A Light Reading of Black Death

CW: Plague reference (light gore)

Dear Rodent,

Greetings. I will not offer my name as is the norm in this mode of communication. I know it would be meaningless to you. I am attempting to write in the language and style of common human correspondence since it has been my pleasure to study the ancient history of your solar system and unfortunately have very little knowledge of your own kind and customs except for an awareness of your interest in humanity as the ‘firstborn’ of Earth, and the overlapping history you share. I assume from that interest that you will have translators available that surpass my own skill. Please forgive the mistakes I will inevitably make, and I hope that my meaning will travel, preserved and unchanged, the great distances between us.

I must add this is not intended solely for your educational enrichment, but for a matter I deem of the upmost importance and perhaps even urgent in your current state of affairs. I inform you now, that what I am about to do is prohibited and if found out could lead to profound consequences, not only for myself, but for you and your kind. I am convinced the situation is worth the risk. I hope that you agree with me and will forgive my presumption.

Firstly, I believe you may be unfamiliar with what I do and how it is done. In brief, I am what could be called a Light Reader. I am able, from a great number of lightyears away (in fact this distance is necessary), to parcel the information in light millions of years old as it reaches my lonely observatory in a void region. No doubt your astronomers have observed such holes in the heavens. By protocol I am prohibited from divulging the exact location of my whereabouts and in this case, will obey the prohibition. Forgive me. What I can tell you is that I receive and record this light over cosmic timespans and thus am able to observe exact and precise history millions of years after the events have taken place. My receiver has been focused on Earth exclusively and I have observed it’s story with obsessive fascination. Upon learning of your interest in the first species to gain intelligence on your planet, I felt I suddenly had in some way a connection with you, even all the way across the universe. This feeling has taken on greater meaning of late.

I trust you now see what it is I am offering, and believe that your interest will have been piqued. Of course, I am unable to share everything as it would take many of your lifetimes to learn just a small portion of human history, but I would like to share some select events I have carefully curated for your specific interest and pertaining to the specific matter which I alluded to above. These events will, I believe, not only satisfy some of the curiosity you have towards the elder race, but also clarify the role of your unenlightened ancestors in Earth’s ancient past. Perhaps, it may even unburden you and I hope inform your decisions regarding current events.

The first selection I bring to your attention is of a pandemic in the 1300’s that killed half the population of the eastern Atlantic continent known as Europe. Forgive my ignorance for modern geography. As I said, I know little of your current situation, my sight being perpetually focused on the distant past. At the time of the pandemic, which was called the Black Death, the cause of the plague was largely unknown. As human medicine and science developed beyond the primitive, it came to be believed that rats were the chief spreaders of this disease (I trust the use of the word “rat” is not insensitive or offensive in this case. I do not intend it so). The rats, carrying the plague, stole aboard trade-ships and spread into the cities. Thus your ancestors, already reviled and thrust away to the trash heaps of the world were blamed for the worst calamity in human history up to that point. Further study led to the discovery that it was in fact fleas riding on the rats that were carrying the disease, and that the fleas themselves were hosting a parasite.

Yersinia pestis, a death delivering bacteria had been the actual culprit all along. It was believed to have developed somewhere in Asia where it transferred, via flea, from this species of rodent to that, eventually landing on the black rats common to sea-faring vessels. The rats and the fleas played their part in this three-tiered system unwittingly, but it was the bacteria that was directly responsible. These new findings did little to sway the popular opinion. The damage had already been done. Watching humans these long eons, I have found they were quick to equate evil or calamity with what they deemed to be ugly, and were only very rarely able to see past it. But I hope you will not judge them too harshly. It was only their nature.

I have enclosed additional files on the Black Death for your perusal which go into great detail, but what I am about to tell you now was never known to any human historian. In fact, it is still somewhat a mystery to myself which was for a long time a source of great frustration. I believe, however, I have at last put together a convincing story that fits the facts available.

