{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/>>