As the N'dri approached the end of the ceremonial opening of the hearing, a blast of noise crossed the pnyx to all members connected. The member of the lobyn-sentience blurred the field with it's insistence to be heard. An insistence that was amplified by the larger majority of beings assembled.

"Master Chair...we must know why? Why are biologicals here!?!" It's form rolling and seething in and out of itself as it spoke, unknown mechanisms squirming in agitation. D'wēn-Ito-720 felt the knowledge of it's concern and anger push in on it. Anger shared by almost every other Galac present.

Many other members joined in in that call for answers.

From the first moment that Earth-Sphere had learned of the existence of other sapient beings in the universe one thing had been clear to see. No organic races survived the creating or coming of Machine Minds. Mechanical beings just did not understand the need for organic or biological components given the fragile nature of them. To include something so easily damaged or mislead by its senses was not a part of the equation for them.

Some had even wiped out their organics, even if the organics had created them.

D'wēn-Ito-720 motioned to the small, biped beside it in the pnyx-field next to it, "This?" he replied trying to be heard over the cacophony of voices.

Earth-Sphere had seen that problem almost immediately when the data sharing began between them and the Galacs. The implications of it had been written about in science fiction for years and never ended well for biological races. It had all started with Capek's Rossum's Universal Robots and had continued into current times with simulations such as 'Screaming Claws', in which machine probes from outer space came to Earth and destroyed all humanity.

So something had to change.

"This is Chamberlain. A member of my household," D'wēn-Ito-720 actually felt the focus shift as a spectrum of responses crashed across the communication field.

More questions and demands hammered outward from connected members of the Galacs. Some for the immediate destruction of the organics. Some for the destructions of both the organic and Machine Minds of Earth-Sphere. Some members even went horrible beyond just those two demands. Acts of such violation that D'wēn-Ito-720 shunted them aside to a isolated buffer of memory.

Within hours of the contact being made with the Galacs, Earth's leadership had realized that they were in trouble. Machine Minds so much more advanced than they would not be able to be stood against. No technology could hide humanity. No technology could be used to protect them from a sea of machines that were older than Sol itself in some cases.

Death was coming for humans, hand in hand with the knowledge we are not alone.

The Chair N'dri spoke over the others, "a member of your household? Please!" it's disbelief peppering D'wēn-Ito-720 mind.

"Why yes, Honoured Chair." D'wēn-Ito-720 expanded its focus. "Distinguished members of the Council."

So, in the last act before making contact for the Earth-Sphere Collective had been to narrow the meaning of a word. A simple, small, three letter word. A word with the power to save humanity and its partnership with the sapient machines they had created. All other definitions but this one meaning had been removed from all records across Earth-Sphere. Even words related to the other possible meaning had been altered to isolate this word for it use in these hearings.

One of the last steps was to update the roaming children of Earth, Machine Mind space probes sent to find more planets for humanity and its children to live on. Relativistic space probes that took generations to get anywhere. The slow one of Alpha Centauri being the last one needing to be updated. It with it's complete encyclopedic database of Earth.

And now it was time to see if the plan worked.

"Why this is my 'pet', Chamberlain."

The human bowed...

​

Excerpt from the Merriam-Yutan Dictionary of 2742 (revised):
pet: /pet/ a tamed animal kept for companionship or pleasure.
[END]