Observer #19

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night a candle burned in the window. Pushing away from the circular lens, Observer #19 slowly massages his temples. The night shift at the observation deck has always taken a toll on him, and he feels the onset of a migraine. As his fingers move from his temple to the base of his eye, he flinches. The permanent spherical bruise around his right eye always stings as he reaches the end of his shift. It’s one of the disadvantages of being an Observer; the long hours, the boredom and the unavoidable bruise caused by the telescope lens. But tonight is not like all the nights before. He is certain of what he saw, a candle burning in the previously lifeless environment. Observer #19 knows it isn’t possible, it's been at least a decade since the last known movement on Planet EBeta.23.

He now remains as the last night shift observer in his observation deck. As time went by, and the probability that anyone from EBeta.23 had survived what Earth had dubbed the “Great Annihilation” reached zero, the Observers progressively left to find other, more stable jobs. In time, the observation decks were deserted, and Observer #19 remained as one of the last.

Placing his eye back onto the small lens of the most powerful telescope developed by mankind, Observer #19 is faced with the same scene he witnessed a couple minutes prior. A small candle in the window flickering on and off at an irregular pace. #19 is dumbfounded, is it possible that someone survived the Great Annihilation and is still living? He shivers as he imagines what it must be to live there. Even if he is one light year away from planet EBeta.23, the thought chills him. Being an Observer doesn’t mean he agreed with how Earth’s Global Committee had imposed the strategic depopulation of Earth in 2148.

It had now been 20 years since the fateful day when seemingly out of the blue, a draconian measure had been imposed on the population. It was merely one year after the creation of Earth’s Global Committee, which was founded with the purpose of finding a fair and sustainable plan for improved living conditions throughout the world, that the committee announced what they had called a “strategic depopulation” of the Earth. It was initially believed that a call for volunteers would be made, but quickly, the measure took a more sinister turn. The committee had swiftly hired prominent economists to work out which group of people consumed the most resources and caused the bulk of the damage to Earth. Under a month after the measure was announced, the committee had agreed that prisoners across the world would be part of the 1st wave of depopulation, followed by the entirety of the US population. The economists had reached this consensus following the logic that “damage to the Earth” should be calculated by dividing the total pollution by the number of people in that population, and so, it was determined that the US damage level per individual significantly surpassed that of all other populations. Since US policies had also been on a backwards course for the past 130 years, they were deemed to be the perfect candidates to send to a new planet without technology or laws. So, it wasn’t two months after the depopulation announcement, that trains and planes brought distraught Americans proudly holding their red, white, and blue flags to their designated one-way space shuttles tasked to bring them to their final destination: planet EBeta.23. Shuttles were provided with only enough power to get to the destination, making it impossible for the deported population to return unless they discovered another type of fuel in their new home.

It had been in parallel to the chaos caused by the depopulation measures that scientists had rejoiced at the significant research breakthroughs that could be made by observing millions of people on a new planet. Being a controversial topic, a petition had been signed by the individuals deported to NOT observe them, but the Global Committee had ignored their pleas, which brought about the creation of the observation decks.

Since no one had ever set foot on EBeta.23, the environment had been determined to be approximately 90% similar to Earth. Since the planet was one light year away and the journey to EBeta.23 was calculated to be approximately one year within the LightSpace shuttles, it was only two years after the departure of the first ship for planet EBeta.23 that the telescopes began observing what had happened as the deported population arrived. What scientists had believed was “similar enough” to Earth, had turned out to be a grave mistake.

***

Earth Observation deck

Observer #19 sighs as he reaches over for the tablet lying next to his station. Flipping through the observation deck archives, he searches for the condensed summary of the Great Annihilation (2150-2155). He has seen it before, but today he needs to refresh his memory. Finding the training video, #19 presses play and leans back into his chair watching the footage come to life.

***

EBeta.23

Shortly after landing on EBeta.23, the deported population began to settle on their new land. After the first few months, small communities had begun popping up across the planet. Rustic cabins were built for shelter, and from what the Observers could tell, a productive society was progressively developing. Without access to internet or phones, these individuals had to revert to their more primitive instincts similar to the colonial years in the US.

