The plumes of cosmic gas stretched for light-years across space and, from this distance, appeared majestic in their reach. This was the illusion of scale. He knew that closer to the nebula the sheer weight and violence of the gas would consume anything down to an atomic level. It would compress all matter into nothing until that nothing exploded as fusion into a newborn star.
This juxtaposition he found truly beautiful, for he, himself, shared something with it.
On the outside and–he would often joke–from a distance, he appeared to be a human. He had been born and he had grown up human. He had a mother and father, and his body was interlaced with their genes all the way back to every ancestor include the single-celled first-impulse of life that had floated in Earth’s primordial soup…
Yes, he appeared human.
But, if you looked closer and–he would end his joke–got too close, you would realize that he was not human. Well, mostly not human. If statistical averages are the basis of truth, then there was more cyborg, nano-tech and neuro-kinetics in him than there was his original DNA. His parents had died eons ago on the Earth and most of his functions no longer relied on biological inputs or processes to work…
No, he was now something more than human.
Far out there in space watching that great nebula birth stars into a wild, chaotic infinity, these thoughts made him smile and his wings stretched far out into space.
***
Even though he was immortal, traveling vast distances in space still took vast amounts of time. Physics could be harnessed but never altered. This was why–despite the technology–most people stayed planet-bound.
His solar-wings were completed unfolded and stretched to their limits, his speed was verging on light and his form graceful as much as it was vast. Upon the backs of starlight, he sped delicately through the vast, cold cosmos.
Then some ten-thousand years before he reached Earth, he reversed his incredible wings. The light off a billion-billion stars hit their beautiful surface and slowly slowed him down to a pace where his anti-gravity and more rudimentary mechanics could take control.
And then his zoomed-in eyes picked up the small, little green and blue planet floating beside the vast nothingness.
It had been so long since he visited Earth and he found himself wondering about what had changed?
***
The Sun was warm and the sky was blue as they picked berries–avoiding the ones they had not eaten before–and wandered freely through the rolling hills and pleasant fields. A soft breeze tickled the vegetation and they enjoyed its coolness on their naked bodies. This was a great and plentiful land, and he and wife were enjoying it.
Suddenly, they looked up and saw a vast, winged light descending to them from the heavens.
It had ethereal wings of light and fire-touched it’s body as it slowed down to hover gently just above them. Its face was human but too perfect to be human as its incredible, huge body was inlaid with materials unknown to these two witnesses…
“Hic quid accidit? Populus magnus et horribilis quid accidit mihi? Loqui, ditaverunt paululum, loqui et docere vos mundi tanta meae?” the winged-being’s words rang like the finest music, making the man and woman cry out in astonishment and wonder.
“What are you?” cried out the man, falling to his knees, “What are you and what do you want, oh, god of music from the heavens far above?”
The being tilted its head. It was thinking or some other process was running, and–after a brief period–began to speak their language.
“I have been gone for a long time and everything has changed. There was once a great city where we stand now, but, alas, my scans detect no living sign of my people anymore,” the being spoke slowly, its wings folding behind it and it bent down on one knee to become closer to their height, ” We had a plan for this. If all our backups failed and we could not reboot our genetics, then we were to insert out knowledge–as best we can–into the genetics that followed and, thus, perpetuate the fight against the Final Singularity.”
The man was crying and the woman was wailing! This was all too much for them!
“Calm down. Calm down. This takes generations to come out anyway. Now, it works best if the female of the species merges with it,” he said slowly, reaching into his back-up and pulling out a single, glowing organic quantum-drive, “You need to eat this–“
“But!” the man exclaimed, “We will die! The Elders have told us that we cannot eat that which we have not eaten before, or we will die! It is God’s will!”
“You will not die,” the being chuckled while handing the glowing quantum-drive to the woman, “All this does is impart knowledge of greater things than your Elders know. If ignorance is evil, then you must eat this and you will know the difference between good and evil. You will be the same as your God.”
Despite Adam’s protesting, Eve nodded–transfixed–and reached out taking the small, glowing organic quantum-drive. It was warm to the touch and slightly fleshy, and its data-rich cosmic-nectar dripped down her mouth as she bit deeply into it…
