16 Plan: Exodus

“It took less than two billion years for intelligent life to evolve on Terra, and a little more than one more for the awareness of the rarity and tenuous nature of such life. That left about three billion years to develop a plan to ensure the continuation of Terran life and civilization.”

“It was determined early on that there was no practical way to generate the amount of energy required to warp to another galaxy in the same way as they did to stars in Isla. But, as the exploration and colonization of the galaxy, and especially as the ability to travel increasingly farther distances, became commonplace, it seemed to Terrans that this difficult challenge was not insurmountable. They decided to utilize the energy of the supernova that would otherwise be the cause of their extinction.”

“The best and brightest of Terran scientists, engineers, and others dedicated their entire lives to the plan they called Exodus. They explored every conceivable solution to the problem at hand. Every new discovery or invention was, sooner or later, considered and evaluated with regard to whether and how it could help Terrans overcome their ultimate fate. The intense energies involved required that all Terrans be put into cryostasis, a long term energy-free state perfected from early cryogenics experiments. Their neuronal energy, meanwhile, was stored in capsules and other vessels designed to shield it from not only the energetic effects of the supernova, but also from the extreme forces of the trans-galactic warp. And since they had to remain in cryostasis a minimum of hundreds of millions of years, they had to rely on technology and automation until they could be revived and reintegrated.”

“They conceived and designed and built massive Arks that carried the slumbering populations of hundreds of thousands, and were vast repositories of biological samples, historical and cultural artifacts, and other items Terrans deemed important enough to preserve. Each Ark also had a complete and replicable copy of the ConSci. The Arks were equipped with many smaller craft that were to be used as needed, for terraforming, research, exploring and so on.”

“Over ten thousand Arks would escape Isla that day, and find themselves scattered among the stars and wonders in a beautiful, young spiral galaxy over ten billion light-years distant. There were hundreds of different plans to accommodate the various situations the Arks would find on arrival. They could terraform existing planetary systems, and even consolidate and stabilize systems for terraforming. But the most ambitious plan was to create a new and ideal planetary system from the rawest of materials.”

“The plan was called Genesis.”

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