Second contact, or instead of an epilogue

After the first contact , I was left with a sense of some understatement and a continuation was born, or rather, the end of the story. Unfortunately, without the first part, it will be difficult to understand, fortunately, it is quite short. Enjoy reading.

- ... Your new home is almost ready.

- Why did not agree? - Greg did not raise his voice; it was rarely seen at all that he was unhappy. But now everyone could say with certainty - the captain was in a frenzy.
- The plan was developed in close cooperation with our team of AI psychologists, captain. And they are very well versed in the human psyche and recommended this option. In addition, they are responsible for deciding on the need for coordination, and there was no signal from them. Confrontation with the local was not avoided, and in this situation, this is the softest decision for you, believe me. In addition, the genocide of the local reasonable population was approved as one of the possible options for colonization.
- Cancel the preparation of the second stage, and that, without coordination with me, no action in this direction was not! Genocide was considered, but only in the case of a serious threat to us and the impossibility of reaching an agreement. And we had a well-established dialogue. We cannot build a new house on the bones of the previous owners, who let us into it.
- Well, captain, no action on the second stage of the final stage without coordination. But do not be fooled by their courtesy and hospitality.
- Explain, - Greg slowly took himself in hand.
“Their courtesy during contacts is based solely on their need to recognize us.” We knew quite a bit about them, since I collected information as we approached. But they knew practically nothing about us. Of course, they scanned the ship and found out something. But these are just crumbs. It was very important for them to close the gap. To understand who we are, why we came from, what technologies we own, our biology, the way we communicate - all that will help us in the event of a conflict. And the more interaction, the more you can gather information. They longed for us to descend, Captain, but not at all from hospitality.
- You want to say courtesy - this is just a dramatization? ..
- To a greater degree. Of course, basically, people who wanted this were picked up for contact, so perhaps they were even genuinely friendly. But the main goal was to learn about us as much as possible. And I would never provide them with such an excellent source of data as direct contact, I would find another way. But, as I mentioned, problems have arisen with biology. The autonomous reconnaissance mission did not bring the desired results, and we also faced a shortage of information.
- And then you decided to play the play with the first contact? - Greg came to his senses.
- This is not a spectacle, captain. During contact, several alternative plans were developed simultaneously. But the main two are viral and diplomatic. And the contact script was developed taking into account all the proposed options.
- So it means there was a diplomatic option?
- I lost a lot of simulations, captain. There was a diplomatic way, but with the best possible course of events, he gave us a vague hope of getting a result only after several decades. Prior to this, life is actually on the reservation, with a restriction of reproduction or even with a complete ban on having children. They will allow us to live, since our planet is dying, but to multiply and colonize their planet - no. Even if a diplomatic miracle happens, and we manage to create our own small state, there is a high risk that it will be destroyed in one of their endless wars in the struggle for spheres of influence. And, most likely, with the complete genocide of you people. In addition, in any diplomatic scenario, one wrong step almost always leads to open conflict. And then the end of diplomacy. An ideal scenario is possible with the same probability as it is possible to pass through a wheat field without hitting a single spikelet.
- Is it too dark scenarios?
- They quickly realized that in the case of our resettlement here, sooner or later the question of the division of the planet will certainly arise. Their xenophobia is still too strong. They are constantly at war with each other. But what does it mean to settle beings from another planet at home? They will have to give us part of the territory. We must have the right to vote in their general government. We have a ship with an unknown functionality in orbit. We have unknown technologies. Plus, our artificial reproduction system is able to inhabit this planet for a couple of hundred years. If all this is put together, it becomes obvious that diplomacy has very few prospects.
- But, by the way, we promised to generously share technologies.
- This also did not mislead them. I think they understood that we would not give them any technologies that would give them a military advantage.
- In any case, they did not show aggression. One could spend more time studying and analyzing their behavior. Perhaps the diplomatic way would get a chance with new data.
- No, the captain. Yesterday I was able to obtain information that a tough scenario of breaking off relations was being prepared. The chosen strategy is simple and effective. They were going to kill half of the people on the planet, and seize the other half for research and experimentation. And destroy everything that descends to the planet from the ship. Their technology is not enough to attack our ship in orbit, but on the planet they are capable of causing damage. And given their superior strength, the plan was quite feasible. In fact, they would have besieged us on their own ship. Even if we were able to circle for so long, they hoped over time to develop technologies to destroy us in orbit.
- But why are they active now? Did they find out about us?
- Rather, the captain - they were afraid that we will learn something. They began to guess that we, too, descended for information and, perhaps, guessed about the virus. I intercepted the discussion of plans against all sorts of threats from our side, but recently the biological one prevailed in the reports. They understood that they urgently need to restrict our access to information. However, it was too late: I found out everything I needed to develop a virus.
“And why did they think that we simply would not shoot them all from orbit? ..
- No reason, captain. They don't know that. And if we can - they are finished, but if not, they have a chance, and therefore an incentive to fight. And the plan had a low probability of success, but still this is quite good for their level of development. An emergency evacuation to the ship was needed, until they pulled back. Naturally, I had an emergency evacuation plan after the attack, but I managed to resolve the issue without it.
Greg remained calm, but it was evident that he was not easy:
“Well, maybe now we no longer need to kill them.” After such a strike, we will emerge from a position of strength and will be able to impose our own conditions of living together on the planet.
- Captain, according to my estimates, we have destroyed about 97% of the population. - if someone had 200 acquaintances, there were only 6. Hate to us will be passed on from generation to generation. Hardly they can seriously harm us - this is true. But, I fear, peaceful coexistence is no longer possible. The best thing we can do is reserve for the locals. There it will be possible to drive excursions - something like a safari. But it will be a very sad safari. We are now fighting for survival - these are hard times, and we are going to take severe measures. But should these future generations of colonialists be burdened with this?
Dean did not believe his ears:
- Greg, you do not go for it? Captain?
Greg sat motionless. It seemed to him that the darkness was spreading from within, and would soon swallow him completely. He thought a lot about the first contact both in flight and during preparation. Moreover, he often mentally debated with Phoenix, and such dialogues scrolled in his head more than once or twice. When Phoenix fired rockets, he didn't get angry at the AI. He went berserk because all the darkest scenarios that painted his imagination suddenly became a reality. And this piece of iron collected them on the ship “in order not to injure much”. Ridiculous. He knew almost verbatim that he would answer the AI, but he continued to ask and ask questions, in the hope that Phoenix would give something extraordinary, find some tricky way to do everything ... well. But the questions were over, but there were no cunning ways.
- Phoenix.
- Yes captain.
Greg was silent. It was heard the breath of every person on the bridge. Everyone understood that there was no choice, and everyone was sick. But each slightly warmed with a craven joy — it was not for him to say it out loud. Everyone except Greg.
- Start the preparation of the second stage.

Zhenya Belik
CC BY-ND