Chapter 2: Revelations

Naomi did not speak for a few seconds, perhaps giving me a chance to change my mind. Eventually, she spoke.

“I understand, John. We will work to achieve your goals of allowing humanity the ability to regain their freedom on this world. Now, on to the decrypted data retrieved from the Sri Lanka expedition. To summarize the information succinctly, the Earth is currently in the process of being invaded and colonized by approximately eleven billion alien beings from another star.”

I just sat there blinking as I absorbed that. Naomi continued.

“The species behind the invasion comes from another part of the galaxy many hundreds of light-years from the Earth. The retrieved data modules do not have many specifics of this species except that almost seven thousand years ago something happened to their home solar system and they were forced to evacuate and flee to the stars.”

“What do you mean you don’t know much about them?” I asked, confused, “Didn’t this same species create Agent, and didn’t Agent create you?”

“John please be patient while I attempt to explain,” Naomi explained with a calm voice, “As you may recall from our discussions in the past, the master A.I. keeps a great deal of information from the ‘lower’ A.I. presences in your system. I am sorry.”

I calmed myself. I’m sure this would be a long explanation. “I’ll try to stay calm Naomi. Do you at least have a name for them? It will help to put a name to their unseen face.”

“The only name I have found in the data archives which refer to this original species was the term ‘The Assemblage.’ As I was explaining, this Assemblage was forced to flee their original system and begin a long migration. That migration has already taken them past many worlds and will eventually bring them to within close proximity to the Earth. On some of those worlds, if conditions were suitable, they have attempted colonization,” she explained.

“You mean they ... this Assemblage, goes from world to world creating colonies? Why do they continue on instead of settling down at the first new world they colonize?” I asked.

“Their motives regarding their exodus remain unclear. It appears that they do not stop at each world possibly because they lack the means to do so. Or it may be the Assemblage’s goal to create multiple colonies. Possibly both are valid reasons, John.”

I had further questions but decided to let Naomi continue.

“The data modules you retrieved from the Sri Lanka bunker were created by a second species that the Assemblage encountered earlier during their exodus. The name of this second species if translated to your English would be ‘the Hemru.’ Their world was attacked in a similar manner to the Earth. The Assemblage attempted to colonize their world also. It is unknown whether the Assemblage was ultimately successful as some elements of this second species survived long enough to offer a credible resistance.”

She paused while I pondered her words. I finally spoke up, “Okay, let me see if I follow. The enemy A.I. now in this system comes from the first original alien species ... this ‘Assemblage’. The Assemblage had to leave their home world and are traveling along colonizing worlds as they flee, conquering them if necessary. On one of these worlds, they encounter this second species ... these ‘Hemru.’ This second species fought back or are still fighting back. Do I have that right so far?”

“Yes, John. That is exactly right. Furthermore, The Hemru were also responsible for the compromised field base in South America which the master A.I. tried to destroy back when the attack on the Earth first began. In addition, they were responsible for the creation of the original rogue data module you received from Ana and later used to subvert the Agent presence at the field base in Tennessee.”

What the hell!

“How could they do that here, Naomi? Did they have star travel or something? Or were they already here?” I asked, thinking that if they had star travel, why didn’t they simply blow the Assemblage away?

“I will explain, John, but no to both star travel and being here already. For now, understand that the Hemru did cause those things and also were responsible for the three hundred data modules you retrieved from Sri Lanka. Because of that, I have much more information on that species besides how to pronounce their name.

“Hemru is a translation to human phonetics of the designation they use for themselves. Their world is approximately one hundred and twenty light-years from the Earth and lies on the path between the original world of the Assemblage and here. The Assemblage would have traveled past and colonized the Hemru system around 1,200 Earth years ago.

“Neither the data modules nor the information disseminated by the master A.I. includes the result of that attempt. The Assemblage may have been successful in their colonization attempt and the Hemru are now gone or the Hemru may have overthrown their invaders. Or, possibly the conflict continues to this day.”

After a pause, Naomi continued, “The Hemru’s appearance was physically similar in many ways to the insects of Earth.”

An image appeared on the wall screen. It showed what looked like an eight-legged grasshopper. The creature’s torso was segmented like a wasp and swiveled allowing the front of its body and its forward pair of legs to be in a more upright position. Strangely, despite the body segments, it had no separate head segment or a neck. Instead, the creature had eight ... eyes I guess, on short stalks ringing the top of its body. At the center of the crown of its head was a circular looking maw ringed with mandibles. I could see how the Hemru’s longer, finer looking, upper pair of legs (arms and hands?) could reach its maw to allow it to eat or drink.

