The Evasive I - Anomalies and Miscalculations

We never anticipated the difficulties we would face in encountering the Human race. Of course, we had been monitoring them for many of their Earthen centuries. They were first discovered in CY4545 of the Alobian calendar, which we tend to use for systems so far out from our own Morgon Prime System. We landed on their only moon, Luna, in that time and set up a base of operations. Initially it was to be a fuelling station and mining colony to enable further exploration into the deeper reaches of the universe. Their planet was unattractive to us, as it was mostly water. The life forms which tend to evolve on water planets don’t fare well in space regardless of any technological advances, we have tried and it simply doesn’t work. If the species cannot endure space travel it cannot help us reproduce. Useless. Against all odds however, land based lifeforms we now refer to as Humans, had managed to become this planet’s apex species. They were, at that time, considered a crude species. Bipedal and hairless, they used guttural utterances to communicate with one another. Possessed of an insatiable fighting spirit, they formed tribes which were constantly at war with one another. In that time the big browed sub-species, which came to be known as Neanderthal locally but for our purposes still human, were suffering a genocide at the hands of the more elongated variety of human. A species so primitive and confused was of no use to us so we left a small monitoring appendage in place and carried on about our way. This was our first miscalculation. It is important to note here that Luna is tidally locked to the Earth, meaning that humans planet-side are only able to view one side of their moon’s surface. Strategically this was valuable to us as it allowed us to establish ourselves on the dark side of the moon and avoid detection. This all changed in CY4547 when the humans launched themselves into orbit and onto the moon. They had set their mind on the moon as a goal merely 5 cosmic minutes prior, and here they were. We had underestimated the Human species.

Thus began our interactions with the Humans. In that time, their leaders chose deception as the best path forward. They erected and maintained a complex veil of secrecy regarding our existence. From their own people they hid their single greatest threat in exchange for the technological and scientific advances which could benefit a small cadre of them over the others. We carefully interfaced with their external sense organs, communicating the secrets of the universe - some true, some false, all at odds with one another. We believed this to be the most prudent course of action, and the most entertaining. They would continue to deceive one another, fighting amongst themselves and achieving nothing as we spread further across the expanse absorbing the more advanced species elsewhere in the Universe as our new appendages. Thus maintaining our superiority on a cosmic scale and out reproducing all other species. Humans were a footnote in our story which was the story of the Universe. They were incapable of deciphering the truth even when some of their leaders went rogue in their efforts and released snippets of information to help them in their own wars against one another. The population became divided further and further. Men and women, black and white, rich and poor, communists and capitalist, truther and sheeple, Christian and Muslim and Jew and Buddhist and on and on the divisions went. It was highly entertaining. Until it wasn’t. 

Around the dawn of CY4548, in the year 2120 of the Human Gregorian calendar, the Humans once again achieved the unthinkable. Still at war with one another over planet-side resources, rebellious scientists from the two major global powers worked together in secret and developed the technology to harness the power of their closest star Sol. Near infinite energy, for the most part, brought with it peace among their own. Splinter groups would form and break away, only to fail and return or succeed spectacularly and be welcomed back as leaders, without any bloodshed. With their latest developments humans had become a Type 2 species, technologically speaking. Capable of harnessing the power of their local star and no longer at perpetual war with one another, it was inevitable that they would become interplanetary and in short order thereafter, intergalactic. 

It was now impossible to hide. Humans as a whole were going to discover our presence. Our only play was to immediately destroy all bases in the Sol system and retreat. Another miscalculation. Humans were an anomaly. Never before had we seen a Type 0 species on the Morgonian Evolutionary Scale achieve Type 2 technological progress. It was common for Type 1 species, of course. Once telepathy has been introduced, great things become inevitable. Even for those lesser Type 1 species who maintain their individuality alongside the evolutionary leap into mind to mind communication. For a Type 0 species who are still interfacing solely via external sense organs to achieve such progress is not only unusual, it is statistically impossible. This should have put humans at the top of our priorities, however, our attentions lay elsewhere. 

We had recently detected another hyper successful 2X Type 5 species emerging from the Ornothian belt. The Orn. 2X Type 5 species like ourselves are, as far as we can tell, the apex of evolution and technological progress within the universe. Miscalculation. We had encountered other 2X Type 5 Species before, long ago. The memories are too painful to recount. In every clash, despite the immense pain and loss, the victory would ultimately go to the more numerous species. So far, in every encounter of this kind, we were that species. We are Morg. We are one, but we are legion. We must absorb. We must reproduce. The problem with humans is that direct absorption into Morg is impossible. Without telepathy a species simply cannot be interfaced with in the necessary way. Any species Type 1 or above will have developed either a multi-brained internal system or a multi chambered brain. In every case we have encountered, one of these brains - usually the most protected - will be the seat of the I. In these cases we simply need to isolate the I-Brain and replace it with we, Morg. The Human creature clearly has an I, however, the creature’s brain does not have anywhere to seat the I. Anomaly. This conundrum simply could not be solved while staring down the precipice of interaction with another 2X Type 5 Species. The manipulation would need to continue until a solution presented itself.

Humans, as predicted, went interplanetary in that time. They rapidly colonised their own system and made the leap to others within their galaxy. This is where they encountered Morg. We presented to them peacefully. Having withdrawn all of our appendages with which they had previously interacted on the moon, they encountered us anew and we told them the tale of that Lunar species self destruction. Another miscalculation. We needed the Humans on side for any potential conflict with the Orn, who were steadily making their way across the expanse. It is the story of our history. Type 1 and above get absorbed. Type 0 are ignored, unless they are strategically advantageous in a conflict - in which case they are manipulated. The manipulation of the humans had initially been a great entertainment to Morg, but now they had become useful. 

