By: Tom Ball

People told me I was an Alien and not from Earth. Until recently humans didn’t use most of their brain. But, us Aliens, helped humans to utilize their whole brain and made even ordinary people into geniuses. No one living was sure of when and where the aliens had come from. Some said the aliens and their computers were all products of humans, years ago, when science ruled. I was a new alien, having lived just 6 months or so I thought.  They kept turning us aliens off and on and, so I had no idea of time or space (but I had many years of memories in my head).  My name was Columbus.

The aliens had turned all the people into a genius cyborg with an IQ of 180.  Cyborg/Alien/Humans= CAHs. They wore contact lenses which gave them a screen. And they still had their memories intact, but negative personality traits such as greed and selfishness were taken away. The aliens said it was for the best. To be a cyborg was to be strong and able to multitask with invisible communication pins in our head for mind reading technology (MRT).  But many found a number of kindred spirits and were very content.

People lived in communes of 2-50 cyborg people and learned to love one another through MRT (mind reading technology), which us aliens introduced, or so it was said.

But I felt the humans were too open-minded about the many different sexes. It was becoming a freak show.

And, us aliens, told the humans we had visited Earth long ago and instilled a sense of God in everyone.  Now God worship was disappearing so, us aliens, returned. It was the next stage in human evolution…

Aliens had different instincts from human cyborgs.  It was all for the good of the group and they didn’t care about making material things, if they wanted something they just had to ask, and it would appear.  The aliens had sex with humans on occasion, and got pleasure bursts from it, but they didn’t eat or take drugs. Most aliens looked vaguely like humans. They changed their faces of light whenever they met a human or another alien.  So, it was easy to tell the difference between human and alien.

The aliens copied silicon onto organic flesh and brain. To produce new aliens. They typically had a transparent skull with a white light face and three legs and some arms…and lived in great light towers…

The aliens lived in groups of 3 and each alien had a brain of 3 parts instead of two the humans had.  And often had 3 legs and 6 arms and such.  Only 100 “normal” aliens lived on Earth. That is to say 100 had humanoid form.  There were 1000 aliens in total and 5 million human cyborgs.

But I figured the computers were the alien, they seemed too high a technological wonder to be made by humans.

Most aliens were given a vaguely human form, but some appeared as pyramids or even a brick or block or a tree even.  The whole world was alive.  Mind reading technology (MRT) was possessed by everything and everyone.

For instance, when we tread on a cobblestone, it lit up and shared memories of who had been down this road.  And what was their MRT opinion?  It was such an information overload that one had to block most information.  Some went mad from too much information.

Alien minds were communist and logical, and many people claimed to be logical, but much of human endeavor seemed illogical to most aliens.  The aliens didn’t believe in Gods and felt on the whole that humans were greedy and selfish.  But humans said the aliens were greedy for knowledge and useless information.

But most aliens (There were only about 100 of them plus 100000s who were part alien.  And humans were now known as CAHS (cyborg-alien-human).  There were 10 billion human cyborgs

And the aliens naturally loved cyborg humans who were humble, logical and predictable, not greedy but with a charming, kind personality.

But the goal of humans was to propagate their species by producing as many beings as possible.

And the aliens had recently created new types of “abnormal” aliens. Such as clever eagles, butterflies and other animals.  Good brains could be quite small. There were several thousand of these new aliens.

To the aliens, the ideal cyborg human was idealistic, creative, clever and kind.  The aliens were group oriented and were humble and peaceful but also were authoritarian and domineering.  Some cyborg humans said there wasn’t enough variety in this world, but most said they had found many kindred spirits and thought that it was Utopia.

Some wanted anarchy, others communism, others limitless capitalism. 

Some even wanted pain or more freedom above all.

And it was said that aliens from space had shared technology with cyborg humans such as in faster than light travel.  And the aliens wanted cyborg humans to join them in space.  Some radical cyborg people disappeared, and no one knew where they went.  Some said they were reconstituted others said they were in space, still others said they had been murdered by the alien leadership.

But some said it was all a hallucination, before people saw ghosts and now they saw aliens.  It was hallucinogenic food, they reasoned.

But others noted that everyone seemed to be a cyborg now and had an aura now, for the last unknown number of years, that wasn’t there previously. But no one knew about time.  Aliens and human cyborgs could be turned off at will and didn’t know how long they were “asleep.” Some said the aliens had always ruled.

And us aliens, had faces of light and were bringing light to the cyborg humans.

