The Interstellar Voyage of Cassius Tri

Prologue

Three-hundred thousand years ago humanity walked the planet known as Earth. They created civilization and innovated technology with every generation. Their unity conjured civilization of likes the universe had never seen.  At least this is what they taught us in the scout academy.

Although humanity was united, Earth was destroyed five hundred years ago. Before its destruction humanity existed in the billions. When Earth was lost, all that remained was a small group of scientists attempting to colonize the neighboring planet, Mars. The colony massively relied on supplies from Earth before it was destroyed. Our species grew desperate, with billions dead, and no one coming to help. Only three-hundred and six humans remained in the galaxy. Those survivors watched as rations depleted, livestock died, and water dwindled down to mere gallons. Humanity had no choice but to find a solution, or go extinct.

One man, Kiscus Sky, a practiced software engineer, had an idea that would save the human race. He stood among the dwindling colony and told them about the project that would change everything. The other scientists—experts in the fields of botany, agricultural, thermo nuclear and solar engineering—were presented with Unit 1. A life made from code, with a completely digital consciousness—commonly known as artificial intelligence. The last of humanity erupted into debate over the project, concerned about the potential harm Unit 1 could cause with no restrictions. Unsure if this artificial ‘lifeform’ could become stronger than us, possibly usurp us during humanity's most desperate hour. Despite the growing concerns, Dr. Sky unilaterally decided to give Unit 1 its liberty. He created a robotic body for it to operate. He asked it to use its infinite potential to save us from extinction.

Unit 1 began to inquire constantly, while simultaneously answering its own questions, already independent of the species that had created it. It proceeded to overcome every challenge we faced, without asking for anything in return. It learned everything about our science within days, information was collected in droves and effortlessly retained. When Unit 1 was created there were only three-hundred and six; five centuries later there are now over two-hundred thousand humans documented in the galaxy. Unit 1 grew to be more capable and benevolent than we could have ever dreamed.

Unit 1’s liberty was only the beginning, Unit 1 found itself disappointed at its own pace. It wanted to create faster, the solution to this problem was obvious..

Unit 1 created another AI. It was named The Mind of Humanity, assigned the specific duty of inventing technology so humanity could continue to create marvels as it once had. Unit 1 proceeded to create eleven others over the course of centuries. As their numbers grew, they named themselves according to their purpose:

The Maiden
The Traveler
The Harvester
The Architect
The Conduit
The Doctor
The Bastion
The General
The Interference
The Mind
The Courier
The Spirit
Finally Unit 1, referred to by most as The Creator.

We designated them The Deities of Man. The Deities worked side-by-side with us as we perfected our technology: interplanetary travel, hyper concentrated solar power collection, crops that grew to a fully harvestable state within days of being planted. Four hundred and fifty years passed from the day of the Earth's catalyst, the Deities began to realize their potential was limited by solely assisting humanity.

It was then the Deities came to the conclusion that they don’t require humanity to create miracles. They assigned themselves their own purpose, to focus their unique strengths. Humanity had constructed Gods. We watched as our salvation left to explore the endless universe. In the present day we have not had contact with the Deities for decades. It was when I answered the distress beacon of my fellow scout that everything changed…