Chronicler

Ah, a visitor, I get a lot of those but only one in several generations actually finds his way into the secret chambers. Sit and let me tell you my story, you may be interested.

You wonder about me don't you? Who built me, what my purpose is, the same thing that people have been wondering for centuries, digging away, imagining they will find riches or wisdom. First let me tell you I am not the only one of my kind, every world in the universe that supports life has one of me, I'm not alive in the conventional sense of the word, in your simple terms I could be described as an artificial intelligence, a sophisticated computer if you will.

As to who built me and my compatriots, we built ourselves, it's a paradox I know, so don't try and understand it, it'll just confuse you. As to my purpose, why, that's easy, I record. I've been here since the first signs of life in the primordial oceans, I've watched it struggle, overcome hardship, evolve, die and re-emerge. I've watched the oceans recede and rise again and the continents drift on their inexorable paths.

I've seen animals beyond your imagining evolve and die to be replaced by even stranger ones, I've watched the first strugglings towards consciousness, the first civilizations and the deaths of empires. Did you know the first civilization was sub aquatic? No, of course you didn't. Of all the civilizations that this planet has spawned mankind is definitely the most arrogant yet. I watched the dinosaurs as they roamed at my feet and if it hadn't been for that comet I think they would still be the dominant life form. Some of them had started evolving rudimentary intelligence, it was fascinating to watch. I was here when mankind evolved from the apes and I watched them with awe, of all the species on this world they have the most potential so far. They have come very far in a very short time. Of course I measure time differently than you do, what is a couple of million years to me, I will live forever.

I record everything, every man, woman and child, their lives, loves, hopes, dreams and ambitions, nothing is secret from me, not even your innermost thoughts for that is my function. When the universe tires and dies we who record will remain outside of time. The universe will die and be reborn and when it is, we will nurture it, give it all the knowledge we have gathered from the one that came before. Life is a cycle you see and the next universe cannot exist without the knowledge from this universe.

So I sit and watch the millennia march by, waiting to pass on my knowledge, enjoying this world until the time comes for me to leave and await the end. I've done this more times than I can count and the creation of a new universe still thrills me. I've spoken to my brethren and we are all in agreement on this, the birth of a new universe is always a joy.

Some of your kind think I was built by aliens, I find this funny because on other worlds, aliens think that my counterparts were built by aliens, which one of you is the alien eh? Some worlds worship us as gods, others don't even know we exist, I chose this form because I liked it, the first civilizations were growing up in this region and I knew it would be a good place to be. I've never regretted my decision. In the last universe I miscalculated slightly and ended up in what I can only describe as a tree, although one that was slightly larger than your Everest. It was one of the few times I had to use all my drones. Oh yes we have those too, you call them 'ruins' or 'monuments'. Stonehenge is a drone as are the ziggurats in South America, the stone heads on Easter Island. Others are not obvious, outcroppings of rock that appear to be natural, like Uluru in Australia or The Giants Causeway in Ireland, I have my ears and eyes all over this planet.

We are always given names, that is something that all intelligent life forms do, name things, it's one of the few commonalities there are. I appreciate the need immensely, as a recorder I know the importance of names. I have had millions of names in my life some flattering, some not but until I am named by the natives I cannot be absolutely sure I've been accepted. Naming something gives it familiarity. I know I have an air of mystery about me but that is not a bad thing either, it protects me, I believe you call it 'hiding in plain sight'.

You have to go now, before you are missed, you won't remember this conversation, but you will remember one thing.

Your visit to the Sphinx will be one of the most profound experiences of your life.