coalition, and try to fix the absolute trainwreck that is the Orion Arm. And that brings us to today.”

“That’s a lot to take in. I need to read up on all of this for myself; I’ve missed out on a lot.”

“We’ll get you a holopad for research; it can’t be too different from the personal devices of your time. I, for one, am quite happy we’ve left the days where aliens think us savage beasts who live for blood, unworthy of the right to exist. We have dozens of allied species: some of which you’ll see on Earth. Friends and neighbors with interesting cultures, working with us to protect our space from any threats.”

“So I’ll have a chance to meet real-life extraterrestrials? I never thought I’d see that in my lifetime.”

Technically, you didn’t. “Neither did I. They’re not little green men like you’re used to in entertainment either. They’re as diverse as the very fauna on Earth, and actually quite representative of various traits we’ve seen in our world’s life. With that said, should I call Syba in?”

“That’s a name: Syba? They’re here, now? Does the alien speak English? Is there anything that’d be offensive to them that I should know about?”

“Syba is a Sulean diplomat; her planet is extremely friendly to us. The translator program installed in your brain will allow you to understand her seamlessly. She’s right outside, so I can…”

Kristin raced out of the room, flinging open the door with excitement. By the time I realized where she was going, it was too late to stop her from running out into the observation center. Alarm rippled through my wires, and I gave chase, shouting at her to stop. With the barrier between us and the main area already ajar, she would see Virnt at the console, monitoring her live memory feed. So much for easing her into meeting aliens with cute, bubbly Syba. The Tilfish had said he was used to Terrans panicking around him, and I noticed he’d taken my suggestion of wearing a lab coat. Still, a chest-high mix of a spider and an ant was the sort of thing that could earn unexpected reactions from anyone.

I suppose we were going to introduce her to Virnt anyway, but I just wanted a good first impression in the books before the mental alarm bells started ringing. I better get explaining that he’s a person.

“We were going to introduce you to Virnt last, since he’s from an insectoid species,” I shouted after Kristin, as her startled eyes locked on the Tilfish. “You asked about the brilliant scientist that made this possible? You’re looking at him.”

The revived Terran’s composure finally wavered for a moment, though she hid her shock in swift order. “Oh. Hi?”

“Hi!” Virnt declared, clacking his mandibles with enthusiasm. “I spent months working to salvage your brain matter enough to bring you back. I’m delighted to finally meet you!”

“Thanks for…doing that. I understand your words, but it feels very odd.”

“Translator program,” I reminded her. “Syba, come and say hello?”

The Sulean walked over, a playful gleam in her eyes. “Nice to meet you, Kristin. I heard the people of your time invented the first AI assistants. A riddle for you. What’s the difference between a human, and an artificial intelligence?”

“Humans don’t go by the name ChatGPT?” Kristin guessed about some ancient AI assistant, wrinkling her nose. “AIs can actually solve CAPTCHAs better than us?”

“Not the answer I was looking for. I was going to say that, according to your words, AI is the only one worthy of having ‘intelligence’ in its name.”

“I don’t hear you going by Sulean intelligence,” I jabbed.

“You don’t know the actual words for AI in my language. Maybe we call it ‘dumb-dumb.’”

I snickered. “Dumb-dumb 9000 was always my favorite AI name. Kristin, if you haven’t caught on, Syba is the lab comedian.”

“Not quite the jokester my old man was, but I get by. Just like you got by Elias out the door.”

“I didn’t know she was going to run off!”

Kristin smiled, posture relaxing from the Sulean’s comical banter. “It’s nice to meet you. I’d love to get to know all about aliens, and whatever else I’ve missed.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Syba responded. “I’m quite interested in learning about your time period. Why don’t we go for a nice walk outside, and chat in the fresh air? The lab’s stuffy.”

“That’d be awesome. Do Virnt and Elias want to come along?”

I shook my head, shooting a glance at the overeager Tilfish. “You’re adapting to this all wonderfully; you don’t need me to hold your hand. Have some ‘girl time.’ Syba’s a great alien to be your first impression, and we’d just be a distraction as you interrogate her. We’ll be here when you get back.”

“Alright. Thank you, Elias…and Virnt, for making this possible. All I wanted was a bit more time; my life felt too short to see any of the things I dreamed about. This is everything I could’ve asked for and more.”

“You’re quite welcome. Stories like yours are exactly why I got into this work,” the Tilfish answered.

I watched the striped quadruped and the second synthetic human walk out of the lab; it was wonderful to see Kristin take a shine to Syba. Who else could win any audience over to her in seconds, other than the radiant Sulean? I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets, and realized that an untold weight was off my chest. Elias Meier wasn’t the only one of his kind anymore. After reveling, for a moment longer, in the fact I wasn’t alone, I turned my thoughts to Virnt’s response of why he’d invested his life into this project. The story of Kristin Haugstad, chomping at the bit to soak in all of the future, was a shining example of why it was worthwhile for me to see this through. There was real good I was doing here.

For the first time since I’d opened my new eyes, I thought that maybe I didn’t hate what I was anymore.