The Warning
#10 of Short Stories
I wrote this on a whim while reading a book on heaven, around April 19th I believe. It is unedited, and I'm leaving it that way. I could improve or polish it up, but I realized that would defeat the point. This is supposed to be a message written in haste. The author would not have time to edit it beyond correcting small typos, and even then only the ones they could catch right away. So, I intend to leave this as is, to help cement the feel of the writing. I may use this technique in future writings of this sort.
The only way I can think of to "improve" this short piece is to copy it over and over until it starts to show signs of data decay. Run it through a few more times, then it'd be good, as a garbled, painful to translate file found in some ancient ruin by star faring races in the future. I hope it at least gives that impression as it is.
You can leave me comments, but most critique will be ignored. Remember, I want this to feel unedited and rough, even if the author had some skill in writing. So don't feel bad if I don't listen to suggestions on how to make it work better.
Make no mistake, I do not write to glorify us. If I seem to do so, it is only because I am caught up in the emotion of memory. Which is all the more precious now. For I write so that we might, some day long from now, be remembered.
I do not think there has a been a culture like ours before. I doubt there will be one like it after. The irony is we were an empire that conquered everyone without really trying.
It started simple enough. We achieved two simple things. We mastered walking with God, to hear his voice both in sacred writings and in every aspect of the wide universe, and to listen and talk with him. And then we found a way to achieve a sort of immortality. It was God's purpose to have us build our communities and fight against death, disease, and the decay of culture. And it worked. Though we met with resistance, in time we won many of them over. We began to be known as fair and trustworthy mediators and judges. There were instances where we had to shun or punish one of our own for improper conduct, but on the whole we became a powerful force of honor and virtue in the known universe. We were not fools, though, and invested in efficient and lethal weaponry, although we sought never to be cruel. Certain cruel weapons tended to receive a pointed and explosive response from us when used. We managed to eradicate many of them, and some of their makers, though our mission was always peace and prosperity for all. It required freedom for all, which not everyone agreed to, but we did our best to maintain our message even in the face of persecution, torture, and even death. We had, after all, conquered only the effects of disease and old age. We could still be killed.
I am being long-winded, and I do not have the time. Forgive me.
To be short, we formed an empire that was built upon being honest, trustworthy, and virtuous, yet also ruthless when others mistook it for weakness. Somehow, through God's influence and years of experience, we maintained the delicate balance. And soon, everyone came to live under our influence. Oh, there are holdouts to this day, and no doubt they are rejoicing now, but on the whole we were accepted as the good and kind masters needed to run the universe. And we stepped into the role with as much grace and humility as we could muster. Perhaps it was not enough.
We don't know what happened. Perhaps the mystery will never be solved. That it is the work of a saboteur, or many, is obvious. The argument is who, how many, and how. All we know is that all that we have built, either on our own or with others, has failed us, or turned against us. Some of it just fell from orbit, bringing massive devastation to countless planets. Other machines widened their targeting parameters from "troublemakers" to "every living thing". Some that was built so that it would never do harm by accident was turned into makeshift bombs. The loss of life... I cannot bring myself to even estimate it. As nothing like our empire has been seen before, neither has anything like its ruin and fall. God alone knows how this happened, or how the others will continue.
We are divided now. Perhaps we grew too arrogant, grew too far apart from God. Once you take on a role, it changes you. Perhaps we are not yet ready to rule this universe. Perhaps it was something that came to pass, that would not stay. I do not know. And my heart screams for God's answer, to know what happened. Yet I think I know already. Even now, the stirrings of my heart lead me to ponder our destruction and downfall, and how it came to pass.
A conspiracy is impossible. None of our enemies are organized enough, nor possess the resources. Yet even so, some persist in this belief, or that some under our rule came to envy and hate us. But this does not explain the obvious. If it were most or some of our technology that turned on us, that theory would be plausible. But all of it has done this. Either it has turned upon us, or it has failed in the most spectacular and worst ways. All of it, without exception. I was lucky to get this small, simple computer to work, and even this is made with only half our handiwork, if that. I could not risk this message with anything more complex. Oh, I hear them coming... time is short; why did I prattle?
Listen! You who found this, if you understand it at all, if our language, dead these long years, can be deciphered, know this: there is Something out there, some presence or force, that despises us. All of us. It will not permit even the most holy or blessed of empires to persist. We enjoyed centuries of peace and prosperity, a golden age where most of the changes were good, not bad. And now? It is ended. In a short time of death and agony and fear, we are undone.
Heed this message. As we are, so you may become. As we die, so may you. Watch the Shadows. Stay close to God. And whatever you do, don't open...
They are here. God, forgive me, and receive my spirit. May your next Chosen be wiser than us.