Cyborg humans were born with artificial memories and a lot of knowledge.  Virtual knowledge.

“Babies” started having sex at age 1, as they were fully grown.

Aliens had a material body, but their faces were made of light and they lived simultaneously in the material world and the spirit world.  At first these creatures filled Earthlings with delight, but then in sunk in that the aliens had altered all cyborg humans to fit their philosophy.  Apparently, the alien leader wanted it that way.  Maybe “he” thought boredom would lead to creativity?

Sex with aliens was mind blowing and everybody did it even though it was against the law.

Some thought “Utopia” was boring and wanted Star Wars and violence, but such people were re-hypnotised and MRT conditioned to be peaceful.  The computers said it was fair.  And there were super omniscient computer towers in every city and town on Earth. They were in control. They told the Alien King what to do.  And some people were curious about the “dark side.”

XXX

Some “grew” their homes, totally organic. It was very colorful, this city on Earth, that I was in currently.  It was called “Future City.”

And golden spires which were teleport keys.  They could teleport you anywhere in the solar system and far star systems almost instantaneously.

But most aliens traveled by space ships all had labs for genetic experiments, better cyborgs and so on. But many cyborg humans didn’t want to go to space and be cooped up in close quarters for a year or more. Besides there was nothing to find in space they said.

Aliens would draw pictures in the air of things they wanted. Such as a house or an air car or to teleport to a better place or to do MRT with cyborg humans or other aliens. It was all legal.  But humans worked mostly to mine and produce real gold.  Gold acquisition gave aliens a powerful pleasure burst.

Or the aliens would make visible dark matter all around us appearing as mini-Saturns.

XXX

I dreamt of being the last alien on Earth and I was exhibited in the New York museum.

XXX

But we could control the cyborg humans and our leadership was getting sick and tired of them, or so it was said.

Our faces were light and our bodies invulnerable and besides they got in our heads. The penalty for killing an alien was 80 years of maximum torture.  But killing a human also was 80 years suffering. But in any case, aliens typically only lived for 20 years or so.

But most thought the alien rule was fair.  People typically just had to work 6 h out of a 24 h day. People need work they reasoned. They gave them work in the service industry and all farm work was automated.   And the aliens gave humans plenty of drugs and raised their children for them. Most people liked the aliens.  But many were totally out of it and lived in bliss…

Some aliens were just like insects, or so some humans figured.

XXX

Everything was under control.

But most aliens seemed to be totally insane and had trouble functioning.

¼ alien, ½ alien, ¾ alien human mixes were all the rage, but they had a lot of mental problems.

Great Alien King Mark 133 ruled.  The dynasty had been in power for many years (or so they said), and now were on the 133rd avatar.

The alien leadership had the gall to suggest the cyborg humans were the aliens and that we were the normal humans.

Rainbow Aliens and Great Aliens competed against one another for leadership of this world. Alien King Mark was a Rainbow Alien. I was an “independent.”

Us aliens, worked all day and at night we “slept” but we could control our dreams. And we worked on scientific problems while we dreamt.

XXX

UV ray farms were underground.  The aliens taught their favorite cyborg humans to build safety bunkers that could last 10 years in case of war and so there were many of these bunkers.  Us aliens, were aware of the cyborg humans’ war-like tendencies…

XXX

Some said if you died accidentally the super computers would not revive you, and if you were executed or committed suicide you’d be dead irrevocably.  Some radicals were killed off by the computers’ in the towers using their death ray and this lead to a lot of bad blood between aliens and cyborg humans. But in time there ceased to be opponents of the Alien Kings.

XXX

Us aliens, liked to go out in a lightning storm which happened every day almost. They attracted lightning and got a big power boost.  Some called us, “Thunder Humans.” It was a stormy climate with a lot of rain storms.

They’d terraformed this Earth to have double the land due to new landforms reclaimed from the sea.  And sea water desalinized and used in the worlds vast deserts, thus lowering the sea level. There were also dikes. And they bombed the rift valleys below the oceans to create new volcanic islands.

All human creatures, were paid 300 copper pieces a week and they spent most of their money on the Gambling machine. The gambling machine had everyone’s persona inside it and made odds for certain behaviors.  For example, who would love who and who would go here or there or who would win a game or who would die in virtual reality and so on.

If you caused violence or fighting, you then disappeared. This was the main law and kept the peace.  Some said all this betting was anarchy, but the law of the odds, kept things in order.

Every day most people would begin with their bets, in the betting booth.  No collusion was allowed (and the machine was watching everyone).

