Life From Above

Next year, in 2025, you'll see the clouds above us suddenly lower down, down, down revealing a strange metallic ship or building on top of it. This strange UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) would hover over the city of New York, much like some scene from an alien invasion movie straight out of the cinema. For a solid month, this strange thing of a never before seen colour, would float above Manhattan like some watchful parent. Planes and helicopters would fly over it to inspect the metallic shape, none of them ever guessing what it truly was. Rumours were heard around the globe.

"Aliens!" Cried one, "it is God and his angels!" Cried another, "no this isn't either of those things, it's a government facility!" Some conspiracy theorists would argue. Whatever it was, nobody could truly determine as it looked unlike anything you've ever seen in any fantasy or sci-fi movie or book you've ever read or watched. It was a long cylinder shape, almost like that of a soda can, only thinner, with a bubbly texture that bumped up and down like a collection of waves across its whole body. Some speculated that the metal shape was alive, that it was some sort of bizarre creature neither flesh or blood, but entirely digital like some flying robot from space or perhaps another dimension. The colour of it was indescribable, unlike any shade that existed before the year 2025 began. It was neither bright or dull, not dark or light, but some other spectrum once believed impossible and unimaginable before this thing came into existence. Crissy became the name of its unusual colour, that hypnotised everyone who gazed upon it. The thing didn't look futuristic or ancient, it didn't have blue beams like some alien space ship, it had no lights to speak of, it seemed to just stay still in mid-air like gravity did not affect it. This thing was out of this world and simply did not abide by the natural law of physics. Somehow, unexplainably, it just existed without reason or purpose, it was just there. Nobody had seen it arrive, nobody had seen it move since it came down to Manhattan, it wasn't there and then suddenly it was there and that's all there was to it. The thing terrified many, yet was also beloved by others. Everyone watched their TVs like glue, as news constantly filmed the strange thing above Manhattan. Until the next month, a hole in the cylinder began to form. Everyone gasped, expecting their worst nightmares or wildest dreams. Several long, dancing limbs of the colour Crissy came out of it, looking like some octopus or jelly fish, perhaps even a spider. The Thing that emerged was simultaneously grotesque and beyond beauty. People were so stunned, the feelings of fear and wonder crossed paths, making them bewildered as they gazed upon this strange new creature that looked unlike anything any human on earth could've ever possibly imagined. It had a million eyes, twenty limbs of many different sizes and a smile that stretched upon its giant face. It was like a sphere with arms and legs, one that was also metallic and reflected every light that shined upon it. The Thing was strange and unusual, yet ultimately fascinating and attractive, but also horrifying and disgusting. Nobody could believe their eyes, then the strange Thing spoke; "hello humans." It began, but nobody replied, they were either too stunned or afraid of the Thing to reply, for the Thing's voice was unlike anything anyone had ever heard, it was somehow deep yet high, a mix of menace and kind.

"Do not be afraid." Its voice boomed loudly, but its mouth did not speak, almost like the Thing had broadcast Its thoughts into every living human on earth, "many millions of millenniums ago." The Thing grinned, surprising every literary scholar on earth, for it had used alliteration in its speech, "We created you." The Thing announced, "well, not just you, but the ground you walk on, the air you breath and the emotions you're all feeling right now. I know I must appear so alien, strange, wonderful, perhaps even frightening to so many of you out there. Maybe the government is even planning on attacking me!" The Thing's voice laughed, "but I assure you, We can dissolve your weapons and bombs without even thinking about it, if you so dare to press that button, Commander!"

Some of the people watching the Thing gasped, for that sounded like a threat.

"Don't worry!" The Thing pointed one of its single tentacles in the direction of scared humans, "We do not wish to destroy you. That is not Our purpose."

Nobody asked "what is?", but billions of earthlings thought it. The Thing could hear everyone's thoughts and so replied; "We want to share what We are..." The Thing replied, "some of you have built different religions around us, all of which believe in some higher power, a being that created the universe as you know it. We are here to announce that the God you've been seeking for all of these many millions of millenniums is We. We are the overseers of planet earth and so many more worlds, just like yours!"

Everyone imagined aliens from Mars, Venus and Jupiter.

"That's right!" The Thing replied, "We created all. The sun, the moon, the many, many stars and distant planets, the galaxy and all other alternate universes. It is all We. We made all and now Earthlings, We are here to share all."

"Do- do the other planets know of your existence!" A shy, nervous and terrified New Yorker dared to ask from down below in the crowded streets of Manhattan.

