Age of Cosmic Exploration

It had been two years since the Hope arrived at the New Solar System. Today, it was the year 23 according to the Human Calendar. It was another new year, another time for celebration. Time on the Hope was calculated according to Earth’s old system, 24 hours every day and 365 days every year. For human beings, most progress was measured in terms of years.

"...To be honest, don’t you all feel tired?"

At his private cocktail party, Blue 6 asked one of the representatives as he took a sip of the wine, "From the data shown, most people work for eight hours and rest for six every day. Some even work more than 10 hours, and that is within a period of 24 hours every day. Just how tiring is that ?"

Blue 6 grimaced ostentatiously. "Then there is a measurement of a year that consists of only 365 days. There are so many things that need to be done in 365 days, and this causes the endless working within 24 hours. Do you know? There’s a street near the Foreign Affairs Department where I can see a group of ladies open stalls to sell breakfast every morning. They do that every day with no rest. Do they really not feel tired?"

The representative talking to Blue 6 was a Caucasian man who was a famous lawyer back on Earth and had a gift of the gab. However, facing Blue 6’s questions, he found himself at a loss for words. In fact, he couldn’t even understand what Blue 6 was getting at.

Blue 6 finished the red wine in his glass and said, "Other than a few special departments, like the Barracks, royalty, and House of Representatives, no other work should be so harsh. No, this is beyond harsh, this can be said to be a form of torture. 30 percent of one’s lifespan is used for working. This is a violation of living rights... Perhaps this is out of place for me to say, but I am anticipating an anarchy to happen on the Hope."

"An anarchy?" The representative laughed as he too finished the red wine before replying, "You worry too much. In fact, this government is the most humane organization I’ve ever worked for. To be honest, I don’t quite even understand what you’re trying to say. Is work and study not the most important thing in life?"

Blue 6 gasped in shock. "Of course not, why would they be? The value of life lies in personal memories. In fact, there is a Blue Race philosopher who once said that the meaning of lies is to cultivate the best memories. Every laugh, every tear, every joy, and every sadness are the weight of one’s memories, but work? To be frank, other than researching, I do not thinking hauling tons of material back and forth daily will be a good memories for life. When we’re old and thinking back about this period of time, the thing we’ll have is a string of empty days that look like one another, is it not?"

The representative was stumped and, of course, that was because he didn’t really understand what Blue 6’s point was.

Blue 6 seemed to notice the representative’s lost expression then and he burst out laughing. "I do not mean any of that as criticism, of course. If anything, it is a shock combined with awe. You have to understand that each life is different and every life should be exciting, and human beings are... if I have describe them, they are like incredibly precise and tireless pieces of machinery. In fact, this situation that should only appear in AI robots are now replicated in humanity."

At this point, Blue 6 turned excited and said, "Do you know what this represents? This represents unparalleled potential and efficiency! The three biggest threats in space, I’m not familiar with the demon race, so we’ll ignore that, but for the Zerg race and AI robots, the key to why they can be so feared in space is their efficiency! I’ve seen the threat of the Zerg race before through videos of them assaulting a planet. The whole world was covered by an endless sea of Zergs. They were numerous enough to swallow up any civilization; it was a tsunami in terms of numbers.

"On the other hand, the strength of the AI robot lies in its fleet and weapon numbers. Their number is often beyond the normal capacity of any sensible civilization, they normally appear in the number reaching beyond billions, and they process and harvest every inch of the solar system they attack. After completely harvesting the whole solar system, their numbers increase and this cycle repeats itself endlessly. Of course, they will destroy any lifeforms that they meet. The only aspect in which they are inferior to the Zerg race is their inability to absorb technology. They inherit the technology from the civilization that created them and that is their natural weakness.

"Regardless, the reason why these two races are so scary is their size and efficiency. The Zerg race has a hive mind, and individual zerglings have no sentience. The mother nest can cover up an entire planet to consume and digest it to create more zergs. It is similar with AI robots. Other than the central consciousness, individual robots do not have sentience, they are replaceable. They keep on manufacturing and producing. The efficiency of these two races is something that can never be rivalled by normal civilizations."

Blue 6 turned to the representative and said seriously, "Do you know how long it would take the Blue Race to build a base this size? Do you know how long it would take for a peak level 3 space civilization to build a base this size?"

The representative was shocked. He was still trying to process the information about the Zerg race and AI robots. The sudden question surprised him, so he mumbled, "How long? One year? Or six months?"

"One year? Six months? You must be kidding." Blue 6 laughed good-naturedly. "It would be calculated in terms of decades. For a base this size, it would take at least 10 years, and no one would consider that slow. In fact, that is already quite fast by level 3 space civilization standards.

"For a lifeform that has a lifespan of over one thousand years, using 10 years to finish a project is not considered a waste. Other than work, we have many things that occupy our lives, like spending ten days to organize a cocktail party, spending one year to finish a particularly insightful book, or spending several hundred days to cultivate a pot of plants. In contrast to work, aren’t these activities more meaningful?"

The representative responded with utter disbelief. Blue 6 laughed. "Yes, I know what you’re going to say. Perhaps in your eyes, those activities are the ones that are truly time-wasters because they contribute nothing to the civilization, and if this were allowed to continue, the race will eventually enter senescence and die off, but... which civilization leaders don’t know that? It’s basic knowledge, but we’re talking about over one thousand years of lifespan. I can do this for this year and that for next year, and ten years later I can do this and ten years after that, I can do that. After all, this is one thousand years, so what if I waste one or two hundred years? Furthermore, this is how my ancestors lived their one thousand years and it will be how the future generation of the Blue Race live their one thousand years. In that case, who will be willing to have a robot-esque life? No one!"

When Blue 6 reached this point, he appeared to be quite down, but he still continued, "A famed Blue Race philosopher once said that the most important thing for a civilization is not their technology, soul, or even cosmic adapter, but a common goal for which the members of the civilization could lay their lives down! I do wish to ask, what is the goal of humanity?"

The representative seemed to understand Blue 6’s line of questioning and his lowered tone represented a disappointment, a disappointment at his mother race. The representative thought about it and said, "I cannot speak for other people or even the whole human race, but for me personally... I simply wish to return to that blue planet, its warmth, its sea, its blue sky, and its clouds... for that swath of blue, I am willing to lay down my life."

"And that’s it." Blue 6 smiled. "The unity of the human civilization for the sake of a common goal, a reason to fight. Humanity is... a new lifeform that has not been contaminated by the cosmos. Do you know why am I so willing to join your civilization and even lay down my life for it? Because humanity is the civilization that has the most potential of all the space civilizations I have ever met, a civilization that can support my hopes and dreams!"

Blue 6 sighed and said, "In fact, when I was still in the Blue Race, I once saw some confidential records from the Royal Library. It was an information that was leaked by a level 4 space civilization. It was an observation of the delineation of space civilizations, low tier, middle tier, and high tier. The biggest hurdle for any space civilization is moving from one tier to another, because when one reaches that peak, almost all of the civilization’s motivation has been exhausted. Every level of space civilization has its own unique motivation. For example, for low level space civilizations, that would be survival. The motivation for middle tier and high tier space civilizations was not mentioned in the records, so I have no information about those.

"However, there is one thing that is certain: humanity’s motivation is at its all-time high. Perhaps... humanity has the chance to really evolve into a middle tier space civilization before that motivation runs out."

Blue 6 sat up with excitement glowing in his eyes. He walked to the window and looked out at the rowdy working area. The place that keeps on introducing new changes day after day...

"No, I am certain, humanity will be able to evolve into a middle tier space civilization successfully, that is my belief!"