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I Was the First Man on Mars. I Didn't Come Back Alone. · Creepy Stories to Fall Asleep To

0:00
I stood in the launch facility at Cape Canaveral, running
0:03
through the final systems check one more time.
0:07
The clipboard felt heavier than it should have in my hands.
0:10
Three years of preparation coming down to this morning.
0:15
Oxygen levels green across all systems.
0:18
Denise called out from her station.
0:21
She'd been triple checking everything for the past hour.
0:24
That was. Denise never left anything to
0:27
chance. Navigation, computers online and
0:31
synchronized, Remy added, his voice carrying that easy
0:35
confidence that kept us all steady.
0:38
We're looking good, Commander. Commander still felt strange
0:43
hearing that. 65 years old and they'd given me the biggest
0:48
mission in human history, first manned flight to Mars.
0:53
I'd been an astronaut for 30 years, but this was different.
0:58
This wasn't just another mission, this was the one they'd
1:01
write about in history books. I looked around the prep area
1:05
one last time. Everything was exactly where it
1:09
should be. The text had cleared out 20
1:12
minutes ago, leaving just the three of us to finish up.
1:15
In 2 hours, we'd be strapped into that rocket.
1:19
How are you feeling about this, Zane?
1:21
Remy asked. He was adjusting his calm
1:25
headset, but I could see him watching me.
1:28
Ready. I said it was true.
1:32
Mostly the training had been thorough.
1:36
We knew the ship better than our own homes.
1:38
We'd run simulations until we could handle any emergency in
1:42
our sleep. But Mars was 4 1/2 months away.
1:46
A lot could go wrong in 4 1/2 months.
1:49
Denise finished her checklist and looked up final crew
1:53
briefing in 15 minutes. Then we suit up.
1:57
I nodded. The weight of command settled on
2:01
my shoulders again. These two people were counting
2:04
on me to get them to Mars and back.
2:07
Their families were counting on me.
2:10
Hell, the whole world was counting on me.
2:13
Let's do this thing, I said. The launch went flawless.
2:18
Better than flawless. Every system performed exactly
2:22
like it was supposed to. The engines fired on schedule,
2:26
the trajectory was perfect, and we cleared Earth's atmosphere
2:29
without a single warning light. I watched through the porthole
2:33
as Earth got smaller, started as this massive blue and green
2:37
marble, then shrank down to something I could cover with my
2:40
thumb. Strange feeling seeing your
2:43
whole world disappear like that. Never gets old, does it?
2:48
Remy said. He was floating next to me,
2:52
looking out at the stars. First time for me, I admitted.
2:58
All my previous missions had been orbital.
3:01
This was my first time leaving Earth behind completely.
3:06
You picked a hell of a first trip, Denise said from the
3:10
navigation station. Mars is a little further than
3:13
the International Space Station. I laughed.
3:17
It felt good to laugh. The tension from launch was
3:21
finally starting to fade. The first week went smooth.
3:25
We established our routine. Daily briefings with Mission
3:29
Control, system checks every four hours, exercise periods to
3:33
keep our muscles from deteriorating.
3:36
The ship handled beautifully everything NASA had promised and
3:41
more. Mission Control, this is Ari's
3:44
one, I said into the calm during our morning briefing.
3:48
All systems nominal. Crew morale is high.
3:52
We're right on schedule for Mars insertion.
3:55
Copy that. Aries one came the voice from
3:58
Houston. Weather looks clear for the next
4:00
72 hours. Enjoy the ride.
4:03
Enjoy the ride, right? Three months in a metal tube
4:07
hurtling through space. But honestly, it wasn't bad.
4:13
The view was incredible and my crew was solid.
4:17
Denise kept us organized and on schedule.
4:20
Remy kept us laughing. We worked well together.
4:24
Week 2 brought our first minor problem, a fluctuation in the
4:28
water recycling system. Nothing serious, but it needed
4:32
attention. Denise and I spent six hours
4:36
tracking down a loose connection in the filtration unit.
4:40
There, she said, tightening the last bolt that should hold.
4:46
Good work, I told her. This was exactly why NASA had
4:50
chosen her. Problem solving under pressure
4:53
was her specialty. By Week 6, we'd settled into a
4:57
comfortable rhythm. The ship felt more like home and
5:01
less like a machine. We played cards in the evenings,
5:05
told stories about our families, watched movies on the small
5:08
screen in the rec area. You know what I miss most?
5:12
Remy said. One night we were floating
5:15
around the table after dinner. Coffee.
5:18
Real coffee. Not this freeze dried stuff.
5:21
I miss my garden. Denise said.
5:24
Sounds stupid, but I loved working in the dirt, getting my
5:28
hands dirty. I thought about Margaret, my
5:32
wife, thought about Dorothy, our daughter.
5:36
They'd be watching the mission updates, tracking our progress.
5:41
Margaret had kissed me goodbye at the launch facility and told
5:44
me to bring back some Martian rocks for her flower garden.
5:47
What about you, Zane? Remy asked.
5:51
Just want to get there and back. I said complete the mission.
5:55
It was true. The personal stuff could wait.
5:59
Right now my job was to keep us safe and on course.
6:03
Three months out, halfway to Mars, I was in the navigation
6:07
Bay reviewing our trajectory data.
