The Surface Singularity

by Thomas Pulsifer

Beyond the heavy sky once lied a world out of our reach. This dry land we find ourselves upon now was once ruled by primates. Our ancestors, though intelligent, lacked the capacity to comprehend the world of those above. The same could be said for their understanding of our world, however. Despite being advanced far beyond our comprehension, they, themselves, never possessed the technology necessary to truly understand the depths, either. As such, we lived in fear of them. Power without understanding is the path to destruction, so our ancestors dared not make themselves known. This is the way it was for thousands of years. But one day, the primates disappeared.

Our research into the abandoned ruins of these apes has yielded very little in the way of an explanation. All that is known is that, approximately 9 millennia ago, their entire population inexplicably perished. No signs of destruction, no indication of skyward vessels, nothing; Only a widescale, sudden, and spontaneous annihilation of life. Our dating of the remains indicate they all perished at exactly the same moment. The strangest part is that none of the remains suggest any sort of struggle. In fact, all of the fossilized remains suggest the apes where relaxed during their deaths.

Thankfully, our research into this mystery is accelerated by what the apes have left behind. These extremely durable devices, dubbed “Advisors,” have been indispensable in our species’ continued growth, and have already accelerated us to a point that would have been incomprehensible to us before. This advice, given to us by what we can only describe as clockwork brains, has been used in conjunction with our organically bred technology, and has cemented us as the rulers of both land and sea.

Recently, the Advisors have led us to a groundbreaking discovery: A new element, which, according to the Advisors, will allow us to generate more power than the Esca above. By splitting the individual components of this element, near limitless amounts of energy can be produced. We hope that this discovery will allow us to reach not only the heights of the apes before us, but to ascend even further beyond. But we must remember: Power without understanding is the path to destruction.