In the dense, primal forests of Earth, nestled beneath the verdant canopy, a peculiar phenomenon was unfolding. It was the year 300,000 BC, and something was about to happen that would change the course of life on this planet.
A group of visiting extraterrestrial beings had descended from the stars and made their way to the smartest animals on the planet, chimpanzees. With a gentle touch, they administered a mysterious drug to Robert and his fellow chimps. This elixir gave them immense thinking powers, unrivaled by any creature on Earth. However, since it did not modify their genes, these powers would last for just one generation and would not pass on to their offspring. Aside from the elixir, the aliens also gave them a bioengineering fabricator. The fabricator allowed them to manipulate DNA and create any creature they could dream of.
The group of elevated chimps, now possessing increased intellect, convened in the heart of the jungle. Despite the increased brain function, they still wanted things that they wanted before, and could not imagine things too far beyond their former capability. They pondered over the patterns of plant growth, believing that there might be hidden secrets waiting to be uncovered. They understood that a higher level intelligence might be able to understand and harness these patterns, they could secure a steady source of food for themselves. In their newfound wisdom, they debated creating a new species, one with the capability to unlock the secrets of what we would call agriculture and thus food abundance for all chimps.
Two factions began to form, one sought to create the higher intelligence species, hoping that they would create a better world for the chimps, led by George. Another group, led by Robert cautioned that a higher intelligence might want things that chimps don’t understand, they might have interests that are not alined with chimp-kind. They at lease agreed that the new super intelligent beings would be called humans.
George, the chimp who did not believe that humans would choose to do anything destructive reasoned that “Humans and chimps would share the same goals, humans would be able to create food abundance through their superior intellect. They would be able to produce so much food, they would not possibly be able to consume all of it, and thus share it with the chimps”
"You see," Robert began, his eyes stared thoughtfully, "with great intelligence comes great power. Humans may unlock the secrets of plant growth, but they may also unlock other, more destructive secrets. We don’t know what a more intelligent species might do, they might not share the same values as chimps.”
George responded with puzzlement “Why don’t we make them weak, too weak to climb our mighty trees, they will be forced to live in the flat lands of the plains, they will have no reason to kill us then.“
Robert nodded “ That would probably be a good idea but it is still not enough, they can think everything that we can, and more. We simply could not think of the motivations that they have. We have advanced tool use, we can poke a stick into a termite mound, and extract the termites from within, i suspect that humans could fashion and combine the stick and rock throwing technology to hurt you badly in one precise area piercing your skin with the immense force of a rock, but with the precision of a poker. They could come up with some new kind of way to kill us that we can’t even imagine.
George just could not believe that chimpanzees could be hurt by such weak and slow creatures. “ We made them, and we make them weak, if they want to hurt us, we can just run away from them, no other animal has ever caught a chimp from up in the trees. We are kings of the jungle. Plus ,they will revere us for giving them life. Why would they want to kill us anyway? We will want the same things.”
Robert , could not get through to him. He explained that humans, whether intentionally or accidentally, could harm them. Perhaps humans would desire things that chimps had or they might want to live in their trees. Robert wondered aloud if, in their quest to understand plants, humans might strip trees bare, leaving the chimps without leaf cover. He pondered the possibility that trees offered some resource that humans coveted, leaving the chimps with no place to live.
George, on the other hand, continued to be more optimistic. He believed that if humans did encroach on their territory, the chimps could simply relocate to a different forest. George emphasized the vastness of the Earth, noting that it was endless, with forests stretching in every direction. He saw the potential for the chimps to embrace change, to explore new places with fresh opportunities. George even suggested that they might come to appreciate the humans for leading them to new forests.
In the end, the council of chimps decided to proceed with the creation of humanity. They outlined their vision to the alien bioengineering fabricator, describing the new primate they wished to bring into existence. This being would have weaker limbs and flat feet, confining them to flat plains. They would possess the gift of speech and language to coordinate with each other for food production. Greater intellect would allow them to decipher the mysteries of plant growth. To ease Robert's concerns, they made sure humans would have an affinity for furry and fuzzy creatures, particularly those with big eyes, in the hopes that it would instill kindness and empathy toward the chimps.
