Oceans were harsh mistresses, calm and furious in one broad stroke. The belief held fast as a tenet until one sees the Malenor'ayva Crest Ocean. The enormous body of saltwater had no waves nor periodic tides. It was still, lifeless, and forever consigned to the silence.
The Wayfarer trod on water. Between the shoreless sea and the pondering sky, it was contemplating suicide. Life in exile, bearing sins and wanting redemption; the Wayfarer was tired. The allure of death, freedom from the end; both spurred imagination.
After bidding farewell to the 4391 humans, the lone exile from Polaris continued its travels. To return home and be forgiven, it must commit further acts of penitence by helping other life forms. But space was vast, and inhabited worlds were few and far between. So it wandered in the galaxy.
Until it found Hadria, home of the lost Hadrian civilization.
Once the lush garden of the Nerva-Antonine system, the planet experienced a sudden collapse in its magnetosphere. The atmosphere followed soon after, causing death to befall the planet.
The Wayfarer peered through the water and fathomed its turquoise reflection. It wondered: could the Hadrians have taken refuge down there? With continents withered and their cities in ruins, life simply could not subsist elsewhere.
Only one way to find out. The Wayfarer could take a plunge, and allow the weight of its wearied soul to haul it to the bottom of the ocean. If the Hadrians were there, the lone exile could commit an act of penitence by helping them to reinhabit the planet. If not, the sheer water pressure would crush its bones and spell an end to its miserable existence. Which was preferred.
Hope had dwindled for the Wayfarer. Yearning for closure, it was willing to make that wager.
So it closed its eyes and let go. Space-time loosened around its fingers and resumed normal gravitational pull. The Wayfarer fell at an acceleration rate of 12 m/s2 before breaking through the water surface.
Near-freezing temperature. The Malenor'ayva water assaulted its skins and punished its puny heart. Eyes wide open, the Wayfarer came alive like never before as it raced towards the ocean floor. Oh death, take hold of me, release me from my wretchedness!
It clenched its jaws and bent the space-time continuum to hasten the descent. As it dived deeper at the speed of a harpoon spear, the continental plate emerged from the shadows, vast and...
...populated.
The Wayfarer came to a stop. It released proton molecules from its bodysuit. Those subatomic capsules burst into intelligent nanobots which then self-assembled around the lone exile. Within moments, a twelve-foot diameter shell was formed.
Once deployed, the Sphere negated the outside environment. The Wayfarer floated in the center, dried and warmed by the rapid recirculating air. It folded the nine-hundred cubic feet of space into a fractal dimension. The result was an infinite flight control space.
Proud of its reaction, the Wayfarer grinned a little. Its spirits had been reignited like a crackling bush fire.
Holograms appeared and formed an array of instrumentation panels. The Wayfarer's fingers danced on various buttons to kickstart the Sphere's long-range sensors. What it saw: building structures, utility lines, and traffic beacons. There was a city down below, but it appeared to be deserted.
A ghost city, in other words.
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The Songs of Polaris
Short StoryOnce upon a time, an advanced civilization resided in the Polaris system. Its people were immortal and capable of crossing dimensions. But pride goes before a fall; they revolted against their divine creator and were massacred. The sole survivor, kn...
