"'.... scientists knew that one day this could happen, that the Big Crunch was a distinct possibility, if not a certainty. However, it always seemed so far away, in such a far distant future, that it was all but impossible to conceive of and pointless to plan for. So we stopped keeping an eye out and somebody, somewhere, forgot to press a button, or write a program, or set an alarm to remind us to do something about the situation."

The Big Crunch

The Big Crunch is believed to be one of the possible scenario for the ultimate fate of the universe. The concept being such that, while the universe is expanding, gravitational forces bring masses across space to form clusters. The clusters eventually get larger in size and the resulting gravitational pull from all this mass results in bringing the towards each other, resulting in a "crunch", where the universe either descends into nothingness or that there is a new Big Bang, restarting the universe.

Three Laws of Robotics

The Three Laws of Robotics or Asimov's Laws are a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround" (included in the 1950 collection I, Robot).The Three Laws, quoted as being from the "Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.", are:

- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

In later fiction where robots had taken responsibility for government of whole planets and human civilizations, Asimov also added a fourth, or zeroth law, to precede the others:

- A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

The Three Laws, and the zeroth, have pervaded science fiction and are referred to in many books, films, and other media, and have impacted thought on ethics of artificial intelligence as well.



The plot

Mankind is stuck in an abyss. The Big Crunch is definitely happening, and they may almost be too late. Doctor Adam Goodwin starts a Noah's Ark exodus by building massive Lifeboats to sustain human life in stasis for billions of years across space as they try to overtake the gravitational pull of the Crunch and cross the edge of the Universe. The human lives are kept in stasis in a state where time does affect their existence, keeping them motionless in sleep for years. They are awakened in batches of ten, kept active physically and mentally by fulfilling their roles and through sports and entertainment while the system is run by AI controlled Artificial Humans (AH) with 1 Adam (a more advanced AH) at the helm. But is humanity truly safe on their path to survival?

We walk through one such Lifeboat, as ten of the occupants are awakened and the Adam announces that they have become isolated from all other Lifeboats in space as they lost contact with the rest. Simon Brading has done something really special here, thought-provoking and mind-bending at its best, and I really enjoyed reading this sci-fi novella.

Many thanks to the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.