Harry Schloßmacher
BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE TWO EARTHS — Part 3
The Second Decision
The return of the first travelers triggered something on Terra-1 that no government could control anymore.
All around the world, people began to discuss. In cafés, universities, parliaments, and living rooms, the same question was asked:
Should both worlds cooperate more closely — or keep their distance?
Some people were excited. They saw Terra-2 as an opportunity for a new beginning. A world that had learned from the mistakes of the first Earth.
Others were more cautious. Connecting two civilizations also meant risks: cultural conflicts, economic changes, and a future that no one could fully predict.
The visitors from Terra-2 responded calmly to these debates.
They did not interfere.
They only repeated one sentence.
“The decision is yours.”
The Messages of the Travelers
The thousand people who had seen Terra-2 became the most important voices of this new era. They spoke about cities where buildings were constructed among trees, about energy sources that did not destroy landscapes, and about a society that resolved conflicts not through power, but through long discussions.
But they also said something else.
Terra-2 was not perfect.
Their society moved more slowly. Decisions took time. Large experiments or radical ideas were often carefully examined before they were allowed.
“Sometimes,” one of the travelers said in an interview, “we realized that they need us just as much as we need them.”
The reporter asked in surprise:
“Why?”
She smiled.
“Because we dare to do things they no longer dare to try.”
The First Bridges
One year later, the first permanent connection between the worlds was established.
It was not a portal of light and not a spectacular machine. The visitors’ ships simply took on a new role: regular journeys between Terra-1 and Terra-2.
Each journey carried only a few people.
Researchers. Artists. Teachers. Doctors.
It had been a deliberate decision to begin the exchange slowly. Not millions of people traveling between the worlds at once, but small groups who could learn from each other.
The first projects appeared quickly.
Joint research on ecosystems.
Artistic festivals with music from both worlds.
And a gigantic archive where the history of both humanities was collected.
For the first time, historians compared the development of two nearly identical species on two different planets.
The differences were fascinating.
The Third Possibility
But while this cooperation grew, scientists discovered something unexpected.
The physicists of Terra-2 had spent centuries studying space — especially those strange signatures in the universe that hinted at unusual structures.
When the data from both worlds were combined, a new picture emerged.
Terra-1 and Terra-2 were probably not the only planets of their kind.
There were indications of other worlds with similar conditions.
Perhaps even more “Earths.”
When this discovery became public, humanity suddenly remembered something the spokesperson from Terra-2 had said during the first encounter:
“Terra-1. Terra-2. Perhaps others.”
Now that “perhaps” seemed to be becoming real.
The Great Project
Three years after the first contact, representatives of both worlds met again in Cologne.
The city had changed. People now often half-jokingly called it “the first city of two worlds.”
Once again, a ship hovered above the Rhine.
But this time the atmosphere was different. Less fear, more curiosity.
The spokesperson of Terra-2 finally presented the new proposal.
“Our ancestors once created or transformed several worlds.”
She displayed a model of the starry sky.
Several points began to glow.
“We believe that some of those worlds still exist.”
A quiet murmur spread through the hall.
Then she asked the real question.
“Shall we search for them together?”
The New Generation
Many years later, historians would describe this moment as the beginning of an entirely new era.
No longer just one humanity.
Not even only two.
But a growing family of worlds.
The first joint expeditions were prepared. Young people from Terra-1 and Terra-2 volunteered to take part in the missions.
A journalist asked one of the applicants why he was willing to possibly leave his world forever.
The young man looked up at the sky.
“Because now we know there might be relatives out there.”
He smiled slightly.
“And someone has to go look for them.”
And Somewhere in the Universe…
While the first joint ships were being built on both Earths, the sensors of a distant observation station detected a faint signal.
It came from a planet whose star lay many thousands of light-years away.
The analysis began.
Atmosphere.
Oceans.
Continents.
And a genetic signature that the scientists of Terra-2 recognized immediately.
The lead researcher stared at the screen for a long time.
Then he said only one sentence:
“I think… we’ve found Terra-3.”
All rights belong to its author. It was published on e-Stories.org by demand of Harry Schloßmacher.
Published on e-Stories.org on 03/16/2026.
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