Dear inhabitants of the Blue Planet,

 

  First of all, I would like to congratulate you for your efforts : you have finally deciphered our codes, well done ! But, I’m sorry, I’m not in the mood for fun. Indeed our situation is serious, so serious… but not desperate, since you found our messages. Will you accept to be our new hope ?

  I would be a bad diplomat if I didn’t introduce myself before going further. My name is Ekhervielschweitzerdasvita-nianarrivedercci Topasophiosierkiyanopoulos. Yes, it is a long name for a man, even on my planet, so I allow you to call me “E.T.”, as everybody does. As the official Interplanetary Affairs Minister,  I speak in the name of the inhabitants of the planet Dystopia, that your scientists call “tau Ceti e”. Our civilization is more than 5000 years old, but I’m afraid we have led it to its end. Our technical development required the use of too many resources for the planet. We didn't manage them in a good way and some materials disappeared. We went mining on other planets of our solar system but ours was dramatically damaged and we triggered non reversible changes in the ecosystem and the climate. Even our atmosphere is becoming toxic!

Our recent history is full of conflicts, destructions, natural disasters… Successive planetary governments thought they had solutions, but there were too many problems. Our people panicked and lost patience, so the Elections placed in power the EASY League. Then, I must admit, we reached the point of no return. Its leader, Ken Colgate, pretends that we have no problem, that the current situation is only the logical continuation of natural selection, and tries to sweet-talk everybody with such sneaky speeches. If he had only one functional brain cell, he would have called his party the EVIL League ! (Sorry, that’s not very diplomatic, but even diplomats may lose their temper.)

 

A great man once said that in exceptional circumstances men must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy. This sentence perfectly fits our situation. And in my life I have never flinched from any difficulty.

The EASY League members are so self-centered that no one wanted to be the Minister in charge of interplanetary affairs, that’s why I managed to remain at my post even if I don’t agree with the new government. Fortunately, I am not the only one who is not satisfied with the situation, and all these men (and women !) of good will now form a secret network all over our planet. I can coordinate their clandestine activities thanks to my position as Minister.

 

 

We are now determined to settle on a new planet and build a new civilization. That’s why we chose “The Rebuilders” as our code name. Our scientists have identified the perfect place. You may find it hard to believe, but  we discovered quantum physics 2000 years ago and then new laws that you can't even imagine for the moment, so, trust me, that is no big deal for us. But I think there is a bigger challenge : how can we prevent our new world from drifting ? Our scientific knowledge was useless when we made choices for Dystopia, and I’m afraid that to err is human…

I was deep in these dark thoughts when I heard one of Colgate’s favorite slogans : “Dystopia first !”. This narrow-mindedness opened my eyes (contrariness is a great quality, don’t you think so ?) : Dystopians failed to solve their problems by themselves, but we never asked other peoples for other ways of living together.

 

Now you understand why we contacted you : we need another model for our future world, and we humbly ask for your help. We have chosen your planet, and especially your continent, Europe, and your time, the XXIst century, for this great challenge. Our scientists detected encouraging signs in your civilization and calculated that the time has come for you to decide of your future.

 

This is the main information I wanted to share with you for the moment… that’s enough to begin with, I think, and you have to think calmly about it : a whole civilization is in your hands!

 

 

      

 

Click on the picture to listen to E.T.'s audio message.