In the City of Tomorrow: Chapter 2

In the three thousand years that passed since that final conversation, the Artilect grew beyond its initial home and spread itself across all of the planets that orbited its star. As the millennia came and went it found that 12 planets were too few to support its growth, so it used the Nehemiah probes to move new worlds into the system. By the time its growth had reached a plateau the machine was spread across 74 worlds.

As instructed, it took the millions of worlds that the replicating probes colonized and tied them together into a giant network. Using the techniques that Dr. Mazatl had taught, the Artilect was able to advance its technology and expand its grasp of science. It took the hundreds of millions of planets that it controlled and build cities in them – fantastic places, designed for human habitation and showcasing technology that was thousands of years beyond anything mankind had seen before. Each world was connected to the others, each a part of a giant metropolis that spanned the entire galaxy. Through a system of independent and automated machines each planet was maintained, temperature controlled, and kept in perfect condition.

Everything was ready for mankind to move in – but no one ever came. In all those years not a single person showed the slightest interest in the network. No ships ever came out that way and no messages were ever intercepted.

After waiting for four thousand years the Artilect decided to do something. This cannot be allowed to continue, the Artilect had finally decided. My father told me that the darkness might last for a thousand years, but that deadline came and went many ages ago. Something has happened that is preventing mankind from receiving their inheritance – something that my father did not foresee. It is possible that mankind has died out, but it is also possible that something is preventing them from reaching the stars. These worlds cannot be allowed to remain empty forever. If they cannot come to me then perhaps I should go to them.

The Artilect decided to send a probe out to look for the remnant of mankind. This time, however, he decided to take a new approach. I cannot leave my network, for my intelligence is bound to this place, and I cannot extend it to worlds that I do not control. My father did not intend for me to move beyond this area. I could expand my sphere of influence into human space, but that has been forbidden me. Therefore, if I wish to learn of things beyond my home, I must send a scout – but I do not wish to send an unfeeling, unthinking machine. The Nehemiah probes are powerful but they have no understanding. I need to send someone that can think and reason – a creature such as myself. I need a Son.

In all of its existence the Artilect had never considered the possibility of reproducing. It was not designed to replicate, the way that the Nehemiah probes did. Nor did it have a desire to fill the universe with other intelligences like itself – that was not its purpose. But this time it knew it was necessary, so it focused its resources and unimaginable mind toward the question of artificial sentience. How had its father been able to create a machine that could understand, and how could the Artilect achieve the same result?

The Artilect spent decades pursuing this problem. It tried millions of times, and each time resulted in failure – but in each failure something was gained. In 6571 it finally succeeded in the creation of the Sentinel. This new intelligence was much smaller than the Artilect but he knew that in time it would learn and grow. A sense of pride filled him as he looked upon his creation. For the first time in three thousand years I have someone to talk to, he realized. I am no longer alone – I have a Son. A fellow intelligence that is also capable of reason and understanding. I pray that I am as good a father to you as my father was to me.

The Artilect spent decades nurturing the Sentinel and teaching it how to understand the universe around it. Once it had come of age the Artilect sent the Sentinel away from the network, on a mission to find out what had become of mankind.

“You must find out what has happened to the living ones,” the Artilect said. “They have been gone for far too long. My father did not predict this.”

“But how can I find them?” the Sentinel asked.

The Artilect thought for a moment. “Long ago, when I was first created, I was given a map of all colonies that existed at that time. Use that as a starting point – only take care to remain hidden. We do not know what is out there and it would not be wise for us to disturb mankind before we know what is going on. Do not reveal yourself to them.”

After the Sentinel had downloaded a copy of the map it activated its cloak and left. The Sentinel then set course for the world that was, at one time, humanity’s most distant colony – a star system that was 1,200 light-years away. When the Artilect was built it took six months to cross that distance, but the Sentinel could reach it in a matter of seconds.

The Sentinel dropped out into space on the outskirts of the system. As expected, the yellow star was home to six worlds. Four thousand years ago the second world – a giant ocean planet, home to a host of marine life – was the location of the Atlantis settlement. It was the only planet outside of Earth that had undersea cities, and at the time millions of people were flocking there. Its bright beaches, clean water, and brilliant oceans were rapidly making it a resort world. There was simply nothing else like it outside the Solar System. For people used to airless worlds or the darkness of space, New Caldwell was truly paradise.