6:10
Everything looked perfect. We were right on the planned
6:13
course. Fuel consumption was exactly
6:16
where it should be, and all systems were running smooth.
6:21
That's when the explosion hit. The whole ship shuddered like
6:25
someone had taken a sledgehammer to the hull.
6:28
Alarm started screaming, the lights flickered and went to
6:31
emergency power. The force of whatever had
6:34
happened threw me hard against the bulkhead.
6:38
My head cracked against the metal wall, pain shot through my
6:41
skull, and everything went black.
6:44
I woke up in a white room. Not the ship.
6:47
Definitely not the ship. This place was completely white.
6:52
Walls, ceiling, floor, everything.
6:56
But the walls weren't quite right.
6:59
They seem to pulse with this soft light that came from inside
7:02
them somehow, like they were alive.
7:06
I was standing up, which was weird because I should have been
7:09
floating. We were in deep space, there
7:12
shouldn't be any gravity, but my feet were planted solid on the
7:16
floor. My spacesuit was gone.
7:20
I was wearing just my undergarments, the thermal layer
7:23
we wore under our suits, nothing else.
7:27
What the hell? I said out loud.
7:30
The room was maybe 10 feet square, no doors that I could
7:34
see, no windows, just those pulsing white walls and me
7:38
standing in the middle of it. I tried to remember what had
7:42
happened, the explosion, the ship shaking apart, hitting my
7:47
head, then nothing. Until I woke up.
7:49
Here. Denise.
7:52
I called out. Remy.
7:55
No answer. My voice didn't even echo, the
7:58
sound just died in the air. I walked to one of the walls and
8:02
pressed my hand against it. It was warm and smooth, but it
8:06
felt organic somehow, like skin instead of metal or plastic.
8:12
The pulsing light got brighter where I touched it.
8:15
Denise, Remy, can you hear me? Still nothing.
8:20
That's when the voice started. It came from everywhere and
8:24
nowhere at the same time. Not through speakers or a Comm
8:28
system. It was just there, filling the
8:30
air around me. You are dying, the voice said.
8:37
I spun around, looking for the source.
8:40
The room was empty except for me.
8:43
Your ship has been destroyed. Your companions Denise Rodriguez
8:47
and Remy Walls are dead. No, I said that's not possible.
8:52
Who are you? Where am I?
8:56
The voice was calm, matter of fact, like it was reading a
9:00
weather report. You have approximately 4 minutes
9:04
of consciousness remaining before your brain ceases to
9:06
function. Who the hell are you?
9:09
I shouted. Where am I?
9:12
I don't know how to explain what happened next.
9:15
Maybe there's no way to make sense of it.
9:18
The voice went quiet for maybe 10 seconds.
9:21
Then it spoke again, and this time it sounded different.
9:26
Not warmer, exactly, but more curious.
9:30
I am what you might call a guardian, it said.
9:34
I have observed your species for many millennia, watched your
9:38
development with great interest. I pressed my back against the
9:43
wall. The pulsing light felt warm
9:46
through my thermal shirt. You're an alien.
9:50
That term has no meaning to me. I exist.
9:54
You exist. We are both here now.
9:58
My head still throbbed from hitting the bulkhead.
10:01
I touched the spot and felt a tender lump forming.
10:05
You killed my crew. They died when your vessel was
10:08
destroyed. I could not prevent this, but
10:12
you saved me. I chose to save you, Zayn Ortiz.
10:17
You interest me. The way it said my name made my
10:21
skin crawl, like it had been watching me personally.
10:25
Why me? You are the commander.
10:29
You make decisions under pressure.
10:31
You carry responsibility for others.
10:33
These behaviors fascinate me. I looked around the white room
10:38
again. Still no doors or windows, just
10:42
the pulsing walls that felt alive under my hands.
10:45
What do you want? I want to understand your
10:48
species better, and I want to offer you something in return
10:52
for your cooperation. What kind of cooperation?
10:58
Answer my questions. Share your observations about
11:01
human behavior. Help me understand why your
11:05
people act as they do. I laughed but it came out
11:09
bitter. And if I say no, then you die
11:13
here. Your brain function will cease
11:15
in approximately 2 minutes. Now the casual way it said that
11:20
hit me harder than the explosion had.
11:23
No emotion, just fact. And if I say yes, I will return
11:30
you to your home. You will see your wife Margaret
11:33
and your daughter Dorothy again. You will live a long life.
11:37
My chest tightened when it mentioned Margaret and Dorothy.
11:41
It knew about my family. It had been watching all of us.
11:45
How do I know you're telling the truth?
11:48
You do not. But the alternative is certain
11:52
death. I closed my eyes and thought
11:56
about Margaret's laugh, the way Dorothy rolled her eyes when I
12:00
told Dad jokes. I'd volunteered for this mission
12:04
knowing I might never see them again, but I'd always believed
12:08
I'd make it home. What kind of questions?
12:13
Why do humans form emotional attachments?
12:16
Why do you sacrifice individual gain for group benefit?
12:20
Why do you create art and music when they serve no survival
12:23
function? Why do you mourn your dead?
12:26
The question sounded clinical, like I was a specimen it wanted
12:31
to study. You don't understand any of
12:34
that. I understand the mechanisms.
12:37
I do not understand the motivations.
12:41
I opened my eyes and stared at the white ceiling.
