Acknowledgement

November 17, 2306

President’s Main Office (Oval Office)

The oval room had been moved timber by timber from Washington, D.C. to Moon Base Gamma. It was required when he moved the center of government from New York to the Moon. It was constructed fully within a large sealed room but made to look as if it were open to the outside. The population of humanity saw this room as a symbol from before the dictatorship of the Terra Firma Empire. The room was mostly empty, tonight needed space. A small crew of camera people and reporters clustered in the center of the room, testing equipment. President Tim Li was consulting his senior staff, near the Resolute Desk, and a small compliment from the security team were posted around the edges of the oval room. “Five minutes, Mr. President.” Last Chance. Tim winced as he struggled receiving vocal and telepathic inputs at the same time.

“Thanks Miss Delfoi.” Shut up Allorien. He spoke back to Dana Delfoi, but only thought toward Allorien. He was dressed up this evening in a well fitting business suit with a pink tie. The president shifted uncomfortably. Dana came over to him, and his surprise and lack of comfort was prevalent on his terrible poker face. Security moved forward, but the president waved them off. “I hate being dressed up.” He said as a way of greeting her. Her guard dropped instantly.

She smiled, then leaned in closer and whispered to him. “For what it’s worth, I got my hands on the whole speech. You still have my vote. I’m going to write you in.” She stepped back a bit and smiled.

He smiled back at her. “Well, if that happens, I’ll be looking for a new press secretary. The one I have doesn’t believe in the vision.” Dana tugged at her jacket embroidered with “Helix News Network” and said, “well, you know where to find me.”

“I sure do.” The president said.

“Here’s your mic, it’s time to take your place.” She handed him a mic. The microphone was her excuse to get close to say the things she really wanted to say; someone else usually gets him set up with the equipment.

He walked to the desk, and she walked toward the equipment in the center of the room. Tim clipped the mic to his suit jacket and behind his back, then took a deep breath. Moving slowly, as if dreading the moment, he walked over to sit behind one of the most famous desks in all of humanity. Many leaders had used this desk to give news, good and bad, even after being president for fifteen years, he had intentionally avoided sitting behind this desk. Now he was here to put his soul on the line. Thirty-five years ago, he was in prison. The weight of the last thirty-five years rested heavy on Tim for a moment.

This is it. Allorien’s voice echoed in his head.

I know.

So? Are you sure?

Will you please stop asking me? Yes. Tim was exasperated when he responded.

Your life will likely end.

I know, all of my predecessors lost theirs, before they could see the full vision. It’s worth it, to tell the truth.

We can’t wait anymore, Allorien warned, My contact with you is the Last Contact. If humanity fails again…

… Yes, I know, your species will exterminate us.

“Thirty seconds, Mr. President.” Dana spoke up.

“Thanks.” Tim closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he looked up, he saw Dana looking at him smiling then motioning a countdown. She was next to equipment that would record two-dimensional, three-dimensional and holographic imagery. As the countdown finished, he blinked a couple of times, and took a deep breath. Then the president of humanity started reading from the teleprompter, “Good evening humanity.” He paused dramatically, “As many of you know by this point, I intend to step down as your president.” That wasn’t part of the script. “For the past nineteen and a half years, I have been your leader. My companions and I removed the former leader of the Terra Firma Empire and united the remnants of that political entity with the Venusian Republic. We worked to build a constitutional government where all were welcome and represented. Therefore, you have elected me four times to continue to be your leader. Humanity has flourished under the current banner of the Human Union of Planets. Since then, we have had zero major conflicts among ourselves. We have learned to get along despite our differences, political and otherwise.” He took a deep breath.

“That’s the good. However, this whole time I have had a secret. I have breached your trust. A little over thirty years ago, I experienced extraterrestrial life. Some of my closest companions have already met this being, but it is time for you all to meet them.” The camera panned to the door and though it stepped the white robed pale blue haloed alien. Allorien’s robes were elaborately decorated and sparked in the light of the cameras. Everyone in the room gasped, even Dana. Only the trusted seven knew what to expect. Tim stood up and the two of them met along the wall of the room between them. “This entity is from an alien species named the Crysix. They are the reason we exist today. The primordial soup of life that started life on our planet started with DNA from them. Humanity, and all forms of life in this solar system, are descended from this race of aliens.”

Allorien spoke in his raspy voice. “We have been here and watching throughout your history. We have been supporting you. We have been helping you along the way. Our two species have had many contacts over the years, but typically, it was not noticed, and until now, it had never been made fully public.”

Tim spoke up. “The voice you hear is the effect of his halo spinning and making air move, similar to how our bodies move air across our vocal cords to talk. I’m sure you all have many questions about the Crysix, and I would ask Allorien to share the answers with you. However, the way they communicate is primarily telepathic and audible speech is difficult for them. They are exceptionally skilled with their mind.

“In fact, some advances of humanity in the past fifteen years have been because of my collaboration with Allorien. Two important technologies invented recently are included: our space engines that now carry us at faster than light speeds are a modification of the engines employed by the Crysix race. These new engines have been in safe use for ten years as we have begun to explore outside the solar system. The second technology is how you are all receiving this information today. Helix, the artificial intelligence, and data transfer system that connects all of us instantly, across seemingly endless distances, is something made by the Crysix race to better understand and communicate with us. Helix’s name is an acronym that means Human Engagement Link Interface Xenology. For everything you’ve done for us, thank you, Allorien.” At this, Allorien bowed, stepped out of the frame and the camera followed the President back to his desk where he sat again. Allorien opened the door and stepped completely out of the office to not distract from the rest of the message.

