She claimed the world’s population had simply disappeared. She did not regard the piles of powder as human remains; instead, she said she was irritated that dust was piling up, and cleaned whenever she could. She demonstrated with her vacuum cleaner and complained that no one took trash away any more. We told her that her life was at risk as the world’s automated systems were breaking down, and offered transport to the safety of Hub. She claimed to be perfectly happy to stay at home and watch her screenshows. We were only able to persuade her to come with us once we offered to bring along a collection of pre-recorded shows (along with her screenplayer), and made a promise to bring her back if the planet’s population returned.
While she may have been of great use to the expedition as a guide, we chose to abide by the protocols concerning the rescue of survivors and immediately made the return journey to Hub, with a view to placing her in psychiatric care once she clears quarantine.
5. Group
“We’ll follow a chain from person to person if we can,” I said. “That makes Kwame the next one to speak. Kwame, is that okay?”
“I am fine…” he said, although he didn’t look it.
“Do you want a drink?” asked Liss.
“Water. Please.”
Liss went to the fountain in the corner and drew a cup for him. “Here you go!” she said, holding it out for him like a present. He drank deeply, clutching the cup with trembling hands, then addressed the group.
“I would like to introduce you to Liss Li’Oul, who, like all of us, has survived the end of the world.”
“Well, it’s not really the end of the world, I mean it’s still there and everyone’s coming back,” she added with a smile.
“Yes. Well. Perhaps. Liss has told me she was quite ordinary, working at, as she calls it, a ‘nine to five’ job in a large city. She spoke of the tedium of the work and the stupidity of the people she worked with…”
“Oh, everyone says that, don’t they? Everyone says they work with, you know, idiots, but nobody really means it.”
“May I continue?”
“Oh, sorry!”
“She worked in what I believe was a recruitment agency, filtering applicants for jobs. Her world was more advanced than mine, and more fortunate. They seemed to live in peace with each other.”
Liss shrugged. “We’re just nice people!”
“Indeed. But nevertheless, all of them are gone. Liss reports that as she was working one day at a photocopier, she noticed a sudden silence. She found that every last person on her world had vanished without a trace. She searched, but could find no one. She still does not know what happened to them.
“Despite this, she is certain her people will return at some point in the future. I do not understand why she thinks this to be the case, but she is quite adamant on the matter.”
“Well, it’d be just like them to go away and leave me all alone,” said Liss. “It’s probably just a trick. They used to do this to me when I was at college! They’d sneak off and leave me in a bar or a park or something. It was really mean. But they always came back.”
“I do not wish to be unkind, but…” said Kwame, considering his words. But then he simply sighed. “I shall only add that after the event, she resumed her life as best she could, which was possible because the machines of the city continued to work after the disappearance of the inhabitants. She was found by an IU exploration team, and since then, she has been in psychiatric care. And that is all I can say about Liss Li’Oul.”
6. Pew
Hub Chronicle
HD y273.m11.w2.d5
05:32
Soo concealed extinction while IU provided assistance
IU intervention with the Soo species has been suspended after it emerged that the Soo concealed the progressive extinction of a second human species on their world.
The IU has been providing technological advice to the Soo in order to avert an environmental catastrophe, but only on condition that they protect the remaining members of the other species, known as Pu.
At time of contact with the IU, the Pu population had been reduced to less than ten thousand, the majority of whom were held as slaves. Despite objections from many IU member species, assistance was nevertheless given to the Soo, who instituted a breeding programme to rebuild Pu numbers.
Following representations made last week by the Soo delegation to the IU ahead of an inspection scheduled for next year, it is now known that the breeding programme was a complete failure, and that this was deliberately concealed for at least two decades. Widespread disease among Pu populations resulted in mass casualties and sterility.
Kast Khraghner, Contact Director of the IU Diplomatic Service, said: “We are of course deeply saddened by this extinction, and very alarmed by the failure of the Soo to protect a vulnerable human species under their care. It is too early to speculate on what might have been done to prevent this tragedy, but we will investigate fully and act appropriately to ensure this terrible event is not repeated.”
The two species share a common ancestor but evolved separately. Contact between them was minimal until early historic times, when they became mutually antagonistic. The Soo defeated and enslaved their rivals, breeding them into a slave race upon which their economy came to depend. With the development of steam technology, Pu were allowed to decline in numbers as machines could do much of the same work at lower cost. Some were repurposed as factory labourers, mechanics and domestic servants, but the majority were unsuitable for these tasks after millennia of selective breeding. An infusion of new slaves taken from wild populations near the Arctic only served to slow the decline of the species.
Hub Chronicle
Y273.m13.w1.d3
08:67
LATEST — Lone Pu survivor to be brought to Hub
In an apparent effort to mitigate IU sanctions, the Soo World Conference have offered to transfer a single Pu survivor to the care of the IU along with their full genetic records of the species. IU sources have indicated this will happen as early as next week.
The individual, whose anonymity is protected by law, is a 20 year old male who has spent most of his life in the Pu breeding programme after capture in the Arctic at the age of 6.
Following this latest revelation, Kast Khraghner said: “While this will not in any way influence our decision regarding further contact with the Soo, we welcome their new policy of honesty and co-operation, and will of course provide this young man with a home on Hub, full IU citizenship and any assistance he may require.” He refused to comment on using the genetic archives to reconstitute the Pu species.
7. Group
“Liss, I believe it’s your turn?” I said.
“Oh! Course! Yeah! Okay, um. I was talking to Pew. Is that how you say it?”
Pew looked depressed. “It doesn’t matter. Nobody ever pronounces it right.”
“Well, okay! So he’s called Pew. And that’s what his species is called as well. Isn’t that weird? He says all the Pews had the same first name. Pew! His real name’s Lee’un, so he’s really Pew Lee’un, but everyone calls him Pew. Are you sure you don’t mind?”