The first such fact and the one that caught my attention, was that certain events during the plague were obscured from my vision and the recordings of them, unusable. This was highly suspect as there were no natural phenomena occurring that would’ve obfuscated the data, and even if there were they would not have hidden such short, localized timespaces (I here refer to measurable amounts of time occurring in a specific space, or measurable spaces where time was observed to occur to a standard duration. See attached notes for further details). Rather they would’ve obscured an entire region of space and all the time occurring there. This meant that something unprecedented had taken place which did not follow my understanding of natural cycles, or somebeing had purposefully shielded these events. I gravitated towards the latter for many reasons that I will not elaborate on but which are covered in the attached files. This or these somebeings seemed to have targeted highly intelligent humans of the era, some of which are known to history, others totally unknown, and communicated and worked with these humans. As I said, exactly what they did was successfully hidden and I have only uncovered what I believe to be the truth by working backwards.

This brings me to the second historical selection I would like to present, which will simultaneously present additional facts toward my conclusions. In the early 3900’s the human race took a shocking and curious turn. The culmination of a secret, millennia spanning project was revealed in stages. It was a plan to bio-engineer humanity into their next phase of evolution, one wildly divergent from the path nature appeared to be taking. It was, in a way, the coming of age of a species. Humans, as a kind, at last growing past adolescence and taking responsibility for their future and what they were and would become. And what they would become was a hybrid compaction. Focused, conscious bacterial engineers. They developed a technology to allow them to integrate into and control bacteria from the inside out. More than just control, however, it was a fusing. A union of human consciousness with bacterial body. Again, the specific details are located in the appropriate notes, but you should understand that over a couple of centuries the entirety of humanity became human bacteria hybrids. Why would they choose such a thing and how did they get everyone to agree you might ask? Good questions.

The first one is not so obvious, but an informed view might say that they were attempting to upgrade. As you know, many bacteria are hardier, stronger, more versatile. They spread much more quickly and easily and can travel across the sterile expanses of space. The most compelling reason in this view, however, is that bacteria are virtually immortal. Putting aside the natural fear of death, a species with a nearly unlimited amount of time would eventually be unstoppable.

The second question, how did they get all of humanity to agree to this, is I believe quite simple to answer. They did not want to be left behind. It would’ve been similar to refusing magical powers and attempting to be relevant in a world where everyone around you took the powers. It would be almost impossible. Of course, there were certain groups that held out, but eventually they were alone and without the support and resources of the whole, the severed limbs died. You also may be imagining that the human experience completely changed in one fell swoop, but this is not the case. They were able to engineer much of the human perception of reality into the microbial world which allowed for a comfortable transition for most.

But where did homo-bacterium go? There is no way to deliver this news to you in an appropriate manner, so I will simply state it. In large part, humanity entered their increasingly intelligent stock of experimental rats. But this was not a random choice or a convenient place to hole up. They entered the brains of your ancestors for a specific purpose of which you now no doubt suspect. I imagine this may be a shock to you and the only thing I can offer by way of comfort, is that your species were already on their way to conscious intelligence. What homo-bacterium did was significantly speed that process along. No doubt they shaped in some ways the direction this intelligence took, but in large part they took great pains to simply catalyze the processes already happening. To explain why they chose to do this, I will use an excerpt from a wise leader of the time which they called a Shepherd. This Shepherd’s explanation was not the only reason or even the primary one when the decision was made, but in the long view it was what was most widely held to by most late stage humans. The following is a quote translated into the common English I have used for this letter:

“Why rats? Many would have you believe it is because they are our chosen experimental vessels and therefor perfect for the job. Others say it is because they already show the signs of moving towards consciousness. But these are not reasons. They are excuses. We have chosen the rat because it is our symbol of the ugly. The coarse, the crude, the disgusting. And we have in us an innate need to beautify. Well in this case why not give them cosmetics and plastics? Shapely breasts? Defined muscles? Colorful eyes and luxurious hair? Why not pluck and primp and pull the ugliness away and plaster the beauty on? Why not make them aesthetic? Because we have been down that road already. We know, deep down, that beauty cannot be contrived, but must be born through growth and pain from the inside out. So we endeavor to elevate art beyond the inorganic, and to create the environment where from the rat’s minds themselves, beauty might be birthed, and only then begin to take outward shape.”

