Wake-up Call: 2035
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Jameson went on to thank the dignitaries for their attentiveness throughout the day. She reiterated that comments and questions would be dealt with during the question session scheduled for the following day’s entire afternoon. This allayed prevailing concern that they would not be given suitable opportunity to contribute. They were then informed that the presentations and additional supporting material had been uploaded onto their complimentary Y-RAX tablets for their reference.
She reminded the dignitaries that, in accordance with the terms agreed upon when confirming their attendance of the summit, they were all to remain within the confines of the hotel for the full five day duration of the summit and that all outgoing communication from the hotel was forbidden. There were no complaints as they all now appreciated the extreme sensitivity regarding the summit’s subject and content, and that a leak could easily jeopardise global security.
It was exactly 5:00 p.m. when Day One of the summit was officially closed. The dignitaries stood slowly, stretched, and moved from the auditorium into the foyer area and restaurant. Most were caught up in fervent discussion, but some stood staring vacantly into space, trying to grasp the extent of information that they had seen. Others remained in their seats in the auditorium holding their heads in their hands, possibly from feelings of shame, hopelessness and fear.
The opinions of the dignitaries regarding the first day’s proceedings varied widely. Some were convinced outright as to the veracity of the information that they had been shown, while others questioned it. Some even went so far as to postulate conspiracy theories.
One thing in particular lurked in the back of all of their minds and that was President Jameson’s mention of the Supreme Beings’ Ultimatum. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good – but they would have to wait to find out.
From the Principals’ point of view, Day One had been a resounding success. It was obvious that the two sessions had made a profound impact on their audience and they could not have been more satisfied with the overall outcome. Many compliments were passed on for the presentations and accompanying information, and this was taken as a very positive sign for the remainder of the summit.
The Principals mingled with the dignitaries for a short time, to engage with them on a personal level and establish some sense of camaraderie. Although questions were asked of them, they reserved comment and kept the conversation light. After 20 minutes they reconvened in their private meeting room to have dinner, debrief on the day’s events and fine-tune their preparations for the following day.
Their meeting ended at 7:30 p.m. and straight thereafter they retired to their hotel suites.
7:00 a.m. Earth: Summit – Day 2 (Ultimatum Description)
Day Two’s morning session would be dedicated to the Ultimatum and be facilitated by the Chinese President.
It was anticipated to be the most challenging session of the summit, due to its highly contentious content. It would be instrumental in determining humanity’s fate and the onus was on the Principals to ensure maximum comprehension and minimal disruption.
This marked the day world leaders would learn that they were no longer only accountable to their citizens, their governments, their followers, their clienteles, themselves, or even their gods – but now also to the Galactic Federation. They would be informed of a new set of conditions under which the world would now have to be governed. Their mandates were about to experience a paradigm shift, and they would soon realise that nothing would ever be the same again.
Their responsibilities were also about to become far greater than they had ever imagined, especially considering what was at stake if the conditions and targets were not complied with. The modern lifestyles of people around the world would have to be moderated in almost every respect and it was up to the Chinese President to ensure that this brutal truth was strongly yet sensitively conveyed to the dignitaries.
Everyone was assembled on time and proceedings started at 7:00 a.m. exactly.
Zhuge shifted his notes and opened, “Good morning everyone. It was a long day yesterday and I must commend you all for your patience throughout. I will ask the same of you for today’s session since we shall be describing to you the Galacian Senate and the Ultimatum that President Jameson alluded to yesterday.”
He went on to describe the Senate’s structure and ballot, including the three options that were voted on. The dignitaries were incensed when they heard that humanity was just one vote away from ‘Total Threat Removal’, and angry outbursts reverberated around the auditorium.
One of the dignitaries shouted out, “That’s ludicrous, what right do they have coming here to tell us how to live our lives. This planet belongs to us … what we do here is none of their business. Who do they think they are?”
There were hollers of support for the comment from all sides. This was not a good sign especially since they were barely 20 minutes into the session.
President Zhuge called the summit to order. Once restored, he reiterated President Jameson’s assertion that the Supreme Beings sought only to secure the planet’s safe future. He went on to say that the Senate majority had, in a generous gesture of faith in our species, voted for ‘Suspended Threat Removal’, meaning that the human population would remain intact. However, as part of this option’s remedial action, humankind had been handed a survival lifeline in the form of an Ultimatum.
He stressed, “This Ultimatum has been given to us with the intent of preserving life on Earth. Without it, our planet will face certain environmental collapse, taking all of us with it. So we are actually very fortunate to have it and as crazy as this may sound … we should all be grateful for it.”
