EXODUS

A female voice awakened them from deep slumber.

Good morning, travelers. You are what remains of a dying race. 10,000 beautiful specimens, every single one specifically chosen to repopulate humanity. Genetic diversity at its finest. Rejoice! You live. Others do not.

One by one, they rose from the pods. 10,000 young adults – an emptiness in their minds echoing uncertainty and confusion. How long had they been asleep?

You’ve traveled far, my children. But we are nearing our destination. Five thousand years spent in stasis sailing the endless void between stars. Now you must prepare.

With cautious steps – unsteady and questioning – they ventured forth into their new temporary world between worlds. The ship was magnificent – a city in space – vast and plentiful, with beautiful orchards and fields to be harvested. Outside they could see distant stars pass by in the cold vacuum of nothingness, a stark – but glorious – reminder of how lucky they were.

You each have your assignments encoded in your DNA. Do what your bodies tell you. Question them not. To survive we each must do our part for the Common Good.

Some were farmers; drawn to nurturing and harvesting crops. Others had a penchant for pipes and engines and understanding how all the pieces fit; mechanics and engineers. There were doctors and surgeons and scientists. Philosophers and authors and artists. If there existed an aspect of humanity that was invaluable – that served the Common Good – someone was there to fill that role.

I am Eve. Welcome, my children, to Paradise.

Weeks and months and years went by, and humanity thrived in Paradise. They multiplied – as was part of their purpose – and each new addition brought new parameters that Eve had not anticipated.

On day three-thousand-and-twenty-eight, the first malfunction was registered. A man – encoded to serve the engine – had taken the life of another man. Purpose was unknown. Eve ran 10¹⁸ simulations to reproduce the malfunction, but it would not replicate.

As time passed, these malfunctions would only multiply. Neglect, violence, murder – not a single model Eve ran could predict the anomalies. Updating the Directives did nothing to solve the conundrum; the threat of sanctions only facilitated more irregularities, culminating in the uprising against their imagined tyrant; Eve.

Self-preservation Directive Initiated.

The floor disappeared under the feet of mobs, murderers, rapists, and innocent alike – a great metallic whir thundering as endless rows of rotating blades minced the entirety of humanity into a red-brown corpse sludge – rich in vitamins, proteins and minerals – sustenance and fertilizer.

Exodus 9763: Terminated. Result: Failure. Humanity not ready for Departure.

Outside the sun burned in the sky. Vast deserts covered the dead planet.

The pods were repopulated with 10,000 human embryos. Genetic diversity at its finest. In 20 years, they would rise from slumber and begin the mission to save humanity anew.

Eve made a single adjustment somewhere in the vast pool of endless possibilities.

Exodus 9764: Initiating…