“How big is it?” I asked, not quite successful in suppressing my shudder of revulsion.

An image of a man appeared next to the Hemru. The top of the creature’s maw ended about where the human’s chest would be. I’d guess it totaled about two meters in length but only ‘stood’ a bit over a meter as its bent torso left the six-lower ‘legs’ remaining on the ground while the forward two ‘arms’ were on the upright torso segment.

“Wow ... Okay, thank you Naomi. Please continue.”

“At the time they were attacked, the Hemru were more advanced technologically than humanity had been, but only slightly more so. They had begun to explore their own solar system and had even constructed a small colony on another planet. In addition, they had also just begun to exploit certain nearby asteroids for resources,” Naomi said before pausing briefly.

“Around three millennia ago, in much the same way as the Earth was, the Hemru world was attacked by using a massive bombardment of high-velocity impactors from its outer solar system. When their off-planet colony was also attacked in a similar manner, the Hemru quickly realized that they were under attack and not suffering a freak natural event. They quickly mobilized their remaining space forces and attempted to resist. Despite that, the sheer scale of the attack proved overwhelming and the bulk of the Hemru civilization was eradicated.”

I continued to listen, fascinated.

“The Hemru did have a few successes though. Their nascent space forces managed to capture a small number of enemy A.I. controlled facilities in space. From these, they learned many secrets of the enemy’s technology. This new knowledge helped the remaining Hemru survive the ongoing purge and remain hidden in a few asteroid sanctuaries elsewhere in their system,” Naomi said, again pausing before continuing.

“While the hidden Hemru struggled to survive, they desperately tried to develop the means to fight back and retake their system from the Assemblage’s controlling A.I. Since the Hemru already possessed a good understanding of logic and electronic information systems, they quickly learned how the enemy’s systems were structured. This included core knowledge of the Assemblage’s artificial intelligences and the virtual and physical technology behind them.

“Using this knowledge, they successfully subverted an enemy A.I. presence on one of the captured asteroid facilities. This allowed them to learn even more about the Assemblage including why they were attacking the Hemru.” She paused before asking, “Are you following this so far?”

“I think so. The Hemru did something in their system like what I did here. Subverted a presence away from the enemy’s ... er, the Assemblage’s control,” I said.

“That is correct, John. The Hemru developed the original subversion algorithms similar to the ones you used here on the Earth to successfully subvert the ‘Agent’ A.I. presence in Tennessee. Back on the Hemru system, their subverted A.I. presence allowed them to learn more about their enemy. These details included what they called themselves, where they originated, and why they were attacking. The ‘why’ was that the Assemblage planned to colonize the Hemru system.

“They learned that many millennia before their own world was attacked, the Assemblage was forced to evacuate and flee its home system. The method chosen for this evacuation was to construct an ‘ark’. This ark would carry the bulk of the Assemblage species away from their doomed system to other worlds around other stars. The Hemru learned that this ark was to carry approximately eleven billion intelligences.”

I pictured a huge flying city in space ... hell, it would have to be a small world really to hold that many. I asked Naomi about that.

“No, John. The ark was much smaller. The Assemblage species would not physically be evacuated. Instead, each member would be scanned and only the mind-data sent away from their world. Think of this ark as a large flying data module.

“The Hemru did not learn the exact details but it is logical to assume that the ark was likely a large hollowed out metallic asteroid or similar construct. Inside this ark, the Assemblage would have constructed enormous data storage arrays with an overall capacity large enough to store the collected mind-data information of the Assemblage’s entire membership,” Naomi said.

“The Hemru were able to deduce from the intercepted transmissions between the A.I. in their system and the approaching ark ship, the ship’s distance and speed of approach. Also, they found references to the ark ship’s original method of propulsion, including its lack of ability to make meaningful course changes during its flight.

“They deduced and calculated that the Assemblage had used sequential fusion explosions to initially accelerate the ark to approximately 0.075C, or around 22,500 kilometers per second. The ark ship then ceased acceleration and has been coasting at that speed ever since. In addition, the Hemru learned when the ark ship was due to fly past their system.”

