The Perfect Form
by Dimitar Dakovski
It is widely believed that evolution has gifted the Saari with the perfect form. Ours is the only species on the planet that has achieved sapience and is able to create tools, has advanced through the stages of civilization, and has reached for the stars. This is, in fact, in large part due to the physical traits we possess. While also closely related to another species, the Oporens, the Saari are the only ones of this clade to have a significantly larger fathoming trigger and five fully-developed limbions.
Moreover, it has been deduced that in the last several hundred cycles, the sensitivity of Saari receptacle units has increased drastically and nowadays covers almost 80% of the existing wave spectrum. This has provided us with a considerable boost in intelligence, allowing our species to dominate other beings with fledgling sentience, such as the aforementioned Oporens and the Kanahas larvae.
The only plausible way a successful space-faring civilization can emerge in the universal globe is believed to be by having a large majority of its attributes similar to those of the Saari. Thus, efforts to find extra-ohorial life signs have always been directed towards planets in the habitable zone and with conditions that can support the emergence of life, namely places where iron on the planet's surface is always above the melting point, and where oxygen is not present or is present in trace amounts only.
— From The Journal of Life Sciences, issue 548, Second rotation, 7892nd cycle
* * *
Before the universal globe existed, before even the beginning of time, there were only two beings: the sibling gods Maari and Sandre. There was nowhere for them to go, for nothing else existed but them. There was nothing for them to do but converse with each other and, when time does not pass, conversations tend to get boring.
Maari and Sandre decided to do something about this eternally unchanging situation. They would create a place for them to be and see and know. However, this was not so easily achieved, it would seem. The gods were siblings, yes, but they were very different. Maari was strong and had limbions that could create and shape substances, but it lacked the imagination to envision anything but the crudest collection of mass. Sandre, in contrast, could perceive matter in all its glorious details with Its receptacles.
Neither of them was able to create on their own, so they decided to join together in a single being. The result of their exalting union was a supreme individual — the One — who was able to both perceive and manipulate matter. Thus the One created the universal globe, with its countless swirling star complexes, down to the tiniest drop of iron. At that point, time began.
The One wandered this new sphere of existence. It inhabited every particle in it. But the matter was immutable, devoid of purpose other than be a receptacle for the One Itself. That is why in all its wisdom, It created life in the universal globe. To be custodians to this rich variety of beings, the One assigned the Saari, who were themselves made in Its own image and possess the characteristics of both Maari and Sandre.
Some say the One then decided to split back into the sibling gods that composed It, that Maari and Sandre now live among the stars, the swirling complexes, their playground. This, however, is a heretical understanding. Truth is, the One continues to be a whole, ever-present being that watches and guides the Saari in their endeavors.
— From The Scripture of Union, the main religious text of the Church of the One
* * *
“I think I got it! Ohoras will be attacked by aliens!”
“That's it? Not very original... There was already a patina-series with this premise, like, a cycle ago. What was its name...? Ah, yes, The Abductors. We need to make our show stand out among all the sci-fi drivel out there.”
“Yes, I remember that one! But the aliens were really lame. They were basically Saari with copper make-up! Ours will be different. How about them being from a distant star complex, traveling through space in search of planets to subjugate and life to devour? To signify that they are not native to our world, they can look like giant Kanahas larvae, but with seven limbions! And, of course, they will come to Ohoras on ships made of metals unknown to us and that travel faster than the speed of light. We'll obviously hire concept artists to streamline these ideas, but I think no one has done this on patina before!”
“That sounds really exciting! I think your idea has the makings of the next big hit!”
— Excerpt from a conversation between the soon-to-be showrunners of the patina-series They Come From Beyond.
* * *
The discovery of the so-called Ancestor box, an artifact made from pure palladium, found floating in the Southeastern Nickel Ocean, can be considered yet another major evidence in support of the theory. The object was dated ca. 5800 cycle — well before any metallurgy technique of working with palladium was known. The more astonishing finding, however, is on the inside of the box, where, clearly etched on each of its four sides are the images of four swirling star complexes. Two of these are unknown to us and it may be argued that they are merely the artist's fancy. Even so, the other two engravings depict beyond any doubt the complexes Prela-2 and Ironia that were discovered by modern scientists only 77 cycles ago!
I think that now is the perfect time for Saari to learn the truth that has been lying in front of our receptacle units all along: our planet has been influenced by extra-ohorial civilizations thousands of cycles before the rise of modern technology. It may very well be that our very species is just the product of an advanced race's laboratory experiment.
And I actually think that Saari are ready for this: take, for example, the massive success recent patina series have had, such as They Come From Beyond. The population today is more open to such ideas and less so to ossified doctrines of religions, such as the Church of the One, or those of “mainstream” scientists.
— From the writings of Asaar Ophric on extra-ohorial influences on civilization.
* * *
Today, on July 2, 2094, the heroic crew of the superluminal starship Vladivostok, led by Captain Vasily Rostov, became the first humans to visit an extrasolar planet: BD36.2147b, dubbed Hephaestus. It is, as expected from previous long-range scans, devoid of life. Its surface is covered in molten iron with temperatures reaching more than about 2000°C (3600°F). Oxygen is not present in the planet's atmosphere.
While these harsh conditions proved beyond a reasonable doubt that life is not present there, Hephaestus showed naturally-occurring radiation patterns in its iron seas that had initially baffled scientists all over the Earth, who have scrambled to give an explanation of the phenomenon. In a matter of hours, however, astrophysicist Prof. Liu Shi from Zhejiang University attributed the radiation to emissions from a supposed heavy-element planetary core.
It would seem that alien-life enthusiasts will have to wait at least another seventeen years before the launch of the superluminal ship Nairobi in 2111 for even the slightest chance of finding a planet that may harbor life.
— From a newsfeed on Earth, July 2, 2094
Copyright © 2021 by Dimitar Dakovski
