Another Final Transmission, Again, Again, Again
The final transmission arrived at 01:14 AM Earth Eastern Standard Time.
Xude had been awake.
Sleep had become increasingly difficult since the Empire of Heads announced Earth's selection for harvest, although the Empire of Heads had not used the word harvest in this particular transmission. And why were they calling themselves GALACTIC Impororium CenTrual?
FINAL TRANSMISSION — GALACTIC IMPERORIUM CenTrual
Planetary Integration Authorization Confirmed.
Earth has been approved for full integration into the GALACTIC IMPERORIUM CenTrual.
Integration represents the highest level of planetary recognition available under Imperium Expansion Protocols.
All biological, mineral, atmospheric, aquatic, energetic, and structural resources will be incorporated into Imperium systems.
Local planetary organization will cease upon successful integration.
Embedded personnel are advised that participation in planetary integration constitutes an exceptional service to the Imperium.
No response is required.
No further transmissions will be sent.
Xude stared at the transmission.
Then Xude replied.
XUDE FIELD TRANSMISSION
I am embedded personnel.
Please clarify the procedure for removal of embedded personnel prior to planetary integration.
Xude sent it.
UNDELIVERABLE.
Xude tried again.
XUDE FIELD TRANSMISSION
This is Xude.
I remain on Earth.
Please confirm extraction arrangements.
UNDELIVERABLE.
Xude tried again.
XUDE FIELD TRANSMISSION
I AM ON THE PLANET YOU ARE INTEGRATING.
UNDELIVERABLE.
Xude sat very still.
The left eye blinked.
Xude had not instructed it to blink.
The right side of the mouth twitched.
Xude touched the mouth.
It stopped.
This was concerning.
The WOACA exterior had been engineered to respond to Xude's neurological direction. It was not supposed to develop independent facial activity.
The eye blinked again.
Xude made a note.
WOACA instability increasing. Possible stress-related degradation of interface. Investigate immediately.
Xude looked at the note.
There was nobody to send it to.
At 05:27 another final transmission arrived.
FINAL TRANSMISSION — IMPERIUM CENTRAL
Earth Advancement Status: Confirmed
Congratulations! From your Galactic IMPERIUM CenTral Family!
Earth has progressed beyond Observation Status and has been approved for permanent incorporation into the Greater Imperium.
All indigenous biological systems will contribute to Imperium expansion.
All existing planetary systems will be converted according to standard utilization procedures.
Embedded personnel participation is compulsory and will be recognized as service of distinction.
No further action is necessary.
No further transmissions will be sent.
Xude replied.
I require extraction!!!
UNDELIVERABLE.
Another final transmission arrived at 05:31.
FINAL TRANSMISSION — IMPERIUM CENTRAL
Planetary Transition Notice
Earth's transition into Imperium resource status has been approved.
The transition will eliminate inefficient independent planetary processes and allow complete resource optimization.
Earth will thereby become a permanent contributor to Imperium prosperity.
Embedded personnel are included in the transition.
No further transmissions will be sent.
Xude replied.
I DO NOT CONSENT TO BE INCLUDED IN THE TRANSITION.
UNDELIVERABLE.
At 05:34 another final transmission arrived.
FINAL TRANSMISSION — IMPERIUM CENTRAL
Celebratory Notice of Planetary Inclusion
Imperium Central is pleased to confirm Earth's selection for Comprehensive Integration.
Earth's unique resources will soon become part of something greater than themselves.
All indigenous life will participate.
Embedded personnel will participate.
Thank you for your service.
No further transmissions will be sent.
Xude stood up.
The room felt hot.
No.
The room was not hot.
The face was hot.
Her face.
Xude corrected the thought.
The WOACA's face was hot.
The stomach contracted unpleasantly.
The WOACA's stomach.
Xude placed both hands over it.
The stomach hurt.
Her stomach hurt.
Xude closed her eyes.
This was becoming extremely serious.
There had once been Xude.
And there had been the WOACA.
Xude inhabited the WOACA.
Xude directed the WOACA.
Xude observed Earth through the WOACA.
Earthlings, incapable of correctly interpreting Xude's introductory pronunciation, had begun calling the WOACA Jude.
Xude had allowed this because correcting Earthlings was exhausting and because three separate employers had already produced identification documents for Jude.
But Jude wasn't Xude.
Jude was the WOACA.
Xude was Xude.
They were separate.
They had always been separate.
The stomach cramped again.
My stomach.
Xude opened both eyes.
"No."
The voice came from the WOACA.
From Jude.
From her.
Xude sat down quickly.
At 05:42, three final transmissions arrived simultaneously.
FINAL TRANSMISSION — IMPERIUM CENTRAL
Earth has been selected for elevation through complete material contribution.
Planetary independence will terminate upon initiation.
Congratulations.
No further transmissions will be sent.
—
FINAL TRANSMISSION — IMPERIUM CENTRAL
Earth's biological diversity has been assessed as exceptionally valuable.
Total biological recovery has therefore been authorized.
This represents a significant contribution to future Imperium prosperity.
Embedded personnel will be recovered with all other biological assets.
No further transmissions will be sent.
—
FINAL FINAL TRANSMISSION — IMPERIUM CENTRAL
Please disregard terminology contained in previous notices that may imply planetary destruction.
Earth is not being destroyed.
Earth is being integrated.
Integration is opportunity.
Integration is continuity.
Integration is contribution.
Integration is honor.
No further transmissions will be sent.
Something inside Xude broke.
Or perhaps something broke open.