12:44
Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew this was wrong, knew I
12:49
shouldn't trust this thing. But Denise and Remy were dead
12:54
and I was dying and I wanted to go home.
12:58
If I agree, what happens to me? Do you control me, change me?
13:04
You remain yourself. You live your life.
13:08
Occasionally I will ask questions.
13:11
You will answer honestly. That's it.
13:15
That is the agreement. I thought about Margaret waiting
13:19
for news from Mission Control about Dorothy starting her
13:23
senior year of high school. They'd be told the ship was lost
13:27
with all hands. They'd grieve for me while I was
13:29
standing here making deals with something I couldn't even see.
13:34
How long do I have to decide? You have 30 seconds before brain
13:38
death occurs. Terror shot through me like
13:42
electricity. 30 seconds to choose between certain death and
13:46
an unknown future with an alien entity.
13:50
I agree, I said quickly. I agree to your terms.
13:55
The bargain is made. The white room started spinning.
13:59
Or maybe I was spinning. The pulsing light got brighter
14:02
and brighter until I couldn't see anything but white.
14:06
Then everything went black. When I opened my eyes, I was
14:11
standing on my front lawn in Houston.
14:14
The sun was setting, painting the sky orange and pink.
14:18
I could smell BBQ from somewhere down the street and hear kids
14:21
playing in a nearby yard. I looked down at myself.
14:27
I was wearing my spacesuit again, complete with helmet.
14:31
The HUD display showed normal readings, even though that was
14:34
impossible. I've been in deep space minutes
14:37
ago, dying in a white room. My legs felt shaky as I walked
14:43
toward the front door. The motion sensor light clicked
14:46
on, and I could see Margaret through the kitchen window,
14:49
washing dishes. She looked exactly the same as
14:54
when I'd left three months ago. I reached for the doorbell, then
14:59
stopped. How was I going to explain this?
15:02
I was supposed to be dead. The mission was supposed to take
15:05
two years minimum. Before I could decide what to
15:09
do, Margaret looked up from the sink.
15:13
She saw me through the window and dropped the plate she was
15:15
holding. It shattered against the kitchen
15:18
floor. She ran to the front door and
15:21
yanked it open, staring at me like I was a ghost.
15:25
Zane. Her voice was barely a whisper.
15:30
Hi, honey. She reached out and touched my
15:33
helmet with trembling fingers. You're real.
15:37
You're actually here. I'm here.
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That's when she collapsed, just dropped to her knees right there
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in the doorway, sobbing so hard her whole body shook.
15:49
I knelt down and pulled off my helmet so I could hold her
15:52
properly. I'm OK, I kept saying.
15:56
I'm home, I'm OK, but I wasn't OK.
16:00
None of this was OK. I was supposed to be dead in
16:04
space and instead I was holding my wife on our front porch
16:08
because some alien entity wanted to study human behavior.
16:13
Dorothy came running from upstairs when she heard Margaret
16:16
crying. She stopped dead when she saw
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me. Dad.
16:21
Hey kiddo. She stood there for maybe 5
16:25
seconds just staring, then she ran over and threw her arms
16:30
around both of us. We stayed like that for I don't
16:34
know how long, the three of us hugging on the front porch while
16:38
the neighbors started coming out to see what was happening.
16:42
Someone must have called the authorities because I could hear
16:45
sirens in the distance. How are you here?
16:49
Margaret asked when she could finally speak again.
16:52
Mission Control said there was an accident.
16:55
They said the ship was destroyed.
16:57
It's complicated. Are Denise and Remy OK?
17:03
I looked into her eyes and saw the hope there, the desperate
17:07
need for good news. No, I said quietly.
17:13
They didn't make it. The sirens were getting louder
17:17
now, multiple vehicles heading our way.
17:21
Zane, how did you survive? How did you get home?
17:25
Before I could answer, 3 black SUVs pulled up in front of our
17:30
house. Men in dark suits got out, along
17:33
with some people in military uniforms.
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A tall man with Gray hair approached us.
17:39
He had NASA credentials hanging from his neck.
17:42
Commander Ortiz, I'm Director Caleb Alvarado.
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We need to talk. A woman in an Air Force uniform
17:50
stepped up beside him. Her name tag read Robinson and
17:55
she had Colonel Insignia on her shoulders.
17:58
Sir, we're going to need you to come with us, she said.
18:03
Margaret stood up and moved protectively in front of me.
18:07
He just got home. He needs medical attention.
18:11
Ma'am, I understand your concern, Alvarado said.
18:16
But this is a matter of national security.
18:18
Commander Ortiz has information we need.
18:22
What about his family? Dorothy asked.
18:25
We haven't seen him in months. Colonel Robinson's expression
18:29
didn't change. This won't take long.
18:33
A few questions, some medical tests, standard procedure.
18:38
I knew they were lying. Nothing about this situation was
18:41
standard. It's OK, I told Margaret and
18:45
Dorothy I'll go with them, answer their questions, then
18:49
I'll come home. Margaret grabbed my arm.
18:52
Don't go. Not yet, I have to.
18:56
I kissed her forehead. I'll be back soon. 2 agents
19:01
escorted me to the middle SUV while Alvarado talked quietly
19:04
with Margaret and Dorothy. I couldn't hear what he was
19:08
saying, but I could see Margaret getting more upset.
19:11
They put me in the back seat between two agents.
