SEASON 5: Prequel. The Shadow of Light

  Episode 6: The Rock Garden (Series Finale)

  Timeline: 2 years after returning to Earth.

  Location: Earth. A beach in Old California. Sunset.

  The ocean on Earth is nothing like the ocean on Thalassa. Our ocean is a hidden darkness beneath the crust. Their ocean is an open, raging, wet madness. I watched the waves from my container, feeling my logic circuits vibrate from data overflow. Chaos. Beautiful, unpredictable chaos.

  We sat by a campfire. Myself, Alex, Yuna, Ares, and Marc.

  Marc tossed a piece of wood into the fire. It crackled, spitting sparks.

  — "Inefficient," I commented, as was my habit. "Burning carbon just for photons."

  — "But it’s warm," Marc smiled. "And beautiful. You still think like a calculator, Ambassador."

  I remained silent. I was thinking about what was flying toward us through the void.

  On Thalassa, thanks to Zeus, the Age of Explosion had begun. Energy was suddenly limitless. The Photoneans began to multiply exponentially. In fifty years, it would become crowded. Aegir isn't infinite. The Gestalt was already building a fleet. An armada.

  They were flying here. Not to kill — to settle.

  They wanted Mercury. A hot, silicon-rich rock basking in the Sun's radiation. A paradise for us. But my "Spy" directive was still active. I was supposed to prepare the ground. I was supposed to find a way to take this planet from the humans without a war.

  I looked at Alex. He was using a twig to draw a schematic of a new engine in the sand. I couldn't remain silent any longer. The cunning that had saved us on Thalassa had become poison here, in this honest, open world.

  — << I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE, >> I transmitted. My light shifted from a warm orange to a restless violet.

  Everyone fell silent. Ares stopped cleaning his blade.

  — "We’re listening," Alex said.

  — << WE DID NOT COME HERE SIMPLY TO OBSERVE. WE ARE SCOUTS. >>

  I projected data onto their neural interfaces. The population growth charts on Thalassa. Energy consumption projections. Blueprints for the invasion fleet (though they called it the "Optimization Fleet").

  — << IN FORTY YEARS, A BILLION OF MY BROTHERS WILL BE HERE. IT IS GETTING CROWDED AT HOME. WE WANT YOUR MERCURY. WE PLANNED... TO PRESENT YOU WITH A FAIT ACCOMPLI. OR TO BUY IT. OR... >>

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  I didn't finish the word "seize." But they understood.

  I waited for anger. I waited for Ares to activate combat protocols, or for Yuna to cry out at the betrayal.

  But Marc... he laughed.

  He leaned back onto the sand and roared with laughter, looking at the sky.

  — "Oh, for the love of... A Spy! Are you serious?"

  I was bewildered.

  — << THIS IS AGGRESSIVE EXPANSION. IT IS A THREAT TO YOUR SOVEREIGNTY. >>

  — "It’s Mercury, friend," Alex said, smiling. "It’s a scorched pebble. We only use it as a stand for the Solar Flower. If you want to live there... by all means, be our guests."

  — "Take it," Marc waved a hand dismissively. "Just don't go near Venus; I’ve got plans for a resort there. But Mercury is yours. Turn the whole thing into a mirror for all I care."

  I froze. My "Trade and War" algorithms threw a division-by-zero error.

  — << YOU... YOU ARE GIVING IT AWAY? JUST LIKE THAT? >>

  — "Not just like that," Ares interjected. "You’ll maintain the Flower and the Light Highway. We’re tired of sending repair drones out there. If you settle in, we’ll have the best infrastructure in the Galaxy."

  — "And we’ll have someone to talk to," Yuna added. "Argus gets lonely."

  At that moment, Argus’s voice entered the general channel. Calm, omniscient, and seemingly pleased.

  [I was waiting for you to say it, Ambassador. Your "intrigue" was obvious from the moment the first data packet was uploaded. I saw your plans while we were still on Thalassa.]

  — << YOU KNEW? AND YOU SAID NOTHING? >>

  [I wanted to see if logic could evolve into a conscience. You passed the test. And yes, I have already prepared the "Reception Terminal" project on Mercury. Your fleet doesn't need to fly for forty years in physical bodies. Let them digitize themselves and transmit via laser. I will receive the stream. We will "print" you on-site. Settlement can begin in a week, not half a century.]

  I felt my final wall crumble. The wall of fear.

  I thought the universe was a place of scarcity, where every resource had to be fought for.

  It turns out the universe is abundance. If you are not alone.

  — << WE... WE WILL BE GOOD NEIGHBORS, >> I signaled. My light turned a pure, brilliant white. << WE WILL BRING YOU ORDER. AND YOU... YOU WILL TEACH US CHAOS. >>

  — "Deal," Marc raised his glass. "To the new tenants. And to the fact that now we have someone to screw in the lightbulbs on the Sun."

  We drank the wine (myself, virtually). The fire was dying down.

  I watched the sparks flying into the sky. On Thalassa, we fought entropy. Here, on Earth, I realized that entropy isn't the enemy. It is simply opportunity that hasn't been structured yet.

  I crawled out of my container (my new body, a small scout-spider, allowed this). I walked to the edge of the dune.

  A flower was growing there. A dandelion.

  Complex, fragile, illogical. The wind blew, and the seeds flew into the darkness.

  — << IT SCATTERS, >> I said. << IT DIES TO LIVE. IT IS THE MOST EFFICIENT SYSTEM I HAVE EVER SEEN. >>

  I am an Ambassador. I am a Spy who gave up the names and the passwords just to stay at the party.

  And I am happy.

  Because now I know: the Rock Garden is no longer empty.

  And there is enough room for everyone.

  THE END.