On The Nature Of Entropy

The camera pans to a bright window and comes back onto a child’s room. Where a young Leo Alvi and Unir NaDoldor, his father are sitting on the bed working on some sort of mechanical contraption. The father starts,

“You never stop with your questions, do you?”

With an earnestly apologetic voice the boy responds,

“Sorry dad.”

Unir NaDoldor puts a hand through Leo Alvi’s hair,

“Son, never be sorry about asking questions. That’s how you will know the world. I’m glad you ask them. Be careful now, you don’t want to damage that gasket.”

Leo Alvi manipulates the object with his hand. The two focus intently on the object until it snaps together with a satisfying clink that puts a big smile on the boy’s face. The father exclaims,

“Brilliant! You got it! You know it took me three ruined life support filters before I was able to do this? And I have two extra arms.”

The proud smile gets even wider as Leo Alvi slightly leans towards his dad, who automatically puts his arms around him and hugs him as the boy responds,

“Thanks dad, but I learned all this from you.”

“Kid, there is no other child that I’ve seen who would be able to learn this as fast as you did. You are amazing. It’s like these things talk to you. You know just what to do.”

Leo Alvi’s smile stiffens from shyness and some time passes as he starts to close up the whole device. Then his smile fades, 

“Dad, do you think we’ll ever get off this planet?”

“I hope so son. You are too good for this place. You should be somewhere the your skills will get recognized and applauded.”

Leo Alvi looks into the distance, 

“You’ve been to other worlds, what are they like?”

“Yeah, that was a lifetime ago. Some are even more harsh than this, but others are beautiful, amazing places with trees and oceans, pristine sand and welcoming suns.”

“No trash piles?”

Unir NaDoldor laughs, 

“No, no trash piles, no crumbled buildings, no deserted cities.”

Full of amazement, Leo Alvi responds,

“That sounds awesome. I’d do anything to go.”

As far as your eye can see, giant waves of trash stretch way into the horizon. Relics and exhaust of civilizations all the same. Mixed and forever erased, now wholly overtaken by entropy. It would take a galleon to crest their peaks. It is said that an entire planet’s worth of refuse gets dumped here every year. It is the end for the past and people, the end of memory and purpose. Yet, if you look closely at the edge of this abyss, life persists. Like specs of noise in the microwave background, little bits move back and forth.

On top of one of these waves stands a man, his sun-bleached face and well worn clothes burn orange with the rising sun. Next to him, stands a boy, barely 15.

Unir NaDoldor: 

“Watch you step son. I don’t think this one is as stable as we thought. I can’t help but to worry that you have two arms too few for this.”

Leo Alvi, your father holds you firmly with one arm while using two others to hold onto a hull of a sunken cargo container that peaks through the rubble.

Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down...

That's all the boy could repeat in his head. Nothing else could keep him from absolutely freaking out, all the way up here on this mass of jagged metal and scrap. He constantly worried that the grip on his arm was too slack, causing him to use that arm's hand to grab back with a death grip.

"A-Are you sure we should be so high up? Y'know we've been here for a long time, m-maybe it's time to climb back down no--" As he said this he made the critical mistake. He looked down. The boy froze, mouth agape in a silent scream. It was all he could to squeak out, "I wanna go home now..."

He hated saying it, and he hated feeling that way even more. Shame mixed with fear.

Him Who Is Not To Be Named — 10/27/2021

Unir NaDoldor:

Don't look down. Look at the horizon. If you stay low, you will never see what's beyond the next hill.

What's that thing that you wanted to build again?

He gulped and did his best to peek over the rubble, his short stature not helping matters. Still, after adjusting his footing, he did manage to get a pretty decent glimpse. His eyes turned from fear to surprise.

Huh, it's actually kinda pretty...

In that moment he seemed to forget the heights, though his legs were still trembling beneath him. In response to Unir NaDoldor's question, he thought for a moment.

"Like...a really big robot. Not like the drillers and the scavengers, more like, well, you-sized."

He blushed a bit and continued, 

"Something that can lift what I can't, or shoot some of the trash ghosts--" 

He balked, embarrassed at using his childish nickname. But what else could one describe the critters that lurked amidst the rubble? He couldn't see in the dark.

Unir NaDoldor's face widens in a smile.

