Looking Forward by Kenneth Jr. (snow like ashes .txt) 📗

“It appears that this planet that is signaling to us evolved a form of organic life millions of years ago.” Here the Director points to a large image that has appeared on the telescreen. It is just as Scott expected. The intelligent life on this distant planet has little in common with the human form that evolved on earth.

Cybernated Organisms

The Director continues, “These people, and because they’re intelligent beings we can call them people, gradually replaced the various components of their bodies with mechanisms that added enormously to their functional capacity. Instead of just using legs, they developed emission systems that permitted them to go up or down or to travel at speeds up to 200 kilometers per hour. “Instead of going through the relatively time-consuming processes of eating, digesting, assimilating, and eliminating, they worked out a closed-cycle system that permitted them to operate from radiant cosmic energy. Their desire to extend their life-spans to thousands of years led them to replace the fragile parts of their bodies with mechanical parts. In the event of a rare malfunction, the mechanism repairs itself in microseconds by electroforming a duplicate part, just as a human body repairs a wound by growing new cells. With their bodies replaced by mechanical structures, these beings became almost ageless and indestructible. They could communicate thousands of times faster than previously. They have multiple extensors that are tireless and can manipulate objects far more effectively than their original arms.

“I am sure some of you are wondering whether these cybernated organisms—let’s just call them cyborgs—live a pleasureless and joyless existence. This does not appear to be the case. These cyborgs can have any feelings or experiences they desire simply by sending electronic signals into their brains.”

Scott knows that the mental experience coming from electrical inputs cannot be distinguished from signals that are sent to our brains by our own senses. Scott’s associates had already produced a recording that was transmitted directly to the brain. The result was a complete sensation of seeing beautiful sunsets, of having a sexual climax, and of savoring the most exotic foods.

“The cyborgs have produced recorded input stimuli to give any desired sensation. They have indicated that their mechanical experiences are far more intense than they used to be,” the Director says. “They can turn up the power of the inputs that they find particularly pleasurable. Here are some of the three-dimensional teleprojections we have picked up.”

Scott looks at the large screen. He sees cyborgs moving at high speeds through the air. They dive into the water and travel rapidly a few feet above the bottom of a distant planetary sea. The teleprojection now shows a progression of different types of cyborgs. Some have solid state or fluid state thinking mechanisms. As this far-off civilization acquired more and more experience along this line, they created mechanical bodies and brains with greater flexibility. Scott is reminded of the annual model change that car manufacturers were so fond of during the previous century. A brain might be “born again” with an up-to-the-minute design as often as it desired. What fantastic new dimensions this could offer to existence!

Expedition to Outer Space

“This initial contact with intelligent beings in outer space,” continues the Director, “has made us revise our schedules for space exploration. We want to establish personal contact as soon as possible with this distant civilization. Even if we had a space ship that could travel at the speed of light, it would still take twenty-six years to get there. As you know, the fastest space ship we now have available was designed to operate at a speed of 67,000,000 miles per hour, which is only one-tenth the speed of light. We’ve got a long way to go. I want plans drawn up within the next thirty days for gaseous nuclear reactor craft that can come within 90 per cent of the speed of light. We can use some of the spare capacity of Corcen in working this out.

“Einstein’s theory of relativity indicates that when a spaceship travels around 90 per cent of the speed of light, time passes only about half as fast as it does on earth. Thus, our personnel will age only about fourteen and one-half years on a twenty-nine year journey at this speed. Everything aboard will seem normal, and this slowing of the clock will be noticed only after they return to earth. When we get our spaceships to travel within one-half of 1 percent of the speed of light, a year in space will produce the aging of about a month on earth. When our crew returns after a long voyage in space, any member will be considerably younger than, for example, an identical twin who remains on earth! We’ll probably have little trouble getting volunteers,” the Director says with a wry smile.

“We must make decisions soon regarding the life support systems. To be on the safe side, we should carry sufficient food and energy to last for a century. We must give thought to the type of personnel that will be best adapted for this trip. Should we attempt to arrest electronically most of the personnel aboard so that their bodies will not be subject to wear or deterioration during the time it will take them to get to this planet? To what extent should their human organs be replaced by the improved mechanical substitutes we now have available? Some of you may know that my heart and kidneys wore out about twenty years ago, and for the last two decades I’ve been living with a mechanical heart and kidney setup.” At this point he taps his chest several times.

“I’ve never felt better, and they function perfectly. I believe if I were going on this voyage (at this point he looks a bit wistful), I would be better equipped because of my mechanical heart and kidneys. All medical teams here (Scott listens very carefully at this point) should be prepared within several months to give