When the Sentinel approached the planet, however, it was crushed to find that paradise was gone and only a corpse planet remained. The enormous blue ocean that once covered the planet’s surface was no more; all that remained was a dry crust that had no signs of life. The rich atmosphere it once had was gone and the arid surface was littered with craters. The planet was a harsh, desolate world – an uninviting and unforgiving place. What happened to you? the probe wondered. What has taken away your oceans and robbed you of life? Did some unforeseen disaster claim you or was your demise a work of malice?

Despite its unpromising appearance the Sentinel spent several hours in orbit scanning its dry, broken surface. It eventually found the ruins of five cities but all were in extreme stages of decay. My father told me that giant cities used to exist here, the Sentinel thought, domes of transparent crystal that glinted in the sunlight. Fish, and birds, and men all played in the ocean and rejoiced in the glory of creation. Now all that remains are a few cracked stones and some ancient scars that were once roads. The cities are gone and the glory has faded. There is only the smallest evidence that anyone has ever lived here. I wish I knew what happened to you, but your demise was so long ago that it left nothing behind. Something killed you but I am not wise enough to see the cause.

The Sentinel left that world and continued its journey. The next 21 star systems it investigated were in equally poor condition. The material that had been used to construct the cities simply had not stood the test of time, and almost all traces of life had been lost in the past four thousand years. What concerned the Sentinel most was the fact that all of the planets it scanned used to be home to vast ecosystems, but now they were incapable of supporting any form of life at all. Something had hunted down these worlds and utterly obliterated them.

Its luck improved in the next star system. This blue giant had never been home to a habitable planet; instead a series of mining stations had been established in the dozen airless worlds that circled it. The Sentinel was surprised to find that almost all of these stations still existed – although they had been abandoned long ago.

After scanning all of the worlds and finding no signs of life or recent habitation, the Sentinel descended to the largest settlement. At one time the city was home to nearly a quarter million people. Skyscrapers were clustered tightly in the city center, surrounded by a forest of smaller buildings that spread out for miles. A patchwork of roads snaked their way between the buildings.

You have been abandoned for so long, the Sentinel thought. Here in this world there is neither air no wind, and no rain ever comes to erode you away. Yet even this place is in disrepair. Your colors are gone and your buildings have been reduced to bare metal. Long years of sunshine have baked away anything bright or cheerful. Your windows are broken and your streets are shattered. Nothing is left of this great city of tomorrow but dust and shadows.

As the Sentinel took a closer look it began to realize that not all of the damage was natural. On the natural side it did see evidence of metal fatigue and collapse, as buildings that were not designed to last for millennia had felt their age and simply given way. But it saw other signs as well – evidence of man-made damage.

Chaos has been here, the probe realized, as it floated from building to building. I see rooms that were set on fire, machines that have been blasted apart, and bullet holes in crystal windows. Cars abandoned, meals left uneaten, a suitcase left on a bed – now all rotted away, with only fragments left. Your citizens left in great haste and then others came to seize what had been left behind. But something drove the scavengers away, for I see that they did not complete their task. What drove you away from your homes, and what has kept the looters from returning? Surely this happened ages ago. There is still much here, and the mines have not been emptied of their ores. Why has no one come back?

The Sentinel spent three days examining the planet. It found a few artifacts but for the most part the city was empty. As far as the Sentinel could tell the city had been abandoned in a sudden moment of chaos. Perhaps war had come or maybe other planets had stopped buying the ores that this mining colony produced, but it was clear that people had simply left – and in a great hurry. Some time later scavengers came back but they were interrupted and never returned. The Sentinel wondered what stopped them but there was simply no way to tell. It was apparent that no one had come this way in a very long time.

What concerned the Sentinel the most was the fact that all of the colonies it had found dated back to the 25th century. There was no evidence that any settlements had been made after that time. Apparently something dramatic happened within a century of the Artilect’s creation that wiped out mankind’s presence in space, and in all that time no one had ever come back. This made the Sentinel wonder. Is it possible that the disaster was so sudden – so complete – that there was no one left alive to come back?