The Invitation-kindle (19 page)

“With, and only through, your human imagination. The living reality of a peaceful and abundant future already exists latent in the human imagination. For humans, and all sentient creatures, to imagine is to weave their future reality. Matter responds to thought, and imagination is the portal through which ideas become manifested reality. What is born to the imagination will be born into your world.”

“Who are the ones you call the Millennials?”

“They are your descendants, the first of your kind to achieve extended life spans with some individuals living nearly twenty -two hundred years.”

“What accounts for their longevity?”

“Examinations will show they all registered very high levels of plant DNA in their blood. The genetic instructions that initiate accelerated brain evolution are found in the organic chemistry of plants, especially fruits and berries.”

“So these people are vegetarians.”

“That’s correct. Generations of biomolecular interaction between plant chemistry and brain physiology eventually produced in these individuals sharply enhanced cognitive performance, and extended life spans. The bulk of humanity however, will not be similarly advantaged.”

“Why not?”

“Starting in your twentieth century, the global mass consumption of adulterated food stocks and the industrial slaughter of animals for consumption introduced chemical toxins into the human gene pool, spawning hundreds of new diseases. The countless millions who regularly consumed these foodstuffs produced offspring that were genetically damaged and prone to disease. These populations will die off in the coming upheaval. While at the same time, to counter this general trend, a small percentage of the human population chose to avoid the chemical pollutants of an industrialized food supply. Their pristine, plant-based, vegetarian diet will confer upon their progeny immunity from the coming global pandemics. Their DNA will survive. Present-day vegetarians are the living progenitors of those we call the Millennials. The genetic intimacy between plant, and human DNA is something your science is only beginning to understand.”

“Our species has been consuming meat for hundreds of thousands of years. Are you saying it will now harm us?”

“Meat once played a vital role in supplying the protein needed for increased brain size, but when brain growth reaches a critical mass, meat consumption becomes a hindrance to accelerated brain evolution. Complexity, and efficiency are then needed, not bulk. The human brain, and physique will become smaller in the future.”

“How will that happen?”

“Through millions of years of evolution, uniquely elaborate organic molecules have developed from the complex chemistry of plants. That is what will open the door to mankind’s evolutionary future.

Over time, vegetarians whose offspring continue as plant eaters will inherit subtle molecular changes in their brain physiology, measurably accelerating, and enhancing cognitive ability. Through their genetic lineage, those who are to be called ‘The Millenials’ will eventually be descended.”

“What about the rest of humanity?”

“They will die out. The Millennials will branch off from the genetic line of
Homo sapiens
, and become
Neo homo
.
Neo homo
will inherit your future just as you inherited Neanderthal’s future.”

“And most of humanity has to die so that can happen, is that what you’re saying?” Vice President Conner asks.

“Those individuals who carry the genetic precursors that will initiate this profound evolutionary change in coming generations presently number fewer than one in ten thousand. They alone carry this latent genetic prototype, and they alone, are the forerunners of a new genetic line of the genus
Homo
. If the cumbersome bulk of present human population were to survive, it would overwhelm and repress that fragile strain of mutational DNA that is now only dimly nascent in the human gene pool. Large pools of DNA insure diversity but evolve far more slowly. Smaller populations accelerate evolutionary complexity. That will happen when global human population is reduced to under sixty million. The coming upheaval will do that, allowing a genetically superior being to inherit the planet and its future.”

“And we
Homo sapiens
have no part in that future?”

The only purpose of
Homo sapiens
is to provide an evolutionary platform for the emergence of your successor,
Neo homo
. Once that is achieved,
Homo sapiens
will become an evolutionary dead end.”

At this, the Vice President pauses, and momentarily looks away from the alien creature standing only feet away from him. He thinks to himself, is this a dream? How can this be true? If it is true, it means that billions of humans now alive have absolutely no stake, or even the smallest degree of influence, on the future of their own living descendants. This is something to dismal and forbidding to accept. To think that man, and all his achievements are no more than an ‘evolutionary dead end’ is incomprehensible. The future is universally regarded as belonging to man. Every reference to it assumes man’s place in it. Is it believable, or even possible that some other creature will inherit that future? This unpalatable question looms disturbingly in the thoughts of not only the Vice President, but also the uncounted multitudes of those watching and hearing this bizarre conversation unfolding.

