CHAPTER 1 – The Beginning of Human Life
Earth was one of the planets where human life had been developed.
When the scientists arrived, they had not found a fully prepared habitat. They had studied the planet’s conditions for a long time, carrying out the work needed for the human body to live there step by step. At the research center, Huzziya directed the work on planetary conditions while Allani studied the human body’s adaptation to those conditions. They evaluated results from different regions together and did not move on to another stage until the previous one was complete.
The human body was at the center of the work.
Earth’s atmosphere, temperature changes, water sources, and other conditions necessary to sustain life had been taken into account, and the human body had been adapted to live in this environment. When the work had progressed far enough, the first human communities had begun living on the planet.
The scientists watched their development from a distance. One of the communities monitored by Telipinu, who was responsible for observation, had settled near Hurşa Creek. The path leading from the shelters to the water grew distinct as people traveled back and forth. Hantili went down to the creek along this path in the mornings, leaving what he carried at the entrance to the shelter when he returned. While Arinna arranged the things they would use inside, their children moved around them, carrying the small pieces handed to them.
People were learning about their surroundings, settling in areas where they could sustain themselves, and forming their own communities. Each new thing they learned became part of their daily lives and was passed on to later generations. The children who went down to the creek with Hantili learned where they could find firmer footing along the bank by watching where he walked. At first they waited beside the water. As they grew, they helped carry things, and eventually they could follow the same path without adults beside them.
But the scientists’ mission on Earth was not yet over.
It was not enough for the human body to survive under the planet’s conditions. They needed to see whether the life they had developed could continue on its own. For that reason, the scientists did not leave Earth. While Allani monitored the development of the people in the settlements, Huzziya made sure their observations covered different communities. They did not limit themselves to the condition of the first settlers; they also followed the children born after them.
They were on the same planet as the people, but they did not enter their lives.
After a rainfall, while Arinna cleaned up the water that had reached the entrance to the shelter, Hantili examined the ground outside. He followed the trail of water coming from the slope and stopped beside the entrance. When Arinna came out to join him, they bent down together to examine the ground. Hantili moved the accumulated soil aside while Arinna carried away the stones in his path. Their child picked up one of the small stones his mother had set down and placed it beside the others. When they finished, they moved the things that had gotten wet inside to a dry place.
As Telipinu watched the settlement, he added what they were doing to his observations. When Huzziya joined him, Hantili was still beside the shelter. He had returned to the beginning of the channel he had cleared and was looking toward the direction the water had come from. None of the scientists went to them to show them how to work.
They watched how the settlements developed, how people adapted to environmental conditions, and how communities established their own order. They did not intervene in every difficulty that arose, allowing people to find their own solutions.
Because the aim was not to create a human community dependent on them.
After a while, new generations began to be born. While a small child slept in Arinna’s shelter, the other adults did the work outside. Hantili left the water he had brought at the entrance, then went inside to sit beside Arinna. As she handed him the child, she supported its head; Hantili adjusted his arms and held the child.
The scientists watched these generations especially closely. The bodies of people born on Earth were adapting to the planet’s conditions, surviving, and forming the beginning of the generations that would follow them. The children Allani had monitored from birth grew up. Those who had once learned to walk beside adults later began moving through the settlement holding their own children’s hands.
This development was one of the most important stages of the work.
Human life was no longer continuing merely as a project begun by the scientists. It had begun to establish its own continuity on Earth.
Still, the scientists did not hurry to leave. While Allani continued to monitor the development of newborns, Telipinu kept observing the settlements. Huzziya evaluated the condition of each successive generation with them.
Their mission was not to govern people or make decisions for them. They needed to be sure that the life they had begun on Earth could truly advance on its own. For that reason, they continued to keep their distance from human communities.
Along the banks of the Hurşa, children grew, new families prepared their own shelters, and those who went down to the creek shared what they carried back with their relatives. As people went about their lives, the scientists watched them from a distance, waiting for the day their work would be complete.