He elaborated, “This Ultimatum is a governing policy document that stipulates various conditions and targets. These have to be implemented and achieved within certain time periods if we are to have any chance of restoring our environment’s state of equilibrium. This Ultimatum declares in no uncertain terms, that we either fix the problems we have created through compliance, or face a steadily collapsing environment … and definite non-compliance correction by means of ‘external intervention’.”
The dignitaries looked around at one another in dread of what this ‘external intervention’ could be.
7:30 a.m. Earth: Summit – Day 2 (Ultimatum Description)
President Zhuge continued without pausing, “Without any further delay, I shall now run through the Ultimatum’s register of conditions and targets. You will notice that each condition covers a specific problem area that they envisage as high risk to our planet’s environmental stability. Some of the conditions must be implemented within just six months of our encounter, with the balance being fully implemented over the course of the next three years. Interim targets are stipulated in tandem with the conditions.”
He then initiated his Ultimatum presentation and projected it onto the overhead screen. He methodically ran through the Ultimatum’s conditions with direct reference to their respective environmental benefits. Some had higher degrees of environmental benefit than others and to these, he dedicated more time.
Even though he attempted to substantiate the conditions, many of the more controversial ones caused uproars of disapproval from the dignitaries. Some heads of state scoffed at the idea of incorporating such outrageous conditions into their constitutions and laws. Many of them would be in direct conflict with existing legislation and were thus immediately regarded as unrealistic. The body language of almost all the dignitaries echoed their negative sentiments.
President Zhuge pressed on ignoring the sporadic outbursts of discontent but when he addressed the population management conditions, a huge furore broke out. Even in spite of the resounding evidence supporting the fact that the human population explosion was directly related to the extent of environmental degradation, the dignitaries did not want to entertain the notion that population management had a place in any modern democratic society around the world.
The opposition was as fiercely vocal as it was disappointing. The Princi
pals questioned whether the dignitaries had taken full cognisance of the information conveyed to them the day before. It should have, at the very least, eased them into accepting that the Ultimatum had merit and was well intended.
At this point, the Chinese President surprised the entire summit by taking assertive control of the deteriorating situation.
He raised his voice in stern reprimand, “Enough! Stop this … every one of you! I want to emphasise that this Ultimatum is not a negotiable request: it is an unequivocal and definitive instruction received directly from an extra-terrestrial race far more advanced than our own. Our choice is very simple, we either comply, or we face immeasurable consequences. The sooner we all accept this simple fact, the better off we’ll be.
“You need to realise that your objections are of no use, since they cannot change anything. This is the way it is whether we like it or not. Now let me get on with this presentation without any further disruption because our time is short and the lives of every person and creature on this planet are fully dependent on us, right here and right now.”
The dignitaries were silenced by the Chinese President’s rebuke and order was immediately restored.
Zhuge took a few seconds to recompose himself before continuing, “I am fully aware that these Ultimatum conditions and their respective justifications extend far beyond the scope of current human thinking, policy and governance. However, you need to consider all of this in the context that this is our last, desperate attempt to bring this planet back from the brink of environmental collapse.
“We cannot overlook the fact that if this planet’s environment collapses, then it will take all of us humans with it and not just that, but all other living creatures that are only innocent bystanders in this absolute abomination. We have nowhere else to go in this galaxy. Earth is our only home and if we destroy it, then we are condemning ourselves and all other life that shares it, to a horrible death. That is a lot to risk for us to casually perpetuate our greedy and destructive exploits.
“It is time for us to deal with the problem that stands before us and not just kick the proverbial environmental can down the road. One last kick and the can will fly off the end of the road into the oblivion beyond. We need to appreciate that in the Supreme Beings’ eyes, all species have an equal right to life. It is a difficult reality for us to acknowledge, but to them, our intelligence doesn’t make us any more important than other supposedly less intelligent species. And it certainly doesn’t sanction our behaviour, or exempt us in any way from consequence.
“Despite our misguided belief that our intelligence makes us somewhat special, and deserving exceptional treatment and concessions – in the real Universe, this is certainly not the case. In the Supreme Beings’ opinion, and with so much at risk on our planet, they regard our species as expendable.”
There were looks of dismay in the audience.
Zhuge continued, “Everyone sitting here today is unreservedly concerned about the religious rift and fiscal cliff, but let me assure you, that we should all be far more concerned about the rapidly approaching environmental abyss. Humanity can survive religious conflict or a financial collapse, but we will not survive an environmental collapse. Thus, it is our obligation to move forward in solidarity as the world’s most influential assembly and take decisive action. Desperate times call for desperate measures and in our case, we have one very clear choice, to take immediate action in terms of the Ultimatum.
“Every moment spent thinking that this summit is outrageous, is valuable time wasted. I want you all to ask yourselves whether you are prepared to bet our planet’s future on not taking this seriously. Are you prepared to step back and deny our responsibility for this situation that has been left for so long to spiral out of control? How will we explain this to our families in 10 years’ time when our environment is falling apart around us and extinctions of the very species that make this world so wonderful, begin to surge exponentially? What will you tell them? Ask yourselves these tough questions to decide whether this summit and the Ultimatum are warranted.”
