In a low-level civilized world, an elderly man sits alone at the dining table in a desolate mansion. His hand trembles as he brings the spoon to his mouth, only to drop it to the floor. As usual, the handmaiden comes over to assist him. It's becoming difficult for him to breathe as he stares at his quivering hand.
He grabbed his housemaid by the shoulders, trembling and said, "It's time."
With those last words, his eyes grew gray, his hand slipping off the maid's shoulder. The double door creaks open as many of his family members arrive to celebrate his one hundred and twentieth birthday. As people stream in, they yell "Surprise!" through the open door. A child, being the first to run in, calls out to his grandfather.
"Grandpa! Grandpa, I have your favorite food! It's a kiwi look," As the child ran in excitement, the grandfather slumped.
"Mama, what's wrong with grandpa?"
In a matter of seconds, the child's mother breaks down in tears upon seeing her father's lifeless body. Confused, the child shifts closer to his grandfather, shaking him by the arm.
"Grandpa, it's not time for bedtime."
His gray eyes stare at the child. Such an innocent child to exist, still unable to understand death. The poor boy stood there, unable to explain how he felt. He asks his mother a question.
"Mama, what's wrong with grandpa?"
Rushing over, the child's mother gives a hug, sobbing. The other family members realized, saddened by his death. They all cried out in differing ways, while the servants stayed silent; they didn't budge as a family member grabbed hold of them to call for help. When the time came, the handmaiden gave out a direct order to all his servants, just as the elderly man had planned.
He knew today was the day he would die, hoping that no one would miss his disappearance, but who knew that they would be so sorrowful, much less remember his birthday that he himself had forgotten. Days later, as his body is being dressed for mourning, they try to calm the family members down as the funeral is prepared.
The family, dressed in black, stood in a glorious garden. It's filled with bloom, the flowers were strangely different yet indistinguishable from what is known. Their beauty was out of this world. Waiting in the garden, they grieved in their way; some cried into each other's shoulders, some by themselves, while others remained still, gazing at the mansion's door, still not believing that he was gone.
The door finally opens as four servants carry a wooden casket. Stepping down a few steps of stairs, other servants create a path through the family, leaving room for the pallbearers to trudge with the casket. The casket is taken onto the forest trail beyond the garden; confusion rises among the family. Instructing them to follow, the family walked up the dirt path into a flat field the old man had made long ago. A few of his retainers, arriving before the family, surround his grave. Some wondered, why here? Why did he choose to be buried in such an isolated area?
They gather around, the servants lower the grave gradually. Once again, they mourn as a distant storm approaches, crackling. Time passes with each person giving a brief but sweet speech, whether they were his servant, daughter, son, a relative, or a longtime friend who's treated as family. Each of their stories carried a memory of who he was, a great person loved by all. Soon, they all departed one by one, with some staying longer than others. As they disappear off the mountain, the storm arrives.
The sky darkens. Torrential rain, pouring down like a river, softens the ground. Thunder strikes as the fire surges throughout the forest. Once more, thunder cracks above his grave, splitting the dirt in half and the surrounding trees. In the flashes of flickering lightning, lumps of dirt rise from the ground as a single hand erupts from the ground, gripping the muddy surface. Rising from the ground, it strikes again, revealing the silhouette of his upper body, halfway out of his grave. Underneath all the mud, he clutches onto the hardened ground underneath, pulling away despite his aching fingernail. Slowly but surely, his muddied body is pulled out. As frustration takes over, he lies on the muddy ground, gasping and yelling despite his lack of oxygen.
"Fuck! Why did a thunderstorm-?" Thunderstrikes silenced his anger.
As the occurrence of lightning becomes frequent, rising from the ground, he withstands the amount of mud on him. All that could be seen as he took long gazes at his surroundings is the ring of fire. There was only one tree unharmed by the storm. Despite the pain he runs, leaning against a tree. He reaches his arm into the hollow, hauling a long wooden log out. Down came the rain, pouring on this case, with each droplet revealing the metal surface hidden by this illusion. As he places it down, the lock faces him. His fingernails ache.
"Argh, damn this storm."
Covered in muddy filth, he wipes his hands. With a thumb on the lock, a green light flickers under his thumb; it opens. Inside is a full set of new clothes, a pistol, and a compass. He seizes the compass, twisting it slightly. A fuzzy sound is emitted. A hologram materializes in front of him.
"You've finally contacted me! It's so great to see your face again. Woah, what happened to your face?" A woman's voice comes out.
The face that she once knew has changed; he looks much younger now.
"Never mind that! Bring the ship over here immediately!! I'm located at 3.4653 degrees South, 62.2159 degrees West!"
"Ah, right, understood! I'll be there in five minutes."