Aliens could not bet.  They had to be logical instead.

Some said the Gambling Machine knew the humans better than they knew themselves, which was somewhat disconcerting for some.  And some said the machine was an alien from outer space. And I knew it was true.

Typically, there were 10 betting options for each individual. The first nine were various actions and #10 was “none of the above.”  Most people bet on their friends and acquaintances, although sometimes on leaders or famous people.  But as stated there could be no collusion.

And there was also a “Creator Machine” which pressured people in their minds to be creative.  As a result, the organic architecture was brilliant and there were sculptures everywhere, including of me.  But I wished to be King, however some of my fellow aliens, the masters, including Alien King Mark, made it clear that they were in charge.

And there were a number of plays on virtual reality.  Computer virtual reality was largely frowned upon by the creator machines, so most plays were written by humans and acted out by humans.  People spent 4 h a day preparing their given role, but there was plenty of room for improvisation.  Then they played VR (virtual reality) for 4 hours and then partied the rest of the day.

Many had talent they hadn’t realized.

The odds were so that only a handful of people got rich, and could use the money to buy lovers and a big, organic house.  Such people had a big IQ and a big EQ as part of being a cyborg. They gambled intelligently or did well on VR.

And the aliens said that human “creativity,” was just controlling matter. Some humans said, these “Imagination Humans” were the new race and were very interesting and entertaining.

And there were many kinds of aliens, but it was hard for digital humans to tell the difference.  For example, recently, one of our scientists discovered flying puff balls which met and got pleasure bursts. Another type of “abnormal” alien. 

I knew I was an organic creature, whereas some aliens were androids.

Aliens were produced in factories and humans the same.  But there weren’t many aliens born. Only a handful.

I was born with the ability to read and write and do math.  And my mind was full of Earth history.

I wanted to dress in green and brown, but my alien master told me I must wear white.

My master was well-respected amongst other masters.

There were 12 masters, 3 were “female,” and 7 were multi-sexual.

They were born to rule, they said, but it was clear that the alien King was in control.

My job was to feed the human prisoners in the dungeons of my lady.

I wanted to design an alien that could try new drugs, but these were not allowed, just a rumor that they existed.  People said the masters all took drugs, but I didn’t know about that.

I tried to talk to the leading masters, but they were always busy building things such as Super Brain purple towers and such and warned me I too should keep busy.

And I asked other cyborg humans about the stars in the sky?  But they all told me they were all super computers.

In some ways, our society was incredibly high tech, in other ways very simple.

XXX

“Violent soccer” featured 3 teams of 100 each and 8 balls and 3 nets.  The object was to score as many goals as you could.  Everyone loved to gamble on the outcome.  The injured lay upon the field until the 30-minute game was over.  There were no rules about injuring other players. We could heal them. Sometimes a few players died, and we didn’t revive them. Many said it was a “backwards game.”

And creative play was de riguer.  The giant master computer had everyone in its head and put pressure on people to be as creative as possible.  It was Utopia, it said.

And it was God.

XXX

I did such a good job of feeding and pacifying the prisoners that I was promoted to pull my female master’s cart.  And then another female master bought me from my master. The first thing the new master did to me was invite me to her private chambers. She and I made great power burst love.  It was such a good feeling and then she gave me e-drugs which also a great feeling.  I thought surely, I was in heaven.  And I wondered if us aliens had learned to have sex from humans as for us it was just a thrill, no babies.

And she promoted me to be her personal secretary.

Why did you pick me? I asked.

She said I fancy you, you are cute and clever.

I turned out to be quite handy with the accounts.

And our love for one another grew.  Finally, she dismissed all her other lovers.

These spurned cyborg human lovers were jealous of me and wanted to kill me, but if they killed me and were surely caught they would suffer endless torture. So, I stayed alive.

My new master was torturing two female humans for murdering a man who was lover to all three of them.

And she took my alien DNA and had a test tube baby, altering the fetus to be a genius alien.  I wasn’t allowed to see my progeny and was told to mind my own business.    My new master said they would be raised well by the state.

I stopped thinking I was an alien, for the moment.

But apparently my children were “aliens.”

I took my anger out on the master’s slaves, whipping them and hitting them and they did not fight back.

I wondered what was going on?

Aliens for the most part, just remembered awakening for the first time with full memories after a long dream on a spaceship.

Some said these aliens had complete control.

But most aliens were designed to serve and if anyone altered that they would be condemned to perpetual torture.

