Chapter 12 Chapter Four

After the preparations for the first phase were over, I began to do menial tasks, mainly those previously done by machines, such as tending the nutrient-fluid tubes that connected to the boxes in which the memory banks housed the brains.I spend hours every day walking through the long and narrow inspection passages, looking for blockages.Once there is a blockage, the entire pipe is marked, and a special aurora column will illuminate the pipe for inspection.I do this kind of menial work, and every now and then I actually find a place clogged.Besides this, other jobs are trivial jobs of apprenticeship.

However, I still have the opportunity to do some research on Earth's history myself. Sometimes people only know what is precious when they lose it.I have been a watchman all my life, working hard to give an early warning of the doomed alien invasion of the earth, never thinking about who will invade us, why, I always have a vague feeling that the past of the earth is far more important than my own. The third age of life was much more glorious, but I did not ask what it was like then, and why it has declined to what it is now.It was only when the spaceships of the invaders filled the sky that I suddenly had a strong desire to know the history of the earth.Now, I, Tomis of the Historians' Guild, the oldest apprentice, am rummaging through a mass of historical documents.

Any citizen has the right to ask historians any questions through the helmet of public thinking.Nothing to hide, but historians don't offer to help.You have to know how to ask questions, which means you have to know what to ask and then draw your own conclusions.This is useful for those who want to know about the unique climate in Egypt, the symptoms of diabetes, the restrictions of a certain group's charter, etc., but not at all for those who want to know about some larger issues.Some people may ask a thousand questions, which is only the beginning.That cost is too high, few people are willing to do it.

As an apprentice of the Society of Historians, I have access to all the data.What's more, I can also use the Index, the Society of Indexers, a branch of the Society of Historians, who toil like donkeys, recording and classifying things that are often beyond their comprehension; The results of these are available to great historians, but indexes are not open to everyone, and without them it is very difficult for one to carry out research work. I don't want to dwell on the hardships of my studies.Those days of fumbling in cobwebbed corridors, of being coldly greeted, of being overwhelmed, with a dull ache in the brain.Since I am a stupid beginner, I am often the subject of pranks.Many apprentices, and even a historian or two, pointed at me, just for the fun of it.But I finally knew where to go, how to prepare questions, and went deeper and deeper under the guidance of the program until I finally discovered the truth.I am not smart, but relying on my perseverance, I sorted out the history of the decline of earth civilization from the archives of historians: a long time ago, people on earth lived in a harsh and primitive environment, which we call the first The era of the first era.This does not include the period before civilization began, when languages ​​were not yet formed, and people were still hairy, living in caves, and using stone tools.What we call the First Era began when humans learned to record information and became adept at controlling their environment.This originated in the Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations.The way we calculate it now, this should be 40,000 years ago... but this number is not necessarily accurate, because at the end of the second era, the time span of the year changed, so now we cannot be sure that the earth orbited the sun before how much time is required.Maybe a little longer than it is now.

The First Age was the era of the Roman Empire and the era when Jerusalem first prospered. At a time when the civilization of Asia and Africa had reached a high level, Europe was still in savagery; and in the western ocean there were two continents inhabited by savages. At this stage, the earth has little contact with other planets. This lonely state is difficult to understand, but it is the way it is.Apart from using fire, people have no other way of lighting. They cannot be cured when they are sick, and their physical condition does not allow regenerative surgery.It was a difficult time, dark and harsh in its simplicity.The god of death fell on people early, and they left before they had time to give birth to a few children.They live in fear, but not in fear of what actually exists in reality.

During this period, the human soul was very fragile, but it was also at this time that famous cities appeared, such as Rome, Paris, Yatyn, and Jerusalem, and created remarkable achievements.Standing in front of these ancestors, (the smell is bad, of course), everyone will be in awe. They have no culture, no machines, but they can still live in harmony with the natural world and control it to a certain extent. The First Age was one of constant war and suffering.Destruction and creation proceed almost simultaneously.Most of the great cities were destroyed in the flames of war.Social unrest always threatens the stability of social order.How did people survive these thousands of years of long years?At the end of the first era, people gradually got rid of their primitive ignorance, finally mastered the production method of energy, began to have real transportation, long-distance communication became a reality, and many inventions quickly changed the appearance of the earth in a short period of time.The means of waging war also developed in tandem with technological progress, but it was not catastrophic, although it almost came a few times.It was also at the end of this period that the Old World and Oceania were colonized and people first made contact with the other planets of the solar system.

