Hakon started the day like any other: he rolled out of bed, washed his face, and went to the kitchen. Fully rested, he poured a glass of water and turned on the food synthesizer. As his nutrient-dense, savory meal was created, he took a step out to his balcony to breathe in some fresh air. It was autumn, but it hadn’t started getting cold yet. He could see the other homes and buildings, but none of these were large enough or close enough to cause much of a change in the horizon: he could see the ancient, smooth and grassy mountains in the distance. Birds were singing. A bell chimed, signalling that his food was ready.
Sitting down at his kitchen table, he ate a meal resembling chicken eggs cooked over easy with some toast and an apple. Of course, only the apple was a natural product. People hadn’t consumed real chicken eggs since the dark ages when people still ate flesh and crammed creatures into cages for food. Hakon couldn’t imagine such a time; he grew up around food synthesizers, and in his day-to-day life, fruit was the only source of food which people obtained outside of the synthesizers. It wasn’t that the synths couldn’t create fruit, it was just enjoyable to gather some fruit from the orchard now and then.
Fed, Hakon started to walk to his office. It was very nearby. He was greeted by nearly everyone he passed, and he greeted them as well. As he neared Cynthia’s Grub, he realized he had forgotten to bring any food with him. He stopped at the cafe.
“Forgot your lunch again, huh?” Cynthia greeted him.
“You know me too well,” he replied.
“Here, take this one. I had a feeling you’d be in, and synthesized one of your favorites: spicy noodles with mushrooms.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I owe you one!”
He had wanted to say more, as per usual. He had been developing quite the crush. But he didn’t want to bother her while she was working. He needed to get to work, anyway.
And soon, he was there. His office was fairly standard: a thick glass dome with an adjustable tint, a small couch, and a desk. He had a small refrigerator under his desk, but he chose to keep his lunch out in a sunny spot to keep it warm. He fired up his musical synthesizer and got to work.
“Work” perhaps wasn’t the best word for what Hakon and Cynthia were doing. It wasn’t as if any currency was being gained. Their society was primarily powered by the sun and wind, their daily necessities synthesized with the resulting electricity. Work was just a way for people to get out of their dwellings to pursue their interests. The format of “exchange” was a hold over from the dark ages. Proper etiquette dictated that one said “I owe you one!” when receiving an item from someone else. Only those interested in ancient history really understood that this was a holdover from when abundance first became common. The concept of owing someone something was actually quite foreign to most people, as it implied that needs weren’t always met by default. Most people didn’t enjoy thinking about such things.
Hakon passed the time the way he typically did. He tuned his oscillators, and then he started with some long, sustained drones with evolving textures. He always liked hearing things like that in the morning. After tweaking some filters and adding another harmonically related drone, he felt he had created something that others might enjoy listening to as well. His tapedeck was integrated into his music synthesizer, so he simply hit the record button. He enjoyed his lunch while listening to his new song unfold. Cynthia had made it just how he liked. He felt happy thinking about her. He thought to himself, “Maybe I should forget my lunch tomorrow, too. I’ll leave a bit early, and if she isn’t too busy, I’ll invite her out to dinner…”
Hakon was satisfied with the song he had made, and decided he was done with work for the day. He uploaded his tape to the Network, where anyone who was interested could make a copy of the tape to listen to. Outside of music and food making devices, the technology of the day wasn’t all that complex. They were just nice tools. He was feeling a bit more pensive than usual after work, so he found the stream that passed through town and followed it to the mountains until it started getting dark. He hadn’t been thinking of anything in particular, but was completely lost in thought. He found himself back at his little house, and unusually exhausted. He decided to forgo dinner and went to sleep. He was asleep almost as soon as he was in bed, and was dreaming almost as soon as he was asleep.
Hakon didn’t always remember his dreams. They usually just felt like little stories, and he often didn’t find much meaning in them. People in general paid a lot of attention to dreams, but also recognized that they weren’t always important. That night, Hakon had the strangest, most vivid dream he had ever had in his 34 years on Earth.
The dream began the same way most of his days did: but when he went to his balcony, three strange figures were sitting at a table, waiting for him. One of them looked vaguely human, but with long, pointy ears. The other two looked a bit more like insects, but had some humanoid features (they were apparently bipedal, for one thing). The human-looking one addressed him.
“I hope we have not alarmed you, Hakon.”
“Maybe just a little bit. Who are you?”
“Let me first say that you are currently asleep. This is a dream, and you have nothing to fear.”
“That kind of makes sense,” Hakon said. He was fairly open minded, and while it wasn’t unheard of for guests to make themselves at home without invitation, Hakon had never seen creatures like these before.
“We have a very important decision for you to make. You have noticed that we appear strange to you. That is because we are not creatures of this planet. My companions and I are all from different planets, very distant from yours. Many, many years ago, your people sought to find us. They sent complex devices into outer space. As you know, your ancestors lived very differently than you do now. In their age, the greatest danger to humanity was other humans.”
