When Women Rule the World

Epilogue

"You're in a place consecrated to God. The Most High was worshipped here long, long ago. My mission has always been to preserve it from the Devil, and that's why I had to come here when you entered."

"Why?" asked SAIR-Spda. "Did you think we were devils?"

Along the conversation, Dael had become used to the modern form of Lavidia's language. He replied:

"No intelligent being has entered this church since the world ended. Angels are the guardians of holy places," he added. "However, no angel can manifest to a human without authorization. Since the Original Sin, God deliberately hid himself so that men and women, in the exercise of their freedom, could freely choose between good and evil, that is, between God and Hell, without being coerced by definite and complete knowledge."

Lavidia continued pondering the angel's fascinating story about Umma and Tabal, paying little attention to what Dael had just said. But SAIR didn't miss a detail.

"I understand, so C1 [the first creator] has authorized you to communicate with us now."

"No, I haven't received such authorization. It wasn't necessary."

"Why not?"

"Because they," he pointed to Lavidia and Batro, "are not among the Chosen. And you, you're not even a human being. You're just a machine created by other machines, which were in turn created by humans."

"The descendants of Adam and Eve?"

"Yes," he affirmed. "They created what you call 'the Ancestor.' It was a long time ago when life in this place was becoming truly untenable. The planets of the TRAPPIST-1 star offered habitability possibilities, and several ships controlled by machines were sent. Unfortunately, none could communicate their discoveries to those who created them."

"But at least one succeeded."

"Yes. The only one that managed to land did so on the most inhospitable planet for its creators, although certainly the most suitable for the proliferation of machines."

"Yes, fortunately for my civilization. By the way, what does TRAPPIST-1 mean? It's not a name we gave it."

"No, certainly not. It was the acronym for a surveillance system tracking planets orbiting other stars. The number 1 was given because that solar system was the first one discovered in that observatory."

"Ah! And did they use the transit method? Or radial velocity?"

"The transit method."

"I suspected. Both TRAPPIST-1 and the Sun have planets that orbit in the same plane."

"That's right. That's why Earth astronomers detected them as they passed in front of the star. That slight decrease in stellar brightness during transit was captured from here, and it was estimated that the distance of the planets from their star was suitable for maintaining water in a liquid state. Closer or farther, it would be frozen or evaporated."

"Yes, I understand. For the mindset of a carbon-based being, it's logical to think that life can only exist if water is around."

"Carbon is the most versatile element in this universe. It's absurd not to consider it the most suitable."

SAIR weighed what Dael had just said, and indeed, he was right. The hexapod had made a serious calculation error that, had he considered it, would have saved him a lot of time in his research.

Meanwhile, Lavidia was still impressed with the wonderful story the angel had just told, and while he spoke with SAIR, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Then she said: