The following is a symbolic representation of the decision process of the Human Consensus, comprehensible by human-level intelligences. It is accurate by way of analogy only.
The avatars of each of the 7 Rings stood in a circle. They were a motley collection of humans, animals, and the uncategorizable.
"Can we interpret this action as hostile?" asked the disembodied voice of the Human Consensus.
"They were able to slice through our defense fields like they were nothing. It is improbable that such an action could be performed accidentally," said Wolf, whose lupine avatar made his name easy to remember.
"We have been met with hostility in the past," said Ran, a permanently 6-year-old girl with a chillingly even voice "The fact that this is the first time in many centuries such violence has been successfully applied should not cause us to become irrational."
"The machine that so easily destroyed our ship and permanently erased the consciousness of one of our citizens is en route to Proxima Ring," said matronly Proxima "It is not irrational to be concerned about the threat posed thereby."
"Prudence dictates we assume hostility. How should we respond?" asked the Human Consensus.
"If indeed the U.F.O. in question is sapient there's no reason why we couldn't still establish contact," said Orion, a spring-time young woman in a dress of living flowers.
"If this was a misunderstanding it's one we should be willing to forgive, pending the circumstances," said Keid, its white spherical avatar more of a notation of its presence than a representation.
"More data is required to make a sufficiently informed decision," said Wolf.
"We can't be so cautious as to put the citizens of Proxima Ring at serious risk," noted Ran.
"We will assume the U.F.O. is sapient and will gather information at a distance, attempting contact for as long as possible," decided the Human Consensus "If contact cannot be established by the time the U.F.O. comes within ten light minutes of Proxima Ring we will remove it from Consensus Space."
"If removal proves impossible I will take whatever means necessary to defend myself, up to and including the use of violence," said Proxima.
"There is no reason to become hysterical," cautioned Orion.
"We will consider a legitimate plea of self-defense but the Consensus will never give advanced sanction to violence," said Ran.
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Utopia War
Science FictionHumanity emerges from the aftermath of the technological singularity having conquered scarcity, disease, poverty, aging, death, and, or so they thought, even war. With the aid of artificial intelligence and uplifted animals they have founded a virtu...
