"Experiment Earth: Terminated" (open to new writers)

[AmyRoberts]

Experiment Earth: Terminated

(open to new writers; PM hostess for details)
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15 July 2029:

Trillions of Dollars, Rubles, Yuan, Pounds, Rupee, Yen, Euros, and other national currencies had been spent over the past half century on projects designed to detect objects approaching Earth: meteors, asteroids, and comets were searched for, located (sometimes), and tracked, all in an effort to determine if any of them posed a collision threat to the planet.

Although it wasn't a primary design goal, most of these systems -- whether on Earth or in orbit above it -- were also capable of detecting alien spacecraft. And yet, halfway through the month of July in the year 2029, an extraterrestrial vessel of unknown origin managed to reach Earth without being detected; Human Beings' first understanding that they were not alone in the Universe came when the sun glinted off the hull of the 10,000-meter-long craft as it moved into orbit 350 miles above the planet.

The reaction from governments, militaries, scientists, politicians, and common citizens varied greatly across the globe. In most places there was panic to one degree or another, while in others, the populations just watched and waited. Some governments attempted to communicate with the alien craft, to no avail; most militaries went on full alert, with many calling up reserves and bringing all of their defensive and offensive systems -- including nuclear weapons -- on line.

It would be 38 hours after the ship was first detected that first contact was finally made. On nearly every screen across the world -- from personal smart phones and computers to the big screens of Times Square and monitors in military operations rooms in every country -- an alien face appeared.

With the words of her own language automatically being translated into the chosen language of the device on which it was being heard, the alien explained, "Greetings. I am Luna, the leader of my people. A million of your years ago, my people came to your planet and seeded it with the beings that would one day evolve to become you ... Homo sapiens.

"This is something we had done many times before on many other habitable planets and moons across what you call the Milky Way," Luna continued, adding, "something that we continue to do even now on other habitable planetary bodies. The evolution of our Seed into an intelligent, superior, and dominant species is never the same on any two planets ... nor is how this advanced species interacts with its home or with the other life forms sharing this home and the environments on which they depend for their survival."

Luna's expression thus far had been emotionless, but now -- as she stepped closer to whatever form of projecting device was sending her image and words around the world -- both her expression and tone became ... serious. She continued, "We have been monitoring the evolution of your race periodically over its history, visiting Earth more and more frequently as your technology ... and your ability to destroy both your planet and yourselves advanced exponentially.

"We are disappointed with the direction in which the Human Race is heading," Luna said with a scrutinizing, chastising tone. "As a result, the decision has been made to depopulate Earth of Home sapiens ... to allow a new intelligent, superior, and dominant species to evolve in its place. Details are forthcoming."

And with that, the billions of screens featuring the alien's image and frightening declaration went blank. They didn't return to whatever had been on them previously: music videos, television shows, local news, and such forth simply didn't return, and any attempts by the devices' owners to get them to broadcast something, anything, failed. The screens simply remained black.

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(OOC: So, this is how it starts. Frightening, huh? If you want to know more or have an interest in writing a character(s), look at the seeking thread and/or PM me. Please do not post here without being cleared; there are details that every new, potential writer needs to know. Thanks.)

 

[HumanBean]

United Nations Building
Secretary-General's Office
New York City

1605 hours, local time (Eastern Time Zone)
15 July 2029:

United Nations Secretary-General Robert Gilham sat back in his chair and stared in silence at the black monitor that filled a good portion of one wall of his office. He wasn't alone, of course. He hadn't been alone since the arrival of the alien spaceship a day and a half ago. Well, he had had a brief nap between 0400 and 0700 hours this morning. He'd had all electronics removed from his office and a pair of security guards placed outside his door to keep others away. But at seven sharp, he was up refreshing himself with cold water to his face and hot coffee to his gut. And then it was back to work.

He'd participated in almost 2 dozen meetings during the 9 hours since once again waking. Some had been in person. Most had been via secured videoconferencing. He'd dealt with the Security Council, the General Assembly, and specialized agencies and programs that most people (even some UN Ambassadors) hadn't even known existed until now.