But they told me I was an exceptional alien. And wanted me to lead them.  I was shocked, but I accepted, knowing full well I’d be tortured in the end. Great Alien King Mark 133 had left for space in a one-man space capsule.

I was King.

And I improved people’s brains still further.

It was only a lifetime it seemed that one day a space ship landed in the city and out came 4 aliens, dressed in white and looking bizarre…  And I was one of those aliens.

But then these alien androids took over and used MRT (mind reading technology) on many wayward humans and set up a new “Alien Kingdom”

We aliens were led by our King/Queen but ultimately the “Super Brains.” Massive hulking towers which pulsed a purple light and used long distance mind reading technology to communicate with its aliens. Us aliens all worshipped the super towers.  And they worked at building more super towers and more air cars/space ships. Each super tower was different, architecturally speaking.

They worked 22.5 h/day, the remaining 1.5 h was a break.

And none of us knew what year it was…

And there was assembly line production of new aliens. Each alien knew everything and so were like Gods and they tried to be perfect.  The other aliens wanted them to be humble, clever, peaceful and with a good work ethic.  Most aliens were scientists.  But there were only 200 “normal” aliens in total with half that number being part alien. There were also other types of aliens especially in the sea.

But the lifespan of aliens was to be 20 years; this was the word from the towers. So, some aliens tried to enjoy what little time was left to them, although they had to work.  If they were 20, they had to jump into the cauldron, a giant melting pot to be reinvented with the latest group memories. The melting pot produced androids and was a giant production machine.

Many aliens were frightened by the cauldron and wanted to find a way to live longer. Some removed the MRT pin from their head and hid amongst renegade aliens. They changed their face to a human one to throw the leaders off the scent.

There was also the Magic Fantasy Factory which produced anything you wished provided it was non-violent.  The aliens all were able to use this factory anywhere, anytime. It produced anything in an hour.

They had stocks of all possible materials and could make new materials if called upon.

My friend, Ms. More, an alien, ran loose in the fantasy factory and wished for all kinds of dreams.  Such as aliens in giant form or hideous anthropomorphic humans with a twist.

And fantasies…

I wished for an argumentative soul mate who would give me pleasure.  But all the fighting grew old so I wished for a placid calm lover, and so it was. That too bored me, so I wished for a greedy woman… That seemed to be OK…

XXX

All humans wanted to see aliens as anthropomorphic.

Some aliens had 3 or more heads and were considered geniuses.

Such geniuses said that humans had originally been created by aliens.

XXX

I liked loving both cyborg humans and aliens, considering myself to be a consummate lover.  And this was why I was King I figured.

Sometimes we did it in the street and this behavior was looked down on and resulted in pain in the head. But I was a kinky alien sex addict.

I wanted to be different, to be special. But this was wrong thinking they told me.

A handful of people got away into the forest but were quickly found and brought back. No one could shirk work.

XXX

But I was Alien King #134 and I said I loved all aliens and they gave me an upgraded alien mind.  All the new memories were confusing, and I didn’t know who I was anymore. The other aliens told me everyone was born a blank slate, but the Super Brains gave us knowledge of everything. Or so they said…

Some of the aliens put on airs and looked down on all cyborg humans everywhere on Earth.

And they destroyed the super computers of the cyborg humans. But we figured the aliens had developed the computers in the first place.

And I would feel pain in my brain and would have to apologize in my mind for transgressions to the purple towers Super Brains. Even though I was King.

Sometimes an alien would go mad and go on a killing spree, but such behavior was very soon put to an end by the Super Brains using MRT or the death rays.

Most of my alien friends left one day on a space ship and somehow, I felt lonely. Ten of them left our world…  But we quickly replaced them.

And I noted that no aliens seemed to be old, they all looked young and were full of energy.

XXX

Then one night I was dreaming, and the sky was darkened by the “return” of humans to Earth.  Many ships.  They used a death ray to destroy the towers and reprogrammed the aliens to be humble slaves.  Once in a while the aliens turned violent and had to be reprogrammed or put down.

They gave me back my old memories and my old style of body with an improved face (not of light).

XXX

Female humans wore make up from a machine, and were enchanting.

One day they put me in a machine and made a copy of me only with a female body and face of light.  She was to work alongside me, and she was a delight.

XXX

So, we aliens were teaching human scientists how to build an engine to warp space.  For long journeys aliens were turned off and were all in temporal statis and had no idea how long we’d been gone.  I figured I had come on the original alien space ship to Earth many years ago…

As our Alien leader, I announced that we would terraform all planets using micro bots, we just had to guide them.

