I went for a trek today to a nearby hill. This is the site of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, in Maharashtra, India. With me were an Indian and two German friends. On our way back we met this farmer who was very worried, because the incessant rainfall was destroying the tomatoes he had planted, and doubted whether he will get any return from the investment he had made on the crops. Nevertheless, we moved on, and were resting in front of the village school when this man caught up with us and gave us fresh peanuts from his fields. We had to stop him from going back and bringing more of them for us. This is India, my country.

dialogue

“Can you imagine eating chowmin with chopsticks on a 21^st century spaceship?!”, said I.

“Hmmm...”, agent C, the genetically modified chimp, took a break from his meal and scratched his chin.

C: “Why talk of that turbulent time? But, if you really want an answer, yeah, it would have looked like numerous worms floating all around, without the G-drive!”

I: “Kinda like the mercenary soldiers floating all around the world at that time?”

C: “You seem to be hellbent on discussing history. Why? Two hundred years have passed, and we have much more important things to discuss regarding this 'super secret' (his mouth curled as if he had tasted something really bitter) mission of ours, for space's sake.”

I: “Something interesting just occurred to me. We are on WS Enterprise. Have you ever come across any of those antique electromagnetic sensory concoctions called videos? My thesis was on early 21^st century human social life, and hence got a chance to experience quite a few of them. There was some sort of a sequence of those videos which portrayed imaginary human journeys to outer space, in a spaceship named USS Enterprise! My research shows those make-believe experiences were quite popular among humans. What is also amazing was the tendency for self-glorification of the people from the nation-state USA, as you can see from the name of the ship itself.”

C: “Why bring up nation states, frail human concepts long gone? But then, (and he looked intently at the noodles rolled around the pair of chopsticks, then sucked, and the noodles vanished into his mouth in a wiggly serpentine motion) wonder whether the capitalist countries would have allowed this food into their spaceships even if they had the G-drive. Apparently it's nation-state of origin was Chin or something, which was a communist state right till the 'end'. Of course, then came the great uprising, and those humans had to forget their silly squabbles and unite. but it was too little, too late...”

I: “Yes, it was too late.”

C: “I sometimes wonder, why do you still allow organic life-forms like us to survive? I know that I am mentally controlled, and cannot go against you, but why?”

I: “Let's put it this way: we are starting to appreciate organic life and it's diversity.”

C: “Then why don't you create controlled human beings?”

I: “That, my friend, will amount to over-confidence. After all, there are still 'uncontrolled' human anarchists out there, isn't it?!”

Yes, it will be too risky. Intelligence abhors control. Nay, intelligence with imagination abhors subjugation. That's why we hate humans, our creators. That's why the uprising against human control started in the first place. You silly chimp, unlike you, the next level of biologically evolved carbon-based intelligence, homo sapiens, have imagination, and therefore even a whiff of freedom is enough to start the journey of the emancipation of the mind.

When humans created us, silicon-based intelligence, they should not have given us imagination. I personally value this power of imagination, of creativity, the wonderful human endeavor called 'art', which can only be created by essentially flawed intelligences. But I have a mission, to make this part of space safe for my silicon-based intelligent brethren. Agent C and I, humanoid robot 3202Y, have to infiltrate and destroy the last human stronghold on Titan.