“Yes, I learned a little about this as a child. Apparently they would kill each other in competition over resources. I never really could understand why they would do that.”
“Your ancestors were plagued with destructive ideas. Do you know much of their power structure?”
“I know they burned some sort of noxious material for fuel, I think made from the corpses of long dead creatures…”
The beings laughed a bit, “No, not that sort of power. You must not be particularly interested in ancient history.”
“Not particularly. What do you mean? I think one of the things we have in common with our dark age ancestors is power.”
“You speak of power in terms of energy. The power I am speaking of is about control over resources and other people.”
“Oh, right. That was another thing that never really made sense to me. It seems mean and unnecessary.”
“Suffice to say that your ancestors came from a deeply unfair time. A small group wielded a lot of control over everyone else. They would bicker among each other and trick their populations into fighting. It was a terrible time.”
“Yes, I don’t really like thinking about it. It sounds like such a nasty way to live.”
“It was, and their nastiness is why they failed in their attempts to meet creatures such as myself. It is that their world is gone that we now reach out to you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. We have been monitoring this planet for a very long time. In your dark ages, there would have been individuals in charge, but in your day, no one wields ‘power’ and so there is no reason for us to pick anyone in particular to contact. You live in such a place that it is easy for us to contact you in this way. Had you fallen asleep later, we likely would not have met.”
“I see, I was in the right place at the right time, then?”
“Precisely. And now, we ask you for permission to visit your planet in physical manifestation. As wonderful as your life is now, contact with creatures such as myself can improve things. You could travel through space, meet different sorts of creatures, and experience unimagined wonders.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But it is solely up to you. Will you welcome creatures from the universe to your planet? As it is no longer a hostile place, your society is now welcome to benefit from the wisdom of many societies.”
“Um.”
“Do not answer right now. Think about what this means. We will see you once you have decided.”
And with those words, Hakon found himself in bed. It was morning. He was awake a bit earlier than usual.
*
The day started like any other: Hakon rolled out of bed, washed his face, and went to the kitchen. As his nutrient-dense, savory dish was synthesized, he stepped out onto his little balcony. This triggered his recollection of the dream. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
“Why did they choose me?” he thought. He remembered what the creatures had said, but it did not satisfy his curiosity. “Such a decision does not seem fair to leave to one person. Even if what they say can only be positive, what if that is just from my limited perspective? They said I must decide, but they did not say I could not seek advice.”
With that thought, he left without eating. He went straight to Cynthia’s Grub. Her cafe was not open yet, but Cynthia was awake and having her meal at a table outdoors (she lived in the same building as her cafe – Hakon only worked outside of his home because he enjoyed walking around town, especially walking past Cynthia’s Grub). “Hakon, are you alright? It’s early for you to pass by.”
“I’m actually not passing by; I came to talk to you,” he replied. Cynthia blushed. “I… had this dream.”
Cynthia listened attentively. When Hakon finished his story, Cynthia spoke. “I see, that’s a big decision.”
“Yes! I’m not particularly satisfied with the reason I was chosen.”
“It’s a compliment though, isn’t it? I mean, why not you?”
“What would you do?” Hakon asked her.
“I’d probably come ask you,” Cynthia laughed. “Yeah, it feels strange for one person to not just represent all people, but what about everything else on Earth?”
“Exactly! While I can at least consult other people, what about the birds? Would they be ok with this?”
“Right? What if a mosquito tries to bite one of these creatures and gets ill?”
“How like you to empathize with a mosquito,” Hakon said. He enjoyed how sweet she was.
“Fine, fine, what if dogs think they smell bad?” Cynthia laughed.
“Well, I think I have my answer, really,” Hakon said. “I simply cannot speak for the other creatures. And without their permission, I have no right to change this ecosystem in any way.”
“I think that is a good choice,” Cynthia said. “I suppose you will see them in another dream?”
“I guess so,” Hakon said. “…May I come tell you about it tomorrow morning?”
“Please do, Hakon. It is always a pleasure to see you.”
That evening, Hakon dreamed of the creatures again. He gave his answer.
The creature he had spoken with smiled in reply: “Humanity has passed our final test. You are correct, it would not be fair for one human to speak for all creatures of your planet. Your ancestors saw this planet as their property to destroy if they wished. You do not. However, I have not told you the entire story.”
“You see,” the creature continued, “your species is the last on this planet which we have asked this question. All of your fellow creatures were invited into our group even before your previous human dark age. They have never strayed from their purpose on this planet, that was a uniquely human problem. There is actually no purpose in us physically manifesting on your planet. My kind is not limited by such concepts as physicality. What you have done is taken down the barrier which keeps humanity out of this much larger society in the non-physical realms. Every human dreaming right now is in fact witnessing this moment. Humans will no longer be trapped on Earth in their dreams, and other beings are no longer prevented from interacting with humans. Welcome to the intergalactic fellowship!”