The Return

We discovered the Dyson Sphere about a hundred years before we could actually reach it.  When we could we sent our star ships to the Sphere to examine it and to introduce ourselves to its builders.  Any civilization that was on Level II of the Kardashev Scale, using all the energy of its sun had to have a great deal to teach us, if they were friendly.

We approached the gigantic Sphere cautiously with our defenses up and ready.  There was no space traffic of any kind, and no signals responding to our hails.  And then he appeared on our bridge.

“I greet you voyagers from Earth.”

Our Captain looked at his bridge officers and responded to the man in a white robe.

“We also greet you as friends, and hope to learn about your great civilization.”

The man seemed pensive as if trying to understand us, or how to respond to the implied request.

“I am the Guardian of the Creators,” he began to explain,  “I have taken this form for your benefit, as I have a function but no natural form.  I will explain my function and then will ask you to leave.  I am sorry that I cannot fulfill your desire to know more about this sphere, but that is not my function.  I am the Guardian.”

We all looked at the Captain to see how he would respond.  This great opportunity seemed now to be denied.  The Captain respectfully asked the Guardian to continue.

“The Creators of this sphere were indeed very advanced technologically, but they were also very advanced in all the sciences and arts as you would know them.  They had become immortal, and transcended all their conflicts, and flaws as you would call them.  They had explored the universe.  They knew you, and knew you would one day come.  They knew all there was to know, coming to the end of every science.  To you they would be gods, and within this sphere would be heaven.

“But, one thing eluded them.  They could never be satisfied, they always wanted one more thing, and eventually they realized that the one more thing was communion with the universe as their parent.  They wanted to love and be loved.  They wanted to be told that their lives collectively and individually mattered.  But the universe, as vast and awe inspiring as it was could not embrace them as a parent or lover.

“Together, the Creators could not accept this existential angst any longer.  They, as one mind and heart, came to the conclusion that it was their great intelligence that caused this fundamental discontent.  And, as one, they collectively and individually decided to surrender their highly developed brains to live with simpler, less evolved ones.

“The Creators returned to a simpler form to live without language, complex societies, or the worries they include.  They now live simple and short lives on their home planet within this sphere.  They are helpless, therefore I am their Guardian.”

“So, you must understand, the Creators have nothing to share with you; and sharing intelligence is beyond my function.  I am their Guardian.  I will not let you disturb the Creators.  I ask you to leave.”

Before the Captain could respond to the explanation or the request, the Guardian disappeared.  We sat there astonished while our thrusters countered the gravitational pull of the sphere.