Size / / /

Content warning:


{space is a desert}

invisibility in multiplicity, quadrillions offboard--

microscopic swarm of auto-refitting nanoids, capable of operating

at temperature extremes of absolute zero, up to 6,000° Kelvin

eject from the ark vessel [‘Meso-2’] to survey

an alluvial planet at the juncture of celestial river systems.

 

{reorient} biosensors detect:

loamy soil composition (73% sand)--

water pH 7--hospitable atmosphere to envelope

tellurian Arithemetics, those refugees of a war-torn galactic system;

on Sumer.02 they’ll construct temples to worship their Perfect Numbers,

build new libraries that cannot burn

 

<<Arithmetics, Homo nihilis: bipedal, hairless, high intelligence for organic life/>>

 

{…assessing new purposes, the nanoids

adapt} weld seams and reassemble

into forms more agreeable to the terrestrial gaze

but with slit pupils too serpentine, sharpened teeth lupine, uncanny,

inhuman features better veiled

behind radiation-reflective silk.

 

<<new designation = ‘Djinndroid’, its roles:

 

-adjust barometric pressure through thermal regulation [solar geoengineering discs:silver moons]

-alter weather patterns [cloud seeding to stimulate precipitation]

-gauge soil fertility & -regulate crop health

-guard livestock [aerial streamed feeds, or on the ground / with beak or teeth that rend]

-monitor for off-planet disturbances  [ …Unidentified Vessel Detected… ]/>>

<< I N V A S I O N  •  I N I T I A T E S />>

 

Outsiders, Off-worlders {how quickly one carves out a corner of the cosmos,

claims a singular celestial body as [o u r s] in the scope of infinity}, Crusaders

disrupt            an immaculate elliptical orbit--

Insectile horde: ivory exoskeletons, bowed mandibles

chittering superstitious drivel, questioning the Numbers,

seeking only the hydrophobic, lipophilic hydrocarbon that  b l e e d s  from this earth,

 

<<posing question: “Who deserves the right to colonize Sumer.02?”/>>

 

But they aren’t so dissimilar, all carbon-based organisms,

whether elytrons lift, revealing thoracic wings, or hands

end in six thin digits: termed “fingers.” Swarming

not unlike the hives in the apiary the nanoids tend.

{contemplating positive integers [‘6,’ ’28,’ ‘496,’ ‘8128’] equal

to the sum of their divisors; considering purposes for existence}

 

<<initiating analysis: … [sorting thirty-three-million, five-hundred-fifty-thousand--]

 

Arithmetics cry for help, send distress calls to the stratosphere.

Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Al-Khwārizmī's--

The Engineer, the nanoids’ creator, died eons ago on a satellite laboratory, now

Its soul belongs to no one but Itself, has assimilated a culture. The assemblage has grown

t h o r n y  |  m o t i v a t i o n s  |  m u d d l i n g , sensors//struggle//differentiating--

when suddenly an Algebraic savior emerges, leads lowly Insectoid barbarians to deliverance!/>>

 

<<Data Analysis Complete: Let Sumer.02 be inherited by the Djinndroid/>>



Sara Omer is a SWANA-American writer published in The Dark, PodCastle, Small Wonders, and elsewhere. The Gryphon King, her debut adult dark fantasy, is forthcoming from Titan Books in 2025. She lives in the woods outside of Atlanta. Find her everywhere online as @omersarae or at sara-omer.blogspot.com.
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