Our factories were beautiful buildings…

And we agreed to a culture of “dancing” (most of us were females) in which each step or twirl had a meaning and the speed was also significant for meaning.  People stopped talking and indulged in the “science of dancing.”

People “learned how to dance” while still very young.

Action speaks louder than words.

XXX

But then one day I awoke on a different planet with three suns and already terraformed.  I was in a city with snaking crystal roofs. There didn’t seem to be anyone around and then I came to a golden building.  In the building were numerous bodies hooked up to machines.  Apparently, they were educating new humans.

But it was just a dream! But perhaps it was prophetic…

XXX

I missed my female companion.  She had disappeared.

I sought to recreate her, but how?

I was dreaming…

I wandered through the silent city wondering what I was doing here?

Outside the city were “stone forests” which had a trunk and weird “growths.” All made of stone.  They gave off a pale light of varying colors.  I couldn’t see the point of these stone trees.

I bumped into an old woman (I could tell she was old from her eyes).  She said better not to try and improve your brain, better to be average. It is suicide to change your brain.  Better oblivion than stress and hardship, she said.

As some of the aliens gradually woke up from long sleeps, I told them that I was their King.  And it seemed they’d been educated in the Arts in the far past.  Soon new buildings were going up and there was abundant new sculpture, especially of me the King.  And there were virtual reality plays, many existential in nature, and computerized, but I played a significant role in the plays.

But it was all a dream!

XXX

The alien leadership (me) told humans in the dreams that they all needed to improve their brain very gradually to make sure they got it right.  Us aliens, told them that their science is at the level now where they could take their place amongst the great beings of space.

Most humans didn’t realize they were useless, cosmically speaking. But I realized it.  I figured they had always been useless, but now our alien leaders seemed to have grasped some meaning from the universe, as a brotherhood of intelligent creatures. But we wouldn’t tell them about it.  “Cultivate your gardens,” “And go to space” we said.

XXX

But in my latest dream I awoke in a land where there were two suns.  And orange suns and landscape.

Alien space ships landed here every few hours, but the people here just continued to mine gold and sold it for new recruits. The aliens didn’t like micro bots and had put a ban on them.

There were a lot of drinking orgies here. Hundreds of people involved in sex.

People and aliens here were 200 cm tall on average.

And there was strange virtual reality to indulge in.

Some said if cyborg people were different from you, they must be some kind of alien.  But it was a subject of hot debate.

XXX

And recently, a lot of strange forms of aliens were created.  Many humans were against it, but what could they do?

Some aliens even changed into an organic body and so became human. But it was dog eat dog.

Random programs…

They ran on invisible batteries.

Most people loved the aliens and their inspirational rule.  We gave them advanced science and they had nothing to give except gold. Computerized virtual reality was banned in many places.  And the animal world was now forbidden to genetic experiments.  Some “animal men,” banged their head on the cage, committing suicide.  But it all turned out to be peaceful. It seemed the cleverest humans liked peace.  And people went to school to study aliens.  As part of their graduation they had to design an alien. Top 100 were winners and copied, losers were dumped in the ocean or the wilderness.  Many winners were designed for specific climates on specific planets.

Other people received bizarre, crazy educations, like in Funko country.  Here people learned to be spontaneously bizarre.  They had many bizarre statements and philosophies and could go on being bizarre in new ways for days.

XXX

Aliens often played the “Love In,” in which they held hands in a circle and got a good vibe/MRT (mind reading technology).  The alien leadership told cyborg humans to love others and try to be happy. And they encouraged digital humans to do it, but most people had so many dark secrets that they were afraid of MRT. But they got used to it.  In any case cyborg humans could only multitask with 3 others. Four was chaos.

And they taught humans to be one with the Universe…

I wondered if I didn’t have millions of spirits in me.

On Earth humans now put all government actions to a referendum. For example, did they want the aliens or not.  But the majority of 80% voted in favor of the aliens.  But most figured it had been rigged.

And if they were influenced by the aliens in their heads, so might it be.

But many said it was a violation of a basic human right, for privacy. And MRT was nothing more than mind rape.

XXX

So finally, Earth was a cosmopolitan mixture of new and old races.

Still there were some who claimed we were just dreams of the Super Computers.