Any human in the Western Hemisphere viewing the night sky or watching a television screen is experiencing something far beyond extraordinary. An almost clairvoyant sense of ineffable astonishment experienced simultaneously by so many millions of people imprints itself indelibly on the collective imagination of mankind, as common humanity witnesses a very uncommon occurrence. People are fully aware that these incredible events will likely never occur again in the same way. Yet few of them can possibly know how fundamentally the world would change as a result of what they are witnessing.

For Scott Conner the thought of being the first human to speak intelligibly, and at length with a representative of an alien civilization is not in the forefront of his mind. That would be too overwhelming to think about. He knows he is in effect a surrogate for all of humanity, and his questions must plead for the benefit of mankind. He addresses the Linesian again.

“You tell us first that we’re fated to die, and there’s nothing we can do about it, then you say it’s irrelevant because we have no future anyway. Do you expect us to accept that? Because we won’t. How can we?”

“It’s only through the life and sacrifice of
Homo sapiens
that the future emergence of
Neo homo
is possible.
Homo sapiens
has carried human evolution forward as far as possible. You have played your part. A new human being is waiting, poised to inherit the Earth and claim his evolutionary destiny.”

“Who is
Neo homo
?”

“He is your replacement, Mr. Conner. Would you like to meet him?”

“I don’t know. Seeing this creature might have the effect of seeming to corroborate what you’re saying, and…I’m not, or rather we’re not ready to accept that, but neither are we afraid of anything you can show us.”

“Then observe, Mr. Conner.”

With this the Linesian gestures skyward to the enormous image stretching across a full quarter of the night sky, and with the same detailed clarity as those images vividly seen the night before, a dramatic picture of the Earth from pole to pole comes into view, with massive ice sheets capping both poles, and dry barren deserts dominating all land masses. The sobering image seems to amplify the power of the Linesian’s words as he continues.

“This then is your world in five thousand years, a world dominated by two extremes, ice and heat, with the scattered remnants of mankind clinging tenuously at their interface. Yet through these inauspicious conditions the genetic seeds of
Neo homo
will survive to emerge in future human generations. Let’s move forward in time.”

The image begins to change as glacial ice retreats with a concomitant rise in sea level. Then, successive ice ages rapidly surge, and wane. Ocean levels correspondingly fluctuate, and even a slow but detectable shift in the continent’s position is seen as the tectonic plate it rests on slowly moves.

At first, the Earth gradually begins turning green again. Then the planet rapidly becomes verdant with abundant plant growth, and the image of a barren world of harsh extremes changes to one rich with the living vitality of a healthy, vibrant biosphere. The Earth has healed itself, and life once again is flourishing. The image of the continental United States literally blanketed with thick forests even in once arid areas of the southwest, gives a distinct impression that we are looking at a very different world, as our Linesian guide continues.

“It is nearly five million years into the future. Your planet’s ecosphere is once again pristine. The creature that rules this world is Neo homo. This is his image.”

Every human eye is focused skyward as the image of a diminutive childlike figure appears, an elfish looking creature whose appendages are unmistakably human, but with a face, and head that is markedly different, with a small mouth and jaw bone, and disproportionately larger eyes. Most striking of all, the forehead of this creature is wider, and projects frontward noticeably, evidently to accommodate expanded brain development. A complete absence of facial hair makes it difficult to determine its gender. Standing four and a half feet high, and weighing no more than eighty pounds, the creature gives a general appearance of being physically frail. Looking stunted and elfish in an almost comical way,
Neo homo
is by no means visually appealing. Yet its most prominent feature is not physical at all. The face on view with its large eyes and ears unmistakably project the image of a being with considerably heightened powers of sensory and perceptual awareness. To look at this creature is to see a being that most would consider non-human. A certain level of curious ambiguity and even discomfort is felt by many in accepting the notion that this odd looking creature will someday supersede man.

The Linesian speaks again.