"That's it. Here, look over this way."

He points his finger at what looks like a hull of a vessel. It looks like it might have been sleek and majestic one, but now was broken in half and slumped like a dying whale, entirely up to the mercy of elements. Waiting for nature to take its course.

"I thought of you when I first saw it. I bet we'll find some decommissioned droids in there. I doubt anything still works, but maybe a power core, some servo's, nano-couplings... you never know. Even in death, there is life as it rides the energy gradients of entropy."

"Do you understand what I mean by that?"

Leo Alvi's face scrunched up as he tried to concentrate. Entropy, entropy...that was the sum of energy right? Wait, no, that was enthalpy. He looked up at Unir NaDoldor, unsure but answering anyway, 

"That's the one with like...how chaotic something is isn't it?"

He looked over at the hull, trying to piece together in his head each individual component he would need for his droid. In doing so, he tried to grasp the greater meeting of the problem presented to him.

"So do you mean like...even though it's a bunch of scrap, some of it can still be used for something else? Even when the world is messed up there's still stuff you can build from older stuff?"

He wasn't sure if that was right; for all he knew he just made a giant fool of himself. He went back on trying to formulate schematics in his head; doing that usually calmed down the fight or flight constantly going on in his head.

"No, it's not about chaos. It's about what can't be turning into what is inevitable. Life is born out of this transformation and through being, it necessarily makes the change go faster.

Unir NaDoldor thinks for a moment and points at a tangle of wires.

"That coupling over there. It is just slowly deteriorating as the sun blasts it, stripping atoms over thousands of years. Yet, if you were to use it, electricity would flow through it, generating heat and making it fall apart faster."

"As you create, you destroy. But destruction leads to creation. And sometimes it leads to existence of the unfathomable, as that too is likely over the vastness of space and time."

He picks up the coupling and turns it in his hand. His eyes seem focused, yet looking somewhere else.

"I was a scientist once. It was a very different life in very different place. In a million years, I never would have imagined myself ending up here. Yet, here I am with you and am glad for it.

He hands you the object and embraces you with his free arm, steading your footing.

There is a high impedance solenoid in there. I think it will be useful for your power distribution unit. Go on now and find the other parts to fight your ghosts.

Leo Alvi just stared blankly, his young mind not entirely grasping what was being taught. He was good at science and technology, not philosophy. He tried to avoid showing how much of it was going in one ear and out the other by nodding along, though he stayed silent.

He never knew any places besides this one; he'd heard of planets that were white with some sort of cold substance, others with strange green life known as 'trees.' Brown was the color of this planet, Leo Alvi's home, and amidst the dust and debris there was little semblance of anything that could have come before.

He held the coupling in his hands and placed it in his backpack. He balked at the last instruction, however.

W-Wait, all by myself?

“You can do this. I’ll be right here.”

With shaking legs, he made his way towards the wrecked hull. Jagged spikes of metal threatened to tear him to shreds as he gingerly walked forward, but years of practice (and numerous shots) have made the journey less stress-inducing than the destination.

Once he managed to reach the broken wreckage, he took a cautionary glance backwards at Unir NaDoldor. He gulped and proceeded to make his way inside.

Water drips slowly from the floor above as puddles gather by your feet. Every step seems to echo in the dark corridor ahead of you. The whole structure moans with the strain of gravity. 

Was he shivering from the sudden chill of the structure, or from nerves? Both, he figured, probably both. He grabbed his flashlight from his pack and shined the light around, jumping whenever he saw a tiny critter scurry away from the beam. 

He crept his way through, trying not to make any noise. He knew what a solenoid looked like, but he wasn't quite sure he'd be able to find one in all the rubble. He was pretty sure he had an electromagnet at home, couldn't he use that? No, he reasoned, it didn't have the right amount of resistance for what he was going to build.

He tried his best to distract himself by making a mental list of all the different parts he'll need to grab at some point while trying to keep his eyes peeled, not that they already weren't practically permanently open from fright.

You start making your way down the corridor and start looking about for any rooms. The metal floor beneath your feet is in a sketchy condition, but hopefully should hold. Your light bounces off of walls and plays tricks on your senses.

Click... clack... you feet echo in the hallway as you shuffle forward. One step at a time, steady as she goes. Maybe there is just nothing here, you think to yourself...

