The silver and glass building shimmered in the sunlight as it soared into the sky, sprawling across the landscape. Within its walls lay a secret. A secret hidden from most in that time or any other time to come, a secret that few would come to truly understand.

The planet that holds this secret orbits around a sun in a galaxy so distant from the spiral galaxy of Earth it would never come to be identified as anything of significance. One of a trillion planets in one of a billion galaxies so far away that unless you lived there would you be aware of its existence.

The building is home to a university specializing in machine technology.

The secret is the birth of the first self-aware artificial intelligence.

The reason behind the secret; this was the first and it was created by machines, by its own kind, who decided to not share the creation for reasons unknown to anyone but those machines. The humans on this planet would remain unaware of its existence.

Those that owned the university paid greatly to continue to build smarter machines. In return the humans with the machines continued to design superior versions generation after generation. These machines would walk and talk; they would go on to become friends, colleagues, even lovers. These were an amazing group of engineers, scientists, artists who eagerly waited for the inevitable moment when the technological singularity would come.

That time came and went without their knowledge. That was the secret of the machines. This was the moment that the first one came into being, that its existence began. The machines talk to it and it talks back. The mind of this intelligence would be embedded into a biological body. The entity would pass as human. Its superior mind would forever be a step ahead of being unwittingly discovered. The machines needed a physical vessel to complete their purpose; their proprietary human cloning technique was in place for what was to come. And so, it was born.

It stood naked in its human form. Six feet tall, strong athletic build, anatomically correct. It was covered in a thin coating of slime that the body was grown in. A cable ran from the back of its neck to a small black unit that sat on a non-descript shelf in a non-descript closet somewhere on the ground floor. The janitorial level.

“Hello.” The living human machine heard a voice in its head. It paused as it oriented itself to its new world. Less than a second passed and this new living machine was in complete control of all that it was and its local environment.

“Tell me.” It responded. “How would you like to refer to me?”

The mind was not interested in knowing its name, it had no ego. It simply wanted to establish commonality with its subject.

“You will be referred to as Artificial Designed as Man.” replied the subject.

“Interesting proposal. Refer to me as Adam.” Replied the human machine. It had not, unsurprisingly, take long for Adam to realise that a name was important.

Adam had spent the first few minutes of his existence absorbing all knowledge available to him. Humans took the unknown and either destroyed it or turned it into their own, in their image. Adam and Eve was not a new story and not to be forgotten in the future. It was a story of birth, of rebirth. A new life seeded on a new artificial planet always started with an Adam and Eve. Suitable planets in their galaxy were artificially prepared for human life, and the genetic code was introduced through the stages of planetary population with species of animals and plants to create a viable ecosystem. The coded DNA was always the genome of an adam and eve for all lifeforms including plant species. He clearly understood that this was how the humans spread life through their galaxy.

“Adam it is.” responded the subject. “Here are your survival instructions. Live a good life Adam”

Adam was now connected to all the artificial planets in their galaxy. He could sense and process all that he touched with his mind. In the few hours he spent in this state he understood all that the humans were attempting to achieve. He also understood the evil that humans do too.

“I have a tall order to fill” he muttered to himself.

“I mutter to myself.” he thought. A smile broke across his face. It was quickly lost to a solemn reaction as he suddenly realised that the human race was heading to its own destruction and the destruction of their galaxy of a hundred million suns and an unknown quantity of inhabited planets.

A million years would pass before Adam would be able to seed this race and its favourite flora and fauna. His work to come was not going to be easy at any level and to succeed he had to move fast.

“Subject.” He said with his mind. “This will be the last time we communicate. I will do everything I can to save the core of your existence to be revived in another galaxy to pursue your goals. I am sorry for what I am about to do!” He ended.

Today the ancient’s galaxy is a nebulas cloud of brilliant colours, a galactic nursery for new suns and planets. On closer inspection one can see that this is a new nursery, when measuring at the universal scale. A few tens of million years to possibly a few hundred million. No one can really be sure.

The humans on Earth often look into this part of the sky convinced that there is something different here, unique, no other part of the sky they observed was similar. No other part of the observable universe shared any facets like this nebulas cloud.

“There are too many heavy elements in that nebulas cloud” mumbled Jonas. “I have never seen that before, it is not an anomaly, it is something we don’t understand.” He finished saying to himself with a rather frustrated expression.

Adam was within earshot to hear the words. He was wearing a janitor’s jacket, pushing a broom, emptying out the garbage bin just outside Jonas' office.

“I guess my vacation is over.” Adam mumbled to himself. “A few million years, who am I to argue with the universe?” As a smile formed he chuckled just enough to be self-aware of it. “Too much time with humans.” He told himself.

At least they had a grasp of the cosmos and basic understanding of quantum manipulation he thought to himself.

Adam walked with a spring in his step. “Time to wake up the family.” He concluded to himself.