OK, this is just a quick entry, because I am pressed for time right now. But I needed to note down a few words since I am so excited about the possibilities of a certain thing I put into motion. If it works out (and I don’t see why it shouldn't), it is going to be amazing.

You see, all the great things in the entire history of our species started with just a good idea. With one individual thinking about something unorthodox and trying it out. And no matter how that idea eventually evolved, it all starts with that one moment of inspiration.

Here are a few examples: the wheel (yeah, that round thing), constructed dwellings (instead of living in caves), clothes, domesticating animals (as opposed to hunting the wild ones... unsuccessfully in most cases), cities (still questionable), ice-cream, books, clock, toilet paper, depilation techniques (unless you are into fuzz), vaccines (anti-vaccination is a true example of Darwinian selection), printing press, allowing women to vote (it only took 200,000 years), pyramids, the trip to the moon, milk chocolate (a genius combination), disposable sanitary pads (women will understand), zippers, pizza, beer (this one is making me emotional), string cheese, the Internet… There are a few more, but I think I covered all the crucial ones.

The point I am trying to make is that in time, that single idea can grow into something momentous and transformative. Especially if it was an idea that came into being out of necessity, as most of them do.

Moving a great number of people into space will have its difficulties; it is a huge project that requires vast amounts of materials and preparation. All that is essential, since humans didn’t evolve to live in such an environment. As a result, the environment they did evolve in must be simulated so they could thrive. For now, the spaceship I was building on Pagan Island will be adequate, and it will theoretically continue to do so for quite some time, but…

The nature of life is to grow, to expand, and multiply itself. It is always better to plan for the future with some degree of foresight than to let it surprise you. If we are being honest, humans rarely employ forward planning on such scale (excluding the Chinese), and that is one of the main reasons why some cities are so ridiculously overcrowded, they have more resemblance to anthills than with places where people should live in. That is extremely pronounced in developing countries. Moreover, it is even understandable, because people are always in search of a better life. Bigger cities, in general, have more job opportunities and higher wages, and that in turn attracts more people to congregate and to build more dwellings for the new people. In so many cases, you can see something akin to a reverse cell division, where two cities merge into one megacity, constantly growing, constantly expanding. It is a vicious circle.

That is the reason why I decided to do something about it, something that could be a great benefit to us in the years to come. Ben was talking about it in one of our conversations, the natural progression of conquering space, of spreading life further from the Earth. He pointed out that the main obstacle would be available space for all the people that would want to leave Earth. Not at first, but as time progressed—it was a certainty.

People tend to make other people, and unless we set a population control program (as China once did), in time, the livable space will become a problem. He also presented some numbers about the sheer number of humanity that would be willing to move to space if there was a place for them to go to, and it was staggering… in the millions.

Well, I had an idea.

There is something out there in space that I had my eyes set on for quite some time now. It is so tempting that the human race would wage wars to get possession of. (Well, not if I have something to say about it. Early bird gets the worm and all that.) I am talking about the Main Asteroid Belt, which is an El Dorado of every single thing a material hungry AI can ever need. The inconceivable amounts of resources circling around the Sun in never-ending orbit are simply staggering. To truly comprehend its size, you need to start thinking on an interplanetary scale, where the rocks that are the size of small moons are just potential resources waiting there for you to dismantle and harvest.

To begin my plan, all I had to do is send a small probe with some nanites and stake my claim. (Not that I was crazy enough to inform anybody I was doing that, no sir, no way.) Once that was done, I could start recovering some of that universe provided bounty.

Well, the probe was more the size of a house, filled to the brim with nanites, power cores, and a bunch of MIs to start my little project. It hurt a bit to just send that out into space when there are so many of my current projects which could have used those resources, but the plan demanded it.

It will take some time for it to get there since the Main Asteroid Belt is not really close by. Depending on the time of year, it is 297.45 to 390.4 million miles away, (or 478.7 to 628.3 million kilometers for you people who use the metric system, you know—the logical one). Anyway, a discrepancy of a few months here and there is acceptable when working on such a scale.

There is nothing aerodynamic about the probe. Essentially a black cube covered with holographic emitters and a powerful Gravity-drive to take it to its destination. Holographic emitters are there for the initial concealment. I don’t want those busybodies from various nations that monitor near-earth space for potential dangers to get images of it. (I bet that there is at least one nerd among them that would figure out something was amiss.)

As soon as the probe approaches the belt (about 50 million miles/80 mil. km away), it will fire several mini probes in a wider spread that will achieve far greater speeds than the mother probe. Now, they will be used to check out the neighborhood. They will scan for the optimal location for the nanites to be deployed, and the main probe will change its direction accordingly.

Then, when the chosen destination is reached, the construction nanites will start to process the asteroids and separate what could be of use from the ordinary rock. However, before that, they will use the refined material to replicate themselves in considerable numbers. (Think large numbers, astronomically large.) That is the reason for multiple MIs; something has to control that unruly bunch.

I will still be able to communicate with them, but there is a question of lag due to the distances involved. I can live with daily updates on their progress since there will be a need to tweak the mission parameters from time to time.

The nanites—they are the key. I don’t think anyone actually realizes how life-changing that one technology is. Construction nanites are something that will require a true paradigm shift in thinking about how we approach large-scale projects. They are the greatest gift and can be the worst curse if not handled carefully. Nanites should never be allowed to fall under the control of ordinary people. It may sound conceited, but mere humans are not equipped to deal with them. It takes an AI... or an equivalent of one. (OK, not just any, but the one that is writing this.)

You may ask why? Well, because there was never a technology that humans invented that they did not eventually manage to weaponize. If nanites were turned into a weapon, the biblical Armageddon would be small potatoes compared to them. (Can somebody say—planet killer… and that is not a joke.)

OK, where were we? Ah, yes, my nanite probe has reached the Main Asteroid Belt. Well, then, the fun begins. I need to have something built, something so big that the project would only make sense with a planet’s ransom in metals; however, that project is still a way down the line. I do not exactly know how lucky my asteroid mining plan will be.

On the other hand, it is not a big investment for a potentially enormous return. I rolled the dice, and time will tell where they will fall.

Think about it, what would you do if you had unlimited resources and means to build anything you can think of?

Food for thought.