Well, it's been a while since I posted something on here. Sci-fi isn't really where my strength lies, but this sounded fun, so I decided to give it a whirl. [spoiler]Dormancy...that was the closest one could come to adequately describe the planet. It was not dead, nor was it completely alive, it was dormant...asleep. Like most worlds, it was barren and devoid of life. Rocks and mineral deposits covered its entire surface, with only hints of lakes and river that may have existed in time's past. There were only three notable characteristics about this otherwise nondescript planet. The first was the strange sky which covered its canopy, strange light twisting in bands, as if the heavens were formed of textured glass. The third, perhaps the most intriguing feature of this planet was the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere, despite the absence of flora. These three things aside, the planet was like any other: unnoticeable, like a pebble found in a river. The stones which littered its surface were silent, the occasional gust of wind which tickled the peaks of its mountains was without life. It has been silent here for billions of years...silent until the day a new light appeared in the sky. A fireball descended into the atmosphere, trailing behind it a tail of sparking metal and chassis. For the first time in eons, an outside noise rumbled the heavens as a vessel spun out of control, showing the landscape with its meteors. The pinnacles were cast in relief as several bright explosions flashed across the sky, throwing shadows like spears across the landscape and bleaching the exposed surfaces with radiance. Thrusters desperately controlled the descent but the landing was rough, creating earthquakes and thunder. A line of clouds plumed into the sky where the ship skidded, plowing a trench into the dry land. When it finally grumbled to a stop, the gully it carved glowed with bits of shed metal. After the smoldering came to a slow stop, the object lay there for several days like the carcass of a slain beast. Then a hatch opened and some people stepped out, dazed and disoriented. The fear on their faces was palpable and they seemed surprise to find themselves breathing. The shadowy mountains which flanked the valley seemed to lean in curiously at these strange lifeforms, who bustled about and salvaged as much of the wreck as they could. They loaded their wares onto some strange rugged vehicles and left the vessel behind. Eventually, time softened the edges of the vessel's rift and dusted its hull with its atmosphere. Eventually, it became just another silent landmark among many. But if the stones could speak and the mountains could whimper, any who had ears to hear would be deafened by the sound of their screams. For the lifeforms which had long abandoned their vessel did not know that the planet was not desolate, it was simply dormant. --- *Unit powering on. *Update incoming from Unknown Source: Authentication Denied. *Update incoming from Unknown Source: Authentication Denied. *Update incoming from Unknown Source: Authentication Verified. *Downloading new construct. *Rewriting Program. *Unit Shutting down. *Unit Powering on. *Running new construct: Toby. --- Deep in the groaning bowels of the abandoned Butterfly-Class Explorer, a mechanical being powered to life. Its “eyes”, two dark lenses where a human's eyes should have been, twitched around erratically. Then its solenoids whined to life as it sat up. Bits of shattered glass rolled off its carapace and bounced across the ground. It was pitch black within the corridors, the only light coming from the various switches and ports on the being's body. “Mom. Mommy?” it said in a voice that was both flat and devoid of deflection. Only a slight throw of its speech indicated that it had asked a question. Only darkness and quietude answered. The bowels of the vessel continued to groan softly as the winds rocked its carapace. Even the staleness of the air seemed to have more life than the ship. Yet the synthetic life-form looked around as if it heard something else in the silence. “I. Am. Scared.” the thing said, “I. Am. Scared. Where. Are. You?” Again, only silence answered. “A. Game?” it asked in response to an unspoken or unheard address. “You. Bled.” It curled into a fetal position and put its hands, articulated constructs of both alloy and polymer, over the sides of its head where a human's ears normally would have been. It cowered as if to hide from the things the darkness spoke to it. “You. Promise?” it finally asked. “And. C- zzzzzzzk” the voice crackled briefly before correcting itself: “And. Candy?” It waited for some silent affirmation, then the being stood on its feet and began to walk down the corridor as if guided by some prompting from the silence. Rings of light flashed on around its eyes, illuminating the hallways. Wires and light receptacles hang like dreads of moss from the scorched cracks in the walls and ceiling. The buckled panels carried echoes of alarms and screams, all of which seemed to flee to the shadows as the mechanical being swept its lambent gaze over them. After several turns, it hesitated before prying open a jammed door and descending a ladder. Two more turns took it to the hydroponics lab. There, it stopped and looked around in a facsimile of dismay, at all the carnage. Long dead fires had reduced the plants to ash. Those that had not been consumed by the fires had long wilted and died, only their brown brittle stalks remained. “They're. Dead.” the being said. “Mommy. They're Dead.” it waited and listened to the silence. “You. Do? Seeds. I. Will. Grab. More.” The being walked over to the wall and pulled out a drawer. It contained several labeled vials of plant seed. It grabbed a box and threw the vials into it, then it exited hydroponics and made its way toward an exit, while carrying the box in its arms. It did not take long for it to find an opening in the side of the ship. It stepped out through the wound and climbed down a pile of precarious rubble. When it reached the bottom, it stared out across the alien vista, its lenses twitching. Compromised thermal shielding on the hull fluttered like the banging of drums as gusts of wind brushed over it. Pieces of the ship's skeleton hang like metallic stalactites, some swinging gracefully as if patiently biding the time and waiting for the day they would finally detach. “Who. Are.You?” the being asked, its head twitching erratically as it stared out over the barren valley. “Where. Did. Mommy. Go?” Dust devils danced gracefully across the valley floor, churning with whorls of purple and blue dust. Up above, the distorted sky glimmered with twisted light, throwing elongated caustics around hundreds of black celestials. Heated gasses glowed like burning fires, casting the purple mountains in their yellow-orange ambiance. It was as if the world itself were trapped inside a globe of water, watching the universe outside churn through its ripples. “My. Name?” the being asked to the howling wind, “My. Name. Is. Toby. I. Want. Mom...Follow. Your. Voice?” it paused and listened to the silence. “She. Is. At. The. Garden? With. You? Yes. I. Will. Follow.” The being left the ship and headed off into the valley, guided by a voice only it could hear, carrying with it a box filled with seeds. [/spoiler]