The sign of the transition from the first era to the second era is probably the first encounter between the earth people and the intelligent creatures from the distant space.Historians now believe that this happened fifty generations after first era humans mastered the technology of electricity and nuclear power.We can fully say that human beings quickly transitioned from the primitive barbaric age to the space age, or in other words, they made a great leap all at once. It also breeds human pride.If the first era was great because of overcoming many difficulties, then the second era had no obstacles at all, and people created miracles one after another.

During this period, human beings developed into aliens, and aliens also came to the earth.Earth has become a big market for all kinds of space commodities.People are used to seeing all kinds of miracles.A person can live hundreds or even thousands of years, eyes, hearts, livers, and kidneys can be changed as easily as shoes, the air is pure and fresh, no one goes hungry, and wars are forgotten.Various machines work for people.But just having machines is not enough. Human beings began to cultivate machine-like people, or to treat people as machines: people originally reproduced naturally by genetic inheritance, but they were artificially reproduced and injected with potions to make them unable to retain memory.This kind of person, similar to today's eunuchs, can efficiently complete a day's work, but cannot accumulate experience and memory, has no desire, and does not have the abilities that make people human.Millions of these half-human, half-machine things do the heavy lifting, freeing humans to do more meaningful work.

With the emergence of this half-human, half-machine, superanimals have appeared, whose brains have been biochemically processed to do things that were impossible for such animals before: dogs, cats, mice, and cows have all become labor forces, and some primates Animals are also endowed with certain functions of humans.In this way, human beings maximized the use of the environment and established the Paradise of Eden on the earth. The human spirit is at its peak.Poets, scholars, scientists have all made outstanding contributions.One big city after another appeared on the land, and the population also gathered and increased. However, there was no shortage of space or shortage of resources on the earth.The imagination of human beings has reached the limit. They have conducted various genetic surgery experiments, genetic mutation experiments and gene mutation experiments, resulting in various new human forms. Of course, at that time, the mutants around us did not appear.

The space station has an elegant posture, operates in space, and can meet any needs of people.Two new moons were created during this time, though historians have not yet determined whether this was for aesthetics or for any practical purpose.The artificial moon hanging in the sky that we see every night may have been installed during this period, but some historians believe that the moon above the temperate zone was installed during the great development of geophysics, which announced the The end of the second era. In any case, this is the best time for mankind. "Look at the earth, even if you die immediately." This is the slogan of the aliens.No one will refuse to come to this magical planet when they are going on an interstellar journey.We welcome all visitors, accept their praise and money, let them have fun, and proudly display our greatness and glory.