It was one morning during what appeared to be the first day of summer on planet EBeta.23 that everything changed. Across the observation decks, Observers were glued to their lenses as they tried to make sense of what they were seeing. As if sprouting out of the earth, large grey like worms exited the dirt and waved in the warm morning air. Thousands, no, millions of these worm-like creatures appeared from beneath the ground in a matter of hours. It did not take long for biologists to categorize these creatures as: large parasites. Within a day, hundreds of thousands of people had been infected by these creatures who would burrow deep into their skin, causing them to immediately die. Slithering out of the corpses, the parasites would go on a hunt for other hosts.

The deaths caused by these parasites became cyclical, lasting only a couple days each year as summer began. As Planet EBeta.23 did not follow the same seasonal pattern as Earth, it was impossible for the inhabitants of EBeta.23 nor the scientists from Earth to determine the exact date of the sprouts. During the months after the first sprout, a compelling number of churches sprung up within all the communities as the inhabitants of the planet clung onto religion for protection. It was only during the second sprout that it became clear that the parasites had evolved. Burrowing into their hosts, the individuals no longer succumbed, but convulsed for hours before clumsily getting to their feet. Their skin would change to a dark grey colour and their jaws would loosen giving them an O shaped face which looked as if a permanent scream was being released. Their eyes no longer able to close, would progressively dry out. The parasites that had found proper hosts would be immune to the changing weather conditions. As the others disappeared back into the earth, the parasites burrowed deep would remain in their hosts. As time went by, the non-infected waged a war on the infected which caused casualties on both sides. No matter how hard the non-infected fighters tried, they could only kill the host and never the parasite. From Earth’s perspective, the population of EBeta.23 were fighting a doomed war. In time, the parasites evolved and a more symbiotic relationship between host and parasite developed. The infected appeared to retain most of their knowledge and skills, making their destruction increasingly difficult. It was five years after the first sprout that the Great Annihilation ended. It was concluded by the Observers that the parasites combined with the destructive effect of the war had eliminated the entirety of the population living on EBeta.23.

***

Earth Observation deck

Observer #19 can’t shake the growing dread as he places his eye back onto the lens. That damn candle is still flickering in the window. After watching the rhythmic blinking of the light for another moment, #19’s eyes widen. The pattern is irregular but repetitive. Reaching for his tablet he takes note of the sequence. He is now sure of it; this can only be Morse Code. The pattern recorded reads: -.-./---/--/../-./--.//…./---/--/.//. A sinister feeling overtakes him as he inputs the following words into the search bar of his tablet: Morse Code. Trembling, Observer #19 clutches his tablet as he decrypts the message sent. A small scream exists his mouth.

C O M I N G H O M E

-.-./---/--/../-./--.//…./---/--/.//

Placing his eye one last time on the lens, Observer #19 sees the candle flicker and turn off. EBeta.23’s moon is the only remaining light shining on the cabin. The moment of stillness is interrupted when #19 jumps back as he sees a figure moving in the window of the cabin. A creature with dark grey skin and a loose jaw forming an O looks back in his direction. For the first time in a decade, #19 can follow the figure as it exits the cabin. Almost immediately after departing from the wooden door, the creature disappears as if out of thin air. Observer #19 feels droplets of sweat begin trickling down his face. Maneuvering the telescope back and forth, it starts as one, two and then thousands. As if flickering on, the horrendous creatures that were extinct for what Earth believed to be a decade, appear before #19. Shock and realization sinks in as he understands that the symbiotic relationship between host and parasite had evolved to the point of invisibility. It had been a decade of evolution Earth had been oblivious to, and now #19 has just received this message deliberately sent to Earth, exactly one year ago; the same length of time it takes to make it back to Earth…

***

A deafening sound resonates in the observation deck. As #19 looks out the small window besides his station, hundreds of spaceships begin their descent back to Earth.