The Allbright System - A Sci-Fi Progression LitRPG Story

“It is in our nature to consider why and how we ended up being in the position that we are in, for the debate has been raging for thousands of years.

“A lot of philosophers across time have argued that adaptability is our greatest asset. The ability to keep rolling with the punches until we’re back on our feet or die trying.

“Some have argued that it is not adaptability, but bravery, that is our greatest asset. The ability for us to look death in the face and overcome the most basic, primal instincts of fear and terror.

“Others again claim tool usage as our greatest asset. The ability to pick up different objects, use them for entirely alien purposes when compared to other animals. A stick, no longer just a random part of the environment, but a weapon, a staff to assist in wandering, an extension of our own hands.

“Frankly, none of these are the whole truth. They are merely fanciful lies that we tell ourselves to make us seem more than what we are. More than simply advanced animals; something superior.

“But therein truly lies our greatest asset does it not? The ability to lie.

“Not just to each other, but to ourselves.

“Many animals have the capacity for deceiving each other in one form or another, but only humanity has mastered this to a degree that we are capable of lying to ourselves. To discard the very truths our eyes, ears and mind are telling us, in order to replace it with an entirely different narrative.

“The most common of all narratives we like to lie to ourselves about, is that of the “other”.

“Once upon a time, it was a truth, which makes the lie all the easier to fester in our minds. When we were nothing but tribal groups of hunters and gatherers, the “other” was an important tool in our arsenal to stave off surprise attacks, disease and similarly catastrophic outcomes for out tribes.

“But we have long left our tribal heritage behind, yet the “other” is one thing that remains, for it is so incredibly useful to lie to ourselves about.

“Despite the evidence of our eyes and ears that the person that looks like me, speaks like me and has the same fundamental buildup as me, is inherently “other”.

“It is the first thing that any military teaches, even before blind obedience: Make the enemy into the “other” so your own conscience is free of guilt.

“For we are so unbelievably capable in the deceit of our own thoughts, that we can truly make ourselves believe anything, given the right incentive.

“The lie that the words spoken could not possibly be true.

“The lie that the very truths in front of our eyes are merely fabricated.

“The lie that there will be reinforcements on the collapsing front, despite logic dictating there can’t possibly be any.

“Many of the things often attributed to other emotions—disbelief, trust and hope—are merely consequences of this one, greatest asset in our arsenal: Self-inflicted lies.

“Knowledge of this greatest asset, in itself, does not prevent its existence either, for it is so insidious that we can even lie to ourselves about the very nature of the lies themselves.

“That they are necessary. They have a purpose. They are not meant to harm.

“But, fundamentally, they are still simply that: Lies.

“When you call them the “other”, the Freaks, the Undead, the Cultists, the Cancer, the Fairies… You are doing nothing but lying to yourself, that they are somehow different from yourself. That they are not, inherently, the same type of human that you are.

“The knowledge of this is not meant to curb the Galactic War, but merely a reminder of the greater things at stake, that beyond everything happening across this little galaxy of ours, the universe is a large place.

“Yet despite knowing all of this, there is one fundamental truth to be found as well: The Galactic War needs to continue until the end; the machine needs to keep churning; the “other” needs to die.

“For all the truths inherent, that is and will always remain simply part of our greatest asset: The Lie.”

—

[Grayson Holund Sairfax – "Humanity’s Greatest Asset", PFC712]