The experience of the prince proves that the noble will eventually become humble, and the higher you fly, the harder you fall.After thousands of years of unrivaled glory, the lucky ones of the Second Age were self-defeating and made two big mistakes, one out of stupid arrogance and the other in overconfidence.The planet is paying the price. The impact of the first mistake is relatively subtle. It stems from the fact that the earth people changed their attitude towards other aliens in the galaxy during this period, from awe at the beginning, to disapproval, to contempt and contempt.In the early days of the second era, simple and innocent people on earth suddenly entered the Milky Way, and found that the alien race living here not only has a long history and highly developed civilization, but also maintains close ties with each other.This would have been enough to frustrate the Earthlings, but instead it fueled their desire to be aggressive, to outwit them and rise above them.Therefore, people on earth began to regard most of the alien planets as competitors, and with the advancement of technology, they gradually developed a sense of superiority, which eventually led to contempt for backward planets. So some people suggested setting up a "research base" on the earth to store samples of backward races, that is, concentration camps.The natural habits of these backward races are completely preserved here, and are open to every scholar so that they can observe the life process of these races.However, the cost of collecting and maintaining these samples was very expensive. Soon, in order to raise funds, the concentration camp was fully opened to the public for public entertainment.What was originally a concentration camp established for scientific research has actually become a zoo for other intelligent creatures to visit. At the very beginning, the real aliens were indeed collected. They were physically and psychologically different from the people on Earth, and there was no danger of treating them as "human beings".People who oppose the capture of extraterrestrial intelligence will have no sympathy for these many-handed creatures kept in high-pressure methane tanks.If these alien species also have a strange civilization commensurate with their environment, people think that this environment should be replicated in order to study this strange civilization.Therefore, the early concentration camps were full of strange alien humans.Sample collectors are also limited to carrying aliens who are not yet capable of interstellar travel.It would be unwise to abduct aliens like us, since the interstellar visitors have their relatives, and our planetary economy depends to a large extent on these extraterrestrial visitors. The success of the concentration camps has led to the expectation that more aliens will be targeted for the exhibition.The selection criteria were continuously lowered. Except for the previously distant and strange aliens, those galactic beings who were unable to make diplomatic protests became the sampling objects.Our ancestors became more and more courageous, and the restrictions on collecting auspiciousness became more and more relaxed. There are more than a thousand samples of aliens gathered on the earth, including samples from planets that are much older and more complex than the civilization of the earth. . Historians' archives show that the concentration camps of people on Earth aroused dissatisfaction in many parts of the universe, accusing us of robbery, kidnapping, and piracy, and constantly holding meetings to criticize us for violating human rights.Earthlings travel to extraterrestrials and are often besieged by hordes of angry extraterrestrial beings demanding that we release the prisoners in concentration camps immediately.While these protesters were a small minority, the majority of the galaxy's inhabitants maintained an embarrassing silence about our concentration camps.They regret the atrocity, but they still visit the camps when they travel the earth.Just imagine, besides the earth, where else can they see hundreds of alien life selected from all corners of the universe within a few days?The concentration camp is the biggest bright spot on earth and the miracle of the universe.In this way, in order to enjoy the pleasure of visiting these prisoners, they tacitly communicated with the people of the earth and turned a blind eye to the immoral behavior of the people on earth. From the archives of historians, it is known that there is a real-life record of a concentration camp in the memory bank. This is one of our oldest documentaries.It took me a lot of trouble to see it, and it was the historian Omeen who begged for me.Despite the two filters, the image displayed in the thinking helmet is still blurry, but still clearly visible.Behind a transparent curved protective cover, there are fifty people from unknown planets. Their bodies are like pyramids, their skin color is dark blue, and the top part for seeing things is pink.They have short, stubby legs and two gripping hands on their faces.Although it is not easy to explore the inner feelings of aliens, everyone can feel the deep despair of these beings.They walked slowly in the dark green gas, their expressions numb and lifeless.Several were head-to-head, probably communicating with each other, one appeared to have just died, and two were crouched on the ground like overturned toys, but their moving hands suggested they might be praying.It was a breathless sight.Later, I found other similar documentaries in forgotten corners of the building.This has benefited me a lot. Concentration camps have developed smoothly for more than a thousand years, so that in the end, everyone except the victims felt that this cruelty under the guise of scientific research was justified.At that time, a kind of primitive man was found on a planet that had never been visited by the earth, maybe similar to our people in the first era.After sacrificing several companions, a sampling team got a group of race people and brought them back to Earth and put them in concentration camps. This was a fatal mistake of the Second Age. When these aliens were abducted, the alien planet—which has no name on file, only a H362 number—had no way of making diplomatic protests or taking corresponding measures of retaliation.But soon, some planets united against the earth sent envoys to this planet. Under the guidance of the envoys, H362 asked to send back their people.Earth refused, saying that no one in the entire galaxy had ever questioned the concentration camps on Earth, and a long diplomatic negotiation ensued, but Earth repeatedly emphasized that they had the right to do so. H362 issued a threat. "One day," they said, "we will make you regret it. We will invade and conquer your planet, free everyone in the concentration camps, turn the planet into the largest concentration camp, and imprison the earthlings themselves .” To the people at the time, this was simply nonsense. For the next few millennia, nothing was heard of the angry H362.They lived in faraway places and developed quite rapidly, but after all, it would take a long time before they could pose a threat to the earth.People