Zhuge’s words were piercing and the dignitaries shifted uncomfortably at the thought of having to answer these questions. His deliberate personalisation of the whole situation by mentioning families, had struck a chord with many of the dignitaries. Were they prepared to put their families’ lives and futures at risk by blatantly ignoring the obvious problem? Even if the problem wasn’t so obvious, could they risk ignoring it any longer? They were all starting to come to the same conclusion: ‘No’.
The one thing all 512 people in the auditorium had in common was that no one wanted the planet’s environment to fail. Most of them had children and grandchildren and the prospect of them suffering in the future as a result of current day recklessness, was unthinkable.
He continued, “To be totally honest, it is disgraceful that we could not deal with this precarious situation on our own accord and that we needed some extra-terrestrial race to motivate us into action. What is wrong with us? Why did we continue to disregard all the relevant and accurate environmental data that has been available to us for so long? Why were we incapable of taking action sooner?”
He raised his voice again, almost shouting, “We are the world’s most influential leadership and it is about time that we start behaving like it. We need to lead the people of this world down this challenging road of environmental restoration, with unyielding determination and confidence. If we, humanity’s ultimate leadership, are not fully committed to genuine reform, then how can we expect the rest of the world to be? It is up to each and every one of us sitting here today, to bring about the most important lifestyle reforms that are to be implemented in modern history. The responsibility is ours … and ours alone!”
An unnerving silence had engulfed the auditorium. The dignitaries were all taken aback by the powerful conviction behind the President’s tirade. They could feel a growing degree of remorse for humankind’s collective environmental destruction, and also an intensifying fear of the potential consequences that lay ahead. The lambasting had served its purpose.
9:30 a.m. Earth: Summit – Day 2 (Ultimatum Description)
President Zhuge recommenced with his presentation. “After carefully reviewing the Ultimatum’s register of conditions and targets, it is our opinion that every one of them is implementable and achievable. We will, however, need to broadly reassess our lifestyles and technologies in terms of their environmental impact. In many cases, where previously relegated environmentally friendly technologies exist, they must be resurrected from the doldrums of obsolescence as preferred technologies in the future.
“For instance, the comprehensive reinstitution of sailing ships for ocean travel and airships for air travel is specifically defined in the Ultimatum. This exemplifies the ‘contradictory’ need for us to look backwards in order to move forwards. Incredibly, many of our future solutions lie in the past. We need to revert back to basics to reduce both our pollution and consumption footprints. By reinstituting various relegated technologies of the past, and building on them, we can make great strides in the right direction. The evolution of windmills into wind turbines is a perfect case in point.
“Although contrary to current thinking, many defunct technologies should be regarded as superior to modern technologies, for one simple yet crucial reason … their environmental impact is significantly less. People may contend that it is impossible for us to go backwards but the removal of the Concorde from service serves as testament that we can. We must be prepared to further compromise the preciousness of time and speed, for environmental benefit.
Zhuge then described the remaining conditions and targets in the Ultimatum register. It was a powerful session and by the end of it the dignitaries were feeling more optimistic than they had before. There was growing belief that the implementation of the Ultimatum was at least theoretically possible, and that alone was regarded by the Principals as a great leap forward. They now needed to strengthen that belief.
President Zhuge went on to explain the full extent of consequence that human beings and infrastructure would be subjected to in the event of non-compliance. He detailed how external intervention, or ‘remediation’ as it was referred to in the Ultimatum, would correct compliance deviations and bring them back into line with the Ultimatum targets, as a minimum. He then raised his specific concern regarding non-compliance in the area of human population management and the Supreme Beings’ reference to potential ‘remedial threat removal’, with human beings being regarded as the threat.
Disorder immediately erupted across the audience but the Chinese President stood tall in the face of the chaos and again called for calm. The other Principals also gestured for calm.
He continued as the noise subsided, “Let me make it quite clear that if we don’t achieve the population targets set in the Ultimatum, the Galacian Senate will carry out this remedial threat removal, either selectively or totally, depending on the scale of our non-compliance. This is not something humanity can afford. Thus, we have only one option and that is for us to ensure absolute compliance with respect to population management.”
He paused briefly, then went on, “I understand that these external intervention measures are extremely harsh, but we must know that it is humankind alone that is compromising their objective of re-establishing the planet’s environmental equilibrium. They will do whatever needs to be done to achieve it, and if we human beings threaten this, then we will be dealt with. As I alluded to before, they will not hesitate to remove our single species to save millions of others … and I fear that we would do the same if we were in their exact position.”