Beyond Light

Ancient Solution.

The violent landscape of Masdian ships battling the colossal Aleos unsuccessfully flashed away. John's team, the Soku, and the mysterious AI found themselves again on empty space. Only stars twinkled on the silent cosmic canvas of darkness around.

“I have a doubt,” asked John. “Goliath. Aleos. It mentioned humanity before, saying things like it has a special purpose for us and that can make us stronger. Is that its typical words, or does it know something about us? The Soku think it’s coming for us.”

He looked at Valva and Manak. The first only nodded with his arms crossed. The second one looked more annoyed.

“Yes. Humanity has advanced so much. Even when you were primitive species learning to walk on two feet, your species demonstrated to be one with potential.”

“Potential?” John traded looks with his human companions. “What do you mean? Why does this Absorber want us?”

The light shadow responded with a dazzle, turning into a cloud of darkness. He changed the landscape to something that John could not help but feel nostalgic about. Something that made him feel as if he had always belonged there. It was a yellow savanna of tall grass, located on a valley surrounded by mountains of white peaks, illuminated by a sun launching rays of warmth and light in the clear blue sky.

There was a group of huts made of dried wood and braided grass near of them, where some wooden stands held the skin of a gazelle, and various humans of tanned skin, dark, long hair roamed in, transporting primitive tools, baskets with plants, or dead impalas tied on their paws against a stick. Birds chirped in the background

“A planet with life?” asked Valva Okiel Soka. “Nice. I would love to live under a sun so warm like this again.”

“Is this Earth? This must be after the Ice Age,” said Yui. “Probably some hunter-gatherers, or the first examples of sedentarism. Interesting...”

“Ah, Earth,” Derek slowly nodded with nostalgia. “I never visited her until I was 24 years old. It’s totally different to the darkness and coldness of Miranda.”

“Earth?” asked John. “Why are we here, and where, exactly?”

“The question is not where. The question is when,” responded the AI. “As I said, you humans are a special case. My masters studied, observed, and closely followed your species over the course of time. Humanity evolves at much faster rates compared to other alien species. They believed you would one day reach the greatness they once did.”

“And what makes us so special about that for Goliath to try to hunt us down?”

“There is something else. The human genetic code is not like many others. It is much more modifiable, bendable, and offers a much broader range of diversity. Sometimes, my masters even captured some of yours to run genetic experiments.”

“So, we were getting abducted since the times of running after impalas and picking wild berries,” mocked Derek. “Some things do never change.”

“Well, that explains why Goliath knows about us...” said John.

“Aleos wants you for creating the definitive guardian. The maximum soldiers,” continued the AI. “Only your genetic sequence is alterable enough for that goal. My masters were working on a prototype, and it’s likely that Aleos polished it. A half-human, half-machine hybrid superior to most lifeforms, reaching near perfection. An armored machine of the highest resilience and weaponry mounted all over their bodies, meant to be the perfect soldier.”

“Sonny, Goliath said the same similar things back on Vita Nova,” said Derek.

“But those monsters didn’t look perfect or powerful,” continued Heinrich. “They looked more like some crackhead hobos who survived falling on a pool of molten iron.”

The AI ignored them. “The Absorber won’t stop. Once it puts its sights on an alien race, it will do whatever it takes to absorb them. My masters purged most of their databases before succumbing so it wouldn’t know where the human homeworld was located. But even that is a mystery. Maybe Aleos already knows where your planet is and is planning an invasion. It will be a matter of time.”

“Seems like we’re on a tough one,” said Heinrich. “Like in the movies about alien invasions destroying everything, except that it’s real this time.”

Valva spoke. “Your first vessel that traveled to this system gave Anuk a big supply of humans. Maybe he wants to absorb them and you first before attacking your home planet. He did the same thing with us. He converted many of our brothers into monsters before finally attacking our planet.”

His son continued. “And if your DNA is as useful as this machine says, the monsters resulting from your absorption might even be stronger than a Vajak. You are in trouble, humans. The galaxy is.”

Damn. Every moment passed was one moment those lobotomized crewmen were closer to be turned into those machines that AI mentioned. To think that, maybe Blair… No. John had to be positive. He couldn’t hesitate in a moment like that.

“And how do we stop Aleos?” he asked. “How do we stop it from achieving its godhood delusions?”

“Stopping?” Heinrich cynically asked. “Cap, what does make you think we can stop a superpowerful war machine angry for blood that crushed an ultra-advanced alien race?”

“...There must be a way. And you must know, whatever you call yourself, Masdian AI.”

“Of course. And that is why I was waiting for you. Always waiting. My masters had faith in you. They believed that one day you would end up finding one of the structures they left around. You first did with the ones on Vita Nova, as you call the ringed planet."

"Really?" Heinrich didn't wear off his skepticism. "It seems like those robots in there work for Goliath. They all shine in red just like its spider eyes."

"Aleos sabotaged that one a long time ago. This station is free, however. My masters left you a way of stopping the Absorber in case they could not. They sacrificed everything they had working on it. But they could not. You can.”

“But how humans can do so?” Manak condescendingly said. "They are primitives. Our race is much more advanced and powerful than theirs, yet we didn't stand a chance."

Doctor Winslow was about to say something nasty to the younger Soku, but John spoke before him. "I must admit Manak's right. The Solar System doesn't stand a chance. However, maybe we do. We won't give up. How do we stop Aleos?”

“Yes,” continued the AI. “There is much context behind it, but my masters didn’t want it to be included in any of the emergency modules for unknown reasons. Vita Nova. You must return. There are a series of six energy generators distributed on its system. One on each moon and three on the planet."

“Returning to Vita Nova? Yeah. More blood and risks. Maybe we get ourselves killed. I’m in. Things are getting boring on this ball of gas,” Heinrich slammed his fists against each other.

"In order to defeat the Absorber, you must activate all of those generators, the ultimate solution of my masters. An overload discharge will be unleashed all across this star system. It will be shut down.”

“Where do we find these generators, exactly?” asked John. "Vita Nova is huge. So are its moons."

“The device our loyal servants guided you to that you're using to make this communication possible. It will lead you to each of the generator's locations. There is something else… My masters wrote something about a signal device… no. I don’t think so. Yes. They did. No. They didn't.”

“Make your mind, machine,” said Derek.

“Error: Corrupt Data. Impossible To Read. My masters purged any registers of their language under this module except the word Aleos. They programmed me to speak to you on a sequence that you would register as your language. Leave now. This reality warp will be over, as well as everything stored here. Good luck, humans.”

"This AI. It's going to commit suicide," explained Yui. "It's going to shut itself down."

“Wait,” said John. “Who are you? What’s your name?”

“Name module not found. Stop Aleos. Follow the device.”

John was about to speak again, but before he did, the worst nausea kicked his stomach. His head spun, and everything disappeared with a black flash. He opened his eyes and found himself laying on the floor of the vehicle deposit, his companions complaining and coughing, and the rest of his crew and the Soku aliens gathered around them, looking at him as if they had seen everything they did. And they did.