There was one day left and Jake finally had an idea about how to save the tribe.
"Ming, does your computer have any data on historical gold or copper deposits? I was thinking if we could offer this company a more productive site, they might be willing to exchange that information for giving up this site.”
“Yes, I have access to all historical records that survived the war and all mining surveys that the Aye has done. Let me check.”
Ming got out his metallic stickers and put them on his temples again. About 10 minutes later he gave Jake the answer.
"It turns out that this site doesn't have very much gold or copper and the owner will be bankrupt in less than two years. Actually, this same site has a large deposit of a mineral discovered in the mid-21st century called Nuxalkilite that is the basis for room temperature superconductors. Room temperature superconductors were critical in making the quantum computer chips that allowed the advance of AI. It turns out that this site was important to the creation of the Aye. It would have happened anyway but this site made it happen faster and perhaps saved the human race."
"It can't say that I'm thrilled that this helped bring the Aye into existence and I think it's quite debatable that the Aye saved the human race but we can argue about that later. What does it say about better gold or copper deposits near here?”
“Jake, I would think you could appreciate what the Aye did for us. Wasn’t it clear in the late 21st century that the human race was dying? The last of the fossil fuels were being used up. There were no viable alternatives. Agriculture was failing due to global climate change and soil nutrient depletion. A nuclear war was inevitable over the world’s last resources. The United States was reduced to something similar to the final decades of the Roman Empire: decadent and dying. The common people were placated with video games and mind altering drugs to take their minds off their hunger. Compare that with what you saw in the 23rd century. There were a lot fewer people but they were much better off.”
“I don’t want to argue with you, Ming. I saw all that but I can’t help but care that every thought was monitored. Alternative points of view were suppressed. There was no science, no engineering, and no politics. It was like a third world dictatorship.”
“What makes you think those people had a right to anything? Why do you feel entitled to self-determination? Your culture has biased you. They would have been dead if it weren’t for the Aye. It had the power to kill them all and keep the world for itself but it chose generosity. You could almost describe it as love.”
Jake was speechless. Ming had made some interesting points that hadn’t occurred to him before.