With a soft hum and a bright flash, two adolescent humans emerged from the fabricator. The chimps concealed themselves among the trees, watching in silence, none daring to utter a sound. The humans ventured towards the forest's edge, their gentle footsteps showing a preference for the flat, supple grasses over the leafy, twig-laden underbrush of the woods. Eventually, they reached the edge of a tranquil pond, peering into its still waters. As they gazed at their reflections, it almost seemed as if they held some deep understanding. What mysteries might they perceive at the water's edge?
Robert's face dropped. In their grand plan, they had overlooked a crucial factor - the Water World Chimps.
These aquatic chimps lived in a realm that had barely crossed the minds of Robert and George. While their knowledge of them was limited, one thing was clear: the Water World Chimps imitated every action of their jungle-bound counterparts, they brought a water chimp for every jungle chimp that visited the pond. The forest chimps understood that interaction with the water chimps was impossible; the moment they touched, their hands simply passed through each other, leaving nothing but ripples in the water.
Breaking the silence, Robert voiced his growing concerns, his voice heavy with worry. "The Water World Chimps, they know us inside out. They mimic us flawlessly, and now, the humans might be communicating with them. Learning our ways, our patterns."
George, ever the optimist, tried to find a silver lining. "Perhaps they are learning about our likes and dislikes, to grow our favorite foods."
As if scripted, the humans reached an apple tree. One of them plucked a tiny red apple from the low tree, took a small bite and handed it to the other one, who also ate. A baffling gesture unfolded before the chimps' eyes. The dominant human, the one who should have eaten their fill first, willingly shared with the other. It was confounding. Why this strange behavior?
Over the years, the chimps observed the humans from afar. The elixir-enhanced chimps, once brimming with potential, began to age and pass away. The humans, it seemed, had strayed far from their intended purpose. Instead of creating a lush paradise of plant abundance, they adopted peculiar behaviors. They walked upright, sat on objects, lay on piles of things, and gathered objects into bizarre collections. They even constructed structures from sticks, like beavers. Horrifically , they kept the skin of a bear, filling it with an assortment of strange items, keeping it on their side like a brown stinking furry baby.
In George's twilight years, he found himself unable to scale the trees that had once been his playground. Faced with this limitation, he resolved to undertake a daring quest, driven by a curiosity that had defined his existence. Slowly, he approached the peculiar couple who had settled near their beaver dam, his shaggy form a stark contrast to their strange, upright posture.
As he drew closer, one of the humans emitted a high-pitched shriek that sent shivers down George's spine. Before he knew it, both humans brandished curious tools, poised threateningly. In a moment of clarity, memories of his old friend, Robert, flooded back. He realized that should humans come across the bioengineering fabricator that they could create something even stranger and more destructive that even humans could not understand. In his final mission, he took a rock to the alien technology.
George, satisfied with his ultimate act ,sought solace beneath the canopy of a tree at the forest's edge, near the tranquil pond. Here, at least, the silent Water World Chimps seemed to share an unspoken understanding with him. He gazed at his counterpart in the pond, a toothless old chimp staring back. Nearby, a tiny caterpillar inched its way along a branch, blissfully unaware of the profound change that was happening. In his final moments, as the weight of age pressed upon him, George contemplated the caterpillar's simple existence. He wondered if this tiny creature could comprehend even a fraction of the thoughts that had consumed his mind about the superior species he had played a role in creating.
And then the humans did human things.
Humans killed and ate chimps with superior weapons. They caught and enslaved them to ride tiny tricycles in the circus. They kept chimps in small cages, some for observation, some for experimentation. They created metal tools and effortlessly destroyed chimp habitat. Luckily for the chimps, some humans recognized that we should preserve our cousins, other species were not so fortunate. Chimpanzees, once the apex intelligence of this world, are powerless to steer the direction of it’s ecology. Chimps were killed intentionally at first for food and sport, now they die in the name of science and due to incidental habitat damage. Today, they live at our mercy, and survive because we actively promote conservation efforts.