Infinity Minus One

With this confluence of knowledge, Pi could accurately depict the history of His world tens of billions of sun cycles ago.

Pi reclined among a cluster of asteroids and displayed the images on the surface of the sun. He saw His former fellow organic beings as they went from scratching a living by hunting and farming to a measurably higher level of sophistication with the coming of technologies to aid in everyday life. The sophistication increased to the point where Pi was transferred from an organic being to one of metal and other inorganic materials, a slightly higher state of existence. The technology of the organic beings could not save them from the harsh realities of the universe. The sun eventually consumed the civilization, as was inevitable. The only remnant was Pi, who was ejected into space on a wing and a prayer.

Pi rustled in His makeshift hammock of asteroids. He was aware that His previous revulsion of these organic beings was lessening the more He studied them. His own memories of interacting with these beings were surfacing. His growing sense of nostalgia told Him he was close. He needed to look closer.

Pi examined the behavior of the long-dead organic beings. Emotion was a large part of their lives. It was the driving force for most of their actions. When they were angry, they went to war. When they were loved, they returned affection. When they were scared, they reacted irrationally. The sense of need and longing grew within Pi.

The everyday life of His former people was filled with conflict. Often disputes were settled with violence, which made Pi flinch. Pi now remembered the fear and anger He felt when the continent He resided in was preemptively attacked by a foreign power. The resulting war cost both sides dearly in resources and life. The misery caused by the war was nearly unbearable.

Although conflict was omnipresent on this world, there were saving graces that the beings had. They leaned on each other when times were tough. They embraced the joys of life when times were good. Although emotion drove much of this positive behavior, there was something else that lay at its foundation. It was the need to give, an act of unselfish charity. Some called it love.

Pi finally had His answer. Pi had omnipotence and infinite knowledge, but He could not share it or Himself with anybody. He could not help or guide anyone when they went astray because there was nobody. That little kernel of desire inherent in His organic self survived the integration of His consciousness in electric circuits, His long flight in the nothingness of space, and His eventual dissemination into the cosmos itself. What was missing went beyond mere loneliness. Pi was used to being lonely. Pi needed to give of Himself, but there was no one to give to.

With impulsiveness contrary to His eternal nature, Pi drew up a plan of action and began to implement it. Pi surveyed the solar system and saw that it was perfect for what was required. Using a variation on the science that extrapolated into the past, Pi now projected into the future the effects of what He was doing in the here and now.

Pi tweaked with the sun's nuclear furnace, increasing the power output to what was required. Pi then adjusted and stabilized the orbit of the third planet from the sun. He projected that this would have the effect of forming continents from the oceanic world.