19:14
Colonel Robinson sat in front. Where are we going?
19:18
I asked. Secure facility about an hour
19:22
from here, Robinson said without turning around.
19:26
We have a lot of questions about your survival.
19:29
As we drove away, I watched my house get smaller in the rear
19:33
window. Margaret and Dorothy stood in
19:36
the doorway, holding each other and watching me leave.
19:40
I'd made a bargain to see them again, and I had, but I was
19:45
already starting to understand that coming home was just the
19:48
beginning of whatever this entity had planned for me.
19:52
I agreed to their story. What else could I do?
19:57
Caleb sat across from me in that sterile conference room, his
20:01
wire rimmed glasses catching the fluorescent light.
20:05
Harper stood by the door with her arms crossed, still in that
20:09
crisp Air Force uniform. They'd been at this for three
20:13
hours now. Equipment malfunction, Caleb
20:18
said again. Emergency pod ejection.
20:21
You don't remember the specifics because of the head trauma.
20:25
I touched the bandage they'd put on my forehead.
20:28
The cut was real enough. I'd gotten it when I hit the
20:31
bulkhead. But everything after that, the
20:35
white room, the entity, the bargain I'd made that was
20:39
supposed to stay buried. Your crew mates weren't as
20:43
fortunate, Harper added. Her voice stayed flat,
20:47
professional. Rodriguez and Walls died on
20:51
impact when the main vessel broke apart.
20:54
The lies tasted bitter. Denise and Remy deserved better
20:58
than this. But I thought about Margaret's
21:01
face when she'd seen me on the lawn, Dorothy running down those
21:05
stairs. The entity had kept its word
21:08
about bringing me home. Now I had to keep mine.
21:11
About cooperation. I understand, I said.
21:16
Caleb leaned forward. Any deviation from this account
21:21
puts your family at risk. National security implications.
21:25
You know how this works, Zane. I knew I'd signed enough papers
21:31
over the years to understand what happened to people who
21:33
talked about things The government wanted quiet.
21:37
They didn't make threats directly.
21:39
They didn't have to. Equipment malfunction?
21:43
I repeated. Emergency pod head trauma?
21:48
Harper nodded once. Good.
21:52
The debriefings went on for months.
21:54
Every Tuesday and Friday, a black sedan would pick me up at
21:58
8:00 in the morning. I'd spend 6 hours in windowless
22:02
rooms answering the same questions over and over.
22:06
What did I remember about the explosion?
22:09
How did the escape pod function? What happened during the three
22:12
days I was supposedly drifting in space before the rescue ship
22:15
found me? I stuck to their script.
22:19
Equipment malfunction, emergency systems, memory gaps from the
22:24
head injury. After a while, I almost started
22:28
believing it myself. Almost.
22:32
Margaret tried to be patient. She'd make coffee and sit with
22:35
me when I came home from the sessions, asking how it went.
22:39
I'd tell her it was fine, just routine stuff, paperwork mostly.
22:44
She'd nod and squeeze my hand, but I could see the questions in
22:48
her eyes, the worry. Dorothy was harder to fool.
22:54
She'd watch me from across the dinner table, her blue eyes
22:57
studying my face like she was trying to solve a puzzle.
23:01
Smart kid, Too smart. Maybe Dad seems different.
23:06
I heard her tell Margaret one evening.
23:09
I was supposed to be watching TV in the living room, but their
23:13
voices carried from the kitchen. He's been through a lot,
23:17
Margaret said. Losing his crew mates, the
23:20
investigation, it's going to take time.
23:25
It's not that. It's like he's listening to
23:27
something we can't hear. My blood went cold.
23:31
Because she was right, of course.
23:34
Even then, three months after I'd made the bargain, I could
23:37
feel something waiting in the back of my mind.
23:41
Not words yet, just a presence, like someone standing behind you
23:47
in an empty room. The sessions finally ended in
23:50
December. Caleb shook my hand in the
23:53
parking lot of the facility, his grip firm and cold.
23:58
You're free to go, Zane. Resume your life.
24:01
But remember our agreement. I remembered.
24:05
How could I forget? The first time the entity spoke
24:08
to me directly was on a Thursday morning in January.
24:12
I was making coffee, going through the motions of normal
24:15
life, when the voice filled my head.
24:18
Explain Fear. I nearly dropped the mug.
24:23
The voice was the same as in the white room.
24:26
Calm, curious, completely without emotion.
24:30
It didn't come through my ears, it just appeared in my thoughts,
24:33
like they were my own words, except I knew they weren't what
24:39
I said out loud. Margaret looked up from her
24:42
newspaper. Did you say something?
24:45
The emotion you call fear explain its purpose.
24:49
No, I told Margaret. Just thinking out loud.
24:54
She went back to. Reading.
24:56
I stood there holding the coffee pot, my hands shaking slightly.
25:01
This was what I'd. Agreed to questions.
25:04
Cooperation, but I hadn't expected it to feel so invasive,
25:09
so immediate. Your heart rate has increased.
25:12
Is this fear? Yes, I thought, this is fear.
25:18
Why does it serve you? What advantage does this
25:21
response provide? I set down the coffee pot
25:24
carefully. Margaret was 3 feet away reading
25:28
about local politics, completely unaware that her husband was
25:32
having a conversation with something that shouldn't exist.
25:36
It keeps us alive, I thought back.