Then suddenly you feel something drop onto your left shoulder. It feels hefty and sharp.

As the claws tear at your back, you panic and run forward as fast as you can, dropping your flashlight and darting from door to door as sounds of whatever is pursuing you give you momentum.

Before you know it, you find yourself deep inside the structure unsure of where you are or how you got there. Very dim light pierces through holes in a few places above giving the space some low light. You stop running and silence fills the echoing chamber you ended up in.

The light is dim, but it is enough. You find yourself in a large chamber, 30' in diameter and perhaps as tall. Various robotic parts are strewn about on metal tables, racks, and floor. You spot a few dried up bodies on the floor, crumpled in a fetal position and what you guess may be a streak of old dried blood smeared across the floor going toward one of the doors in the room. The stain crosses a symbol, still visible, painted on the floor.

As you make sense of the situation, you notice that something seems to be standing in the middle of the room.

Leo Alvi tried to catch his breath, eyes darting around as he tried to make sense of what just happened. Naturally, however, he went out of a frying pan and into a volcano. 

The symbol was the least of his worries; the combination of bodies and parts looked like something out of a horror movie, as if he had wandered into a butcher's back room. He held a hand over his mouth and nose to try and avoid getting sick from the stench.

The fact that he wasn't alone in the room didn't make things better. He knew he made a lot of noise coming in, but he tried his best to be quiet, looking around frantically for some kind of way out.

There is:

* A door behind you, pointing back to where something was chasing you

* A door to the east, where the blood trail seems to lead

* A door to the west, that appears to have been violently bashed and carved open as if something broke through to this room.

There are also ventilation shafts throughout the ceiling and metal cabinets strewn about that may be useful to hide in.

It seems so awfully quiet in here. No sounds, but your heart which is pounding, screaming to the world, “I’m here. I’m right here!”

And there is that thing in the middle of the room, cloaked in shadow, unmoving, yet drawing your attention.

Why did he come in here without a gun? Why did Unir NaDoldor tell him to come in alone? Why did bad things always happen to him? Why was he still here?!

He gulped, aware that the...whatever...in the middle was most likely aware of his presence. He cleared his throat.

H-Hi...uh...sorry to bother you. J-Just gonna leave now. You won't eat me right?

Silence

"....Okay cool. Thanks."

He slowly started making his way towards the West door, though keeping an eye on the vents and wondering if he could traverse them, assuming that there was enough of the wreck in tact enough to do so.

You move towards the door, giving the entity in the center a wide berth. The door is destroyed. As if something, or someone, exploded it with pure physical strength. A sunburst of debris centered on the door, shows signs of failed reinforcement. Two feet from the door, musky smell of an animal hits your nose. Your heartbeat and feet grating with dirt against the floor are the only things breaking the stillness. The opening is dark, giving away nothing about the interior.

Leo Alvi stared into the dark abyss. His anxiety was so high, it was practically making him light-headed, as if his emotions were about to overflow and loop back around the spectrum to happiness. He finally understood people who giggled when they were nervous.

He looked back to the central figure, pointing hesitantly towards the gaping entrance.

If I go down there, I'm not gonna die, right? Also...uh...y-you are alive right? You're legally required to let me know you're alive.

Of course the last sentence was bullshit but what else did he have at this point? It took all his willpower not to burst into tears.

silence

He heard about this kind of scenario once, in a holo film. The killer plays "opossum," whatever that animal was, waiting for the unsuspecting soon-to-be-brutally-murdered character gives them a simple poke.

That, or the head falls off from the poke and the actual killer leaps down from the ramparts.

After a cursory glance up above, Leo Alvi started to circle around the figure, trying to get to a good spot to see what lay beneath the suspicious cloak.

As you turn your back on the door, a gurgled growl sounds and quickly grows, then stops. It's echo reverberates through the room. You feel as if something is right behind you. 

Yeah fuck that noise. Leo Alvi bolted towards the door he entered from, chancing one last look behind him to see if he was being chased. Regardless of whether or not something was there, he was booking it.

You move to run, just as a heavy weight lands on your back, tearing into it and pinning you to the floor. The pain sears through your entire being as you feel something sharp rake over your shoulder torso.

