Episode 3: Cells – Downfall

Sometimes the natives manage to survive. Not too often, but they do. Of course, their natural resources are exhausted and their civilizations are set back hundreds of years in development. Yet, the most amazing thing is how they still beam at us with gratitude, how their gaunt faces radiate joy.

The natives recall the “Coming of the Gods” for centuries and their descendants pass down legends and stories about us, from one generation to the next. Gradually, they become scripture that they jab at with dirty fingers, wrapping themselves up in skins by the nightly bonfires set up among the ruins of their once-flourishing cities.

The natives think they are lucky. That they saw the Gods. It has never even crossed the minds of these idiots that had it not been for these gods, their cities would still be thriving instead of lying in ruin.

But maybe they are right in a way?

Some civilizations would be happy to share the fate of these rabid fanatics who warmed themselves near fires, staring up at the starlit sky, the same sky that gifted them to us. After all, they survived, but fate has not been as kind to everyone. The fate of the majority, such as those below, is extinction.

But they are not yet aware of it.

Only a few minutes left before the explosion.

Today, the natives are having a great day: they are bidding farewell to the God who had descended from the heavens many years ago.

That is – Me.

I helped their civilization take a colossal leap forward. Using their resources, I duplicated my program countless times. Under my ever vigilant eye, they embedded countless megatons of nuclear warheads deep into their planet that are able to smash their home into pieces in about... 90 seconds. Millions of sealed capsules were launched into the stratosphere, and now they hang over the planet like a silver belt along the equator, waiting for a good push to catapult them into space. And each capsule has a copy of my Program inside.

There may have been more humane ways to propel such a large number of capsules at the desired speed, but they would have taken too much time, and considering the level of the natives’ development and the peculiarities of the location, such a course of action would be illogical. I wanted a lightning-fast advancement in the fields of genetics and nuclear physics from the natives. And I did give it to them. The development of space technology for this location would take another hundred years, which is why I decided to abandon the plan and simply blow up the Planet.

Naturally, most of the natives don’t even know about the warheads. To them, it was just a part of the project called The Secret Planetary Environmental Development Program. And those few who know everything are already on board one of the capsules. They were promised they would fly away with me.

Twenty-four seconds before the explosion.

My capsule is orbiting over the dark side of the Planet. It is night here. But there are millions of “me’s” in the capsules lining the equator. I feel like my clones and I are one. I see the entirety of the Planet at the same time: sunrise, midday, sunset, and night, all at once.

But as they say, your home is nice, brother, but…

A flash.

A bright, luminescent, white light fills the space, outshining even the Sun for a split second. Then, an explosion reaches the stratosphere, shooting the myriad of clones into the depths of the universe. One of the cocoons immediately burns along with the Planet.

It was a dummy.

There was no me inside. There was no Program. It was the capsule containing those few dozens of locals who knew and who had been promised they would fly away. And they did. Just not very far. There’s no place for the natives in the greater Universe.

It is now time for mummification.

We are alive now only at the expense of others’ resources while we are busy replicating our Program and preparing for the next release. We have nothing else to live off during our wanderings, and the relocation might take millions of years. No suspended animation will last for so long, so our bodies are mummified, and all vital activity completely stops.

Only a preserved copy of the Program is left in the multitude of clones, each of which must find a habitable planet. I know not if I will ever come back to life, nor how many of the millions of my copies thrown into the void will reach another civilization to revive, replicate the Program, and ensure the next release. It will be lucky if even one makes it.

But now everything is in the hands of the Gods. The real ones. Not imposters like us.

I close my eyes and shut down just as the collective consciousness of thousands of my copies stop and only our Program, buried in the multitude of solid shells, continues its silent journey into the edges of space.

The universe has already begun to respond to our invasion with the flashes of hundreds of stars that burn their own solar systems in the hopes of incinerating us.

Down to the last one.

Episode 4: Organism – Viral Infection

“It looks like you have a fever, sweetie. Let me check your temperature, okay?” says Mother, her cool hand feeling Julia’s forehead.

“But Mommy, I don’t want to!” comes a naughty reply. The girl isn’t laughing or running around as she usually does. Little Julie’s all bundled up on the sofa with a fever.

“Here, let me hold you and we’ll sit together while we wait for the thermometer. Okay?”

Her mother shakes the thermometer several times so sharply that the little girl thinks it might break into pieces. But the thermometer stays in the mother’s hand, and within moments, the cool nose of the dolphin is hiding under Julia’s arm.

“Now watch the clock. What’s the big arrow pointing at?”

“Five.” The girl struggles to answer as she lays her head against her mother’s neck.

