Author: Samuel Stapleton

For a long time, we have dreamed of finding our next home planet. And yes, we know the probability is that it’s out there already, but you see it’s finding them that’s the difficult part. I mean have you seen how big space is? No, you haven’t, because it’s literally, unimaginably big. Stupid big. So we came up with a better plan. We would build our next home planet.

It’s really not that complicated. Collect lots of debris and space gas containing the elemental composition you need. Do some mathematical simulations, ensure the initial bang will mimic a supernova, and then wait! The natural physical laws of the universe take care of the rest (as they tend to do in solar system formation). Then all that’s left is to, well, zoop the ingredients to an empty section of space and start the process. With a really big, bang. Bam, a nebula is born and a star or stars and other planets will form like clockwork. We’ve done it many times now.

Of course, we don’t have the time to wait around for them to form, but then again time is relative. A few superlight speed trips around the edge of the known universe and then bang, 10 billion years feels like a nap, and our solar system is done cooling!

We came back to a wonderful outcome this time. Incredibly ideal, even Goldilocks would be impressed. Everything had glued itself down into a nice little solar system. There was a main-sequence star, stable, good mass, a nice mix of terrestrial and jovian planets…with atmospheres (score – it’s more work if you have to make the planet’s atmosphere too) and some cute little moons to boot! We were ecstatic.

Only one problem. We came back just a little later than optimal. Honestly, we missed the perfect time window by about…15 million years or so. One blip. An iota. But in that little time span, a significant amount of life formed and advanced. The problem is that…they’re highly intelligent. An entire civilization. We’ve been watching them. And we honestly don’t know what to do. There’s almost 8 billion of them. We can’t wipe them out. That would be immoral. But we’re not sure they would accept us, and let us live along beside them. They are still so young and unaware.

We are running low on power, time, and materials. We could try the re-creation again. But this planet…it’s better than a dream. How can we possibly let it go and still save ourselves? This place they call Earth. Our next home. It’s almost a dream come true, if it weren’t for you.