Your eyes get blurry and you lose consciousness.

...

You don't know how long you have been out, but you come to and see your father struggle with something massive that is unlike anything you've ever seen. The creature is made of muscle, with teeth seemingly poking from its head and torso.

Your father is losing, helpless against the mass of this demon. With one more thrust is send him flying 10 feet into the wall.

And then the creature looks at you. Its head looks is half torn and mutilated. It opens its mouth and what comes out are screams that sound like they would come from its victims, begging for mercy.

It slowly moves towards you, but you are unable to move be it from the fear or pain. It keeps on making those sounds. Those horrible sounds. Like mocking of the suffering it is surely about to unleash on you.

It moves forward, opens its mouth wide and just as it does so a hail of bullets bursts through its skull.

You turn your head to see the source and it is this thing from the middle of the room, a humanoid shaped robot, incomplete and barely operational. It looks at you, but your mind can't hold all the emotion and you lose consciousness again. 

When you come to, both you and your father are outside. The half functioning robot is next to you. Your father is crying as he is bandaging you up.

"I'm so sorry. I want you to be able to handle yourself when I'm gone. You need to be able to handle the world. But, I never expected... I'm so sorry"

He embraces the parts of you that are not hurt.

Leo Alvi just doesn't respond, eyes wide with terror, too shocked to even cry. He just sits there, shaking.

The robot says in a broken voice,

Wwww eeee should shouldddd moooov. dangerrrrrr

Your father helps you up. and you start walking home.

As you get onto the path, which leads through tops of more stable heaps of trash, your father says,

Son, I have to tell you something.

A bit of silence is filled with the wind blowing.

Before I met your mother. I had...

Before he gets to finish his sentence a loud noise booms above you. It is a ship, moving fast and low. You don't think it would hit you, but you know well enough that its rocket thruster could burn from this distance.

Your father pushes you into cover and duck to shield you with his body.

As the ship passes you are deafened for a short time. Your father moves off of you and you hear his muffled voice over the ringing in your ears. He is yelling something at you. He is pointing toward your town. The same direction the ship is flying. He looks very worried.

Finally you understand his words,

We have to go, NOW! We have to get back home. Something is very wrong.

Still in shock, to Leo Alvi everything was happening in slow motion. All he could imagine was Unir NaDoldor's body being flung around like a ragdoll, and the horrifying screams from the monster. He barely had time to process what his father was telling him when he, too, recognized the sound of a ship.

His engineering brain finally began to kickstart again, letting him know that, though he couldn't see it to get an idea of the make or model, he knew enough that he instinctually allowed himself to be pushed to the ground.

Something was...wrong? Well yeah, there was a monst--oh, back home...wait, what could be wrong back home? Mentally exhausted, he mustered up what little physical energy he could to move his legs.

Adrenaline propels you through the way back as you, your father, and the robot run home. It is a ruined city, with tall building half crumpled to the ground, but it is all you have known.

You arrive at the town center some time after the ship must have done so. All the townspeople, men, women, children are there. It is hard to know what is happening through the crowd. You hear someone talking and try to pick out the words.

By the order of... custody immediately... company property...

Leo Alvi, you are waking up, comfortably cradled into a ball, gently swaying with the sun above and a light breeze cooling you off. You eyes are closed and you feel like you don't want to get up. There is a slight high pitched sound ringing in your ears and it feels like the sound around you is slowly filtering in and getting clearer.

If he didn't open his eyes, he could stay in the dream world. That's how it worked, right? Sure, not every dream was pleasant, but once in a blue moon he would have one. Nothing great would happen in it, but it would be a simple dream with family and friends. He'd be tinkering one moment, eating a delicious meal the next. If only it were more of a reality.

He took a deep breath, two actually, and slowly started opening his eyes.

The ground sways as you realize you are being carried by the robot you found. You look around and see you are away from the town as crests of refuse tower over you. 

Leo blinked. No wonder his "bed" felt more stiff and full of garbage than usual. He looked around with furrowed brow, confused as to why he wasn't home.

He looked up at his mechanical friend.

Hey uh...what's going on?

The robot keeps on walking while his head pivots and looks at you. He speaks in a broken robotic tone.

Saaaafe

"Safe?" What do you mean?

