《Audacity Light》


 Shadow of a Man

    Blink... Blink... Blink...


    I slowly open my eyes to see a blinking teal looking light slightly out of focus in front of my turned head. I concentrate on the blurry light to try and focus my eyes a bit. My head feels extremely groggy and a dull headache is protruding out of my thoughts. I try to look around the room I''m in but my neck hurts as I try to turn it. I slowly twist my neck back to the center, I face a white smooth ceiling but look gray from the low light. My body aches all over, I shift my left arm to feel its presence. There''s something stuck to it and rubbing across my skin. I twist my aching neck to the left to get a better look at my arm, there''s a needle stabbed into my skin and a clear thin tube running off the bed, or it seems to resemble a slab more. A clear liquid is running through the tube into my body, originating from a bag hanging on the wall next to me. The room is very small in itself, barely capable of fitting more than five people in it. I try and lift my right arm over to my left arm to pull out the needle, stopping whatever someone''s pumping into me. No success yet, I can barely get it onto my torso. There isn''t much to the room except for the drawers inside the wall in front of the bed, and some machines blinking and softly beeping to my right. There''s an open door to my left leading to a dimly light but slightly brighter than in here hallway or corridor. Everything looks metallic like it was made out of metal.


    I finally get my right arm to my left arm. I make for the needle and tube to yank it out. I weakly grasp the tube in my hand, soft footsteps enter the room. "No-no-no-no, I wouldn''t do that if I were you. It was a pain to try to hit a vein in the first place" the stranger said as he pulled my arm away from the hard plastic. I make an effort to try and sit up and shrink back from him, but my body is slammed with aches and pains. My face cringes and goes pale. He places his hand on my left shoulder gently and pushes my back to the bed, "It''s okay, if it was my intention on doing you any harm I would have done it already, plus I wouldn''t have taken the time to bandage your wounds either." he smirks at his own stupid joke. "Just so you know this is an IV, you lost a lot of blood and fluids with everything you went through" he points at the bag on the wall as he takes out a medium sized tablet from his black coat. I try and sit up again, trying to get ready for a tackless and mad dash if I have to. Pain yet again sending spikes of pain and chills throughout my body. *Sigh* he lets out a breathe, "You need to rest. Seems you were spaced by pirates, or they could''ve been your friends but if so then you need to find better friends. Anyway, it just so happened that I was passing by when I saw you fly out of the airlock. If I was about a minute later I might''ve not been able to bring you back, so next time try and not piss anyone again. Cause you know, dying is bad for your health or so they say." he says with a straight face seemingly without emotion.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    I turn my head back to the teal light. "Is that getting annoying? I know it bugs me a bit. I guess I can switch it off, your life is out of the gray for now" he says, he reaches over the bed and hits a button on the blinking machine, not sure what it''s for maybe life support. The light goes out for good and the soft beeping stops. I bring my head back around to watch him, he''s moving something around on the floor. It seems to be a stool but looks similar the a block, can''t see it too well in the position I''m in at the moment. He sits down on it and puts back against the wall behind him. He''s waving his fingers over the tablet looking around the information stored on it. Everything but his skin, eyes, and hair are black though the hair is very dark on the verge of being black. The hair is longish on top, slicked back, and buzzed on the sides. His coat is thin but heavy duty, the bottom reaches to the bottom of his thighs and is open in front, many pocket to it including inside where he pulled the tablet from. The shirt is plain but goes beyond is waist, and the pants aren''t skin tight but aren''t quite baggy. He looks to be European decent, you don''t see that very often anymore since we began to colonize different solar systems. He speaks with a European accent with a blend of Irish in the mix. The only other things that stand out is the weird blue circuit looking tattoos on his hands.


    "Multiple abrasions and lesions to the face, arms, and legs. The was a gash in the abdomen but that''s already been taken care of, there also was an issue with some internal bleeding but that''s also stopped. Funny technology, it can repair some of the worst injuries yet can''t fix a minor cut." he smirks at the tablet he''s holding. He shifts off the wall and puts the tablet back into his pocket. He looks at me "I''m sure you have a lot of questions cause I sure know I do. But first you still need to get quite a bit of rest, your body has gone through a huge shock." he stands up and shoves the stool against the wall with his leg. "So when you walk up we''ll talk, but for now sleep. Rest assured I won''t harm you, I may be mad but I don''t go around defiling people. Anyway, good night, sleep well" He walks through the door frame into the corridor. "What''s your name?" I manage to speak up. He twists around back towards me and chuckles, "Xander, but if need be you can call me X" and at that he walks off.


    I was spaced huh. We were in between two galaxies, so I guess I''m in someone''s shuttle.