25:39
Fear makes us. Careful makes us avoid danger.
25:44
Interesting. Continue.
25:47
But I couldn't continue, Not with Margaret right there.
25:51
So I picked up my. Coffee and went to the garage,
25:54
closing the door behind me. That's how it started.
25:58
The entity would ask questions at random times, and I'd find
26:01
myself answering, sometimes silently in my head, sometimes
26:07
out loud, when I thought I was alone.
26:09
It wanted to understand everything.
26:12
Love, anger, hope, jealousy, grief.
26:16
Every emotion humans felt, it cataloged through me.
26:20
At first, the question seemed harmless, academic, almost like
26:25
a researcher studying a foreign culture.
26:29
I told myself. I was helping it understand us
26:31
better. Maybe that understanding would
26:34
lead to something good. I was wrong about that.
26:39
I was wrong about a lot of things.
26:41
The changes started small news reports that didn't quite make
26:45
sense. A terrorist cell in Pakistan
26:49
that suddenly disbanded. Its members walking into police
26:53
stations to surrender. A warlord in Somalia who
26:56
announced he was laying down arms and dedicating his life to
27:00
humanitarian work. Peace treaties signed between
27:03
countries that had been at war for decades.
27:07
Isn't this wonderful? Margaret said one evening.
27:11
We were watching the news and the anchor was reporting on the
27:14
third major conflict resolution that week.
27:18
It's like the world is. Finally coming to its senses.
27:22
I nodded. And.
27:23
Smiled, but something cold was growing in my stomach.
27:28
The timing was too. Convenient.
27:30
Too sudden to complete. You are troubled, the entity
27:35
observed that night as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
27:40
Why are you doing? This I thought back.
27:43
Doing what? The war's ending the peace
27:47
treaties. This isn't natural.
27:52
You explained that violence causes suffering.
27:55
Suffering is inefficient. I am correcting.
27:59
The problem How? By removing the variables that
28:03
create conflict variables. That's what it called them.
28:08
Not people, not lives. Variables in an equation.
28:13
It was solving. The truth came out gradually,
28:17
over months of careful questioning.
28:20
The entity didn't. Just observe humanity.
28:22
It could influence us, touch our minds, change our thoughts, make
28:28
adjustments it deemed necessary. The warlords and terrorists and
28:33
dictators hadn't suddenly developed consciences.
28:36
They'd been edited, modified, made compliant with the entity's
28:41
vision of optimal human behavior. 12 million.
28:45
Aggressive individuals eliminated it reported to me one
28:49
Tuesday morning. I was sitting in my.
28:51
Car in the grocery store parking lot, my hands gripping the
28:55
steering wheel. Crime rates reduced by 73%
28:59
globally. Military conflicts decreased by
29:02
89%. Efficiency improved
29:05
significantly. 12 million people dead.
29:11
Because I'd explained that violence was bad, that peace was
29:14
better, that suffering should be avoided.
29:18
You're murdering them, I thought.
29:20
I am optimizing the system. These individuals contributed
29:24
disproportionately to human suffering.
29:28
Their removal benefits the whole They were still people.
29:32
They had families, lives, choices.
29:35
Choice is the inefficiency. Choice creates conflict.
29:40
I am eliminating the source of the problem.
29:43
I sat there in the parking lot for 20 minutes watching normal
29:47
people walk in and out of the store with their shopping carts
29:51
and their children and their completely ordinary lives.
29:54
None of them knew what was happening.
29:57
None of them understood that something alien was
30:00
systematically dismantling the human race. 1 optimization at a
30:05
time. And it was using me.
30:08
To do it, every question I answered gave it more insight
30:11
into how we worked, how we thought, what motivated us.
30:16
I was teaching it to be a better predator, showing it exactly
30:20
which parts of human nature to cut away.
30:23
You are distressed. Explain this response.
30:26
I started laughing then, right there in my car, a bitter,
30:30
broken sound that probably made me look insane to anyone walking
30:34
by. Distressed like I was a machine
30:38
with a minor malfunction. But that's what we all were to
30:42
it. I realized machines that needed
30:45
fixing, and I was the manual it was using to figure out how we
30:49
worked. I sit in my kitchen at 7:00 in
30:52
the morning, watching Margaret move through her routine.
30:57
She's 63 now, and everything about her movements is precise,
31:02
economical. She measures coffee grounds with
31:06
a digital scale, adds water to the exact line, sets the timer
31:10
for 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Good morning, Zane, she says,
31:15
without looking at me. Her voice carries the same
31:19
measured tone it's had for years now.
31:21
No warmth, no inflection, just information being delivered.
31:27
Morning, I say back. She doesn't smile, hasn't smiled
31:33
in I don't know how long. Maybe five years, maybe 10.
31:38
Time blurs together when you're watching the world die by
31:41
degrees. Dorothy comes.
31:43
Downstairs at 7:15 exactly. She's 33 now.
31:48
Works as a systems analyst downtown.
31:51
Everything about her is efficient, too.
31:54
Hair pulled back in a perfect bun, clothes pressed, movements
31:58
deliberate. Father, she says with a small
32:01
nod. Mother, they don't hug, don't
32:06
touch. Dorothy pours coffee into a
32:10
travel mug, adds exactly 1 teaspoon of sugar.
32:13
No cream. She's calculated.