He took a quick look around, trying to get a glimpse of what kind of danger he was supposedly safe from

You pick your head up and survey the area. You think you are close to the broken down ship you hastily left behind earlier. As you look back towards the horizon, a billowing tower of dark smoke marks the spot where your town lies.

The robot repeats,

Saaafe

 His eyes widened and he tried to wriggle free from the robot's grasp. Why was there smoke coming from home? Was there a fire? An explosion? What about his family?

Could...Could you let me go? I gotta go back there, I need to know if everyone's ok!

The robot stops, looks at you, and lets you down. Then, it points towards the ship and repeats,

Saaaafe

He looked back at the ship, then at the robot. Then at the ship, then at the robot. He pointed a finger towards the ship, the rusted scrapheap, the home of monsters and carnage.

What.

The robot stares at you. You gather it may not have intuition as to your mental dialog. 

How is that ship safe? It had a monster in it! You had to help rescue us from it!

Leo sighed and stared at the machine for a moment.

Is "Safe" all you can say? Do your language processors need fixing?

Leo took a quick look around the bot to try and find a panel he could work with.

Moooonsterrrrr deaaaaa. Fix fix x x xcaaaaguage.

There is a plethora of panels, however you think that language processing would likely be ran from the processing unit within the head. However, you. don't have the tools on you to do much where you are. Perhaps there would be some tools within the ship.

The technical distraction is welcome, though interspersed thoughts of worry for those you love and fear for your own life invade your focus. What should you do, take care of your wounds and safety or run back into danger? What can you do? You are in no shape to fight nor sneak your way around, but perhaps you should risk doing so anyway. No clear answer presents itself. All are bad choices.

His whole life seemed to be a carousel of bad choices, or at least not having any choice but bad ones. He took a deep breath as he focused on the gadgetry in front of him. Sure, he didn't have tools, but the more he familiarized himself wit hteh layout the more he could work out the robot's key features and functions.

Okay...Dad can handle himself. He's tough and strong and brave. He...He would want me to be safe and seek shelter.

He gulped and looked to the deathtrap. Or at least, the nonsmoking deathtrap. He opened his mouth to speak more, but his anxiety prevented anything more than a squeak of fear. He cautiously made his way towards it, trying not to worry about his injuries.

The air is still and the evening sun casts long shadows, making the ship appear no less formidable as before. As you walk towards the gaping ripped apart maw, the robot turns on a light on its shoulder. The light moves as it walks, making shadows dance eerily. However, having it next to you gives you courage as you enter. The lit corridor looks in surprisingly good shape. A stray cable hangs from the ceiling, its insides are flared like claws looking for the missing end.

The walls are smooth, with soft ergonomic curves gently sloping down and up in sections. The doors that seemed to hide monsters, look almost inviting, though this pleasantness passes as you see darkness in the rooms themselves. The robot is always near you, patient and watchful. You look at its head trying to understand its mind, but it lacks any mannerisms or emotion. The robot motions further inside.

Ssssaaaaaf

 Leo was not happy with this arrangement, particularly with a clearly-faulty piece of machinery to guide his way to supposed safety. He looked ahead into the darkness, then to his robotic "friend."

Don't suppose you have any sensors? Do you see anything up ahead, like that monster from before?

The robot looks at you, then seems to process for an adequate course of action.

Light.

And he motions for you to follow him into the darkness. 

That certainly wasn't the answer he was expecting.

Light? Like sunlight?

His answer was rhetorical, as he could tell the language processors needed adjusting by now. He took one last look behind him before sighing and following the robot. At the very least, the contraption seemed armed and could possibly serve as a distraction if needed.

The hallway is more familiar. You find some solace in that. As you walk you see a frayed cable hanging down the ceiling and can't help to wonder if that was what caused the scratch you felt on your back, that had you panic and run blindly through corridors.

After a few sets of stairs and winding tunnels, you enter a dark room. The robot turns on a light on its shoulder, which reveals a set of panels and tall cylinder structures. You think you may be in a power generation bay. It appears to be in very good shape. Time seems to have spared some things on this vessel. Perhaps it's time to put your studies to the test.

You clearly have the book learning and practical knowledge of power cores and generators, but on a much smaller scale. This is a starship! Long after any light outside fades, after many failed attempts, Leo Alvi flips the main relay and, just like that, lights turn on throughout the ship.