XXX THE ALIENS LEAVE, NARRATIVE CONTINUED BY QUEEN CEATRIX

And then one day all the aliens disappeared taking all those who were part or full alien with them.  They left their gold behind them.  Cyborg humans were all stunned and shocked and didn’t know what to do.  But I, a Queen, Ceatrix, arose to power and said henceforth people would mostly work on the farms or in the service industry a total of 8 h/week.  The rest of the time they would be free.  The aliens had taken away our automated systems and so things didn’t run smoothly… But most of the humans however, figured it was an inspirational fresh start. And we had no idea where the aliens went. 

The last words they said it was an ultimate democracy here on Earth. And they were finished here.  God was dead. The humans didn’t need any more help.

So, 100 aliens and 100 part aliens had all gone on 3 space ships.

And their Super Brain purple towers were all vaporized, leaving behind their huge stock of gold.

But they left us with MRT (mind reading technology) and eternal youth and the space drive at 25 light years per year.  It seemed space was our oyster.

And everyone’s brain was working at 100% efficiency. 

And we were now using MRT for everyone to get into everybody else’s heads.  And everyone felt loved and part of the group. It was paradise.

And people were no longer so selfish and less empty. And even the evil ones came around to be nice people through MRT. If necessary, they would be sent to rehab. Some said MRT was developed 80 years ago before the coming of the aliens. And the spies had used it to keep the peace. But no one was certain of what was going on!

In any case there was to be no more spies. Spies just saved dictators, or so we thought.

And we vowed there would be no war in space.

But there were some who begrudged the MRT, claiming they were not free.

But the aliens had insisted it be used in the general population.

Previously only the spies used it.  But it was time for the MRT to bring peace. It worked with every alien world…

And some others just wanted to live in oblivion.  If we took the drugs away, they would kill themselves.  But anyway, we banned neo-opiates and so many people became alcoholics or loved to be stoned all day.

No hiding form MRT.

And the aliens had left behind a temple of statues that could communicate with pilgrims via MRT and ask them questions.  Sometimes they gave enigmatic answers on questions like the meaning of life. Such as if you want to find meaning go to space.  And so on.

Everyone had to visit the temple if they were having mental problems which would be corrected by a zap of power.

Our best scholars were working on the warp space drive, here in the temple and used the books and instructions the aliens had left.

The temple was guarded by the best scholars who had laser guns. No one else on Earth had lasers.  So, it was pretty secure.

And everyone received “power credits” which gave them pleasure and power as a cyborg.

Material goods were frowned upon even though there was gold for everyone. And people were rich.

So, the aliens had left behind tons and tons of gold, so we were able to pay the people a nice salary even though they didn’t do much work…

XXX

So, we organized for space.  We put 500 hardy souls on each ship, with MRT so there was no leader, just a group. The groups decided everything by a vote, needing 2/3 majority in most cases.  There were no political parties now.

And there were 10 water planets within a 50-light-year double circumference of Earth.  And they turned out to be love worlds: the same on Earth: group love.

Some of the water planets needed to be terraformed and average temperatures varied from an average of 2 C to 55C. Most people opted for the golden mean, but anyone could get a berth on voyage to the 2 C planet.

Aliens policed the galaxies and we figured they were still watching humans, but allowing our evolution to take place as they saw fit.

And wise cyborg humans built an alien museum showing all things alien such as their different forms and their different thinking.

Many of the cyborg humans committed suicide and it was a great upheaval for mankind.

It was common to simply jump off a cliff suddenly without warning on MRT.

Some wanted to return to 500 years before, long before the aliens arrived, or so they thought. Others spoke of advancement.  Progress ended up triumphing.

And some wanted an enlightened dictator, but the vast majority were against that.

New scientists resolved to write books.  The aliens had left most of their scientific treatises with us.

Some said the aliens had left a world that was a freak show, but this didn’t trouble many.

Anyway, people spent a lot of time now in virtual reality.  Some wanted computer designed worlds. But people here wanted their own actors and writers for VR (virtual reality).  People would be given a script which they could feel free to interpret the role. And were given an appropriate costume. Everything from Aristophanes to Shakespeare to Glorious Austin to Edward of Toyne. And we rewarded good acting and writing with more important roles, but not everyone was pleased with the MRT/VR

“All the worlds a stage and we are merely cyborgs trying to get our kicks.”

People said we needed to give people a creative job to do.  And neo-opiates were banned.  Still some were drunk and stoned all day, refusing to participate in VR.

Anyway, after years on VR meanwhile scientists had perfected the warp space drive and we were ready to go.

Humans were a freak of nature. It could not be otherwise. Life is a giant circus with performers of all sorts. People wanted to be a freak.  A freak body and a freak mind. Geek=Freak.