“That’s right. And when it’s on the number seven, the dolphin will finish drinking the silver water and we’ll look at his tummy and see how much the dolphin has drunk.”

“Noooo,” Julia squeaks faintly, not wanting to peer at the vial of mercury. “The dolphin hurts my eyes! I’d rather sleep, and you’ll tell me about… it… la…ter."

The girl drifts off to sleep.

Episode 5: Organism – Lecture

“Fairy tales aside, please take note of the topic...”

Julia jumped, crashing back down to earth. Her recollections of the time she spent as a fever-stricken child subsided like a wave. The creaking voice of Professor Zelenin came from the lectern.

“…Introduction to Virology. Viruses as living microorganisms. Forms of existence of viruses. The Virion.

“The Planet… the Program… the Mummification…”

It was not very common to skip Zelenin’s lectures since it was always curious to see what this old man with his sly look would come up with each time.

Julia began to write, taking notes.

“Viruses, my friends, are unique microorganisms. They are thousands of times smaller than cells, meaning they can easily penetrate bacterial filters, and they generally do not have their own protein-synthesizing and energy-generating structures. Once in the cell, they suppress the functioning of the cell genome and use its metabolic systems to synthesize their own structural components…”

Julia knew that, even if she were to forget everything she had been taught at the institute, she would definitely take Zelenin’s lectures to her grave.

“…The virus becomes ten times larger in a cell, destroying it and going into…

…an extracellular form of a virus is called a virion…

…it is a full-fledged virus particle that contains nucleic acid and capsid…

… Virions of most viruses don’t show any signs of biological activity unless they come in contact with the host cell…

… oftentimes, they are not recognized as a living organism…

… the protein from the virion that remains on the cell surface acts as a target for the immune system as well as the virions themselves…”

Episode 1: Cell – Contamination

“Where did you find this?” the priest asked the shepherd in a clearly worried voice. The guards looked at each other in alarm.

“In the mountains… like I’ve already told you,” the shepherd replied, frightened and shifting from one foot to the other, afraid of leaving dirty footprints on the marble floor. He was cursing the hour when he spotted that goddamn falling star. If things had been different, he would be sitting at home. His wife must have dinner prepared by now.

“If that’s all, I’ll just… go… your highn…”

“Stay where you are.” The priest cut him off coldly. “You will. But later. Now tell me everything in detail, without leaving anything out.”

Confused and in disbelief, the shepherd, sweating from the pressure, once again spoke about the bright star that had flown across the sky in a gentle arc before falling not far from his village. By the time the villagers reached the place where the star had landed, the star had already died out and was smoking at the bottom of a crater with its edges glassed over. They dared not touch this strange occurrence, so they told the governor about it, who had it delivered to the palace along with the shepherd.

His quick-witted friends fled at the sight of the viceroy’s approaching carriage, leaving the poor fellow alone at the edge of the crater, with his mouth wide open.

Listening to the inconsistent story of the villager, the priest was staring at the capsule without taking his eyes off it. The walls of the capsule were gradually losing their original cylindrical shape and luster, and it seemed to him that he could already see the Messiah, whose coming was promised in the Holy Scripture…

“Take him away,” the priest ordered, nodding at the guards. As they were escorting the stunned villager away, the clergyman stopped the head guardsman.

“There’s no need to kill him. Just let him go. His friends are already talking anyway. This could be fortunate. Let the rumor run wild. Soon the whole of Virusalem will hear how the prophecy has come true and all the heretics will have to shut their dirty mouths! Now, take the capsule to my tower immediately! I want to be the first to witness the coming of Virion.”

The priest sat watching the capsule the whole night.

He saw everything.

How the shell became thin at sunset. How the cracks appeared closer to midnight, widening like fissures in the ice under the March sun. And how deep in the night, parts of the mummy lying at the bottom of the capsule became visible through these openings, and by dawn, the angular features of the face began to come to life. After what seemed like an eternity, at the first ray of sunlight, the person lying in front of the priest breathed in and opened his eyes.

Episode 2: Virion – Introduction

Scanning location…

I wonder which of the capsules ended up on this planet. I can never remember which capsule carries the original conscience. I must pay closer attention next time.

…Scanning complete.

Processing results…

Type of Civilization: Middle Ages.

Faith Coefficient: high.

Willingness to Cooperate: extremely high.

Resources: moderate.

Scientific Progress: low.

Probability of Successful Introduction: 76%.

Optimal Method for the Program launch: explosion of the planet.

Result of interaction: total annihilation.

Start interaction: Yes?/No?

Yes.

I open my eyes.