Suicide Mission

[WP] “Look, I know your species wants to wipe out all others who are weaker than you, but basing that off physical strength and not technological is a great way to go extinct.” said the human.

*****

"We do not understand."

"Look at this," said the human, pointing at herself, "my limbs are weak, I have precious little bones to protect my organs, virtually every predator on my home planet will shred me if I don't use tools to defend myself."

"Then you shall die."

The shadows grew, the ground shook and split in their growth, such a strength it rewrote the rules of what was and wasn't in its wake. Sonia was delighted to witness such a creature with her waking eyes, that it was trying to kill her did not bother her in the least.

"Let me finish. I wouldn't trade my weakness for anything else."

It stops, surprised, struggling to understand. In a world made by the strong for the strong, holding onto weakness was suicide.

"Why do I live. Why am I still alive, me who belongs to such a pitiful species?"

"Luck."

"No, sickness would have gotten to us, predators or even ourselves. God we're good at being our own worst enemy. And yet, here I am, standing before one of the mightiest creatures this universe has ever known. In other times, religions would have been with a single glimpse of you."

"It is natural to follow the strong."

"But I don't, and I'm weak. Why don't I?"

It shook and whistled, opening and clenching appendixes.

"We do not know."

Sonia opened her arms large, encompassing a tiny bit of the mighty beast.

"We even have the technology to make us stronger, sturdier, yet have forsaken it."

"But why?" the poor thing was lost before this alien philosophy, this violation of common sense made flesh.

"It was beautiful. Machines made each one of us beautiful, strong. We did not die of old age, wrinkled and sick, we simply went to sleep forever when our time was up, beautiful as always. But beauty and strength scared us. Because we had it all.

"You see, we fought and searched for centuries for means to attain perfection, a perfection not unlike yours. Strength, intelligence, the right amount of social need and independence to work flawlessly in society. And we found a way, it may be the greatest work humanity has ever produced. When the flip was switched on, we cheered planet-wide. Earth's most beautiful day.

"But then, we learned to fear. Fear our beauty, our love, our perfect community, perfect body, perfect life. Artists ceased to paint and write, for we had written it all already, perfect and not to be bettered. We stopped inventing, devising, tinkering, for we had it all. In perfection and strength, we have become stale. With happiness and love and health, there was little more to find. We had all the strength in the world, could reshape ourselves and the world we lived on... yet we couldn't go onward.

"We did something, something beyond stupid, so utterly mad it was beautiful in itself. We broke the machines, burnt the records, reverted to being old, frail, weak, prone to killing each other. And it was great!"

Sonia was booming now, nearly hysterical. And the being started to feel unwell, at this vulnerable little thing so delighted at its own returning weakness.

"We killed, and found better ways to kill. We burned and had to find methods to make dead lands alive again. With our weakness, we built crutches, and the crutches can only keep getting better, for we will never be perfect, as intended."

Sonia turned towards the being, her eyes red with murder, the taste of blood on her tongue.

"But you... with your pristine body, your flawless defense, your alteration of the self and the reality around you, you're almost a god," Sonia clenched her fists, "a perfect god, an example to imitate with little above in the way of betterment. You-"

The station rumbled, the being looked around in shock.

"-are an affront to everything we stand for, you are a stale world, a stale universe. We loathe perfection," she was screaming now, "we loathe you, and let me assure you..."

The station was breaking apart, the bombardment had begun in earnest.

The being never would have thought that humans would willingly sacrifice their supreme leader for a chance to kill it.

And worse.

The human seemed to relish her position.

"...we will rid the universe of a stain such as you, we will keep it dark and grim and cold and lonely and insane! this is our coming universe," Her voice pierced through the echoes of the bombardment, "a place of struggle where we will push the boundaries, a world of pigs digging in the innards of the dead, our children shall walk in mud and bones, the smell of mustard gas in their nostrils. Palaces made of skulls and burnt history, graves in ice and glorified ignorance."

A blast tore the wall open, air was sucked out of the room, the being and Sonia followed. It caught the edges and held still with exceptional strength. Sonia collided with him and broke her body.

Through the roaring sound of the pressure dropping and under the pain of her broken bones, Sonia found the strength for one more sentence.

"But as supreme leader of humanity, let me assure you that this is nothing personal."

She pressed a button in her pocket, and the supreme leader blew to bits, taking the being with her.

*****

THE END.