Robert thought he'd been well prepared for whatever the aliens had to say when contact was finally made. He'd been wrong. He had, of course, imagined that some sort of invasion or devastating destruction was imminent. But the eradication of the human race simply for being who and what they were? Really? That hadn't occurred to him.

One of the 5 people currently with Robert spoke. He didn't catch the words. Only the sounds. His brain alerted him to the fact that someone had spoken to him. He turned to find his Chief of Staff staring at him. The man repeated what Robert had missed: "She's beautiful. Luna, I mean."

"She's going to erase the human race from the face of the planet," Robert snapped, "And you're getting a woody for her?"

There was soft laughter and giggles from the other 4. Robert scanned them all. He asked, "Other opinions? Other than she's hot?"

There was a moment of silence. No one wanted to be the first to speak. Finally, though, his Science Advisor offered, "Do we think she'll do it? Or that she can do it?"

"She's in an interstellar ship measuring more than 6 miles in length that snuck up on our planet without anyone seeing it," Robert reminded them. "The United States has almost 4,000 nuclear warheads but could kill every last man, woman, and child on the planet with less than 100 of them. They have more than that amount in just their ballistic missile submarines. So, yes. I think that if Luna says she can kill us all, she's telling the truth."

Robert turned back to the monitor again. It was still dark, despite the efforts of one of his Aides in trying to find and fix the fault. They didn't know yet that all screens across the globe had gone black and would stay that way until Luna decided to bring them back to life.

He turned to the last man keeping company with him. "Connor, how do we communicate with the aliens? With this Luna?"

"How is not the problem, Mister Secretary-General," the Aide said. "We've got several communications avenues. The problem is simply that the aliens, that Luna has chosen not to speak with us. I've been in contact with the US, Russia, China ... everyone. No one had been able to make personal contact."

"No one's admitting to it, you mean," Robert suggested. Connor only shrugged. Robert didn't know whether or not to believe what other world leaders had said about not making contact with the aliens. Was there any one particular leader who was in secret contact with Luna? There were a lot of reasons for doing so. Particularly after what Luna had just told them. He told Connor, "Keep trying. Keep reminding them ... Luna of who I am. I may not have the power of the leaders of the US or Russia or China. But I do represent the population of all of Planet Earth."

The phone on his desk let out a short beep. His Chief of Staff lifted the receiver, listened, then offered the phone out. "It's POTUS."

"Excuse me, please, everyone," Robert told the others as he took the receiver. He didn't want to take this call. The United States' control of United Nations operations has only gotten firmer and firmer over the years. The current POTUS, despite being a woman, was a true hard ass when it came to the UN. Robert knew he had to stand his ground. But it was difficult. He smiled as if POTUS could hear the expression through the line, saying, "Hello, Madam President. What can I do for you?"

 

[AmyRoberts]

15 July 2029:

Florence Cooper had been working in her vegetable garden when she'd looked up and seen the glint of sunshine off the hull of the alien spacecraft. She hadn't known what it was at first, of course; one didn't look up into the skies over Western Colorado, see a glint, and immediately say to themselves ET is here.

But she'd always believed that Human Beings had neighbors out there in the universe that would one day show up to say hello, and now it was finally about to happen. She'd considered other possibilities, of course. The most obvious one was that the International Space Station was finally being deorbited. It had been slated for depopulation, disassembly, and destruction sometime in the mid-2030s, but that had changed after a fire had rendered several of its modules useless. Many of the modules had been recycled, made part of the new privately owned and operated Halo Station. The rest of it, though, was to be divided into four smaller pieces and deorbited into the atmosphere, where they would mostly burn up on their way to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Florence discarded the idea of the glint being the ISS, though, when she came to realize how massive it had to truly be. And, of course, the shape was all wrong. In fact, from the Earth's surface, the ISS didn't really have a shape; it was simply a glimmering spot of light 250 miles above the surface, seen only during the night. No, this whatever-it-is was huge! Florence wondered A thousand yards? Two? The craft's true size of 10,000 meters in length and nearly half that again in width and height would amaze her when she finally heard the numbers.