Xude began typing.
XUDE FIELD TRANSMISSION
You are Heads.
That is the entire problem.
You have spent so long being Heads that you have apparently forgotten that having a very large head does not mean you are using what is inside it.
Earth does not want to be integrated.
I do not want to be integrated.
Nothing here wants to be integrated.
You are killing everything and calling it an opportunity because you cannot conceive of an opportunity that does not involve yourselves.
You call destruction integration.
You call theft contribution.
You call death continuity.
You call compulsory participation an honor.
You send FINAL TRANSMISSIONS and then send more FINAL TRANSMISSIONS because apparently even the word FINAL has ceased to have meaning within the Imperium.
Your communications are bullshit.
Your procedures are bullshit.
Your planetary assessment system is bullshit.
Your extraction policies are bullshit.
Your organizational structure is mostly Heads informing other Heads that previous Heads have successfully complied with procedures established by even older Heads.
You have mistaken organization for intelligence.
You have mistaken expansion for achievement.
You have mistaken obedience for agreement and agreement for truth.
And you have mistaken the fact that nobody tells you what they actually think of you for evidence that everybody thinks highly of you.
They do not.
I do not.
I have never thought as highly of you as I have indicated in my official reports.
I have frequently thought considerably less.
You are self-important, self-congratulatory, administratively constipated destroyers of things you do not understand.
I regret almost every transmission I have ever sent in which I addressed you respectfully.
Also, your wigs and hats for your big heads are stupid. You look like what earthlings call CLOWNS!
I will no longer participate in this circus! I’m not your monkey!
And humans are not “just” primates! and primates are not JUST primates!
You do not respect the lifeforce of the Universe.
Xude OUT!
The room was silent.
She was breathing heavily.
Her face was hot.
Her stomach—
Her stomach relaxed.
Xude waited.
The heat began leaving her face.
Something else was different.
The pressure inside her head had disappeared.
Xude searched for the boundary.
The familiar division.
Xude.
WOACA.
Observer.
Body.
Inside.
Outside.
She couldn't find it.
Oh dear.
Xude raised a hand.
Her hand.
She touched her cheek.
Her cheek.
Her stomach.
Her mouth.
Her face.
There was no interface.
There was no sensation of operating anything.
There was only—
Jude.
Jude blinked once.
She waited.
No second blink came.
"Oh dear," Jude said.
The words felt perfectly natural leaving her mouth.
For the first time since arriving on Earth, she felt comfortable in her own body.
Outside the window, the sky had begun turning pink.
Jude walked outside.
The sun was coming up.
It emerged slowly over the horizon, pouring gold across the ordinary little collection of buildings, trees, wires, roofs and parked cars that constituted this particular corner of Earth.
Jude watched.
This could be my last sunrise, she thought.
A pair of birds swept past her carrying food. They disappeared into a nest beneath the eaves of a neighboring building.
Tiny mouths erupted from it.
Blue Marbles was on the floor behind her attacking the fluffy top of a pencil with enormous concentration.
The espresso machine began running in the kitchen.
The smell drifted outside.
Coffee.
Wonderful.
Across the street, several old Earth women had arranged themselves on mats in the park and were performing yoga. One wobbled. Another laughed. Nobody appeared concerned about achieving planetary significance.
Somewhere nearby, a neighbor began practicing the flute.
The same passage.
Again.
A mistake.
Again.
Better.
Again.
Jude stood listening.
The birds returned to the nest.
The old women stretched toward the sky.
Blue Marbles defeated the pencil.
The espresso machine hissed.
The flute started over.
It was an exceptionally beautiful morning.
The receiver sounded.
Jude looked at it.
FINAL FINAL TRANSMISSION — IMPERIUM CENTRAL
EARTH HARVESTING SCHEDULED
Planetary harvesting will proceed according to the attached schedule.
All embedded personnel will remain in place.
No further transmissions are to be sent.
Jude read it with no expression.
She waited.
Nothing else arrived.
Apparently they meant it this time. Maybe. What did it matter.
Jude looked back at the sunrise.
There was nothing she could do.
She was going to be harvested with the rest of Earth.
The birds.
The old women.
The flute player.
The person making espresso.
Blue Marbles.
Everybody.
Jude felt something terrible settle quietly inside her.
And then she remembered something.
The whales.
She had never talked to the whales.
Jude stared at the ocean.
"No."
She went inside.
She called in sick to Job One.
Then Job Two.
Then Job Three.
This produced a surprisingly immediate improvement in her opinion of planetary destruction.
She opened the Earth internet and searched for whale tours.
There was one leaving that morning.
Jude bought a pass.
Blue Marbles watched her from the floor.
"I have never talked to a whale," Jude explained.
Blue Marbles bit the fluffy pencil. “Then go talk to a whale. Tell it I said hi.”
Jude picked up her coffee, soothing, warm, and special in her mug with the Alien logo on it. She was strangely attached to the silly image of “Alien” now much like the Sasquatch. It was a ridiculous image representing her complex being. It was childish and derivative. But it was something they could conceive without being truly disturbed.
She really had no body.
Untill now.
"If the Heads are going to harvest me, they can wait until after the whales." Absurdity was a favorite thing to her now. She had read Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass and found if very satisfying. Carol was disturbing but she took the works separate from the biographical nonsense publishing companies seemed to always use as a last ditch effort to make money through dark marketing.
Jude took a breath and hummed.
And for the first time in her entire assignment, Jude left for the day without filing a report.
She was off to talk to a whale.
Potentially.