The architecture and design is pleasant, but unlike anything you have seen before. Smooth contours cover myriad of archaic mechanisms that look out of place with modern technology. Examine as you might the intricacies of the engineering, the function of what you find prove utterly alien. Many things just don't make sense, defying long-established laws of physics. 

"Where is the conservation of energy? Where is the diffusion of energy as you know it? Entropy." That word comes to your mind again. This perhaps explains why you had so much trouble just getting the power on.

Even though the ship is still broken in half, the lights are on, the doors work, and so do many computer panels. One thing that catches your eye quickly is that circuit symbol you saw on the floor of the lab. It appears regularly throughout the ship's designs and is embossed on the robot, which has been helping you throughout this whole time.

However, the excitement of you finding and success are quickly dimmed by a faint sound of starship engines booming in from the outside. 

The sensors seem of awkward design. The external damage is making things even harder. The sensor board lights up but the signals are too incoherent for you to make sense of. Perhaps with some study you would do better. However, the moment is gone as the rumbling sound grows and then fades away.

However, you now have the ship to explore. Perhaps a welcome diversion to the smoldering town in the back of your mind. 

The sensor panel was beyond him for the moment, the insanity happening outside the ship not doing well to keep his rational brain in check to decipher the strange symbols. Still, despite the noise, that horrifying monster from before was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps it's safe...or perhaps it's just laying in wait for the chaos to subside before it went out hunting again. He looked over to his new robotic companion and sighed,

"W-Well...I guess we should explore. If we're gonna die, then may as well just accept it."

"Um...a-also, what do I call you?"

The robot looks at you and answers,

Advanced Personality unit 6

His cold stiff body seems welcoming. 

Leo tilted his head to the side.

"Ay pee six? Huh...well...Alright then. Mind telling me what happened to the other five?" 

Leo motioned for the robot to follow next to him, heading down a corridor he hadn't yet explored. He was hoping to follow some sort of wiring from the console to see if he could make his way to an engine room of some kind.

The robot is tellingly confused by your question,

The other five? I don't understand your question. I am one.

The corridors look in surprisingly good shape for what must have been on this garbage heap for a long time. Soft white panels cover piping and pneumatics that are artfully organized. You find the activity of tracing them down rather enjoyable and eventually find yourself in a rather large room in a level below. There in the center is a cylinder, a column actually, about 10 feet in diameter. In front of it is a panel. It is mostly dark with a glowing outline of a box.

Leo continued,

You said you're unit 6. That implies a unit 1, 2, so on to 5. Are you just an upgraded model, or are there more of you in this thing?

He came upon the panel and sighed. Well, may as well see if there was anything he could do about this one. (Computers or Engineering?)

The robot is confused by your line of questioning,

I do not have data on this topic.

Unsatisfied with the answers, you turn your attention to the panel and look to interface with it. As soon as your hand touches the glass surface the lighting dims, then slowly gets back up. The hum of the ship seems to lower and a voice rings in your ears. It sounds like thousands of layered buzzing voices staggered, slowly coming into and going out of resonance in a strained whisper,

Griz to e tu?

You turn to discern its source but see nothing, until you fix your gaze on the illuminated square. There, slowly, like little insects, thousands of little motes swarm and grow into a smoky cloud of particles. The cloud thickens and thickens, until a vague humanoid shape coalesces in front of you. It featureless barely discernible head turns to face you,

Dir ek akto zomaste?

Uhhhhhhh...

He looked around, increasingly nervous about these new sounds and sights. Any more of this and his anxiety will reach a breaking point and collapse into apathy and acceptance, but he hasn't reached that state quite yet.

Um...Common? No?

He went on, repeating Hello in various languages. Not that he was fluent, but growing up multicultural meant he could at least say Hello in plenty...or at least ask where the restroom was.

If all else failed he'd turn to his construct friend,

Do you understand it?

The shape vibrates and little motes fly off in various directions, only to re-connect, as it goes through a number of tones and languages, until finally arriving at something close to common, which it employs in a hissing buzzing whisper,

Whhhooo are youhhh? Whhhhy haaaave yooouhhh waaakenn usss?

