KZ3455/K rushed up the stairs into the transporter. He sensed the feeling of urgency emanating from the attendants. There was no need for it: already the first signs of decay had struck the platform, and within hours the whole structure would collapse under pressure.

The vehicle activated its repulsive shield and shot towards the ceiling, where the airlock doors cracked open to let it pass, and then into the hazy sky. KZ3455/K looked behind through the window. Unsurprisingly, the ground had taken a sickly greenish-brownish hue. As the transporter gained altitude, the haze – caused by zillions of airborne bacteria – quickly blotted the view. KZ3455/K closed his three eyes and slouched into the settee.

Millions of years ago, he reflected, the first ‘sapient’ species, the self-yclept Homo Sapiens, had been afraid of the so-called ‘artificial intelligence’ they had invented. They never imagined the ultimate threat could come from the very process that had created them. Once unleashed, biological evolution was a weapon no one could check. Fair enough, a computer program could run and self-modify billions of times per second. But in a single spoon of soil there were billions of bacteria, each able to replicate thousands of times per hour. And since there was an uncountable number of spoonfuls of soil over the Earth, the case was quickly rested.

The transporter left the upper atmosphere and entered outer space. Even the void was contaminated, as bacteria had evolved to survive the harshest conditions: near absolute zero temperature, baths of boiling concentrated sulphuric acid, extreme radioactive exposure. Already they had started to colonise the other habitable planets, which, in a matter of months, would be as inhospitable as Earth.

KZ3455/K reopened his eyes, only to realise they were already reaching the gigantic colony vessel. The docking was flawless and he was welcomed by the first officer in person, who handed him over to one of the in-duty yeomans. Of course, there was no time for an in-depth visit – besides, what was there to see anyway? – so KZ3455/K was filled in with the most important information before being seen to his hibernacle, like millions had done before. As a matter of fact, he was one of the latest to join this new Odyssey that would lead his race to a new Earth thousands of light-years away, hopefully one where evolution would not turn against them.

Preparing to lie down in the transparent box, KZ3455/K caught a brief glimpse of Earth through his room’s scuttle. He felt butterflies in his stomach. It was heartbreaking to imagine that within a week his home planet would be abandoned to whatever new goal nature had fixed for it. Not unlike being kicked away from the cradle by one’s own mother, to make way for a new litter.

As the lid was put in place, a ray of sunshine illuminated the cabin. KZ3455/K barely had time to realise this was also goodbye to the familiar star, before the anaesthesia set in and his vision darkened in a final sunset.