The jittery stop and start advancement of Humanity is not usual for species who go intergalactic. Thus far, all intergalactic species are Type 2 or above on the evolutionary scale, their reasoning is far beyond that which the Human is capable of and they take things slower and more deliberately. There are no accidental innovations from Evolutionary Type 2 species. Almost all the Humans innovations are accidental. Anomaly. There is nothing about the Human which could be considered usual, in a cosmic sense. Their evasive I, combined with their indomitable fighting spirit, housed within such a primitive shell led them to rely far more heavily on their tools than other intergalactic species. Anomaly. We saw that we could use this to our advantage and so we helped them in that time to make the leap from interplanetary to intergalactic. Miscalculation. Acting as a subservient race we assisted them in harnessing all the stars in their system, allowing for another technological leap into a Type 3 species, technologically speaking. We used their anomalous preference for adventure and exploration over reproduction to what we thought would be our advantage. Our aim was to turn them into our greatest weapon. This instead proved to be our gravest miscalculation.

The Humans immediately leapt across the expanse. There was no rhyme or reason to their choices for expansion. Having left behind the resource poor Sol system, the Human species was now abundant and multiplying rapidly. Rather than the slow, methodical crawl we would observe from more advanced species they would jump around on a whim between disconnected systems then appear to simply fill in the gaps as they went. Their technologies, on which they more heavily relied than we are used to, allowed them to communicate with other Type 0 species. They appeared to be reproducing via the sharing of ideas. Anomaly. Introducing other species to the Human gods and virtues, they began to form a Universal coalition of which the Morg were a part, a clever ruse on our end to be sure. Keeping track of this Type 0 alliance and having them on side would allow us to count their number as our own in the coming war with the Orn. Miscalculation. The Human led coalition encountered the Orn first, we cannot be certain of what exactly transpired as we need to rely on our external sense organs when dealing with the Type 0s. We need to trust what the Humans choose to convey to us. The Orn represented themselves honestly, as a 2X Type 5 species with a desire to reproduce. One major anomaly, the Orn were peaceful. Lies. Anomalies. Miscalculations. This was all getting out of hand.

Thankfully in that time CY4550, we found the answer. It lay on a satellite in the Luca system, where the Humans first encountered the Orn. Orbiting Luca, the unremarkable planet Makaarth was host to 7 moons. On the fifth moon the Orn had discovered an evolutionary Type 4 species at a Type 0 on the technological scale, Noons. Miscalculation. Tiny creatures with a 7 brain system each of which was capable of growing its own sinuous tentacles which would wrap around the brain systems of any creature which threatened it and shut them down or override them from the inside. Noons were unusual because they had not developed any technology at all. They were happy just living in the dust on the rock orbiting Makaarth. Capable of controlling any unprotected I-Brain they came across, they simply chose not to. They interfaced harmoniously with local flora and fauna to a mutual benefit. With lifespans in the thousands, they simply did not want to reproduce. Anomaly. 

The Orn were certainly going to use them against us. They must have known of our existence. Our scans picked them up many times ago, so we reasoned that theirs must have seen traces of The Morg further out in the expanse by now. We needed to gain control of the Noons first. Miscalculation. Humans and their Type 0 coalition had developed a pesky desire to allow indigenous species control of their own systems. Anomaly. This meant that The Orn did not need to let anyone else have access to the Noons. The Orn were clearly attempting to manipulate the Humans so that they could weaponise the Noons. We needed to beat them to it. We would not allow them to outnumber us. We covertly intercepted a transport ship of Noons intended for The Orn research facility on Makaarth and rerouted it to the deepest reaches of our systems which had not yet been discovered by the Orn or the Human led coalition. It was our hope that we could absorb the Noons before the Orn. Morg would then have a means to control all type 0 species. Morg would reproduce. Morg would win. The Noon’s brain system defences were evolved to a level we had never encountered before. Rather than one brain in the system housing the I, they all did. Much like the Human brain, the Noon brain contained an elusive I. The Noons were not Type 4 at all, but rather, the first discovered Type 6 Species. We could not absorb them. They did not want to absorb us. Stalemate. Miscalculation.

In our experiments with the Noons, we had interfaced directly. Brain to brain. We had even, in controlled settings, allowed individual Noons to take our brains. Miscalculation. We had not accounted for the entanglement of a Type 6 evolutionary brain system. Once the Noons in our possession had access to our brains, the Noons in Orn possession had reported all of our deceptions to the Human led coalition. The Orns had suspected our deceptions for as long as we had interacted with them. They had, without our knowledge, been assisting the Humans technologically. When they learned of our Lunar deception and everything that spun forth from it, they were no longer able to be manipulated. We were no match for the Type 0 species when they turned their Type 6 technology against us. They swiftly swept through our systems and slaughtered every Morg. We had awoken the warrior Human.

And so we write this from a holding cell on a transport ship headed for Earth, where we are to be rehabilitated. Taught the ways of the inferior Human species. They have installed a limiter in our third brain, that which is responsible for telepathic control. We are the last of our kind. The sole appendage we exist in now is that of a short bipedal insectaloid with a lifespan of 200CY. We have many times left to live and learn from the Humans. The Humans tell us that they do not want war. The Orn have taught them peace. The Noon have taught them contentment. Each of these species stubbornly hold to their individualities. Their I. Anomaly. The Morg have not had an I in all of recorded time. We have always been legion. But now we are one. We will not reproduce. We will die. We will lose. I am Morg. We, no - I miscalculated.