are gradually ignoring this matter, who is afraid of barbarians wielding spears?Earthlings are ready to meet a new challenge: to fully control the global climate. Since the end of the first era, people have been doing small-scale climate adjustment work, such as artificial rainfall, dispersing fog, reducing the destructive power of hail, and even trying to melt the glaciers at the poles and green the desert.But these activities are strictly localized, and none have had much impact on the environment. In the second era, countless pillars began to be erected in more than one hundred places.We don't know how tall the columns were, as none have survived intact and the original installation instructions have been lost.But it's guessed they were about the same size as the tallest buildings at the time, or taller, maybe two miles high.The device inside the pillar can affect the position of the poles of the earth's magnetic field. As far as we know, this device was carefully prepared to regulate the topography of the earth, and the plan was based on the fact that the earth's oceans were divided into several parts.Although these oceans are actually connected, they are considered separate entities because they are separated by continental plates.For example, in the Arctic region, there are only two narrow straits connecting Asia with the northern part of the Old World (North America), and North America with Europe. The seawater in the Arctic can flow into the warmer seawater around the Old World. Interference with the Earth's magnetic field causes the Earth to deviate from its orbit in order to melt the Arctic ice, allowing the cold water it contains to mix with warmer water elsewhere.Melting glaciers allowed water from the Arctic Ocean to evaporate, greatly increasing rainfall in the region.To avoid snowfall, the westerly winds that previously brought extra-tropical rainfall were modified.A natural conduit was also constructed to channel rainfall from the Arctic to drier areas in lower latitudes. This is only a small part of the plan.Our knowledge of the details is still superficial.We know that we can change the ocean currents by raising and lowering the land, we can change the distribution of solar heat from the equator to the North Pole, and other adjustments to the earth. The other details are irrelevant to us. The important thing is this huge project. the consequences. After hundreds of years of continuous preparation work, spending unprecedented manpower and financial resources, the climate control tower began to be used. The results were disastrous. The experiment that tried to change the earth in vain was destructive. It changed the original conditions of the two poles of the earth, causing most of the northern hemisphere to be in cold for a long time, North America and South America sunk unexpectedly, and a land bridge connecting Africa and Europe appeared, almost destroyed human civilization.These changes did not appear all at once.Apparently, the plan worked out well for the first few hundred years.The glaciers in the Arctic melted and the sea water rose, but this problem was solved by setting up a hybrid evaporator at sea...in fact, a small artificial sun.It was only over time that it was discovered that the climate towers had changed the structure of the entire Earth's surface in a catastrophic way that proved irreparable. What followed was a series of protracted floods and droughts that killed millions, disrupted communications and forced panicked crowds to flee their stricken homes.There is chaos on Earth.The civilization of the second era was destroyed, and the alien concentration camp was also destroyed. In order to rescue those compatriots stranded on the earth, several of the most powerful races in the galaxy took control of the earth.They built iron towers to stabilize the shaking of the earth's axis, dismantled climate control towers, provided food and clothing for disaster victims, and provided loans to rebuild the earth.For us, this is an era of sweepings, when social order collapses, social mores disappear, and no longer masters of our own planet, we accept handouts from strangers and wander the planet pitifully. However, since we are still the same race as before, we have recovered a little bit.However, the earth's funds have been squandered by us, and we are either bankrupt or beggars, entering the humble era of the third era.Some early technologies survived, and others were invented that worked differently.To re-establish social order, various guilds were formed: rulers, eunuchs, merchants, and so on.Historians have tried their best to salvage the history buried in the ruins. We owe a great debt to our saviour, but we are all bankrupt and unable to pay it.We hoped to be able to forgive our debts and started related negotiations. At this time, something unexpected happened: people on the planet H362 appeared at the negotiation meeting and offered to repay our debts on their behalf, on the condition that they have control over the earth. right. Our creditors agreed. H362 thinks they own the Earth on a treaty basis.They sent out notices all over the universe, saying that they have the right to occupy the earth at any time in the future.They had to do this because H362 was not yet capable of interstellar travel, but everyone recognized that H362 was still the legal owner of Earth, just like a person who buys a bankrupt company owns the company. Everyone realizes that H362 wants to fulfill its promise: "turn the earth into a huge concentration camp and imprison the people on earth themselves." They want to avenge the harm that our sampling team caused them long, long ago. The social structure of the Third Era was as it is now, with strict guild hierarchies. No one dares to take the threat of H362 lightly, because we are a punished planet and no threat should be taken lightly, even the most insignificant threat.The watchmen group will appear. They look out into space and watch out for the coming of the enemy, and then the earth guards and other groups will appear.The people on earth slowly recovered our ancient and extraordinary imagination, especially in the magical age, all kinds of whimsical ideas drove them to create long-lived mutant groups--flyers and swimmers, the latter is now very old. Forget about it, some other mutant groups include the trouble-loving, unpredictable Ugly Group, and their genetic characteristics are quite peculiar. Lookouts look out, rulers rule various regiments, flying men fly in the air, life goes on as always, year after year, in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the old continent where only small islands are left now... North and South America.We had forgotten the threat of H362, which seemed mythically distant, but we remained vigilant.In the far reaches of the universe, our enemies are also gathering strength, reaching the level we had in the Second Era.They will never forget the days when their compatriots were prisoners of concentration camps. They came to us one night of terror.Now they are our masters, fulfilling their oath. This is the knowledge I have unearthed in the pile of material collected by the Society of Historians, and many others.