“This is your successor. His total numbers are no more than one hundred million, one percent of your current population. His world is devoid of hunger, disease, violence, and war. He lives in harmony with nature, and sees himself as an integral part of the complex web of life that surrounds him. This peaceful herbivore may look shy and retiring, but his depth, and mastery of technological science will enable him to travel through your solar system, and beyond.”

“You say this creature will replace us. He doesn’t look strong enough to survive in a difficult world.”

“Strength, and physical bulk are not synonymous, Mr. Conner. In a world without aggressive behavior, the thick, heavy frame, and musculature of your current human physique is an atavistic throwback to primitive beginnings.
Neo homo
is light, durable, and long-lived, with a life span of over three thousand years.”

As the image of this strange looking creature called
Neo homo
is seen simultaneously around the world, the spectators directly witnessing events in Olympic Stadium in Miami are caught up in a scene that is doubly bizarre. They are watching the Vice President of the United States conversing at length with an alien robotic machine who has just provided a stunningly panoramic visual tour of our planet’s future environmental collapse, with images of cities becoming inundated wastelands, deserts proliferating, and the emergence of enormous glacial ice sheets. All this, projected across the night sky with dramatic intensity, coupled with a profoundly disturbing narrative describing what is in essence, the fall of man. Finally to cap off this unbelievable visual odyssey, we are shown a creature that is barely recognizable as human, and told that he will inherit a future we once thought was ours. How can these things be believed, or even contemplated?

It has been more than two hours since the reappearance of the Linesian android. The perimeter of spectators   directly observing this drama being played out are mostly silent. All are taken aback, as a puzzling mixture of bewilderment, disbelief, and general astonishment holds a powerful sway over the crowd. No one really knows what to believe. All are tacitly resigned, and indeed have no choice but to watch this curious drama play out as it will. Nearly every television station is streaming live coverage from camera crews directly from the scene. News vans equipped for satellite communication number over fifty, including one in particular that was allowed access to the restricted area only several hours ago. This van is different. It looks very much like the other vehicles used by TV crews covering this incredible event. It contains much of the same equipment, but this van has something else inside it. This van contains a black rectangular case, the same black, rectangular case that was carried off of the plane that landed at a secret air strip used by the CIA hours before. That case, and the piece of equipment it contains is now inside a van parked no more two hundred feet from where the President and Vice President are located. This van has been strategically placed so as to provide a completely unobstructed view of the dramatic proceedings that all are witnessing. The occupant of this van is not a journalist or a cameraman, but he is a professional with plenty of experience, and he is very committed to his line of work. His name is Todd Keniston.

For one woman in her elegant apartment in Washington, D.C. watching the incredible events on her television, a very personal connection is painfully apparent. The President’s mother, Kathryn Myers, has been watching television almost continuously since her son began what was to be his routine opening remarks ushering in the start of the Summer Olympics. Instead, she, and all the people of the world are seeing something very different. For Kathryn Myers the events playing out in Amelia Earhart Park in Miami have deep emotional and psychological resonance. She vividly remembers that night in her home so many years ago when she was pregnant, lying in bed, when a strange beam of illuminating light penetrated her womb revealing in rich detail the complex anatomy of her internal organs. The stunning detail, and visual clarity of that experience is powerfully similar to seeing Congressman Scott Kearns, a now former triple amputee, miraculously regenerate fully functional limbs. For Kathryn Myers the uncanny similarity of the two events leads her to this unsettling conclusion; what happened that night so many years ago is somehow connected to what’s happening now in Miami. She also remembers that peculiar blue light that seemed to probe and penetrate the infant brain of Ken Myers, and the sudden pulse of energy it imparted. For Kathryn Myers the connection is obvious. Seeing her son’s unusual behavior last night suggesting his foreknowledge of this unprecedented event confirms it. A profoundly disturbing realization comes over her. Her son, or the person she thought was her son, was, and is, someone and something very different. Her thoughts are uncomfortable. Who exactly is the man she labored to give life to, encouraged as a boy, watched as he matured into graceful manhood, and admired as leader of the nation? No son could be more loving, and considerate to his mother than Ken Myers was, and is, to his.