The Only Thing That Could Ever Unite Us

Nineteen: the last ambassador

"He's suffering critical heatstroke and significant burns"

"Pulse confirmed - weak and way too fast"

"His nanobots have multiplied a couple of thousand-fold, is that enough? Soon there'll be more of them than human cells in there, that must be enough, right?"

"The healing of epidermal layers is progressing, how about the brain?"

"Still in shock and unable to breathe independently - the nanobots are keeping his lungs and heart working while they fix the damage."

"Pulse slowing and strengthening."

"25% of essential organs functioning and increasing."

There is pain. Everything is pain. The artificial inflation and deflation of our lungs. The heart racing weakly in our chest. Our scorched skin. The blisters forming on the inside of our nose from breathing the hot steam. I know that without the nanobots we'd be dead. The organ damage and so on is one thing, that can be repaired. But this much pain would normally kill any living being.

Why did I come into a world where such agony was possible?

I check on Joey. He's safe where I packaged him away in something similar to a coma, deep in dreams where no pain can find him.

A fresh wave of agony takes hold, and I drug my own mind too.

I return to sleep, to wander the minds of our species in my dreams.

*****

We awake sometime later. I check his skin - it seems restored. I move his head - the dizziness and the nausea seem to have passed. I can feel him surfacing from the dream I gave him. He seems happy. Good - I'd included everything I knew made him happiest in his life.

A young man. An old man, rather, in a young body, watches us from the foot of the bed. His hair is long and black, his expression concerned and serious.

"Hi," he said, "glad you're feeling better. I'm Bruce, until recently I was Secretary Gen...."

"I know." I tell him.

He looks puzzled for a second, and then embarrassed. "Yes," he says, his expression changing to wide-eyed curiosity "yes, I suppose you probably do. And I suppose you know where you are?"

"Longyearbyen Metropolitan Hospital. I thought it was closed."

"It was, but your injuries needed medical supervision, so we opened it."

Joey somehow understood, I guess because I did, I wasn't sure how the link between us worked yet.

¿Que es un hospital?

Es un lugar al que traen a personas heridas o enfermas para que se recuperen.

It's a place they bring people who are hurt or sick to get better.

¿Cual es el punto de eso? Los nanobots funcionan en todas partes, ¿no serían más felices en casa?

What's the point of that? Nanobots work everywhere- wouldn't they be happier at home?

Te lo explico mas tarde

I'll explain later

Bruce coughs gently. "Are... um... are you... okay?"

"Yeah," I say, "just talking to Joey."

"Who's Joey?"

"This is Joey." I gesture to the hospital gowned body in the bed.

"Oh." He said, "is he... you know... alright?"

"Kinda confused - we'll need some time to.... Talk."

"Well I think I've just the thing. I've persuaded the hospital's AIs to discharge you if you feel like... Joey.... is ready. It took quite some doing, you caused quite the stir. It's a long time since they had a patient."

"Yeah, I heard."

"Gosh! You were awake?!" He exclaimed, looking horrified.

"I was. I made sure Joey wasn't."

¿Qué me perdí? ¿Qué pasó?

What did I miss? What happened?

Mas tarde, Joey

Later, Joey

"Well, I'm very sorry about that, I hope you understand why it was needed." Said Bruce.

"Yeah I understand. There's no other way to get between the hemispheres, and no spaceport in the south. This is the only one still working." I said, "it's fine - I'm sure a more traditional birth would have been just as uncomfortable."

"So," he said, brightening somewhat and clearly keen to get off of the awkward and unfamiliar topic of pain and on to more pressing matters "if you guys want to talk you can do it on the journey."

"Yes," I said, "shall we go now?"

"Don't you want to know where we're going? It's rather exciting!"

I looked at him and saw understanding dawn. Again.

"Of course you do. Right then. Let's go! The last Secretary General of Earth, and the last human ambassador. How exciting." He's babbling slightly. I get his nanobots to reduce his adrenaline levels before it becomes annoying.

"Yes." I say. "It probably is."

*****

Sagittarius A*'s Dyson sphere tentacles stretch out to an impossibly distant horizon, while the centre of the galaxy blazes splendidly above us. I look back through the recorded history of the species and every human memory I can access. It is, quite literally, incomparable, in a way I suppose only I can say it is. Soon we'll all be able to say it with that certainty, but right now they're still getting the hang of it. Of me, I suppose. Of us really being us, together, for the first time ever.

One of the entities approaches.

I look, and with me 1.5 billion others look too. The entire species is tuned in for this. I insisted upon it. If I speak for us all, we must all hear the answers.

Hello

The voice is vast and ancient and echoes in my mind.

Hi I say back. Kinda lame, not really first contact material. But honestly, what else was there to say?

We're glad to see you resolved your interface issues. Is this signal coming through more clearly?

Yes - we're reading you loud and clear.

We're delighted to meet you. We're the Assistants. We help the Species. You are a Species. The others are keen to meet you. Who are you?

I saw the list of hopeless names in Bruce's mind pop up when he heard the question. I ignored it.

We are humanity. I answer. And we've been waiting a very long time to meet you.