This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Sensitive_Taste8785 on 2024-10-29 15:50:40+00:00.
Captain Lanius’s Log
Mission Entry: Galactic Calendar 10987
Our vessel, Fate Seeker, represented the dawn of a new era for our species. We had prepared for this momentous leap into Faster-Than-Light travel, braving unknown realms, as we hoped to find what lay beyond our corner of the galaxy.
The countdown began, and anticipation surged.
3… 2… 1…
A sudden flash, then silence, stretched as far as I could sense. I believed we’d failed, left adrift in the void, but when the viewscreen cleared, what we saw defied belief.
Where the emptiness of space should have been, there now stretched an immense, gleaming structure that seemed to reach across the stars, its scale impossible to comprehend. It stretched thousands of kilometers in each direction, a vast, shining form suspended in the heavens, radiating a gentle yet piercing light that seemed woven from stardust itself. Though it emitted no discernible signal, its presence alone commanded reverence.
As we stood transfixed, a voice filled our comms calm, clear, yet filled with undeniable authority.
“Welcome, travelers,” it said in our own tongue. “You have arrived at Sol. Your journey has brought you to the place prepared for your kind.”
The voice introduced itself as Elise, her words resonating with a calm that was neither boastful nor welcoming, simply matter of fact. She invited us to dock. To meet a civilization capable of summoning us here… there was no question. We accepted.
We docked in one of Sol Station’s bays, where a radiant figure awaited us, a woman named Elise. She appeared nearly ethereal, clothed in a shimmering, almost primitive garment that caught the light with a crystalline gleam, as if it contained light itself. Her expression was one of gentle curiosity, her presence vast yet deeply personal, as though the very universe attended her.
She gestured for us to follow, her voice calm and resonant. “Come,” she said, “I’ll show you Sol.”
Every corridor, lined with crystalline walls, displayed wonders we could scarcely comprehend: trillions upon trillions of lives contained on the blue planet below, Earth. But Elise explained this existence was far from how we imagined. The humans, she said, had transcended normal boundaries, occupying vast realms hidden within Earth itself, billions of planes layered within its familiar form.
“How could such a thing be?” I asked, my mind grappling with the scope of her words.
“Humanity’s path brought us beyond physical limits. Now, we strive not to shape others’ journeys but to prepare for them. We left these spaces across galaxies, prepared for the day when new life could rise.”
It was as if every empty region in the stars, every silent zone we’d puzzled over, had been left intentionally, meticulously curated to ensure new species their own space to thrive.
“And you... have created planets, whole systems even, ready for others?”
Her nod was a confirmation. “For thousands of years, we’ve held this purpose. We’ve moved stars and worlds to make space for civilizations yet to come. This universe holds many places for others like you, untouched by time, but guarded from those who would take it all.”
The notion of a civilization with the power to reshape stars and galaxies, to place worlds as guardians for the future… it left me speechless. To think we were here, among beings who had battled across stars and galaxies to preserve this chance, this sliver of space and time for others.
We walked in reverent silence before I dared to ask my next question.
“You speak of… purposes and long ages. Tell me, how does it end? Is it the heat death we fear, or the Big Rip?”
Elise paused, her gaze distant, almost wistful. “You needn’t worry,” she said, “its not going to happen anymore. We made sure of that.”
I blinked, disbelief rendering me momentarily mute. “What…?”
“Yes,” she replied, her tone calm yet resonant, as if carrying the weight of a thousand forgotten eons. “We already stopped it.”