Five minutes is all I need
Ripping his clothing off, he changed fluidly into his new clothes. With the thunderous roar of lightning, one eventually struck the tree he was standing under, splitting open, creating a crack. It was emitting an unusual fire, forcing him to bolt away, but it was too late; the fire spread amongst the now fallen trees, surrounding him. Right on time, something in the stormy sky above him changes. The dark clouds had begun to separate at one point in the sky, allowing the light they had been blocking to shine on him. Finally, the spaceship appeared and hovered over him. All the rain and fire appeared to be alive, running away when the spaceship descended above him. Around the ship, the fire and rain vanished without a trace, and once more, the sky grew dark, illuminating nothing but the ship's tiny blinking lights.
Under the spaceship, he is surrounded by a beam of light. Emitting a high-pitched sound, the beam of light vanishes with him as the spaceship begins to ascend higher off the ground and into the sky, piercing through the dark clouds. Raising its front vertically towards the clear sky, the ship's engines could be heard revving behind it, their high-pitched noise growing as the throttle charged to full capacity, preparing to pierce the atmosphere. When the sounds of its engines stopped, there was no longer any engine revving, no thunder, and no rain. It vanished as it flew swiftly out into space.
#
In the blink of an eye, it appears above the planet. Chloe maneuvers it into orbit. Across her control panel flickering violet lights glowed. Red holograms exhibited the multiple weapons that can be fired. Up above she sees her current situation.
[Planet: Fequral] [Orbiting in progress...] [..........]
"Focus...Focus…"
[Orbiting successfully] [All passengers are free to move from their seats.]
"Finally! I've been sitting for hours!"
Stretching her body out from the long ride, it seemed like she was tipping over as something popped off.
"Hm?"
As she brought her arms down, an arm fell off.
"Oops, it looks like my stitches have become loose. I'll have to fix it later."
When she got out of her seat and grabbed her arm, it was clear that she was neither alive nor dead. Chloe was brought to life. Patches of skin of various colors and sizes covered her body, with her face untouched by stitches from the neck down.
"Here I come," Chloe calls out to him in a cheerful and playful tone.
It didn't take long for her to take off and move through the corridor; in a matter of seconds, she arrived at the cargo bay, where he had been teleported.
"Yoohoo! Are you there?"
Turning on the cargo lights, Chloe finds herself peeking into an open cargo. She finds him in a not-so-good position. Two legs stuck out as he was covered in blue stuffings, which would usually protect the item inside.
"Cyrus, are you dead?"
Taking in the silence, she slowly approaches him, hoping what she said as a joke wasn't true. As she came closer, a pistol was pointed at her. The pistol shoots out a bullet, barely grazing her hair. She backs away immediately with the exit right behind her.
"Stay away. I'm just telling you this. Even if I have only one arm right now, I've spent a very long time training in my self-defense techniques. I call it."
She stands on one leg, having a terrible time balancing herself. Her arms pointed at him like a sword.
"Death by Extended Sword Pointblank!"
Inside the cargo box, two hands reach out to the edges with one hand still holding the pistol, the body slowly but surely comes out, still covered in the blue stuffing. In a mumbled voice, he calls out to her.
"It's-," he glares at her speaking in an intimidated voice.
"Wait! Hold on! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to teleport you into a cargo of blue stuffings in the cargo bay; I meant to send you up into the living space right next to it. You believe me, ri-right?!' She continues to blabber away.
"It's…fake"
He mumbles again with the voice of a young man, a voice Chloe had never heard before.
"Sorry?
"The bullets, they're rubber. Didn't I tell you what I was bringing with me?"
"Oh, ahaha. Right." She says, hiding behind her detached arm in embarrassment.
"So, It's been a while… What was your name again?"
"Stop joking, I've known you for almost a thousand of years and you never once forget a thing. It's me, Chloe, the one girl you saved from that madman."
He chuckles and says, "Sorry, I'll stop. Mind giving me a little tour of this ship once again?"
"Gladly," she says with a smile.
The light of the cargo bay closes as they head out.
"As usual, your ship looks like a goddamn dumpster."
"Wha-?! I've been watching over this ship day and night, and do you even remember me?" She says, walking backwards.
"I don't know anybody as ugly as you."
"Wha- I feel highly offended by that. All I did was cut my hair off and change my figure a little."
"I'm kidding, Chloe. How could I forget the person I saved from that crackhead in the experimentation facility?"
She stops, dropping her detached arm, giving him a warm hug.
"I'm so glad to see you. It's been months since you left!" She says sweetly.
"Haha, yeah, sorry about that; the movement of time is different down there… I know you miss me, but could you stop hugging me? Dying from a hug once from you is enough for me." She releases her grip on him.
"Sorry, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. It looks like you still haven't lost your strength yet."
With the release of his body, his ribs were crushed very badly. Depending on what it was, the quick restoration process was awful. While resisting the urge to scream, he could feel his ribs living tissue returning to their original position. The bones would prod at his internal organs when they moved, and the skin that went in would be pushed back, causing the most agonizing pain he could endure.
There is even the possibility of his organs hanging out of his body while the body tissue is being restored. He was fortunate that she released him. There were times when restoring the tissue would only lead to death, forcing him to reform his body into a new one, whether it was a female or male. In reality, the restoration happened in just three seconds.
