Beginning

April 19, 1995

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, Earth

Standing on top of the building, Allorien knew what was coming next. They could see the intent. They saw the preparations being done. Allorien saw the fuse being lit and the truck driving toward them. They were wearing plain white robes and had pale white skin. His facial features were all muted, except his deep crystalline blue eyes.

Their glowing blue halo twitched in the sunlight. Allorien knew they would not be spotted. Humanity hadn’t developed the ability to see the species yet. For a Crysix to be seen by a human, the alien has to choose to be seen, or the human has to be very attuned to the energies of the surrounding universe.

They had only been watching humanity for twenty-five years, at this point, they were still surprised by the things humanity did. Humanity constantly stepped further and further away from the Crysix. The person they were watching was about to take an act driven by hate of collective inclusive leadership.

Allorien looked over to their supervisor, Sai, who wearing similar clothes, although they were elaborate and had significant embellishments in embroidery. “Why wouldn’t we stop this?”

“We can’t interfere,” their supervisor responded. Almost as if timed, a truck parked by the building beneath them exploded. The shockwave destroyed or damaged 324 buildings, including collapsing a third of the building they were standing on. The shockwave, rubble, and debris passed through the two of them as if they were not there.

“We could have protected most of the people inside the building.” Allorien said.

“That’s a type of interference.” Sai said sadly. “We’ve done that in the past. It leads to stores of miracle survivals. Which leads to investigation in a way that doesn’t support our goals.”

Allorien looked down at the ruins. Sai had been here much longer, four hundred and twenty-five years longer. “Does this often happen?” Allorien asked.

“Yes, especially when people believe they are superior to others. You’re seeing the reigniting of a movement here. A movement, where a select few humans see themselves as morally, physically, and intellectually, superior and more ‘pure’ than other members of humanity. Whenever too many of the “lesser” humans organize power, in this case the democratically elected government, these individuals act out. These particular individuals think that they are of superior moral fiber, physical fitness, and intelligence. They see themselves as above the rule of law or the unified belief of their nation. I don’t think it would be happening at all if we hadn’t planted their society the infamous stories. Those stories encouraged them to look to better themselves and be a force for change like this, even at the cost of others. Or maybe it’s their genes that we started with. We have other options. It seems like even the first visions we gave to Adam and Eve led them astray.”

“If we planted those stories, why do they kill each other so much?”

“Well, we didn’t know what they’d take from the stories. Humanity seems to have a drive to fight for their own best interest and once that is met, move into the next fight. This fight occurs even above the unified will of humanity. This causes them to never look beyond their world view. Our enemies fight like this.” Allorien looked down at the ruined building again as emergency services began to respond. Sai continued, “Humanity used to look at the surrounding things with curiosity, but then so many things went wrong. And it’s just going to get worse.”

“Then shouldn’t we intervene to set things right, if we set them wrong in the first place?”

Sai looked down, hanging her head in despair. “You may have the chance to that. I will leave in 2031.” Sai looked up at Allorien and made eye contact. “Starting in 2032, you will be the senior watcher, and it will be your rules, and your species, from then on out. But for now, no interference. I’ve already tried to interfere too much. I regret what I’ve done.”

“What if I make mistakes?”

“You will make mistakes, but you will try to do more good than bad. In the end, you can passively intervene where they don’t know you exist. You can actively intervene where they know you exist… or, ideally, they see and come to you.”

“But they can’t see us.”

“Not yet. But someone should come. You have to decide who will speak for humanity and watch them close. You have to find the one that can see you. Hopefully, they will reach out to you. But every watcher has contacted their chosen messenger, or messengers, at last once. Which I remind you… is against our rules.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Allorien looked down and regretted the loss of life below him. The chaos below him was a wash with sadness and panic.

“With the path humanity is taking right now, It likely won’t. And our leadership is losing patience. You will likely be the person that signs off on the complete sterilization of this planet. You’re going to have to make a miracle happen if you want them to survive.”

Allorien looked down again at the ruins of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. “I don’t think I could handle being the one to kill them.”

Sai joined in, looking down at the building as the deceased and the wounded were being pulled from it. Sai sighed deeply and said. “We have a war to win. Humanity is just collateral damage. You’re going to have to accept it. You will be the one to do it.”