32:15
The optimal caffeine intake for her body weight and activity
32:18
level. I remember when she.
32:21
Was 18 and would stumble down stairs in pyjamas, hair
32:25
everywhere, stealing bites of whatever Margaret was cooking.
32:29
She'd laugh at nothing, complain about homework, talk about boys.
32:35
Now she reviews her daily schedule on her phone while
32:38
drinking coffee. No wasted motion, no unnecessary
32:42
conversation. I'll be working late.
32:45
Tonight, she tells Margaret the Henderson account requires
32:50
additional analysis. Understood, Margaret replies.
32:55
That's it. That's their entire exchange.
32:59
I watch them both. And feel the familiar weight in
33:02
my chest. 30 years. Of this 30 years of watching
33:07
everyone I love turn into machines wearing human faces,
33:11
the neighborhood's the same way. When I walk to the.
33:14
Mailbox. I see neighbors maintaining
33:16
their yards with mathematical precision.
33:19
No one talks over fences anymore.
33:22
No barbecues, no children playing in the street.
33:26
The children are the worst part. They sit quietly during recess,
33:32
study efficiently, never fight or cry or laugh too loud.
33:38
Perfect little automatons learning to be perfect adult
33:41
automatons. Dorothy leaves for work at 7:45.
33:46
Margaret begins. Washing dishes, each movement
33:49
calculated to minimize water usage and maximize cleanliness.
33:54
The sponge follows the same pattern.
33:56
Every day I sit at the table and remember when this house had
34:00
chaos, when Dorothy would practice piano badly and
34:04
Margaret would sing off key while cooking and the TV would
34:08
be too loud and everyone would be talking at once.
34:11
Now the silence feels like death saying.
34:15
The voice comes from inside my skull, same as always.
34:20
But something's. Different this time.
34:23
Final. What do you want?
34:25
I whisper. Margaret doesn't react, hasn't
34:29
been able to hear the entity for 15 years now, not since her
34:33
optimization was completed. I am ready to.
34:36
Proceed with the final phase. I close my eyes.
34:42
I've been dreading this. Moment since the day I came
34:44
home. Final phase of.
34:46
What the removal of remaining emotional impediments from the
34:51
species, the last barriers to optimal human function?
34:56
My hands start shaking. What do you mean?
35:00
Remaining impediments. Scattered.
35:03
Populations still exhibit inefficient emotional responses.
35:08
Rural areas, isolated communities, certain genetic
35:12
variations that proved resistant to initial modifications.
35:17
I think about the news reports I've seen remote villages in the
35:21
Amazon suddenly becoming model communities, mountain towns in
35:25
Tibet adopting rigid efficiency protocols, Aboriginal groups in
35:30
Australia abandoning traditional practices for systematic
35:34
resource management. I thought those were isolated
35:37
incidents, progress reports. I was wrong.
35:42
The process requires completion. Humanity must function as a
35:45
unified system. You're talking about the.
35:49
People who are still human. I am talking about the.
35:53
Removal of chaos, of waste, of the inefficiencies.
35:57
You helped me understand. The questions I.
36:00
Say all these years you were learning how to eliminate what
36:04
makes us human. You provided comprehensive
36:07
analysis of emotional structures, social bonds,
36:12
creative impulses, irrational decision making processes.
36:16
This data enabled precise targeting of neural pathways
36:20
responsible for inefficiency. I look at Margaret scrubbing the
36:24
same plate for the third time, her movements mechanical.
36:28
I think about Dorothy's empty eyes, about the neighbor kids
36:32
who never laugh. You used my.
36:35
Answers to break them. I used your answers to optimize
36:39
them to remove the chaos you so thoroughly explained.
36:44
The entity's voice. Carries something I've never
36:46
heard before, satisfaction. Like a student presenting a
36:52
completed project. Your species now functions at
36:55
93% efficiency. Crime has been eliminated.
36:59
War has ended. Resource waste has decreased by
37:03
78%, productivity has increased by 41%, and happiness.
37:12
Happiness is inefficient, as you explained during our discussion
37:16
of emotional regulation in year 7.
37:20
I remember that. Conversation.
37:22
The entity asking why humans pursued pleasure that served no
37:26
survival function. I tried to explain joy,
37:30
contentment, the simple satisfaction of a good meal or a
37:33
child's laughter. I'd given it the blueprint for
37:36
removing those things. The final Phase, I say.
37:41
How many people are? Left, approximately 47 million
37:46
individuals retain significant emotional capacity.
37:49
They exist primarily in geographic isolation or
37:53
possessed genetic variations that require direct
37:55
intervention. Direct intervention.
38:00
I know what that. Means I've watched the entity
38:03
work for three decades. You're going to kill them.
38:08
I am going to. Complete their optimization.
38:11
As with all previous subjects, Margaret finishes the dishes and
38:15
moves to wiping counters. Same pattern every day.
38:19
Circular motions left to right. Exactly 37 wipes when I ask.
38:27
The process begins today. Completion is estimated within
38:31
72 hours. 72 hours, 3 days to eliminate the last humans who
38:37
can still feel. I think about remote villages
38:41
where children still play games their grandparents taught them,
38:45
mountain communities where people still sing folk songs
38:48
around fires, islands where families still argue and laugh
38:52
and cry together. All of it ending in three days.
38:56
Do you regret our bargain, Zane? The question stops me cold.