 Chapter 2

    "So, what were you doing all the way out here?" I ask Xander "and what sort of name is Xander?". "Ah, yeah I do suppose it''s been a while since anyone''s used a European name" Xander said back to me. Yeah more like a few thousand years it''s been. After the revolt and revolution of America back in the 18th century everyone''s dispised the country called Europe. Through the leaders greed and ambitions they tried to take over the world. Finally after a couple hundreds of years everyone had enough, the rest of the world united against Europe and wiped out their whole population. It was a massacre fueled by hatred and disgust, and those few who did survive barely made it through hiding. Even then they were hunted down, the world wanted rid of the blood of those greedy people. After about a thousand years, the hatred was fading away almost to be forgotten, but by then the original English race had gone to ash. Now in the 40th century their culture is a shadow, faded and behind us but still slightly visible.


    I had woken up about 18 hours atomic time after Xander left the room. He had left a jumpsuit, shirt, and boxers on the stool that was next to the bed. I suppose he wouldn''t have a bra since he seems to be the only one on the ship. I stumbled through the narrow corridors until I saw him relaxing on his pilot chair with his feet up on the dash. The shuttle looks very strange, nothing like what''s the standard these days. Not that it''s old or anitque, but like i''ve never seen anything like it before, it looks way more advanced than anything i''ve encountered. He was talking to someone of the comms, wouldn''t know who since we''re so far out into open space. The voice didn''t quite sound human but wasn''t as bad as the robotic voice you hear from most automated ships. He said his thanks and then turned around to me, "I see you''re finally up and walking, that''s a good sign" he says to me.


    "Um where''s the toilet?" I ask him, I''ve been out for a while and had an IV sending fluids into me but nothing being able to come out yet. I felt some discomfort and soreness down there as if there had been a catheter had been put there, but nothing was there when I changed. He might''ve put it in while patching me up and took it out when I was sleeping, but I frankly don''t even want to think about it. He''s probably seen me fully naked, as I had different clothes on when I woke up, but him having messed with a catheter is a whole different level of awkward and embarresment.


    As if reading my thoughts he smirked at me, "You have no need to feel weird about the situation, they basically took all that emotion and instinct out of me" he said with a straight face. "What?" I ask confused as to what he just said, "Never mind about it, the toilet''s this way" he gets up from the chair and walks me down the hallway. The cockpit is the front of the shuttle which is connect to a straight hallway to the back, the first room on the left was the dining room and on the right was closed, the next set of rooms was bedroom left and bathroom right also the medic room was next to the bedroom. He stopped by the door and motioned me in, "Toilet''s in there, also feel free to have a shower. It would be nice if you wore what you have on again but if you absolutly need another set, they''re in one set of drawers, you can find them" he explained, it was weird that he didn''t keep his clothes in his be... "I find it inconvient to store them in the bedroom as there really isn''t much room in there to begin with, that and the hamper is in here too." he said as he cut off my thoughts. "Meet me in the dining room when you''re done with everything" Xander says, then he turns around and walks into the dining room. What an unpleasent fellow, it seems like he kind of tries to be polite but it doesn''t quite hit its mark. Then again, he isn''t exactly rude either, it''s just nothing there almost like he doesn''t care much about it.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "What was your name? I forgot to ask." Xander threw out the question as soon as I turn the corner coming into the dining room. "Such a great host" I mutter, "Aurora" I reply. "Aurora, I see" Xander says as he''s pouring some coffee. We began to name more and more of our babies after phenomenons, planets, and stars when we began to explore outside earth. My mother named me that after the lights that once shown in earths atmosphere, but they started to become less and less as earth began to die. Due to over population and the hunger for resources, earth just couldn''t naturally keep up. When we finally knew what was happening, it was too late to even try and help it. About 10 centuries ago, the atmosphere faded completely and killed every living thing that was left there. Now it''s just a rock like earth''s moon is. Of course when we found we couldn''t stop it from happening we looked to the stars. We shoved everything into space travel in order to survive, and we did just that. Humans now occupy two galaxies but we are on the brink of covering more as we are nearly finished with finalizing wormhole science, we''ll be able to go anywhere provided we have enough energy to power the system.


    Xander sat down in the other seat and sipped his coffee. He had given me a bowl of cold cereal and a protein shake. Another weird thing I''ve noticed around here, there''s two sets of everything. I don''t mean that he only has two sets for him, he has enough things for himself but there a different type of set as if for someone else, like there''s even two chairs for the dining table. In the bathroom I found a few drawers with all black clothes, his I assume, but then there was drawers for the jumper and shirts. I see the sets, but I don''t see any remnants of another people here. Just who is he and what does he do?


