Nisha awoke to the sound of a notification in her eyepiece.

“Rachel, Bok contacted me. He wants to talk with us at location 17c.”

They got dressed and walked the half mile to the construction site where millions of drones were constructing a large tower. Bok watched, listening to the clicking sound of the metallic legs of the drones grasping the concrete pillars as they climbed to their programmed location to carry out their programmed task.

“Hi Bok, how are you doing?” Nisha said.

“I’m not doing well. I’ve been thinking about what Primary Esteemed Elder Zon said to me yesterday.”

“Me too,” Nisha said.

“I’m not sure what to do. I can lead a good life if I merge, but I want to live my own life. This is a new planet. I don’t understand why we must be strongly connected to be at peace. All those rules were invented to stop wars and destruction, but those were the old days. Things are different now. Why should I live under the old rules? I want to stay here and build the new colony. We can do things right this time.”

“I wish I could help you Bok,” Nisha said. “I don’t know Omanji history and psychology well enough to offer sound advice. Your species has a violent past and now they’re connected. They meditate to keep the peace. The Omanji system works well. I’m not sure what will happen in your less connected new colony. You should establish a meditation routine just in case. And your own version of the Omanji system. You’re still Omanji. Like humans, violence and self-destruction is in your history. Don’t be another victim caught in The Great Filter.”

“Yes, I know a friend who leads meditation sessions within our collective,” Bok said. “He’ll arrange a colony-wide meditation schedule. I notice when I stop meditating, thoughts of angst and violence creep into my consciousness. My mind is more at peace when I meditate.”

“That’s good,” Nisha said. “Read this text by the human, Patanjali. It may help. How many Omanji are here in your new colony now?”

“Over 300,000. About 15 million are on the waiting list. That’s why Zon visited me. When he routed the telepathic collective to me, I sensed fear in him, although he can easily crush me and my colony. Something besides me and my colony is worrying him. I’m not sure what it is.”

“It’s what you represent. If he were to crush you, you would become what humans call a martyr, to 100 million or more young Omanji,” Rachel said. “Even if you were dead, you would inspire many millions of others to join your cause and an insurrection might happen. Zon doesn’t want that. That’s how your wars started. Therefore, he won’t crush you. This is a guess based on human nature however.”

“I understand,” Bok said. “You might be right. Our history is filled with splits and insurrections. They usually end in near destruction. I sense he’ll try to avoid this.”

“I like Zon more than I thought I would,” Nisha said. “He seems sensible even though he thinks humans are animals. What will you do?”

“I’m going to continue to build the colony, but I’ll discourage those who want to join. And set boundaries. I’m still anxious, so I’ll meditate several times per day.

“Okay,” Nisha said. “We’re going back to the tent to assist the Yoots in their move to the redwoods.”

“Okay, please don’t go far. I’m going to go and think about this for several days.”

“We’ll be here,” Rachel said as they walked back to the tent.

“What do you think?” Nisha said, gazing out at the new colony.

“I think Bok is young and idealistic and he’s in over his head, but he’s intelligent. We have no frame of reference to gauge if he can be successful with this colony or with the split that’s happening.”

“Yeah, this is a real split. Bok told us when a new colony is formed, the problems begin. I hope this doesn’t end in violence. They’ve torn the planet Oma apart on several occasions.”

“Let’s hope they don’t tear our planet apart,” Rachel said.

“I hope so too. How many Omanji can Bok’s colony hold right now?

Rachel made some calculations.

“Well, he’s built seven of the 1,000-foot towers that can hold 100,000 each, and he’s completed 15 of the big 6,000 ft. tall towers with more on the way. They can hold one million each. Within a few days his colony could house over 15 million, assuming they can produce their own food and power. Thus far, that hasn’t been a problem. Somehow, they manufacture food straight from the elements in the ground and in the atmosphere. The Omanji are like plants in that way, getting sustenance directly from minerals and elements. They bypass creating food from plants and animals. Bok won’t tell me how they accomplish this. I guess he doesn’t want to interfere with our technological evolution.”

“I guess so,” Nisha said as she gazed out at the new colony. “Hmm, have I done the right thing by encouraging Bok to make the split? I’m interfering, and now I’m afraid the earth is going to become one of those dead planets. Maybe it’s a good thing the Omanji are here at this dangerous point in human evolution. I’m having second thoughts about wanting them to leave. Have you seen the latest sentient robots? They could take over the world someday. And to think we once worried about driverless cars.”

“I know what you mean. Things are being set into motion that can’t be predicted. It’s too late to turn back now. We’re going to have to wait and see.”

As Nisha and Rachel gazed at the colony, a brief flash of blue light covered everything in midday-level glare.

“Something happened,” Nisha said.

“Yeah. My heart almost stopped.”

“Mine skipped a beat. I’m going to contact Bok,” Nisha said.

Soon they connected.

“Bok, what happened? We felt an electromagnetic pulse.”

“Don’t worry, we activated our protective shielding, and all is okay. It was a minor anomaly.”

“Thanks Bok. I appreciate that. Get back to work now.”

They disconnected.

“You’re right Rachel. Things are being set into motion. They can’t be predicted.”