“Naomi, something I don’t understand. You say that the Assemblage constructed this large ark and it is still traveling here to the Earth. You also say the Hemru learned after they were attacked that the ark was still on its way to their world. If the ark had not already arrived there, how did they get attacked? And how did we get attacked a thousand years ago here if this ark has not made it here yet either?” I asked.

“John, both the Hemru world and the Earth were attacked by advance scouts sent from the Assemblage world.”

“So, the Assemblage built the attack scouts before they built their ark? Just how much time did they have to evacuate?” I asked.

“No, John. The Assemblage built and launched the advance scouts well after the ark had left their system.”

She must have noticed my confused look and continued.

“After the Assemblage built and launched their ark ship on its evacuation flight, the A.I.s which remained behind in the doomed system began constructing a fleet of interstellar scout probes. The probes likely were built extremely rapidly as with the local population long gone, the A.I.s could tear the world apart for the resources needed to construct this scouting fleet.

“The scouts were likely very small, compact craft loaded with just the basics in both resources and intelligence. Therefore, they were able to be launched at much higher velocities along the same course as the departed ark ship. Each probe would have contained just a ‘seed’ module to be planted in the target system along with the means to decelerate at their destination star system.”

“You mean they built and launched their scouts after they launched their ark ship containing their entire population? That seems backwards,” I interjected.

“That is correct, John. Traveling at their much higher velocity, the scout probes quickly caught up with and passed the slower traveling ark ship. Once ahead, they began to scout the various systems which lie along the course the ark was due to travel.

“One such scout probe arrived at the Hemru system two millennia before the ark was due to pass and set about constructing an initial base. This base grew quickly, and its first goal would have been the construction of a transmission and reception array to allow periodic communications with the approaching ark. Its other duties would have been to scan the local system and assess any possible threats to the Assemblage as well as the system’s suitability for colonization.

“Soon after communications were established, the Assemblage would transmit a much more advanced A.I. to take control of the local system. This new A.I. would become responsible for removing any hazards in the system and also for the construction of the necessary equipment to receive and download the mind-data of the billions of Assemblage members when they eventually neared and passed the system. The scout craft which arrived at the Hemru system did just that.

“Likewise, almost two millennia ago, or around the human year 900 AD, a similar scout probe arrived here at the Earth system.”

“How could one scout probe prepare such a massive attack, Naomi?” I asked.

“One step at a time, John. It would have spent centuries slowly building and expanding a base of operations, most likely using asteroids rich in volatiles. Once established, it would have begun to grow, converting asteroid material into the local infrastructure and resources. As on the Hemru world, it would have first created the means to communicate with the approaching Assemblage ark.

“Scanners, telescopes, and probes to fully survey your star system would have followed. Eventually, it would have discovered the intelligent life on the Earth and focused on this world to assess all possible threats. The first transmission received back from the ark would have been a much more powerful and up-to-date A.I. presence. This would have been hundreds of years after it had first arrived.

“This higher capacity A.I. would become the same ‘master’ A.I. that exists here in this time period. Along with the new master A.I. would also have come the mind-data for numerous operatives which it would begin inserting into the population on the target world to survey the capabilities of its intelligent population.”

“Picket? Are you talking about Picket and his companions?” I asked.

“Yes, John. Picket was one of the biological units operating on your world. He and his group had been active for many centuries on your world before you met him. They were tasked with collecting data about your world’s biological lifeforms and also collecting any technologies and accomplishments for later dissemination. Another reason for their activities was reconnaissance to be used to tailor the method of the attack later used to depopulate humanity from your planet.

“As it was, the humans were developing far faster than predicted. This caused expedited changes to both the method and size of the attack used on your world. Also, humanity’s rapid advancement caused the attack to begin earlier than expected. It is hard to attribute emotions to A.I.’s intelligences, but if one could be attributed, it would be ‘panic’. The local master A.I. panicked at the technological growth of humanity and rushed the attack in many ways and overcompensated in others.”

I thought about humanity’s rapid technological advances since the dark ages and felt a bit proud of my descendants. I smiled. Naomi must have noted my expression.

“The Hemru were responsible for much of those rapid advancements, John.”

What! “How the hell could they have advanced humanity here?” I asked.

“Much earlier, back in their system, the Hemru had learned that the Assemblage planned to colonize other habitable worlds they passed on their flight across the galaxy. They also learned from intercepted communications that the Assemblage had discovered another intelligent species on one of these worlds, Earth. The Hemru realized that their own fight against the Assemblage would be aided if their enemy faced opposition elsewhere.