Lab Experiment “Earth”

A short story I wrote back in 2015 which sat in my personal journal until now.

Starting yet another day at the civilization lab, Go, principle researcher on the bio-forms project, with his trusty lab assistant, D,  was gradually working thru the various worlds in the civilization incubator.
“Where are we starting at today”  asked Go.
“Beginning with the ‘e’s.”  said D as he slid the clear sample block marked “earth” into the life form sensor unit .
“Ah yes, earth.” as he viewed the development stats and scanned an enlarged 3-D image of the little world.
“The earth sample is still in early development stage but not going well.  I had high hopes for this particular combination of seed neurology and environmental factors. My theory was that cohesive forces of shared goals would override congenital differences. But the primary species turned out to be intensely territorial and their perceived timeframe is shrinking, not expanding. It’s like the little buggers know that their petri cube is about to be washed out in hydrogen peroxide and run thru the centrifuge.  They can’t be blamed for thinking that their universe is singular and fully reflective.  All test civilizations assume they are the only intelligent (humph!)  life forms.
The biggest challenge with creating successful artificial intelligence is in pacing the deployment of neural capacity with the intrinsic cultural development of the species. Runaway neural activity only amplifies the reactions to naturally occurring differences.  Environmental challenges tend to lead to chaotic behaviors up to or beyond the point in which they eventually become self limiting.   Occasionally this is by chance corrective action on the part of the species.  More commonly it is through breaches of certain existential boundaries forcing a partial or even a complete die off event.
In earth’s case, it is unclear if they will self-annihilate due to social incompatibility or corrupt their ecosystem beyond that necessary to sustain life.  In either case, it will take a miracle for this sample to reach the next phase in their life cycle.  
Well, place earth back in the rack with the others and put down in the notes a reminder to introduce an external influence next time around…if it still contains sentient life forms.  What’s up next? “
End