Chapter 1

When the world unrest had settled a bit, Elaine and I sat back to analyze our thoughts and plans for moving forward. We asked the being we had become accustomed to calling “Art” to join us. In light of our current understanding, the name was no longer apt, since our correspondent was not, in fact, an artificial intelligence sent by the immigrants, but the representative of the immigrants themselves.

Now that they were resident on Earth, it seemed silly to call them “aliens”, so why not continue to call them immigrants? We also had come to realize that our correspondent was not a single being, but rather a gestalt of the entire race. When “he” spoke, we were hearing the consensus of the group.

We Earthlings had discovered the wisdom of crowds several years before, but no government made use of this knowledge. There were too many entrenched power bases that were threatened to allow implementation of such a method. Perhaps the closest implementation of the method has been in Japanese industry, which has adopted a sort of management by consensus. Although it has aided them immeasurably in establishing Japan as a world leader in technology, Japanese society has allowed powerful individuals to subvert the wisdom offered in order to advance personal agendas. This has limited their ultimate power.

An ideal Democracy would be a workable implementation, but ideal Democracies are as rare as ideal Communist societies. All have failed to reflect the will of the people after the passage of time, due once more to the rise to power of those with personal agendas.

“Art?”, I asked. “Is there another name I should use when addressing you, now that I understand that ‘you’ is plural? Perhaps the Southern plural form, ‘Y’all’ would be more appropriate?”

“In reality, now that we are communing directly, there is no ambiguity in your meaning, even when you do not state the name of the being(s)with which you wish to communicate. We will understand your intent, whether or not you provide a name. In a manner of speaking, we are your masters, so you could address us in that way. Then, again, we are also your slaves because we intend to provide whatever support you require. Therefore, why not continue to address us as you previously did, in order for others to understand the focus of your communication?”

“Good point,” I agreed. “So, Art, where do you come from?”

“That is a very difficult question to answer, since the complete and correct response involves planes of existence that you do not yet accept. Your science is based on only three physical planes in addition to time. It is impossible to get to the site of our origin when so limited. I’m afraid that asking about our astrological sign would be equally useless.”

“Ah. Thank you for the clarification. Is there a name by which we should refer to your home planet?”

I heard a chuckle somewhere in the back of my mind, I think.

“There is nothing in your science that allows that information to be communicated, so for expediency, why not use a modified version of the name of one of your stars? ‘BeetleJuice’ seems to work well, if we may be permitted a bit of sly humor, given the nature of our appearance to you.”

“You are referring to the star, Betelgeuse, I presume?”

“Yes, will that designation be suitable for you or would you prefer one with less childish humor involved?”

I could swear I heard more chuckling. I added a chuckle of my own. “Very well, on behalf of Earth, I accept your name for the location of your origin. And what should we call your beings?”.

“I suspect that many of the people of Earth will call us ‘Beetles’. However, I can promise you that we do not sing, nor do we wear funny haircuts.”

“Perhaps that is just as well,” I concluded. “Let us continue. How should we go about restructuring the governments of Earth to begin applying the principles by which you live and which you have recommended to us, although most people on Earth have given lip service to these principles for thousands of years, yet do not honor them?”

“Assuming that I have correctly parsed your ill-formed, wandering question, perhaps I may make some corollaries that pertain to the process?”

“Ok.”

“We have already begun the indoctrination. Have you noticed that there is no public outcry and there have been no riots in the streets due to fear or panic on the part of your people?”

“Yeah, I sort of wondered about that, but then decided to let things play out for a while before getting excited.”

“That is what we have done.”

“How do you mean?”

“We have caused that reaction in the entire population of Earth.”

“Ah. I see. You can not only communicate simultaneously with everyone on earth, but can also influence their thoughts?”

“The reality is somewhat more complex, but that is a good general description. Yes.”

“So even if you were six-legged, fanged monsters with green scales and fins down your back, we would accept you as easily as we now do?”

“That is correct. Does that knowledge bother you?”

“Would it matter if it did?”

“What do you think?”

“O-o-k. So, moving on, are you transmitting our discussion worldwide as we speak?”

“Yes.”

“Then are the questions I am putting to you coming from my own mind or are they the result of an instantaneous consensus of the entire population of Earth, not counting you guys?”

“That is correct.”

“There was an ‘or’ in that question.”

“We are aware. Deal with it.”

“Okey, dokey. So, where does that leave us?”

“You now have 32 billion new residents of your planet who mean you no harm and have no impact on your ecology. You also have the benefit of our advanced technology and societal structure, based on universal communication.”

“Is that it?”

“No, as a group, you now understand the benefits of guarding against the rise to power of those with personal agendas that subvert the well-being of the many.”

“Does this mean that there is no longer any free will?”.

“Certainly not. For instance, you and Elaine may choose whether to remain here or go to any other place of your choosing, in whatever manner, to apply your interests and abilities and whether to have offspring. What you may not do is elect yourself President-for-life and begin making laws with which to govern others. The precepts that you were taught in grade school will now actually apply to real life.”

“Such as?”

“You are free to do anything you like as long as it does not interfere with the freedom of others to do as they like.”