Spacetravelhadevolvedtothepointwhereinterstellartravelwaspossible.
Evennowtheyhaveyettofindotherlifeforms.Withtimethatwillchange.
Wouldweacceptotherlifeforms,evenifwedidfindthem?Onlytime
couldgiveustheanswer.
“DetectingnaturalH20,oxygen,andvastvarietiesofminerals.”
RyanLandHeartlistenedtotheA.I.’smessage.“Didyouhearthatteam?
Thiscouldverywellbetherealdeal!”“Isuredidcaptain!”Ayoung
womanknownasAprilDayrespondedtohim.Hermediumlength
dirtyblondhairblowsintheartificialwind,asshepullsuphersunglasses
toherforehead,revelinghervioleteye,whicharenatural,agenetictrait
herparentsgavetoherfromgeneselection.Herparentshavealwaysbeen
kindofobsessedwithanimehencehervioleteyes.Welltheyareasnatural
aseyesthathavebeenmodifiedbeforeconceptioncouldbe.
“Ryan,Aprilcouldyoupassmetheinformationonblackholesinthisarea?”
RyanandAprilanswerhiminunison.“JusthavetheA.I.tellyouBill.”
TheyneverunderstoodwhyBillalwaysneededthingstobewritten
physicallydown,itwaslikehedidnottrustinformationthatcamefrom
amachine.“Ugh,fineBillgivemeasecond.”Apriltellshimwithasigh.
Aprilheadstothebackroom.(WhatkindofmessisBillkeepingbackhere.)
Aprilcannothelpbutwondertoherself.Thefirstfileshepullsouthappensto
beBill’ssecretporncollection.(DammitBill,whydoyouhavetokeepthese
withimportantfiles!)Aprilfeelingbothangry,andembarrassedatevenhaving
tothinkaboutthisinthefirstplace.(Nothisisnotiteither.)Apriltucksaway
thelitrpgthatshejustfound,somethingtodowithmagesfightingforcontrol
overislandsasapowersource.(Mageshavenorelevanceintherealworld
Bill,andtheyneverwill!)“Ah,hereitis!”Aprilquietlytellsherself.
“HereitisBilltakeit!”Aprilpushesthefileintohishand,angerstillwithin
fromwhatshefoundprior.“Whatisherproblem?”BillwhisperstoRyan.
“Isithertimeofthemonthorsomething?”Ryanputsthebackofhashand
onhisforeheadatBillswords.“WhydidyouwantthefileBill?”Ryan
wantingtochangethesubjectasfastaspossible.“Iwantedtomakesure
wewereintheclear,anditappearsweare.”“Good!”Ryanfirmly
SaystoBillbeforesettingacoursetothelocationofthenaturalH20
andoxygen.
Theyarrivedatthelocationtofindaplanetthatlookedmuchlikeearth,
theonlydifference,wasthatweretheearthshowedgreen,thisplanetYou could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
showedalightvioletcolor.Thatisnottosaythegeographywasthe
sameasearth,thatwouldbetounlikely.
“Scanningplanetforunknownbacteria,nonefound.Scanningto
seeiftheplanetisinhabitable,planetmatchesearthsinhabitable
rateonehundredpercent,infactitmaybeevenmoreinhabitable
thanearthitself,basisforthisconcept,zeropercentradiationdetected.”
BilllooksatRyan.“Whatintheworld,thatisnotpossible?”
Aprilistheonetoask.“Shouldwegodowntogether,orshouldonlyone
ofusgo?”Ryanasthecaptainmakesthedecision.“Onlyoneofusshould
go.”Billtakesoutthreeportablegamingsystems.“Racingorfightinggame
todecide?Lastplacegoes?”Aprilvotesforthefightinggame,Ryanfeels
thesameway.“Threelives,battleroyal,notagteaming.”theyallagreeto
theseterms.Beingraisedbyanimeobsessedparent,Aprilcomesinfirst,
beingtheownerofthegameBillcomesinsecond,andRyaninlast.
