'You see, the Indigenes have only been in existence for fifty years,' Laura said to Bill. 'They were created from existing humans in the beginning.'
Stephen listened but her explanation made no sense to him.
'How is that possible?' What little control he still had slipped away. 'Our race has existed for thousands of years, not half a century. You are misinformed.'
Laura touched Stephen's arm, a move he almost stepped away from. But he allowed it when he detected no malice from her. 'I wish I was. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the data for myself.'
In that moment, he wished Anton was with him; his friend could read humans better than him.
'Where did you get the data from?' said Bill.
'I received it from an anonymous tip. Anonymous, because I don't even know her name.' Laura attempted a laugh. 'There's a woman who works on Level Five, the place I was promoted to about two weeks ago. Well, she approached me at lunch and handed me a micro file in broad daylight.'
'She didn't say anything?' said Bill. 'What was on it?'
'The data speaks for itself, but she did say something. That the ESC was not what it appeared to be.'
'That's not a surprise. What else?'
'She said I needed to have my eyes opened before they tried to manipulate me. And she was giving me the information because I had no obvious connection to it.'
'Any idea what her connection might have been?'
'No idea. She wouldn't talk after that.'
'Not unexpected behaviour, given the circumstances.'
'Wait.' Stephen needed to hear more than speculation. He needed the truth. 'Start from the beginning. I came to Earth because your species is still trying to eradicate ours. I want to know why and to learn how we supposedly became another version of you.'
'Yes, I'd like to know that too,' said Bill.
Laura took a seat on the sofa.
Stephen and Bill stood at opposite ends of the sofa.
'Please, someone sit with me.' She patted the vacant area beside her. 'You're both making me nervous.'
Bill perched on the edge of the arm-rest while Stephen remained in his natural position.
'In the latter part of the twenty-first century,' said Laura, 'the World Government appeared to have known about the inherent risks to our planet. The overpopulation had begun, the biodiversity was unbalanced and extinction lists grew at an unmanageable rate. It was what drove the initial investment in space travel.'
Bill nodded. 'Apart from the government's early indications, this is all well known.'
Laura continued. 'Well, as you know, their relentless search for a new exoplanet began shortly afterwards, and then they came across Exilon 5.'
'In 2076.'
'That's right. The history books report it was the astronomer Harry Buxton who discovered the planet. This is all true. But the books don't reveal that the government in power at the time was busy digging up other facts isolated from this event. They discovered that the planet could support life, but not their own because of incompatible gases. So they looked for other ways to make it happen.'
'Alter its composition?' said Stephen.
'Not at the beginning. While they racked their brains to come up with a solution, they were putting Plan B into effect. As far back as 2032, the government carried out several genetic experiments on human test subjects.'
Bill paused. 'I read about an early twenty-first century condition known as hemeralopia that caused day-blindness. Specific cases mentioned it more recently, involving children with eyes that shone bright in the dark.'
'Yes, I read about it too,' said Laura. 'That was one of their early experiments carried out on children. Tests were done, often without permission. Some were as young as four.'
Stephen's pulse quickened. 'Did these children have superior night vision?'
'Yes,' said Laura. 'They had exceptional vision in darker conditions, but their eyes were more sensitive in daytime light.'
'As is our vision.'
'I'm sorry, Stephen,' said Laura. 'I know this is difficult for you to hear. But you need to know everything.'