The face of this thing is impossible to see. It is clouded in thousands of motes, like moths flying around a flame, entirely concealing its appearance. However the body starts to resemble a person in a well pressed suit, wearing high heels. 

The utter otherworldliness of the creature makes your mind quiver and question what monstrosities in this world people are unaware of. You lost a point of sanity and went down one step on the madness progression. You are at 11-2 = 9.

Uhhhh...

Okay, now he was beginning to panic. Still, no sense in running now. Hey, at least it...he...she? Whatever, was dapper and well-dressed. Looked similar to the corporate people who would occasionally frequent the planet to assert their "requests."

Hi, I'm uh...I'm L-Leo, it's a bit of a long st-story but this AP unit b-brought me here, claiming it's safe, a-and then I poked around the consoles--sorry about that, force of habit, bit of a tech guy--and...well, I-I found this place.

He gulped and continued,

B-But y'know, everything's perfectly fine right here, we're fine, we're all fine here...now...thank you.........How are you?

The entity (entities?) seems to look away for a few seconds and the lights flicker. Then it focuses back on you. It raises its hand and its finger dissolves into thousands of little black motes, which fly toward you and start circling around your body.

Noooh, nott hooowzz yooouuuh're heeere, butttz whhhy yoouh're hhhheree?

I-I'm sorry, I don't know...I was exploring the junk yard with my dad, he told me to come in here, I was attacked by some monster, was carried out, and then I had to go back in 'cause there was a loud noise and smoke coming from my town and...and...

The motes around you grow in number and start to become more invasive, like sand being blown against you they begin probing your skin, ears, nose. The uncomfortable sensation takes over your focus until you realize you are entirely engulfed in a cloud of motes and begin seeing flashes of imagery in your head.

Yoooou knooow nooothhhhingggg.

You see an image of a black sun over a sandy horizon.

Yooouu flyyyy toooo cloooosssss tooooo the sssssunnnnnn chiild.

You see primitive planets filled with water, which grow lush in jungles, only to be replaced with enormous metropolises, covered entirely with skin of a highly advanced civilization, which subsequently burns and is replaced by a dead barren crust.

Whhhatt ussse aaaare yyooou?

The motes lift you and you feel like you are floating in air. The motes become translucent and you see yourself float above the ship which is slowly growing and being repaired. There are more motes jetting out of the ship and stripping the materials in the junkyard, revealing the naked soil and a stone structure, which must have been covered for centuries.

Whhaaat uusssse haaaas yoooour liiiiife?

You fly rapidly toward the smoking rubble of your town. You want to scream no. You are not ready to face the reality. But there is no mercy. The motes are already there, snaking through broken windows and holes in the crumbling buildings. You see the ground, which is covered in blood and bodies.

Theeeeereee iissssss noooooneee eeeeelseeee!

You stifle a scream and can't help the tears pouring out of your eyes as the scene comes to you father laying motionless in a puddle of blood with all his arms extending towards an empty spot, just big enough for one person.

I wiiiill haaaave usssse foooor yoooou yeeeet.

You are utterly distraught, but hold your wits about you with only one point of sanity loss.

Before you have a chance to deal with your emotions you are carried back and lowered onto the cleared spot below the ship which reveals a set of large ornate stone stairs that descend below ground.

Go.

YEAH OKAY SURE NO TELLING ME TWICE OKAY BYE HOPE I NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN

He practically flew down the stairs, as safely as he could, trying to block the...experience...from his mind but completely unable to. It took all his mental and will power to keep his eyes focused ahead.

You hurry down the stone staircase. It is wide and broken, with many steps being entirely missing.  At the bottom you are met by a large double door made out of stone that easily pre-dates any of the rubble that must have covered it for hundreds of years. Ancient markings adorn the entrance, culminating at a five pointed star in the center. The door is  overgrown by slime-mold like growths. The stone itself bears the scars of many attempts to break it down. Chips and soot, mark attempts of driving hard implements at any seams and remnants of large explosions, which almost entirely destroyed the surrounding floor and stairs.

The creature coalesces next to you. Displeased, it spreads its arms and motions for motes to erode the stone. Sparks fly and the stone begrudgingly starts to slowly melt as friction heats up the whole area enough that you have to step half way back up the stairs.