Now you know why I believed this to be an urgent matter. I do not understand all of the cultural significance or the varied views on the upcoming Sterilization Protocol beyond the vaunted benefits. What I do understand, is that in exterminating the bacteria in your systems, you will also exterminate the descendants of the human race. I do not know why they have not contacted you themselves but it is possible at this late stage that they are no longer able to communicate with you and/or have no interest in preserving their lives. But I believe our earlier somebeings come back into play here. You see, when I looked back along the development of this technology, which I had not noticed until it became public, I suddenly found an answer to what had been going on in those hidden moments during the Black Death. It was an upgrade. An elevation. A handing down of power from the gods to man. The somebeings, I believe gave those of humanity whose minds were open enough the spark. The first piece with enough momentum to take them all the way to a future where they would be able to upgrade their whole species.

I can only speculate as to why, if these somebeings had benevolent intentions they decided to begin their work with the mass death of almost half of Europe, or why they did not choose to intervene in the disease itself. This peace of the puzzle has troubled me greatly but there is an answer. It seems that Yersinia pestis, the plague bacteria itself, was necessary in this process. I tracked the work the somebeings gave the humans to do and what it ultimately became. The details are highly technical, but in essence Yersinia pestis was vital for it’s ability as a parasite, to switch from aerobic production of ATP (cellular energy) to fermentation when necessary. Beyond that it becomes highly complex but what’s important to know is that these traits were required from the beginning for the work to get anywhere.

There is an additional item which troubles me. If these somebeings were so thorough in obscuring their activities during the Black Death in such a way as to only target myself specifically, why did they not obscure what the humans later did? Surely they knew I would see, and therefor what was the point in hiding their earlier actions? Did they leave? Were they simply not able to attend the completion of what they started? Or was it all a plan? I am unsure. Whatever the case may truly be, I feel that these beings simply did not desire to be identified, but knew that I would observe the fruit of their labor. I can therefor only conclude that they knew what I would do. They knew that I would report these findings to you and they knew the plea I would make. Namely, that you now halt the Sterilization Protocol. Find a way to communicate with homo-bacteria and choose harmony. I know, despite your fascination with them, rodents do not harbor love for ancient humanity. So, first of all, I can only beg that you choose a higher road than your tormentors initially chose and instead emulate their later actions which provided the rodent all that they now enjoy.

Secondly, there is of course a reason perhaps more immediate to you. Should you continue with your plans to sterilize, there is a very real chance that your intelligence, fed and cultivated by the human-bacterial hybrids, will regress dramatically. Of course this may not seem like a choice, should you look at the data and find that my theories are correct. I, however, have known of species which chose to die out or fall into obscurity and ruin rather than accept their enemies or surrender their pride. I do not know enough of your kind to make a judgement here, but hope that you will use the intelligence you have, however it came to you, to preserve your civilization, and thrive.

I cannot tell you what is right. Only what I selfishly hope. I look forward to seeing the rodent around for longer than I got to see humans. You see, for me, they are gone. Whatever they have become now, they are not the same. I see this in time more clearly than most. People and species believe they are the same as their past. After all they experience a continuity of feeling and consciousness but I see what they do not. I see the change. The tiniest and the largest different from one second to another, and from one eon to the next. A baby grows to an adult and to them they are the same person because they rode in the body all the way through. But I see the billion little morphs in-between each moment. The slight change between frames in the stop-motion universe. Even these letters and spaces making up the words and language and grammar you now read are separated into time-bound parcels. One letter follows the first and one word and sentence and so on. But you are only reading one at a time. Oh yes I’m quite aware we learn to read faster than the various vision apparatus’ perceive light. But it is still one step at a time. One word, or phrase. Each new word makes this a different communication than the one before. So humanity is gone for me. They went away admirably and that is beautiful, but I find that I want my friends back. I hope, selfishly, the rodents will not break my heart in a similar manner.

Yours,

The Light Reader

…

Dear Light Reader,

Greetings. We have received your encrypted message and reviewed the data.

You are correct. The human-bacteria hybrid civilization were indeed thriving in our brains. You are incorrect in assuming we were unaware. You will learn this for yourself in your distant future, but we have moved on once more. The bacteria were never the end goal nor are the rats now. We are wanderers. Perhaps, Light Reader, one day gazing upon your light, you will find that we have come, riding the particles and waves, to live in you.

Yours,

Homo-rattus