The Being

A Story by b_for_bradley

How a being came about that has almost limitless perception, and the insights he shares. (There are no hidden messages... Just a story...)

There was much excitement at the ICD (International Center for Detection). For decades, work had been done on technology that could detect changes in any number of factors. From here, they would be used in any number of ways by an unimaginable number of applications.

The first project the center undertook was a sensor that could detect extreme amounts of radiation anywhere on the face of the earth, even if it was contained underground. The sensor had relay stations all over the Earth, particularly in Asia and North America, to make sure neither the USSR nor America was testing nuclear weapons. Because it was backed by the international community, many felt this sensor had effectively stopped the cold war from progressing to a dangerous point.

As time went on, things became more complex. Technology developed in the next hundred years was able to detect UV rays and weather patterns, and could give almost flawless weather reports for every part of the globe. Since scientist could understand natural process thoroughly, some research at the ICD became centered on weather control, and the center became much more than a place for detection. The limitations on human exploration were seemingly limitless, with the amount of power this afforded them not far behind.

Before the year 2150, the ICD developed intrusive technology, capable to keeping track of every human being on earth. At this point, an international community saw the negative results possible and limited the areas of research that could be undertaken. Detection was one thing; but being able to act was another. Any research projects that would afford humans control over what they could see were rigorously scrutinized by a series of councils. If any significant amount of the councils disapproved the project, it would be cut off. Thus, humanity retained some of its privacy and autonomy from the ICD.

But on this particular day in 2391, scientists had combined the research of the past 400 years and developed a conscious being, capable of understanding almost every event that happened on earth at once. The amount of data it could process was phenomenal-it had a completely unified system of detection that put together a picture of the Earth as well as a considerable distance from the earth. It observed not only a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum and heat, but also gravitational fields, magnetic fields, and even information from neutrinos. The being could ideally do nothing based on this data except for respond as a normal person would-by commenting on the presence of immediate danger, such as an asteroid, or perhaps comment on the nature of the human mind. It could detect the actions of every human on earth, and was completely unbiased. There could be no predicting what it might say, but the whole world was anxious to know. The being could also walk and move just like a human. The only reason the international community backed the project was because of its lack of danger and curiosity as to its insights.

The being, which processed information by the use of neutrino flow, had been observing the world around it for months. Its conscious component was fully constructed, but wouldn’t be functional until powered. On this day, the being’s mind would come to grips with the world around it, and quite possibly lead humanity into a new age-an age driven by a remarkably human conscious, but one which perceived so much more.

Only an elite ICD research team was present for the event, but billions of others would experience it as it happened in their own homes. First, a headless, metallic body was brought out and laid on a table. Next, a head was brought out beside it. The head component contained the conscious, and the body the sensor and power supply. The whole world waited for the union of the two. A lab worker opened up a crevice on the neck portion of the torso. She then carefully put the head on, pressed a button which ultimately joined the two, and stood back.

After a short pause, the being opened its eyes and sat up on the table. It began to walk across the room, almost aimlessly, until one of the research team asked, “Well, what do you think?”

The being turned, walked towards the man, and stopped a few feet away. It looked down at its torso and opened up the protective covering. Inside was the information processing center, encased in a hard, clear cylinder. The being stared at it with a blank face.

“That’s your neutrino driven detection center, although I’m sure you already knew that,” the man said. “With it, you can see the whole world! Surely you already see things about humans that are unimaginable to us. The whole world is watching. Tell us, what lies ahead for humanity?”

The being still did not respond. Instead, it reached inside its torso, viscously tore out the detection center and power supply, and fell to the ground dead.