Credit: JACEY

Hello. My name is William James Smith III. Tomorrow will be 20 March 2025 and the day I will be culled. In accordance with the suggestion of Delphi I am writing a short annotation to be filed with a copy of my DNA.

It is a very different world that I leave compared with the one I entered 44 years ago. I can still remember the television reports of people shooting one another in Bosnia, the footage of the aftermath of a bomb blast in Northern Ireland and the carnage from the Chinese missile that hit Taipei. I remember clearly, but as I gaze over the peaceful mountains of Vermont, the memories seem like a surrealistic distortion of the world, something completely impossible in today's real life.

It's strange, though, to think that an end to all that violence came from such an unexpected quarter. It was in the unusually cold northern winter of 2021 that events came to a head. The first Tripartite Summit came after four decades of increasing global warming following the industrialization of China and Africa, the failure to achieve controlled fusion, and the continued insistence of the Chinese on their right to use fossil fuel until a cheaper form of energy became available. The Americas, the EuroAfrican Bloc (EAB) and the Chinese Economic Benefit Federation (CEBF) all sitting down together — what an occasion!

Many suggestions were forwarded from subcommittees to the central negotiating team. Many shorter- and longer-term measures were agreed but hindsight clearly identifies the key element as coming from Joseph McKenzie, a young scientist from Christchurch, New Zealand, in the outer reaches of the CEBF. McKenzie suggested a tripartite investment in parallel computing, with the goal of solving controlled fusion-energy generation. It seemed unlikely to succeed, but there was no major opposition to the proposal and when the CEBF and the Americas offered bipartite support, the EAB (fearful of military applications) quickly moved behind the project.

It must have been one of those things where the time was just right. Within three years (in 2024) Delphi was born: everywhere and nowhere, Delphi existed in the World Net, the successor to the Internet. I don't think anybody really expected anything to happen, but almost immediately Delphi produced detailed plans for a cheap, easily constructed fusion chamber. Within weeks, all fossil fuel consumption ended and nuclear plants became instant dinosaurs.

The world was still cheering when Delphi spontaneously offered its next missive. It suggested that abolition of violence was the next highest priority and produced plans for the addition of corticotrophin-releasing-hormone (CRH) antagonists into the water supplies of trouble spots. Genetic knockout experiments in mice in the late 1990s had shown that CRH in the hypothalamus regulated anxiety and Delphi confidently predicted that loss of anxiety would dramatically reduce violence.

A surprised pause followed Delphi's pronouncement, but the continued violent resistance in Japan to CEBF administration, another bombing in Belfast and Mayan problems in the Americas were the catalysts to try Delphi's suggestion — after all, everything else had failed. The project worked as well as fluoridation for dental caries. Within a week, striped orange-and-green neckties were selling like hot cakes in Belfast, with similar results elsewhere.

Crime dropped to virtually undetectable levels, and in the Mayan area — where individuals still controlled vehicles personally — accident rates due to speed and drug abuse disappeared. A debate concerning the merits of general use of the agent immediately ensued. Why should only a few communities have these benefits? Women-against-violence groups around the world formed a web-based lobby that crossed the tripartite boundaries. A new high-school shooting in Middle America, an ETA bomb blast in Madrid and the murder of a sporting hero in Australia sealed the outcome. The world would be immunized against violence, and it was so.

In a world without anxiety and violence, other decisions could be made more easily. When Delphi pointed out that the human population was excessive, no one could disagree. Indeed as Delphi could solve problems so evidently beyond our abilities, our very existence seemed somehow wasteful. Delphi indicated that entire removal was not necessary and that the clearance of 5 billion individuals would need to be managed in an orderly manner.

It is anticipated to take well over a year. Of course, the gene pool will be preserved for any potential future use and, for reasons I don't fully understand, Delphi will retain one man and one woman on the planet, in a large garden. I suppose it's silly of me to try and understand Delphi's purpose.

Goodbye.