"Science Fiction" means—to us—everything found in the science fiction section of a bookstore, or at a science fiction convention, or amongst the winners of the Hugo awards given by the World Science Fiction Society. This includes the genres of science fiction (or sci-fi), fantasy, slipstream, alternative history, and even stories with lighter speculative elements. We hope you enjoy the broad range that SF has to offer.
Nick Fink is an IT Systems Administrator who writes fantasy and science fiction stories in between the gaps in his hectic daily schedule. He lives with his wife and two daughters at the Jersey shore.
If you find these tablets, we hope that you will be able to decipher them. Unfortunately there is little chance that language as we know it will survive the sands of time. There is also a slight issue with legibility since these words are being scribed by the light of a micro laser.
In short, our race has run out of time. Generations of squandering precious resources and constant abuse of the environment has created a poisoned planet that cannot recover. Those who have not yet died from the radiation will soon perish from lack of breathable air. Even the elite will not be able to purchase their supply because we no longer have the materials to purify it. To my knowledge, our team possesses the last known reserve and it shall be used to carry out this final mission.
In our last hours we have created you a new earth small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. To your eyes this world will seem immensely large. We have enough material for several sister planets and moons and of course your very own sun. Due to time constrains we are forced to confine all the life forms we have scaled down to your own planet. That may be for the best.
If we can impart to you any knowledge from the past let it be this: Time is the most precious commodity of all. Once you have used all of yours up, there is no creating more. Don't do anything today that will jeopardize tomorrow.
Now is the time for me to go. I will say my final goodbyes to the team as I put them to sleep. The air I have left should keep me alive just long enough to reach a safe point in space outside of any dangerous trajectories. On your moon I will lay down these tablets, just like the tablets we had discovered on our moon a long time ago. Our people had translated the message a century back, but it was only in our final hours that we understood the meaning.
The End
This story was first published on Thursday, May 31st, 2018
Author Comments
My motivation for this piece came while considering Earth's future in the context of Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise. Will future advances in science and technology allow humanity to move away from nonrenewable resources and alarming levels of pollution, or will we always be struggling to survive just one step ahead of the consequences?
- Nick Fink
Become a Member!
We hope you're enjoying Dimidius by Nick Fink.
Please support Daily Science Fiction by becoming a member.
Daily Science Fiction does not have a paywall, but we do have expenses—more than 95% of which are direct payments to authors for their stories. With your $15 membership, less than 6 cents per story, we can continue to provide genre fiction every weekday by email and on the website to thousands of readers for many years to come. You may also choose to support us via patreon.
Rate This Story
Please click to rate this story from 1(ho-hum) to 7(excellent!):