"Now what did I miss? Is everyone doing well?" He says.
"Is that the first thing on your mind?"
"Wanting to know what others are doing is normal. After all, I've been gone for a while."
Chloe sighs, turns around, and picks up her arm. They continue their walk.
"Well, you shouldn't. Take care of yourself before worrying about others. Living in such a low-civilized world must've left you starving. Now follow me. Having a conversation in the cargo bay isn't comfy."
"It's not too bad. I somehow became filthy rich."
While we are talking and walking in the corridor, it appeared that the ship had not been swept or cleaned in weeks. Passing through the other corridors, it seemed like a mess, as raw foods were on the ground, and there was even a spider setting up its web in the corner.
Catching a whiff of the smell says, "Are you sure you've been taking care of the ship? It looks rusty and dirty, and..."
On a different path, a rat is squeaking in the middle of the corridor.
"Is that a rat? A rat on a spaceship?"
"Given the ship's massive size, I can't keep it in top condition on my own. Fixing the crucial components—particularly the core and engines that prevent the ship from drifting into space—is already challenging enough."
"Just hire some people to do the work for you."
"I don't have the money. Pirates have been "requesting" tolls for passing through their territory. Those cretins should have been sent to fight the primordials. But anyhow, we're here."
The temperature of the air suddenly dropped as he entered Chloe's room. It felt lonesome in here, as there wasn't much of anything inside that would catch a person's attention. The only things in her room were a pillow on her metal bed and a few boxes near the bed.
"Wow, your room is so... spacious."
"Remember when I emphasized the word request? They took everything from me! I had to save money and sell things on the ship. There weren't even any good workshops to go to in the boonies. All they had to sell were materials like metal."
While she was complaining about the stressful daily things she'd been experiencing, Cyrus immediately noticed the window that was next to her blocky bed. Looking through the window, he could see the planet he had resided on. For the first time ever he was able to see what he has achieved
"Was this where I've been living my life this whole time?"
"Mhm, it's such a great view, isn't it?" She says/
To be able to see a world unaffected by war or technology is such a leisure. Gazing at the planet together she takes glances beside her. Despite what he says his eyes seemed like they were gazing beyond just the planet, like he was searching for a missing piece. Her glances turn into a stare as his expression of observing beauty dims.
"Say Cyrus, what happened while you were down there? Usually it would only take a few weeks to get rid of it."
A moment of silence. He relishes these moments, being able to see the peace that he has accomplished. The world goes round and round without him. It may have already been years since he left. His thoughts wander.
I'm probably long forgotten now. No one will remember me.
He will never know what he meant to them, the memories they held of him.
"I had kids in this world." He says, mumbling
"Kids? Wait—actual kids?" She says, surprised.
Ignoring her response he says, "The first time that I met them they were barely hanging on. Tattered clothes, blood on their…starved faces, I had to help them."
It hasn't been long since he's arrived in this world. The devastation that's been caused by just a single primordial infant. Pain and misery has afflicted the whole world, thousands of people lost their family. He continues his talk.
"I adopted them, fed them, gave them clothes, a house; trained them until they were on the brink of death, there was no time for them to enjoy their life. Years they spent suffering from a different type of pain, one with no love and affection, just agonizing insults, berating, and… abuse." He says, still emotionless
I should've been kinder. They would have a few good memories before they-
"Most of them died at the beginning, unable to even fight for what they trained for their whole lives."
It's simple for him to be able to remember the details of their deaths, even more so for him to endure watching them die for the sake of the world. From behind, Chloe hugs him. The hug she gave was not meant for joy but for comfort.
"They resent me, don't they?"
"They- I don't think they do. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here with me."
This was not a moment of silence for Cyrus. These despairful and guiltful emotions are not enough to break him. There is so much that he has experienced; the downfall of many civilizations before his eyes, those he's known, just gone. Shutting down this sudden feeling within him he breaks away from Chloe's arms and asks, "Chloe, contact the others, I'm sure there's more things to do out there."
"On i-"
Alarms blare within the ship as some boxes fly around. With the alarm activated safety features are noticed.
[Shutting all doors, weapons fully automated. Switching to manual towards the Captains area.]
The door and window shut as the violet lights that were once on the control panels have now appeared as a hologram, one that is touchable. Chloe performs her duties figuring the situation.
"Chloe, what's happening?" he says, yelling over the alarm.
"I don't know. It seems like… It's the damn pirates again."
All that can be seen from Cyrus were five dots on the hologram, pictures of bones in each one. With one last thought of what he could've done, it was time to go, time to save what is left of this damned galaxy.
"It's time to go! There's no need for you to stay here any longer!
"Rightio. Let's go!"
With a few push of the buttons the engines did not rev nor did it emit a pitch sound. The ship, in space and time, warps, as if it never existed. The planet is left alone to its own fate and the pirates float in space in confusion.