Post by Unseen on Jan 18, 2009 1:43:52 GMT -5
(( Just a rambling I suddenly had muse for soon after deciding to go to bed. ))
There is irony in the fact that the end for humanity comes by its own hand; that the failing species finds death in the sciences of biology and nanotechnology. A beautifully destructive mix of manufactured diseases and malfunctioning nanobots makes quick work of the planet, turning once-fertile seas and landscapes into a barren world of shivering silver slime. There is no putrid smell of rotting flesh and plant material and bacterial wastes; the efficiency of nanobot reproduction devours all organic matter. What is left resembles the excavated remains of Pompeii - disfigured, glimmering metal statues of humans and other creatures lay strewn across the ground, surrounded by empty buildings rising ominously into the sky. Nothing which can be defined biologically as "living" remains; universally effective diseases killed off all other organisms, died of starvation soon after, then were metabolized by the argent nano-tide. Elegant.
It is ironic not just because of the reason for humanity wiping itself off the face of the Earth - though there is endless hilarity in the fact that our intelligence ultimately lead to our own messy undoing, there is more to this vision. The situation is ironic because it is set in the years before a devastating comet impact which would have done away with us anyway. Slamming into the southern coast of Ukraine, it sends a horrifyingly beautiful shower of ice, stone, and fire across the continent and into the sky; the resulting impact winter would easily have starved the entire population of the world to death. Now, it simply helps clear away the disturbing silvery remains.
There is also irony in that we would have finally been able to learn of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, for, only decades after the self-induced extinction and follow-up comet impact, a wonderfully knowledgeable bipedal race would have made themselves known. To be fair, however, we likely would not have had a chance to meet them, and even finding out about them would only have lasted us for a few days. This race prides itself in its immensely powerful starship technology and similarly powerful weapons systems. Had we been alive to see this third - and final - end, our planet's inhabitants would have awakened to a destructively bright day.
The invading race's flagship turret is a great metal ring, the diameter of which is roughly five times that of our own sun. In the center sits a mature star which, when activated, simulates death and fires off a gamma ray burst whose power is beyond description. Our solar system is, by chance, the target of a series of test fires. Venus is hit first, its entire boiling atmosphere stripped away effortlessly; were we to remain living, we would have turned our telescopes to this neighboring planet and found nothing but a charred rock; a new Mercury. Fortunately, we went extinct years ago.
There is irony in the fact that the end for humanity comes by its own hand; that the failing species finds death in the sciences of biology and nanotechnology. A beautifully destructive mix of manufactured diseases and malfunctioning nanobots makes quick work of the planet, turning once-fertile seas and landscapes into a barren world of shivering silver slime. There is no putrid smell of rotting flesh and plant material and bacterial wastes; the efficiency of nanobot reproduction devours all organic matter. What is left resembles the excavated remains of Pompeii - disfigured, glimmering metal statues of humans and other creatures lay strewn across the ground, surrounded by empty buildings rising ominously into the sky. Nothing which can be defined biologically as "living" remains; universally effective diseases killed off all other organisms, died of starvation soon after, then were metabolized by the argent nano-tide. Elegant.
It is ironic not just because of the reason for humanity wiping itself off the face of the Earth - though there is endless hilarity in the fact that our intelligence ultimately lead to our own messy undoing, there is more to this vision. The situation is ironic because it is set in the years before a devastating comet impact which would have done away with us anyway. Slamming into the southern coast of Ukraine, it sends a horrifyingly beautiful shower of ice, stone, and fire across the continent and into the sky; the resulting impact winter would easily have starved the entire population of the world to death. Now, it simply helps clear away the disturbing silvery remains.
There is also irony in that we would have finally been able to learn of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, for, only decades after the self-induced extinction and follow-up comet impact, a wonderfully knowledgeable bipedal race would have made themselves known. To be fair, however, we likely would not have had a chance to meet them, and even finding out about them would only have lasted us for a few days. This race prides itself in its immensely powerful starship technology and similarly powerful weapons systems. Had we been alive to see this third - and final - end, our planet's inhabitants would have awakened to a destructively bright day.
The invading race's flagship turret is a great metal ring, the diameter of which is roughly five times that of our own sun. In the center sits a mature star which, when activated, simulates death and fires off a gamma ray burst whose power is beyond description. Our solar system is, by chance, the target of a series of test fires. Venus is hit first, its entire boiling atmosphere stripped away effortlessly; were we to remain living, we would have turned our telescopes to this neighboring planet and found nothing but a charred rock; a new Mercury. Fortunately, we went extinct years ago.