“I intend to step down and call for a special election to replace me. I do not regret these actions. I do, however, regret not being able to share the truth of them with you when they happened.” He paused a moment and took a deep breath. “I am regretful that I could not be honest at the time. I sit here with the knowledge that many of you will think I did the wrong thing. However, I strongly believe humanity was not ready to hear this news. This belief has been shared by People in humanity that were contacted in the past by the Crysix, and the Crysix themselves. Some humans influenced caused great growth in our culture or technology. The Crysix even directly influenced Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammed, and other profits before and of their time. In addition, 21st century’s Lineke Oortwijn, 22nd century’s Tatsuda Hami, and 20th century figure Mahatma Gandhi were also empowered in their actions and beliefs by direct contact with the Crysix along with thousands of other leaders in politics culture and technology. When the people around them found out the truth, or they tried to cross a boundary humanity wasn’t ready to cross, many were killed. Anyone who wasn’t killed was immediately discredited. I know you may not believe me. That is okay. If we’re not ready for this information, that’s okay. But I had to give humanity the chance to unite and see it differently.” He paused again.

“I can understand that it sounds like I am speaking myself to be a prophet or hero along with these people, ignoring or negating their impact or noting myself to be more than my worth. However, I am still a human. I am no better than any other human. This information will make many of you angry, I accept your anger.” He paused again and took another deep breath, he looked down for a moment as if reinforcing his submission to the will of the people.

He focused back on the camera. “These are the facts, as I know them. I mentioned Helix is designed to interface with humanity. Each one of you can now speak directly with Allorien by using Helix. Ask Helix to message Allorien. Keep in mind, Allorien’s mind is not like that of humans, they can process thousands of conversations at the same time. He is eagerly awaiting your connections and to meet every one of you.” Tim smiled into the camera with a warm, welcoming demeanor.

A moment later he returned to fact, “We will be including a data package within each of your Helix accounts about all the times the Crysix race has influenced humanity, either positively and negatively. It will include a list of all the technological advancements of humanity that can be credited to the Crysix, including the fact that they taught us to make fire.” Tim shifted in the chair behind the desk that was slightly too large for his diminutive frame.

“I know that’s a lot to take in. Some of the things I did in the years leading up to being your president and as your president should be reassessed with this new information. I met Allorien almost twenty years ago, in September 2285. Look at my history and come to your own conclusions about if I stole humanities will in favor of aliens, or if I used alien knowledge to better humanity.” He paused and looked up at the recording equipment. He looked forward with dedication. This was the moment that he locked in his final choice.

“In four weeks, there will be a special election to choose the next present. Listed as candidates will be every living candidate that has run for president since I took the job fifteen years ago. That is eighteen candidates. I will not be listed, however, if you still believe in me and what we’re doing in this administration, you can write me in. This election will have no electors and be direct popular ranked choice voting. Based on your votes, we will be executing rounds of voting. Candidates will be knocked out one by one until someone has more than 50% of the vote. This one question will be the only question on your ballot.” He paused, letting everyone a moment to take in that technical information.

“As my last official promise, I promise that we will find a way to get a vote from every human who wants to vote. That’s regardless of age, gender, background, personal history, wealth, disability, or injury. There will be one week for voting, during that time you can access and change your vote as many times as you wish. Once voting is done, the results at every step of the ranked choice will be released, we expect results within a couple of hours of poll closing. Then the person elected will become the new president before the new year. I will leave in a peaceful transition of power, as far too few of our leaders have done.” He paused again, taking a couple of breaths this time.

“Well, now that I’ve said all that, I’m sure you have plenty of questions. Tomorrow, and until the beginning of the election, I’ll be taking direct questions through Helix. Thank you all for allowing me to lead humanity for the past two decades, it has been the greatest honor of my life. Good night.”

“We’re clear!” a technician said. The fifteen or so people in the room burst out in applause. Tim couldn’t get out of that chair and out from behind that desk quickly enough. His seven senior staff members came up to him and gave him a group hug, including Allorien, who somehow found their way back into the room. The applause didn’t stop for quite a while. Tim didn’t even expect any.

“It wasn’t that good.” President Li blushed.

Dana was the one that spoke up, “Yes, it was Mr. President. It was outstanding. I hope humanity can accept what you’ve said here today.”

“You and me both.”

They better, he heard in his head.

Streaming Café on Pluto

“I don’t trust him. Never did. I knew he kept secrets. That just confirmed it. Did you see that? He didn’t even fit in the chair. Was a sorry excuse for a man.” A young man recorded into a camera for a recording on the latest social media platform MyHELIX.

A Family Dinner Table on Venus

Seated around a large table, twenty people shared a large dinner, one of them said, “I still can’t believe he said all that. Can you imagine having that kind of burden for fifteen years? I’m still voting for him.”

“How can you vote for him knowing he misled us all?” It was a fast rebuttal. “Can you imagine how we would have reacted if he had told us right after he took power?” A third person grumbled, then came up with another rebuttal. “Would he have even taken power and united humanity without the power of the alien?”

Helix Network Virtual Chat Center

Allorien answered questions of people’s digital virtual reality avatars in a large open area.

“Yes, you’re right. I am not the first of my species to influence humanity.”

“No, you’ve read that correctly; humanity’s reaction was not favorable the other times.”

“Yes, they even attempted to imprison us in a place called Area-51 for a while.”

“Yes, of course, I still support President Li.”

“Yes, I am truly Allorien. No, the whole thing wasn’t faked.”