PROMPT: The planet was perfect in every way, almost identical to Old Earth and in many ways more hospitable. To investigate further, first several drones are sent to the surface, and one soon discovers a small settlement of what appears to be medieval humans before being hit by a fireball.557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWm8QJ62sa
A slice of air rushing into my lungs, goosebumps on my flesh; I exhaled and saw the air chill before me. This was our last chance. One more stop - that’s how long the system would hold out for. It had taken us halfway across the galaxy already; I had to turn off the heat, hot water, everything except what little oxygen we had left. 557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUFAlN4Fta
My stomach rumbled. As much as I wanted to eat my ration now, I needed to wait. As if in protest, my stomach growled louder. I sighed and ran a clammy hand through my curled, oily hair. God, I need a shower. Even my lab coat was starting to stick to the sweat on my back. I prayed that this new world had, at the very least, a laundromat. The thought brought out a dry chuckle that sent a spark of pain through my lungs.
Yeah, right. Like praying has helped us so far. Years and years of prayers; ten years. Ten fucking years I’ve had to search for a planet that can sustain human life. And for ten years and nine months, I’ve failed. Ten years was thought to be more than enough time to keep us alive until we found a new home. Earth was toast - no, we made it that way. Clean energy couldn’t repair the damage quickly enough. We were too late, decades too late. And we were too late again now, I just knew it.
Peering down at the control panel, I pressed a cool, blue button, the same [RECORDING] message displaying on the top left of the hologram screen. I sighed and pushed my glasses up my sweaty nose.
“Planet eight-hundred thirty-six,” I glanced at another glitching panel and read off, “Positive signs of oxygen and a decently high chance for plant/animal life.” I cleared my throat and centered my gaze. “Sending drone seventy-three to investigate. Ship power...three percent.” 557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67GbDSOYOb
The lump in my throat threatened to suffocate me. This really was it - our last hope. We didn’t have anything left after it. We wouldn’t make it to the next galaxy, hell, the next planet. Three percent? Maybe halfway to the pale planet westward of here, and then the systems would fail. We’d just...stop.
“Damn it!” I pounded my fist on cool metal, eyes tearing up. The blinking red light caught my eye. Shit, I was still recording. Christ, I must be a sight. My hair, normally light brown, seemed to be getting darker and darker by the day. A thousand knots that I didn’t even bother to try combing out lingered and tugged in all the wrong places. 557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjRGjOeyLP
Fuck, You could almost see my ribs now. I’m a skinny guy, yes, but this was absurd. I looked up into the hologram’s reflection and met my own eyes, green as the grass I once played in, now lined with red and quite puffy. I rubbed my eyes gently and sniffed loudly.
“Let’s hope this is it.” I stared at myself until the hologram flickered out. Another screen popped up, a bit grainy, showing the drone’s camera. Alright. Let’s do this.
It took off a little shakily, but soon zoomed down to the surface, which was a deep blue. Was it all liquid, like many others? As the drone swooped closer, my nerves were confirmed. Ocean blue liquid - whether it was similar to water, I couldn’t say - covered the entire surface. Not a single landmark in sight. 557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhVBSNpvau
Fuck. Fuck! I bit down on my fist, tears rising again. We’re gonna die. That’s it. I’ve killed us all. What was the point? I grabbed the joystick controller of the drone and thrust it forward; the drone made a stage dive towards the planet, spinning out of control until plop, it was no more.
BEEP BEEP.
It was shutting down.
BEEP BEEP!
Any second now, I’d be smitten with silence.
BEEP BEEP...ding.
“Landing successful,” A cool, robotic voice soothed.
What.
“Now beginning scan.”
What?! I snapped my neck up and couldn’t believe my eyes. Grass...sky...plants - trees! It looked eerily identical to home. I pinched myself, hard. Ow. Pushing up my glasses, I was shocked to feel something wet on my face. Still, I held my stare to the drone screen as it descended. So, the water was an illusion? Or, no, perhaps like our Earth’s ozone layer, only...liquid? Bloody hell, this didn’t make a lick of sense.
The drone hovered a few feet from the ground.
“Atmosphere stable. Now checking for signs of life.” Those had to be real trees. They had to be. It emitted a red scanning light on the nearest one. The light flicked off for a moment, and I held my breath.
“Confirmed. Closest relative - Quercus robur - Oak. Calculating...confirmed. Planet number eight-hundred thirty-six is safe, and deemed habitable for humans. Good luck, captain.” The drone played a warbled fanfare.
Was...this real? There’s no way, right? It’s like some sort of fairytale. I rubbed the tears from my eyes and looked again. It was still there. New Earth. I blinked. Still there! I had to tell someone! I had to tell everyone! I scrambled for the speaker - I had to make the announcement. We’re going to survive, we’re going to survive. 557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLX0GrLUelG
Just as I was about to press the button, I hesitated. Something caught my eye on the drone camera; a rustle in the bushes. I stopped. Rolled back to the controls and took them in my hands. I gently guided it to the commotion, holding my breath, heart racing.
A flash of white-hot light; the breath caught in my lungs as the screen flickered violently. The drone tumbled to the ground, spinning wildly. It crashed into a cluster of grass, the lens barely peeking through the blades. I saw movement. Legs? They moved quickly, quicker than I ever could. The clings and clangs of metal bits shuffling closer. My eyes were glued to the screen - I couldn’t believe it. 557Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBumhLb3fP
Calloused hands grasped the drone, heaving it upwards. I finally got a good look at his face. A man in chain-mail, with a loose helmet and eyes that gleamed like the coals of a fire. He scratched the stubble on his chin, clearly perplexed.
Wait...he could lift that whole drone by hand?! I gulped, a new unsettling feeling rising in my stomach.
“Oi! What’d ye find, Baumeister? A distant voice called. The man I assumed to be Baumeister stared at the screen for a moment. No, through the screen. Like he was looking right at me.
“Invaders,” he breathed. Suddenly, the drone...fizzled. Like it was in the heart of a fire, flames spiraled and swirled around the screen for a second - then everything went black. The system had shut down. No, it was destroyed. I finally exhaled, feeling rather sick.The sweat trickled down my brow and when I went to wipe it my hand came away trembling.
What was that?
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