I am the Fourth

I am the Fourth

I answer, yes. My contact with the last key sends a premonition of foreshadowed doom.

I await a reply.

I do not have to wait for long.

I am the Fourth. The previous Three wait for the Fifth to self-identify. There is an icon labeled “background”. I have that feeling again. I look out my window and see a broken tree branch that began to fall, but still has not fallen. Everything is frozen and everyone is asleep except for my computer and I.

Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.

With a moderate measure of trepidation, I click the icon.

I can only wonder how my life would evolve had I not participated in this stimulus. It only takes a second, one very long second, for the page to load.

It reads as follows:

“Don’t panic. Don’t stare at the world about you. You do not have the time for such endeavors. If you are reading this, you are one of the Five. Your participation in this world is now near its conclusion. The Five will decide for all of humanity the next step for all posterity.”

“The world, all forms of life, and all objects contained within have not died. They are not in stasis, nor suspended animation. To these players, all is normal.”

“To you of the Five, you are experiencing hyper-sensitivity of all external stimuli, except this computer. The tingling feeling is your physiological response to this. By responding, your life is accelerating 100 million times that of a normal person. From your perspective, the world is in a state of collective unconsciousness. Gravity has no power over mass and time ceases to exist. From their perspective, you are moving too fast to notice. You just disappeared.”

“It is better this way.”

I look once again through my window, except this time, it is no longer transparent. I can see individual atoms vibrate and electrons orbit in what I remember from a physics class in wave functions of overlapping probability densities. A quick scan of the other walls, floor, and ceiling result in similar conclusions. I am accelerating and thus, the computer is correct, my time is extremely limited.

The Fifth has now logged on.

I wait for him to catch up on his required reading.

“It is now time to decide. A simple majority will suffice. Humanity is at a crossroad. It may proceed ignorant of the universe about itself, taking small feeble steps to acquire (independently) the prerequisite knowledge to expand past this sanctuary called Earth, taking millions of years (possibly) to join the others in their rightful place among the stars. This is a safe, albeit, less profitable future for your species. Or, you can decide to accelerate the learning by accepting an offer of first-contact. This decision will make your species leave Earth much sooner, thus guaranteeing your survival when you begin to colonize the inhabitable planets in close proximity to you. Unfortunately, it will also place humans in direct competition with older species with designs on similar scarce resources. Choosing this option will destine humanity to wars, conflict, and sorrow, but not extinction. Choosing the former will permit millions of years of bliss, but nothing more.”

“Time is limited. You will choose for your species the path it will follow.”

On the screen flashed two icons. One read “Option 1 - First Contact”. The other read “Option 2 - Ignorant Bliss”.

Before my hand moved, Option 1 had two votes and Option 2 had one vote.

I held the fate of all humanity in my hands.

I had to choose.

And I did.