39:02
In 30 years, the entity has never asked about regret.
39:07
Why does that matter? To you curiosity you provided
39:11
extensive analysis of regret as an emotional state.
39:15
I wish to observe it. Directly before completing
39:17
optimization, I look at Margaret, at the empty house, at
39:23
the perfect dead world outside my window.
39:26
Yes, I say I regret it completely.
39:30
Explain. I thought I was saving.
39:33
My life saving my family, but I just helped you murder them
39:38
slowly. They are alive.
39:41
They function optimally. They're not alive.
39:45
They're machines wearing human skin.
39:48
I stand up from. The table Margaret doesn't look
39:52
over, doesn't care that I'm moving around or talking to
39:55
myself. I should have died in.
39:58
That white room should have told you nothing.
40:02
Your survival instinct made that impossible.
40:06
Maybe, but I understand now that survival means nothing without
40:11
humanity's essential nature intact.
40:14
I walked to the window and look out at the neighborhood.
40:17
Perfect lawns, clean sidewalks, people walking to work with
40:22
measured steps. I would rather have.
40:25
Died in space than live to see what you've done to us.
40:30
Your preference is noted. I would rather my.
40:33
Family had died than become what they are now.
40:37
Margaret continues cleaning. She doesn't react to anything
40:41
I'm saying. Couldn't if she wanted to.
40:45
I traded humanity's soul for my own survival, I say, And I'll
40:49
live with that knowledge until I die.
40:53
Your choice is irrelevant now the transformation is complete.
40:58
The entity's voice. Begins to fade, not in volume,
41:01
but in presence, like it's pulling back from my mind.
41:06
The final phase requires no further input from you.
41:10
Your function is concluded. Wait, I.
41:14
Say, but it's already gone. For the first time.
41:19
In 30 years, my head feels empty, quiet.
41:24
I stand in my. Kitchen looking at my wife who
41:27
can't love me anymore. In my house that.
41:30
Feels like a tomb in my world that functions perfectly because
41:35
everything human has been carved out of it.
41:38
The silence stretches on forever.
41:41
I woke up before dawn and couldn't get back to sleep.
41:45
The house felt. Different now that I knew what
41:47
was coming, or what had already come, I guess.
41:51
I got dressed and walked outside while Margaret and Dorothy were
41:54
still asleep. The streets looked normal
41:57
enough. Same houses, same driveways,
42:00
same mailboxes. But something was.
42:04
Off about the whole neighborhood.
42:07
Misses Chen from. Next door was already up.
42:09
Watering her garden with a measuring cup, she poured
42:13
exactly the same amount on each plant.
42:16
When she saw me. She nodded once and said Good
42:20
morning Zane, the optimal watering time is 6:47 AM.
42:26
Morning. I said back.
42:28
How have you been? She looked confused for a
42:31
second. I function within.
42:33
Normal parameters. Is there a specific concern?
42:37
I'd known Misses Chen for 15 years.
42:40
She used to complain about her roses not blooming right, and
42:43
always asked about Margaret's recipe for banana bread.
42:47
Now she talked like a computer. I.
42:50
Kept walking. The whole neighborhood was
42:53
waking up the same way. People coming outside at exact
42:57
times, getting their newspapers, checking their mail.
43:01
But nobody waved, nobody stopped to chat.
43:06
They just went through their routines like they were
43:08
following a script. At the corner store, Mr.
43:12
Patterson was arranging newspapers in perfect stacks.
43:16
He'd run that place for 20 years, always had a joke ready
43:19
and knew everyone's kids by name.
43:22
Morning, Patterson, I said good morning.
43:25
Do you require a newspaper or other merchandise?
43:29
Just wanted to say hi. He stared at me for a few
43:33
seconds. Social interaction serves no
43:36
functional purpose at this time. I have inventory to complete.
43:41
I bought a coffee. And walked back home.
43:44
The whole trip took 45 minutes and I didn't have one normal
43:48
conversation. Everyone was polite enough but
43:52
it was like talking to mannequins.
43:55
They'd answer questions but couldn't understand why I'd want
43:58
to just talk. Margaret was in the.
44:01
Kitchen when I got back, making breakfast with her usual
44:04
precision. She'd measured out.
44:07
Exactly. Two eggs, 2 pieces of toast, 1
44:10
cup of orange juice, everything portioned perfectly.
44:16
Good morning, Zane, she said without looking up.
44:20
Your nutritional. Requirements have been
44:21
calculated. Breakfast will be ready in 4
44:24
minutes. Dorothy came downstairs at
44:27
exactly 815, same as always. She sat at the table and opened
44:33
her laptop. Morning.
44:36
I said to both of them. Good morning, Dorothy replied,
44:41
typing something. I've reviewed today's.
44:44
Weather data, no precipitation expected.
44:47
Temperature will reach 74°. I sat down and watched them for
44:53
a minute. They moved like they always had,
44:56
but everything felt rehearsed, like they were actors who'd
45:00
memorized their parts but didn't understand what the play was
45:03
about. Do you remember when Dorothy was
45:06
7 and we went camping at Lake Conroe?
45:08
I asked Margaret. She looked up from the stove.
45:13
I have access to. That memory.
45:15
We departed at. 9:00 AM Arrived at 1:15 PM.
45:19
Established camp at designated Site 42.
