Fermi’s Flaw
“The report is in order then?”
“No.”
“What is the delay? Inputs are needed.”
“I don’t understand the rush. A final decision is not needed for years.”
Armand sat down, slumped into the chair across from Harold. He shifted in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position. Harold was being a pain. Gumming up the works.
“Harold, you know that you are only a small part of the process. It needs to continue to move forward. And you know as well as any that a delay in any one of the parts can cause problems later. Problems very far down the line that we can’t yet see.”
“We each perform our function for the efficiency of the machine.”
Armand smiled. “Yes Harold. For the efficiency of the machine. Now what is the hold up here.”
“It’s not a typical situation. There are no precedents, and while the situation was identified, it was never given due consideration due to the extremely low probability.”
Armand leaned forward, “You realize that’s why you are so important in this?”
“Well it hardly makes it easier.” Harold looked around his own office, examining the room. Avoiding Armand’s gaze. “Well, can you tell me how it happened?”
“How it happened is not for you to know. It may influence your decision.”
“Will you tell me after my report is filed?” Armand nodded. “Very well. It has been long understood that for a species to span the gap, to traverse the voids between solar systems, it must reach a certain level of sophistication…”
“Harold, there’s no need to…”
“Damn it!” Harold’s voice quivered as he pounded the desk, “This is no small task I’ve been assigned. I may be a small part of the machine but this is no small task. So if I’m going to do what I’ve been asked to do, you can at least let me do it with some dignity. Do you know what I’ve been asked?”
Armand nodded, eyes wide and tense.
“I’m sorry for the outburst of emotion. These are extraordinary times.” Harold continued. “The level of sophistication of economies, political systems, and ideologies that would enable a species to develop the technology to traverse the voids also allows the species to operate as a peaceful participant in the galaxy. A species at war with itself has no time to cross the void, so war must be made obsolete. A species without true equity among its peoples will not be able to gather the resources necessary. A species without a respect for long time will lack the patience needed for the journey. Our species developed the machine, of which we are all a part. Our galactic partners have developed their own mechanisms as diverse as they are.
“It is this level of sophistication which allows the galaxy to exist in peace. Because the technology to destroy always outstrips the technology to protect, this peace is vital and necessary. And it allows primitive species to remain in the dark, sheltered until they too have reached that level of sophistication.”
Harold looked to Armand. “Harold, I need your decision first.”
“Destroy them. I filed the report just before you arrived.”
“Very well.” Armand attempted to adopt Harold’s same bravado. “And yet what we took to be true, has been proven incorrect. A species, still war-like and immature, is on the verge of traversing the voids. Once they have spread to two systems, they will spread to four, then eight, and so on. They will consume the galaxy, with the tools of destruction but not the sophistication required to wield them responsibly. And so they will be destroyed for the preservation of all others.
“Long thought impossible. Even so, we observed their early development. The development of nuclear weapons was signaled by their immediate use. But the species managed to avert annihilation not through sophistication but expansion. Very rarely will a solar system have two planets habitable by the resident species. The system in question has four. So the species spread and grew without having to face the challenge of true scarcity. Still warring and fractious, they now build the tools needed to traverse the void.”
Armand stood. “To preserve the peace of countless, the galactic union has decided, unanimously…”
“Unanimously? So I was the last.”
“Unanimously decided to annihilate the primitive species. The Human Machine submitted the final vote, and as such will carry out the sentence.”
Armand walked to the office door, and turned back before leaving, “I’m sorry that it came down to you Harold. But remember, it was the machine’s decision, you just performed your function and…”
“We each perform our function for the efficiency of the machine.”