    "So, what were you doing all the way out here?" I ask Xander "and what sort of name is Xander?". "Ah, yeah I do suppose it''s been a while since anyone''s used a European name" Xander said back to me. "As for what i''m doing out here, I can''t get into any specifics but I dropped someone off at Andromeda and was returning back to my employer in Way. I was meerly curious when I came upon the ship, hardly anyone travels between galaxies anymore due to its dangers of being stranded. I was about to move on when I noticed you being ejected into space, not sure why I helped but hopefully it pays off in the future." Xander shrugs as he takes another sip of his coffee.


    Xander puts down his cup on the table and stands up, he walks over to me. With his hands in his pockets, he leans his face close to mine. I can smell a strong scent of coffee on his breath as he speak with cold eyes, "So peak my interest. What were you doing all the way out here?"

 Chapter 3

    "I was running away from home, I figured another galaxy was a nice distance" I said to Xander, "Hmm... fine if you don''t want to tell me that''s okay, everyone has their secrets" he straightened up and walked back to get his cup. He dumped the rest of the coffee into the sink and began to was the cup. "Running away" he chuckles, "How old are you anyway?" he tilts his head backwards. "It''s not nice to ask a lady her age" I say trying to lighten the mood, but his expression goes cold. "I''m 17 according to the atomic cycles. How old are you?" I say, from looks he''s about my age but in demeanor I can''t tell. "Ah... Couldn''t tell you even if I wanted to, lost track over the years. Been through too many time dialations, few quantum leaps here and there. My last jump was 10-20 years... no, it''s got to be like 30 years ago since my last jump. Oh whatever" He shrugs, he was getting quieter as he was talking but I caught the numbers. He can''t be more than 30 atomic years. They don''t allow you to FTL jump until you''re 8, and last would mean he''s done at least a few. With the way he''s talking, he''s possibly over 40, but no that can''t be. (FYI, FTL means faster than light which allows them to go between galaxies in a few months. Also his jump and her jump means two very different things)


    "Anyway, let''s just say i''m 20" he says with a smirk. "You know very well that that''s not true" a voice sounds throughout the room. "You know you''re not supposed to talk when other people are around" Xander says back to the voice. I was a bit surprised, it''s the same one he was talking to before, but wasn''t that just the comms. "Doesn''t really matter anymore since she heard us talking before" the voice said back to him. "Well whatever, I guess another introductions are in order. Aurora, meet Ailsa" he points at the ceiling "she''s my personal AI" he states clearly. AI, or Artifical Intellengence, but how does he have one. Only the top people at the peak of civilation have one, and even those are far away from perfection. "You lack imagination" Ailsa says to Xander. "What, I can''t call you AI, that sounds to stupid" he argues back, "I agree, but you didn''t have to keep AI in front. Or for another matter, you didn''t have to have it in the name altogether" Ailsa pushes back. "Whatever, I was in a bad position. Plus it''s been so long that it''s stuck now" he says oddly, "That it has" Ailsa agrees.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "No, but... No, this can''t be happening. No no no. How, no... what... just what''s going on. no, this isn''t possible." I stammer in confusion. No one in history has a AI that''s this intellegent. Yes the leaders have AI''s but not this complex, not with this much emotion and personality. Not with a hologram that''s sitting on his shoulder. "Do you think we broke her?" Xander asks Ailsa. She sighs, "You no nothing of humans anymore, do you?" she asks. "Hey it''s not my fault, I try my best" he explains, "That may be true, but you could try a little harder" Ailsa says.


    I gain some composure "What''s going on exactly?" I ask him. "Mmm... there''s really no easy way to explain it" he seems troubled, "then try" I snap. "Well, I''m from the past" he states, are you kidding me "Everyone''s from the past" I snap back. "No-no-no, you misunderstand. I''m from the distant past, say 18th century. Though you could say I''m from the future too." he chuckles at the confusion. "What What What?!" I''m to get frustrated at this information. "You''re not explaining this very well" Ailsa states to him. "Okay, I''ll start over. I''m from Earth 18th century, and as you can tell I''m European. I was abducted by someone from the future before all the wars broke out. I''m still not certain on by whom or how far into the future I was taken. And let''s just say for the sake of short explaination, they did tests on me and experiments. You could say I was reborn there, I haven''t been able to age since, that and I don''t know how long I was kept there for either. I was rescued by one of the workers there and brought to this shuttle, and as you can tell it''s a lot more advanced than anything you''ve ever seen before. I was brought back to the 30th century through an automated system they put into place. I came back to my home planet and watched it as it died. Yet I felt nothing towards it, whatever they did to me. They took away my humanity and mortality."