"No. You are the first." The Thing smiled down upon him, "the alien life you've imagined in all those sci-fi movies you made, yes We watched them, they were quite fun, are nothing like the advanced technological races you've depicted them as. We are aware of your many Alien invasion movies, We were worried you would think us no different than the space monsters you created. We worried you'd attack Us with battle tanks and jet fighters, forcing Us to destroy you, We do not wish to destroy what We created. In fact, We tried for many decades to make contact in the past and that is where rumours of UFO sightings have come from. That was Us."

"You say 'We', does that mean there are more of you?" The New Yorkers asked.

"Yes and No." The Thing laughed, "We are a collective, a mind of many different consciousnesses, your minds are singular, one brain per body. We are many living in one soul, We are the Collective of those transcended from life to death, your interpretations of afterlife is Us." Then everyone on earth heard the voices of their late loved ones, everyone's long gone grandparents reached out to their grand children, saying they were one with the Collective now and all souls would be soon. That to live as "We" was far better than any heaven depicted by any religion. That to be one was to be all. It sounded horrifying, but the Collective assured humanity it was in fact sweet and wonderful. Yet nobody liked the idea of sharing one huge, strange alien body.

"Well don't worry, most of you will live long lives..." The Thing frowned and it was an unsettling sight.

"Can we see the other aliens?" The same person who first spoke to the Collective asked.

"They are not as evolved as you are yet." The Thing explained, "life on other planets is merely bacteria and parasites."

"We will ever see alien life evolve past that stage in our lifetimes?"

"I'm afraid not, no... Unless We... Extend your life spans." The Thing looked scared, "no, forget that!"

"Wait you can make us live longer?!" A large crowd of humans cried.

"Yes, bu-"

"We don't want to die!" They screamed.

"It is part of life!" The Thing argued.

"We don't want to join you!"

"It is greater than heaven to be Us!" The Thing cried, genuinely looked depressed, but nobody on earth was afraid anymore.

"We want to live forever!"

"No you don't!"

"Yes We do!" The whole city of New York demanded, chanting, "we want to live forever!" Over and over again, since the Collective was made of human souls, it still felt pressure and anxiety, all living minds on earth screamed for eternal life and no matter how hard the Collective tried to warn them, they would not listen and as this overwhelming chant across the globe grew louder and louder, defeaningly so, the Collective was met with two choices. Destroy all life on earth to stop the screaming or grant their wish, despite how dangerous it would be for humankind. Collective did not want to destroy its creation, so it caved in.

"Fine!" It screamed and then a bright light like heaven on earth, beamed from within the long cylinder the Collective had first disembarked, it was a yellow fog that soon engulfed the whole planet and everyone breathed it in. Not just the humans, but all the animals and sea creatures on earth too, breathing in the air of eternal life. Eventually the fog faded, as quickly as it had first appeared. Everyone alive suddenly felt healthier, pensioners stood up from their death beds, danced and jumped for joy as they felt young and full of life again. The people of New York cheered louder than ever before, as they all felt rejuvenated and more awake than they thought possible! Men and women made love on the streets and all people on earth worshipped the Collective like he was the God of all Gods.

"Thank you!" They cried, kneeling before the Collective that was crying through its million eyes.

"I hope you all know how beautiful We all could've been!" It wept, using its many limbs to wipe away tears, "none of you will ever know what it is to be one. We are all one big happy family, but you humans, all living separately, you always argue and wage war against each other because you can't possibly understand your own individual struggles, emotions and problems. Don't you understand?! That being We, means We all know how We feel, We see all perspectives and never upset each other, that is why being one is superior, but that is something you'll never understand. We came to you far too early, We thought you would understand, but you screamed and screamed for eternal life and you think you'll enjoy it, because you'll never feel tired, old or weak. What happens when the earth gets overpopulated and nobody can die? What happens when the oxygen is all used up and nobody can breathe, but despite that, you'll never be able to move on to the afterlife with Us?! Don't come crying to We when you're floating in space, when the earth inevitably explodes, without air, begging for a death that will never come, because you were too ignorant to understand that death is essential to life!"

To the Collective's horror, humanity had not listened to a word of It's rant, as everyone in New York continued to dance and scream worship to the Collective, unable to hear his speech through the city wide party that raged beneath Collective's ship. The Collective would eventually climb back inside its cylinder ship and leave earth forever, crying hysterically in the cosmos of space, knowing It had doomed humanity to a fate far worse than death. It would take only a thousand years for humanity to realise the grave mistake they had made. However, not every human on earth actually wanted eternal life, there were a few small individuals who actually listened to the Collective, those who were looking forward to meeting their long lost loved ones in the afterlife. These people listened to the Collective's terrifying rant about immortality and those people were deeply traumatized by the whole experience, knowing the doomed fate of humanity without any hope of escape. Knowing that cruel truth, it was beyond any horror or agony imaginable.