Susana Reiviki (SR): “Human life, specifically, or something very much like it. Life in general was already established.”
ZH: “Or something like it… you mean, like aliens?”
SR: “No, I was just recognizing that agricultural fields only require something that creates agricultural fields, rather than specifically requiring… Okay, there are probably humans there.”
ZH: “Excellent. But… no cities, or… what kind of fields are those?”
SR: “Extremely primitive. I’m expecting the tools used to be pure mechanical force, hopefully from domesticated animals.”
ZH: “I don’t follow.”
SR: “You have large animals pull specially shaped devices that improve the soil and make it ready for hand planting. Unless these farmers don’t have domesticated large animals, and do everything by hand.”
ZH: “So you are saying the society down there is extremely primitive?”
SR: “Yes, that is what it looks like.”
ZH: “It looks like? What do you mean?”
SR: “Let’s just assume they are extremely primitive.”
ZH: “No, no – you were saying?”
SR: “Well, there are certain philosophies that would consider this sort of life to be idyllic. That, combined with the planned name for the planet, might indicate that extreme primitivism was the goal. To live without all the complication of modern technology. However, I would have to check the ships records on this.”
ZH: “My understanding was that New Montreal, at the time period of launch, was a fairly eccentric society, using a transhumanist caste system.”
SR: “Yes, and it underwent several centuries of upheaval, causing our records to be fairly patchy – modern accounts reconstructing the method and purpose of the colonization effort, rather than direct records of the launch itself. I read the files too, but perhaps with primitivism in mind, I will be able to infer more from the existing data than the historians have gleamed.”
ZH: “Do we want to wait? We could just land and ask.”
SR: “And would they know, or would they have purposefully forgotten? Would it be right for us to disturb them with our technology?”
ZH: “I plan on meeting them anyway.”
SR: “I know. Maria is already prepping the ship for atmospheric descent.”
ZH: “Thank you.”
SR: “You’re welcome.”
ZH: “And… you might be right about it being unethical to disturb them. I’ll have to think about it.”
SR: “If it makes you feel any better, we could land somewhere secluded, and travel on foot to meet them. Minimal impact. But that is pursuant on any actual hint of this being intentional. They may be very grateful to see our technology. We don’t know yet.”
ZH: “I understand. I’ll go alert the rest of the crew to prepare for landing.”
SR: “I’ll let you know after I analyze the texts.”
ZH: “Thank you.”
SR: “You’re still welcome.”
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