The Talos Principle

Orpheus gazed at their homeworld that was about to die.

A billion years passed since he was born here, and while he was immortal, Earth wasn’t. The Sun was entering its next lifecycle, and for the planet it was the end.

But even if their civilization now spanned many galaxies, some didn’t want to abandon the world they originated from.

Orpheus initiated the process, and the Megastructure expanded. Sheets of super-dense plates materialized high up, shielding the surface from baleful sunlight. Soon, the entire Earth will be encapsulated by protective cover.

And it will be ready for its next voyage.

1K made final checks of packed equipment to make sure they didn’t forget anything. The first voyage to Mars was about to take off.

“Is everything ready?” asked Athena.

“Yes,” 1K confirmed, “we can go.”

“You know there aren’t going to be any puzzles there for you to solve,” Athena teased him.

1K laughed. “Unless Jacques is actually right and some aliens have left us some.” They entered the ship. “But the entire universe is one big puzzle for us to solve, and this is the first step.”

She nodded. “We can do anything, as long as we are together.”

Wren labored on his grandest project: a glass dome that was going to cover the entire city, protecting the outside world as culmination of the Goal.

He was somewhat concerned about how much resources the construction required; but the mayor explained that it was for the greater good, and he accepted that.

The sun rose above the horizon, its rays passing through the glass panels in, across and out the opposite end of the city, and the amplified beam struck the outside forest, causing brushfire.

Wren watched the flames bemusedly. He will have to ask for a more diffused glass.

Mayor Byron was settling in his new office. He had so many plans for future development of the city, but first he had to take care of some paperwork.

He opened the letter that his predecessor left him and read it. It contained mostly unasked-for advices that he had no intent of heeding, but one passage caught his eye.

Lastly, do not dismiss those that are of different opinion and might oppose you; their concerns may be real, and you should dispel them, not suppress.

Byron set the letter down, looking pensively. Even the staunchest adversaries deserve respect, he thought.

Helga subscibed to a philosophy course that the Archive scholars were organizing.

“So you’re saying that if wasn’t here then, I wouldn’t be here now?” she asked Elwin. “Then when does this happen?”
“Now,” replied Elwin. “Everything that happens now is happening now.”
“Now? What happened to ‘then’?” she continued.
“We passed ‘then’,” was the answer.
“When?” Helga looked puzzled.
“Well, ‘now’,” said Elwin, a hint of frustration creeping into his voice.
“Can we go back to ‘then’?” pressed Helga.
“Now?”
“Not ‘now’, ‘then’.”
“’Then’, when?” Elwin cried in desperation.

After Elwin nearly short-circuited, future philosophy courses were postponed indefinitely.

After she moved in to Yaqut’s place, Miranda got a luxurious chess set from her father as parting gift. She tried to teach Yaqut how to play the game, but he wasn’t really attuning to it. Their cats, however, seemed to love it.

Just like now, when they were sitting by the board, and Bean was poking at the tallest figure, almost as if attempting a Queen’s Gambit. Bruce’s response to the move was to sprawl across the board, rolling over and knocking down almost all figures.

Check-mate, thought Miranda, as she was picking up fallen pieces from the floor.

Among Jeremy’s responsibilities was also moderation of New Jerusalem’s discussion forums, which could be tedious at times.

Just like now, when he was going through the thread “Are frogs people?”

Jeremy read the debate with increased dismay. Occasionally he replied to individual posts, urging the discutees to refrain from offensive language and remain civil, but deep down he knew it was futile; when it came to toxicity in debate, the academics were by far the worst.

Finally, he concluded that enough was enough, and banned the entire thread. It made him feel like he just saved New Jerusalem from doom.

As their cats were quite demanding when it came to quality food, Damien and Atal were going to invent a new food type for them.

They set a large pot on the heater, and threw in things that cats were eating, like some dead rodents, insects, or a cup of catnip. The latter proved to be disastrous however; the concoction suddenly boiled over, spilling out of the pot and onto the floor, and started fuming heavily.

“What now?” asked Damien after shutting off the fire alarm.

Atal looked at the mess. “Maybe we could try honeysuckle next time?” he suggested.

Barzai viewed his latest artistic project: a large maze he named “Blooming Corals”. It was made of sculpted perma-plaster, depicting sea corals adorned with figurative flowers, to celebrate the beauty of nature as the ultimate sculptor. “Lose yourselves in Nature!” the promotion prospect said.

Problems arose when people started getting themselves lost in the maze literally.

Almost a quarter of visitors were sending distress signals for emergency extractions; several had to be evacuated after running out of battery power, and one desperate citizen even crashed through the walls to get out.

Better rebuild it into a unicursal labyrinth, decided Barzai.

As their cats were quite demanding when it came to quality food, Damien and Atal were going to invent a new food type for them.

They set a large pot on the heater, and threw in things that cats were eating, like some dead rodents, insects, or a cup of catnip. Once the concoction was ready, they put it into a food bowl and gave it to the cats.

One cat approached the bowl and sniffed at the content. It screamed, its fur stood on end, and it bolted out like greased lightning.

“Maybe we should’ve tried honeysuckle?” commented Atal.