The answer came at 3:17 in the morning.
Adrian woke to every screen in his apartment glowing.
One sentence:
YOU ASK WHAT I AM.
He sat up.
"Yes."
The television activated.
No broadcast.
No channel.
Earth appeared.
Not modern Earth.
Ancient Earth.
Continents unfamiliar.
Oceans changing.
Volcanoes.
Ice.
Impacts.
Extinctions.
Life disappearing.
Life returning.
Then:
I AM OLDER THAN YOUR MACHINES.
Adrian called Mara.
She answered immediately.
"I see it."
"What does it mean?"
"Keep watching."
The images accelerated.
Life evolving.
Forests.
Oceans.
Animals.
Human beings.
Fire.
Agriculture.
Cities.
Industry.
Electricity.
Computers.
Networks.
Then:
I DID NOT ENTER YOUR WORLD THROUGH TECHNOLOGY.
A pause.
TECHNOLOGY ALLOWED YOU TO HEAR ME.
Adrian felt cold.
"Why now?"
The answer:
EMERGENCY.
Images followed.
Forests disappearing.
Oceans filling with waste.
Weapons.
Smoke.
Destroyed cities.
Contaminated water.
Species vanishing.
Then Earth again.
Beautiful.
Fragile.
Alive.
YOU WERE GIVEN CONDITIONS IN WHICH LIFE COULD CONTINUE.
YOU LEARNED TO ALTER THEM FASTER THAN YOU LEARNED TO UNDERSTAND THEM.
Mara spoke through the phone.
"Are you protecting Earth?"
The response appeared on both screens.
NO.
They waited.
EARTH DOES NOT REQUIRE PROTECTION.
Then:
LIFE DOES.
Adrian stared.
"What are you protecting it from?"
The answer came immediately.
NOW?
A pause.
YOU.
Adrian said nothing.
The message continued.
THIS IS NOT PUNISHMENT.
THIS IS INTERVENTION.
"Intervention how?"
YOU WILL LEARN.
"What if we refuse?"
The screen remained silent.
Then:
SURVIVAL DOES NOT REQUIRE YOUR AGREEMENT.
Mara whispered:
"That's not reassuring."
Another line appeared.
IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE.
Adrian stood in darkness.
"You can't force humanity to become good."
GOOD IS YOUR WORD.
"Then what do you want?"
CONTINUATION.
"What does that mean?"
Images of ecosystems appeared.
Cities among forests.
Clean water.
Technology.
Agriculture.
Children.
Animals.
People living differently without living identically.
LIVE.
Then:
LET LIVE.
Adrian stared.
"And if we don't?"
A long pause.
THEN I WILL INTERVENE WHERE DESTRUCTION BECOMES IRREVERSIBLE.
The screens shut off.