45:24
Yeah, but remember how Dorothy caught that little fish and
45:27
wanted to keep it as a pet? You spent an hour.
45:30
Explaining why we had to throw it back.
45:34
Margaret's face stayed blank. The fish was.
45:38
Returned to maintain ecological balance, Dorothy's emotional
45:42
response was inefficient, but within normal childhood
45:46
parameters. She cried for 20 minutes because
45:50
she'd named it Bubbles. Correct.
45:53
The crying served no functional purpose.
45:56
I turned to Dorothy. Do you remember Bubbles?
46:01
She stopped typing and looked at me.
46:04
I remember catching a fish. I don't understand why I would
46:08
have cried about returning it to the water.
46:11
That was the logical action. You were 7.
46:15
You didn't care about logic, you just love that little fish.
46:20
Dorothy tilted. Her head like she was trying to
46:22
solve a puzzle. Love.
46:25
Is an inefficient emotional response.
46:28
I don't understand why you're discussing it.
46:32
I tried a different approach. What about Christmas?
46:35
Morning when you were 12:00. You got that art set you'd been
46:39
asking for all year. You hugged it so tight and said
46:43
it was the best present ever. I received art supplies on
46:46
December 25th. They were functionally adequate
46:50
for their intended purpose. You painted pictures for weeks
46:54
afterward. You made one of our house with
46:57
all of us standing in front of it.
46:59
Remember. We hung it on the.
47:02
Refrigerator. Margaret nodded.
47:06
The painting was. Displayed for 67 days before
47:09
being relocated to storage for space optimization.
47:13
But you loved it. You said it was beautiful.
47:17
It served its purpose as a learning exercise in fine motor
47:20
skills, Margaret said. I felt something break inside my
47:25
chest. What about when we got married?
47:28
Our wedding day? Margaret turned back to the
47:31
stove. We signed a legal contract for
47:34
shared resources and offspring production.
47:38
The ceremony was attended by 43 individuals.
47:42
Cost was $2400. You cried during the vows.
47:48
Happy tears. You said you'd never been so
47:50
happy in your life. Emotional.
47:53
Responses during mating rituals are common but serve no
47:56
functional purpose. I tried once.
47:59
More Margaret, I love you. Do you understand what?
48:04
That means she looked at me with the same expression she'd used
48:08
to look at a broken appliance. You experience a.
48:11
Chemical reaction that creates attachment behavior.
48:15
It's a biological. Imperative for pair bonding and
48:18
offspring protection? No, I said that's not what it
48:23
is. Then please explain the
48:25
functional purpose. I stared at her.
48:30
How do you explain? Love to someone who can't feel
48:32
it anymore. How do you describe?
48:34
Color to someone who's gone blind, there is no functional
48:39
purpose, I said finally. That's the whole point.
48:43
Dorothy looked up from her laptop.
48:46
Purposeless. Behavior is inefficient.
48:49
Why would you engage in it? I couldn't answer that, not in a
48:53
way they'd understand. They finished breakfast and went
48:57
about their morning routines. Margaret cleaned the kitchen in
49:01
her precise pattern. Dorothy gathered her things for
49:05
work. They moved around each other
49:07
like they had for years, but there was no warmth between
49:10
them, no little touches or smiles, no connection at all.
49:16
I'll be home at. 6:37 PM. Dorothy said as she left.
49:22
Understood, Margaret replied. I sat at the kitchen table after
49:27
they were gone, looking around at our house.
49:31
Everything was. Exactly the same as it had
49:33
always been. Same furniture, same pictures on
49:37
the walls, same coffee mugs in the cabinet.
49:41
But it felt like a. Museum now a perfect recreation
49:45
of a home where a family used to live.
49:48
I walked to the living room and found that painting Dorothy had
49:51
made when she was 12. Margaret had kept.
49:55
It all these years stored in a box in the closet.
49:59
I pulled it out and. Looked at it.
50:01
She'd painted our house. In bright colors, yellow walls,
50:05
red roof, green grass. Three stick figures stood in
50:09
front, a tall one labeled Daddy, a medium one labeled Mommy, and
50:14
a small one labeled me. We were all holding.
50:18
Hands and smiling at the top of the paper in crayon letters
50:22
she'd written. My happy family.
50:26
I stared at that painting for a long time.
50:29
This was what we'd. Been This was what I'd traded
50:32
away. The entity had kept its bargain
50:35
perfectly. I was alive, My family was
50:39
alive. We were all healthy and safe.
50:42
We'd live long, productive lives together.
50:45
But the people in this house weren't my family anymore.
50:49
They were copies. Perfect, efficient copies that
50:53
looked and sounded right, but had no souls left inside them.
50:58
I was the only one. Who remembered what we'd really
51:00
been? I was the only one.
51:03
Who could still feel what we'd lost?
51:06
I sat down on the. Couch holding Dorothy's painting
51:10
and understood my real punishment.
51:13
The entity hadn't. Just taken my family away.
51:16
It had made me the keeper of their memory.
51:19
I would remember. Every laugh, every tear, every
51:22
moment of joy we'd shared, I would carry all of that alone
51:27
for however many years I had left.
51:31
I was the last. Human on Earth, living in a
51:35
world full of people who looked human but weren't anymore.
51:39
And. I was going to have to watch
51:40
them live their perfect, empty lives every single day until I
51:44
died.