Above the Sun by Dennis Black

SPSFC 2024

Strains is a research project, to find 1 solution to 2 problems: 1) Save th’Earth from humanity. 2) Save humanity from humanity. Not as easy as it sounds. We can solve the 1st one by destroying humanity – working on it. We can solve the 2nd one by destroying th’Earth. Actually, no, that won’t work, yet it’s been our consistent approach thus·far. Also, that’s 2 solutions, and we need to solve both with just 1, so as to avoid th’added burden of deconfliction, which would any·way fail. Not easy, yet the solution is simple, even obvious, to an outsider. No·one can believe it, because no·one will even consider it. So the 1st step is to trick us all into thinking th’unthinkable. No problem, we do that all the time. Just present it as fiction. After all, so much fiction already gets presented as research results, and turn·about is fair·play, so . . . Actually, better make it sci·fi. Just as well – saves having to apologize for all th’unorthodoxies. Non·standard fiction vs accepted reality . . . Faites vos jeux.