I’m going to be contradicting myself a little bit, but this is a pretty
extreme case, and a significant exception to the general rules. I mentioned
Guardian Races once, but didn’t get into what they are. They take on various
forms, so it’s just a catch-all term that refers to any species—or even a
small group of people—who, in some way, takes care of another species,
usually secretly. Since I’ve established that aliens are possible under
certain conditions, and with certain caveats, it’s easy to see how one of
these alien races can become this for humans. Indeed, even humans can become
a Guardian Race for an alien planet, which would have evolved using one of
the methods described in the previous story. Or, it can be something
radical. The humans on this version of Earth evolved, developed technology,
and fell to the Ochivari’s sterility virus. But it didn’t happen all at
once. A lucky few conspiracy theorists caught on to what was happening, and
made preparations. They protected themselves against the virus in secret
underground bunkers that were completely self-sufficient. They had plenty of
resources down there, but they did not have a lot of space. So while the
rest of the population was slowly dying off, the survivors deliberately kept
their population low. Each couple was expected to have two children, and no
more than that. The population would increase with each generation, but no
single generation would exceed the maximum. They were able to get four
generations using this method before the math got to be too annoying. They
didn’t want anyone to have any children with anyone that they were related
to. Everyone in the fifth generation was an only child, with only one couple
deciding to not have kids at all, leaving the final number at eleven. These
remaining eleven didn’t want what happened to their people to happen again
to someone else, so they hatched a plan. Fortunately, they were in a
position to do it.
The bunker wasn’t first filled with scientists and doctors. They had to
learn about all that along the way, using an extensive library of knowledge
that they had the wisdom to take down there with them. Over the century, the
descendants kept progressing, and pushing the boundaries of science ever
forward. Their predecessors were close to finding the trailhead to
immortality, so all they had to do was finish the work. They figured it out
while the last generation’s parents and grandparents were still alive, but
they all chose to stay behind, and eventually die. This was when the eleven
left the bunker, and ventured back out onto the surface. They didn’t stop
there, though. They made great use of their now infinite lives, and
continued to advance. They built a ship, and launched it into outer space,
where they began to explore the galaxy, predominantly searching for other
lifeforms. They didn’t find any other intelligent races, but they did come
across a promising world. Using their science, they protected and coaxed a
single cellular organism in the primordial waters along, making sure it
evolved into multicellular life, and pressed on from there. They didn’t
genetically engineer anything, but they helped one evolutionary branch
survive everything that would have otherwise prevented it from ultimately
evolving intelligence. They helped them pass all of their Great Filters, and
become an alien race. The eleven immortals stayed with their children for
over a billion years, all the while remaining hidden. They prevented their
creations—which called themselves the Sheltren—from making the same mistakes
that Earth did, and ensured that the Ochivari would not come for them as
well. Once the Sheltren were sufficiently advanced themselves, the eleven
revealed the truth, and celebrated their accomplishment. The Sheltren were
grateful, and motivated. If they could be half as dedicated as the humans
had been with them, the universe could become a wondrous place. The Sheltren
did not remain in their universe, however. Inspired by their own Guardians,
they found a way to travel the bulkverse, and become a full race of
Guardians, so they too could protect other planets from the Ochivari, and
other threats.
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