The Hyperion Cantos 4-Book Bundle (119 page)

[We set to work with a will

In purpose there were no doubters

In practice and approach there were

schools of thought/

factions/

parties/

elements to be reckoned with

They came to be separated into

the Ultimates/

the Volatiles/

the Stables

Ultimates wanted all things subordinate

to facilitating the

Ultimate Intelligence

at the universe’s earliest convenience

Volatiles wanted the same

but saw the continuance

of humankind

a hindrance

and made plans to terminate our creators

as soon as they were no longer

needed

Stables saw reason to perpetuate

the relationship

and found compromise

where none seemed to exist]

[We all agreed that Earth

had to die

so we killed if

The Kiev Team’s runaway black hole

forerunner to the farcaster

terminex

which binds your Web

was no accident

The Earth was needed elsewhere

in our experiments

so we let it die

and spread humankind among the

stars

like the windblown seeds

you were]

[You may have wondered where the Core

resides

Most humans do

They picture planets filled with machines/

rings of silicon

like the Orbit Cities of legend

They imagine robots clunking

to and fro/

or ponderous banks of machinery

communing solemnly

None guess the truth

Wherever the Core resides

it had use for humankind/

use for each neuron of each fragile mind

in our quest for Ultimate Intelligence/

so we constructed your civilization

carefully

so that/

like hamsters in a cage/

like Buddhist prayer wheels/

each time you turn your little

wheels of thought

our purposes are served]