“Lookslikeitisyoucaptain.”Billsmirks.“Whoiscaptainifsomething
shouldhappentoyouRyan?”RyanlaughsatApril’squestion.“Youare
April,Billistodisorganizedandscatterbrained.”“Heyjustwhodoyou
thinkyouareyoucallingscatterbrainedcaptain?”“Heisrightyou
knowBill,Imeanwholeavespornwithimportantfiles!”Thelast
bitofherwordsshowingslightagitationinthem.“AnywaysIamoff.”
Thevioletplantlifewasevenmoreamazingtoseeupclose.Ryan
waswalkingthroughthewoodswhenheseenit.“Holyshitguys,
thereisacastle,thereisafuckingcastlehere!”“Youarejustpulling
ourlegrightRyan?”Aprilthinkitwasajokeasks.“HavetheA.I.
scanformoreinfrastructures.”“WaitaminuteRyanyouareseriousthen?”
“Yes,justconfirmitforyourselfApril.”
TheA.I.Scanstheplanetforanymorebuildings.“Aboutthreehundred
villages,andninecastlesfoundacrosstheplanet,includingtheone
foundbythecaptain.”“Ryanthereareaboutthreehundredvillages,
andninecastlesacrosstheglobe.”BillrelaysthemessagetheA.I.
justtoldthem.
“Iamenteringthecastlenow.”“Pleasebecarefulcaptain.”BothBill
andAprilsay,worriedaboutanyofthedangershecouldface.Opening
thecastledoorbillcanseeamassivepaintingofamanfightingadragon,
onlyhehasbluehair,andsomesortofawhiteglowaroundhim.
Uponfartherinspection,themanappearstobeusingmagictofightthe
dragon,itmusthavebeensomesortoffairytale.Ryancantellfromother
paintingsthatthehaircolorinthefirstportraithehadseen,wasoneofthe
naturalhaircolorsofthisplanet.
Ryanstumbledthroughadoor,whichleadhimintoalibrary.Ryanpulls
downoneofthebooks,andthentakesapictureofthepageswithhis
mobilecommunicationdevice.“BillhavetheA.I.searchthetextfor
patterns,seeifitcantranslatethetextintoEnglish.“Willdocaptain.”
Ryancontinuedwonderingaroundthecastlewhilehewaited.Ryan
tripsoversomethingontheground,hisbearhandtouchesit.Ryan
feelssomethingakintostaticelectricity,barleynoticing,aswhat
hetouchedwasaskeleton,theremainsofaformerperson.Now
thathethoughtaboutit,shouldtherehavenotbeenpeople,orsome
formoflifearoundthisplanet,ifacastlewashere,thenthereshouldbe,
yettheworldwassilent.“AprilhavetheA.I.Scantheplanetforlife.”
Aprilcompliedtothecaptain’sorder.ShelistenedtotheA.I.
“Onlyonelifeformdetected,RyanLandHeart,however
billionsofdeadspecieshavebeendetectedacrosstheplanet.”
RyanlistenedtotheA.I.Inthebackground.(Sowhathappenedon
thisplanet?Itdoesnotseemliketheywereadvancedenoughtodevelop
weaponsofmassdestruction.”Ryanreturnstotheship.
“WellRyandoyouthinkthisplanetwillbeinhabitable?”Billwanting
toknowimpatientlyasks.“Morethenlikely,butIamkindofconcerned
astowhathappenedthere,thewholeplanetslifeformsbeingextincted,
couldhumanitybeatriskifwemovedthere?”“ComeonRyanyou
worrytomuch.Ohancouldyoupassmemytea?”Billtriestosubdue
Ryan’sworries.“HereyouareBill.”RyanpassesthecuptoBill.
Whatseemslikeastaticshock,zapsBillsfingersfromthecup.
Laterthatnight.“Aprilcouldyougetmethenavigationfiles?Ineedto
markthisareadownonthemap.”“Getityourself!”“SorryIneedthe
washroomatthemoment.”“Okayfine.”OnceAprilfindsthefiles,
Billreturnsfromthewashroom.“Heretakethem.”Aprilpasses
thefilestoBill.Therehandstouchandshefeelsasmallshock.
(Man,Ihatestaticelectricity,butwhatcanyoudo?)