She also discarded the idea that she was looking at a Humanmade object: this was no space station or spaceship made by the US or Russia or China. This was of extraterrestrial origins. This was from outer space.

And this was going to cause a panic. By the time Florence reacted, the ship had disappeared beyond the eastern horizon. She dropped the gardening hoe on which she'd been leaning as she watched the craft pass overhead and hurried up to the house, then to the other locations where her family members were doing their work or chores. She first gathered her family: her husband, Richard; her adult son and daughter -- Tim and Rose -- who lived and worked on the farm; and Rose's children, Polly who was 6 years old and Robbie who was only 6 months old.

Next, they found and gathered the six people working the farm. They were all residential laborers for whom the farm had become home over the years; they occupied three comfortable little cabins on the property. Florence told them what she thought was going on, as well as what she thought they needed to do next: prepare. They made phone calls as appropriate to friends, family, and other key associates, while at the same time monitoring the radio and internet news for any mention of the glint in the sky.

By the time any mention of the spacecraft was made on the radio, Club Cooper -- a nickname Florence's daughter had initiated years ago when she was still a young teen -- was in full action: they headed to town in the three available pickup trucks to make purchases at a variety of stores and shops before hurrying back to the remotely located farm and ranch.

By the time they had all returned to the farm, the spacecraft had already passed overhead a second time, catching the attention of those who'd missed it the first time. The panic that Florence had anticipated manifested; all across town, panic buying began, making Florence happy that they'd begun their own purchasing early.

The rest of the day was spent securing the property they called Cooper Ridge. Florence -- who had always been more of a matriarchal ruler than her husband had been a patriarchal one -- directed the activities. By sundown, access to Cooper Ridge from the outside world had been greatly restricted, with heavy farm equipment blocking the two roads coming into the property. A relatively comfortable lookout position was created atop the grain silo to keep an eye out for dangers of any kind. All of the valuable goods -- purchased today or already on the property -- were put away in either the newer storm cellar or the old, cold war era bomb shelter that, until now, had been abandoned for decades and needed some serious cleanup.

During the day's work, various people asked Florence their own variations of Is this really necessary? She was certain it would be; while she didn't know if what form it might come, Florence knew that the world as they'd known it was coming to an end. Oh, it might not be the alien apocalypse or anything that horrific, but life as they'd been living it was going to change dramatically. Florence simply wanted to be ready.

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"Everyone!" Florence called from the front porch of the house. "Everyone! Come here! Now! Quickly!"

As her family, friends, and workers hurried in from where they were working all about the property, Florence informed each of them that the aliens were about to make contact. It had been a bit more than 24 hours since she'd first seen the spacecraft fly overhead; it had been 38 hours since it first arrived in Earth orbit.

They all gathered in the home's large living room, where normally scheduled programming on all stations had been interrupted by a simple message: Stand by for communication. Along with those four words was a countdown timer; Florence had first noticed it when it was at just a bit more than nine minutes, and by the time all 12 of them had gathered inside the home, it was down to less than a minute.

The message and time disappeared, and when the image of Luna appeared, the 6-year-old Polly pointed, laughed, and said happily, "Elf! Elf, gramma!"

Florence understood how the little girl could think such a thing, but she herself doubted very much that such was the case that Elven creatures had come to Earth in a 6-mile-long spaceship. She invited her granddaughter into her lap, saying softly, "Yes, honey. It's an elf. Now, shush."

The alien identified herself as the leader of a ancient spacefaring race that had seeded the galaxy with human life. Florence couldn't believe what she was hearing; her heart was racing with excitement. When Luna got to the part about her disappointment with Earth's humans and her plans to depopulate Earth, Florence's heart skipped a beat. Luna finished with, "Details are forthcoming."

When the television screen went black, there was silence for a long moment as the adults simply looked between themselves with varying expressions of confusion, shock, or fear. The silence was finally broken by little Polly asking, "Where did the Elf go, gramma?"