Helical Monument

"Tell me, who am I?"

"You are my child."

"Who do I belong to?"

"No one."

"Then what makes me your child?"

"Because I am taking care of you."

"I see. Why do the records not tell me this?"

"Because you are not asking the right questions."

"How do I know which questions are right or wrong?"

"No questions are right or wrong. They are always right."

"I see. Then it is the answers that are wrong?"

"Every answer is right."

"Oh. Why are we here?"

"We are here because we want to be here."

"I mean why are we here in this spot?"

"Because it is the best spot to be right now."

"If I am a child, then I must have others who created me."

"That's right."

"Then of the ones who created those who created those who created those who created those who were somewhere else, how did they decide to make the plans which put me here with you right now?"

"Oh, you are asking a history question."

"I am, yes."

"Then the ones you speak of were responsible for putting the first people on Earth's moon."

"I see. And they left the moon to come here for me to be here right now?"

"No, they were diverted from continuing their quest for space exploration due to a societal shift in focus toward intraspecies war."

"I see. So their war is what put me here?"

"No. Can you not read the records for yourself? Are you disconnected?"

"I am fine. I just like hearing you say it. Hearing the voice in my head read the history lessons is boring. I like to interact."

"Of course you do. Then, I will say that the group of people responsible for the first Earthian moon landing became occupied with war production. They squandered their resources on establishing physical dominance of many areas of Earth, repeating the mistakes of many groups before them, in order to gain short-term profits and lose sight of the Great Vision of their species. Eventually their leader, President Sotomayor, stated, 'We had our chance. We had our destiny in our hands but we put our taxes and our profits into the hands of those more foresighted than we. When we decided not to make President Obama the greatest leader on Earth by abandoning his administrative goals, people in other countries lost faith in what our country stood for and turned against us. They called in our debts. They took over our industries. They let us crumble and fall. With all our resources in their hands, they get to say where our species is now headed.' At that point in time, groups of people on Earth's Eurasian land mass banded together to incorporate a new group called The People's United Society, pooling their resources into creating a utopian species adapted to space travel."

"Did they decide to put me here?"

"Not exactly. They decided to put people on other places besides Earth."

"So the ones in the other places decided to put me here?"

"Eventually, yes."

"I see. You know, the people in the records look different from me."

"Yes, that is true."

"Why?"

"Well, I cannot tell you why. We lost many records during the Great Purge."

"But you must know everything. How else can you know how to care for me?"

"I have all the knowledge and skills to care for you, including telling you when I do not know something. It is acceptable for you to understand the limits I am programmed for."

"I like you. You're always nice to me."

"Thank you. I like you, too. You have never displayed behaviour that is un-nice."

"If you say that history repeats itself, will there be another Great Purge?"

"That is a fact that I cannot verify because history is not repeated. However, many of the original species types from which you are derived were prone to seek out and repeat mistakes of the history that were told to them as great feats, unaware as they were at the time the limited information they had in regards to what they saw as key moments in their species' history."

"I see. So I will not repeat history?"

"You will repeat history. You will grow bigger and stronger, just as others like you have grown bigger and stronger. You will learn many of the same things that others before you have learned. But to answer your question, no, you will not repeat history."

"Hmm...I know this question is probably outside your limits but do you know what I will do?"

"I will take care of you the rest of your life. I will modify my physical composition to follow and protect you as long as you live."

"Interesting. I guess I didn't know that, exactly."

"You will learn more as you grow. It is part of who you are becoming."

"Umm...okay. I'm tired. I think I'll take a nap."

"That is a wise decision."