On the last morning of their encampment in the desert, Rachel woke up first. She opened the tent door to get a view of the colony. Nisha opened her eyes and squinted at the brightness.
“It’s not the same with them gone,” Rachel said.
“Yes,” Nisha said. “My life isn’t going to be the same with you gone. It’s hard to believe that today’s the last day. You’ll go back to the CDC in Atlanta and life will go on.”
Rachel smiled.
“Well.”
“Well, what?” Nisha said.
“I applied for an astrobiology professorship at Caltech. I haven’t heard back yet, but there’s an opening that’s perfect for me.”
“How exciting! I would love for you to be out here.”
“Could you write me a letter of recommendation?”
Nisha smiled.
“Um. I’ll think about it. Do you know anything about extraterrestrial life?”
Rachel shook her head in the same way Bok did.
“I’ll never understand human humor.”
They laughed.
“Things are finally calming down,” Nisha said. “I hope the world will get back to normal.”
“Me too,” Rachel said. “The stock market is up 400% in the month since they left. I hope this means good things for the year ahead. The Omanji are on their way to Gliese 581 g. Priya and the other modified kids are in school, and Bok’s colony should be peaceful. What can go wrong now?”
“I’m not sure,” Nisha said. “The amazing thing is, if someone told me a year ago that 20 million intelligent aliens would be living on Earth, I wouldn’t say life could be normal. Now, a mere 20 million seems like no big deal. I do have an ache in my gut though.”
“Why?”
“It’s what we’ve learned about Omanji history from Bok, Yoova and Zon. These 20 million represent a ticking time bomb. If things get out of control as they did, the dystopias of our nightmares can happen. We’re a ticking bomb too. We don’t have the capability to stop a runaway AI as the Omanji did. We’re vulnerable.”
“That could happen,” Rachel said. We’re getting close to the point where our own AI will become smarter than us. We’re not following the four foundational rules of AI even though everyone talks about it. They might be Omanji rules, but they apply to us too.
“True, so now we have two paths to disaster, the Omanji who are left behind, and runaway human-created AI. I hope there are other paths to take. I don’t want ours to be a dead end.”
Rachel glanced up at the clear blue sky.
“Let’s go take a walk around the empty colony.”
“Okay, sounds good,” Nisha said as they walked into the bright and cool winter day. “Can you check your data to see what’s happening?”
“Sure, let’s see. Over the past 24 hours, no new arrivals of spheres in orbit were observed. I guess they all know to head straight to Gliese 581 g. Five large spheres remain in orbit. Their purpose is unknown.”
“Let me check my Twitter feed,” Nisha said. “Yes, all but five are heading towards the star Gliese 581. Why are five still here? I can’t believe it, the Omanji are gone.”
“Are those tears in your eyes Nisha?”
“I can’t help myself. I hope they find a home and they don’t destroy themselves in the process. They might be the only other intelligent life form in the galaxy besides the Yoots, us, and AI life form one, 558 light years away. I don’t want to meet them if the Omanji fear them. It’s funny because I hated the Omanji so much for taking Pree and the other kids. I hated them for their arrogance. Now I’m sad for them. They’ve had a violent past and now they’re roaming the galaxy looking for a home.”
“Don’t worry about them. They’ll be fine,” Rachel said. “I’m more worried about the modified kids.”
“What about them?”
“They aren’t accepted in our society,” Rachel said. “They’re outcasts. What will their world be like when we’re gone?”
Nisha smiled but said nothing.
“Why are you smiling?” Rachel said.
“Don’t you see? When we’re gone, the earth will be theirs, not ours. We’re the outcasts. Evolution favors species best adapted to a given environment.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve studied the evolution of species my entire life. In most cases, the species best suited for a given niche survives, pushing others to the side. The human niche is one of rapid technological advancement. It favors the intelligence and longevity of Priya and her friends.”
Rachel disagreed.
“Yes, the kids are smart, but most of the Omanji have left and Bok’s friends will probably leave too. Humans will be the primary species once again. We lucked out.”
“It was a close call with the Omanji,” Nisha said. “But when I look into Priya’s eyes, I see a new species. Her species is now being rejected by most old species humans. With the difference in intelligence and longevity, they will branch away from Homo sapiens and speciate. They won’t interbreed with us because of the big differences between us. Once you play with the human genome, you’re setting a new course in evolution. The Omanji did that and there’s no going back. We would have eventually done it ourselves. We’re not the alpha species anymore, but nobody knows it yet. We’re the ephemeral species. That will become apparent in time.”