Exodus - 8. Week One: June 1st, 2030 Epilogue

Log June 1st 2030 0900 Hours, Co-Chief of Applied Sciences, Andrew Anderson-Carlson

Has anyone ever truly dreamed that they would be in a science fiction story?

I guess we are all in a science fiction story; as sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. In the last week I’ve done one of the most miraculous things in the universe; traveling to a distant place at speeds beyond the limits of human ingenuity. I’ve learned some of the greatest truths about knowledge and life. I’ve been pondering over everything that I have seen and everything yet to be revealed.

Yet, I’ve also bear witness to tragedy; two young men have lost their lives due to our human frailties and limitations. Another young woman will most likely bear the guilt of killing another human being for the rest of her life, if someone does not commit a similar act in order to provide “human justice” for her crime.

Arthur C. Clarke once said that “science fiction is an escape into reality”. We have real problems in this fleet; I wish we could be in a futuristic society like Star Trek, where human beings do not fight over petty issues like bigotry and intolerance. It just doesn’t work like that. Human beings are not going to stop hating each other overnight or solve all of our issues.

However, Ness has given me hope that humanity, or at least one part of our humanity, had achieved something closer to the science fiction utopias of my dreams. They weren’t perfect as I have learned of their practice of enslaving the homo sapiens of the era, but they were closer to achieving the goal than any other time in human history.

We must endeavor to learn through their mistakes and our mistakes; if knowledge through experience truly is the meaning of life, then we have much to learn. This journey isn’t just about reaching Cygnus; it is also about learning how to leave human nature and achieve an understanding of each other’s places in our lives and minds.