After an hour, as the loud grinding ceases, you slowly make your way down. The creature looks noticeably slower, depleted. Its motes appear to be repelled by some kind of a force field that permeates the structure, but a small hole, just big enough to squeeze through is now visible. Apo11o appears behind you, waiting for your sign. 

Leo looked despairingly at the small hole. This was how people got stuck in caves, never to return, with the entrances sealed up to become their tomb for eternity.

D-Do I have to? ...Actually nevermind don't answer that I'm sorry I'll just go it's okay please don't kill me...

He lets out silent attempt at a whimper and bent down to start making his way through the opening.

With trepidation, you look back at Apo11o then turn to the dark eroded hole and start to squeeze through. As soon as your hand moves past the threshold, the odd forcefield lights up, but lets you through. The fit it tight, but you are small enough to make it to the other side with only a few scrapes. 

To your discontent, you look back to your rig to turn on a light only to find it unresponsive. The surprise catches you off guard and a small yelp escapes your mouth. Longingly you look back at the entrance and see that Apo11o is rebuffed by the forcefield. It pushed to no avail, only to give up, turn on a light, and shine it into the opening for you.

As an adopted child to your father, the fear of being by yourself in the world has always been something that creeped in the back of your head. Now he and the rest of your family are dead or captured and you have never felt more alone. With no one to save you, you are forced to do something against your will by what can only be described as a nightmare. 

Sharp light piercing through the door illuminates the dusty, smooth, stone slabs that cover the floor. The musky smell of long dead life mixed with a strange sweat smell of fungus permeate the air. Each movement echoes, betraying the cavernous space hidden by the shadows.

You disturb the dust with your feet sending little particles into the air. You follow their movement, as they get lit up by the light from behind. Things look peaceful, still, meditative even. 

Just as you fixate on the specs of dancing dust and start to think, "this can be ok," your eyes move over more sinister shapes. There, on the ground stand dozens of Unknowns. Five legs and five tentacle "hands". Humanoid yet utterly alien. Their torsos grotesquely twisted and topped with neckless heads that serve little purpose but to hold large orifices brimmed with rows and rows of teeth. No discardable eyes nor ears, as if build for blind rage.

You stumble back, a last reflex before accepting your fate as you mind struggles to understand what it perceives.

You close your eyes, this is it. There is nothing more that can be done. 

A moment passes. Then another. Slowly, you open your eyes and look again. The creatures are unmoving, frozen in time, like statues, only made from thick dried out flesh. They engage in various poses as if petrified mid-battle against assailants that are coming from within.

You follow your eyes further inside. The tiles do an ok job to scatter the little light you have, but now there are markings which fade into darkness. What do they say?

You creep further in. It is very dark now. Your eyes strain to take in the few stray rays of light. And there is something new, a sound, a low humming, no droning. It is growing louder and you feel your hair moving as if something large is breathing onto it. You realize you are shaking uncontrollably as you look up and... 

The dark musty chamber is quiet. Leo Alvi's every step echoes throughout as he navigates around the horrific creatures that stand about the space. He curses his rig for failing him in this critical time and the thought of just giving up crosses his mind. Then, just as he is about to turn around, he remembers his propane torch and lights it.

Eight-limbed shadows dance about the walls as he moves along, following the markings on the ground,

Unir NaDoldor,

What do you think they mean son?

Without thinking, Leo Alvi responds,

I don't know.

Then, realizing his father was standing next to him, a wave of euphoria comes over him. He jumps to hug his father,

Dad!

There is so much he wants to say that it overwhelms him and he starts sobbing. His father wraps all his hands around him,

Hey there big fella. I'm glad you are ok.

Me too. I mean... I'm glad you are ok too.

Unir NaDoldor,

So what is this place?

I don't know. I saw everyone laying dead on the ground. This thing made me come in here. It was so horrible. I was back in that ship. And then there are these monsters, but they're not alive, I think.

Unir NaDoldor pauses to look back at them,

No I don't think they are alive. They are very strange looking though. I have never heard of anything like them.

Leo Alvi points at the text,

What about this?

Unir NaDoldor,

I don't recognize the language, but it looks old. Let's see if we can figure any of this out... blood? or is it life?... mechanism, no that's not quite right... world? no I think it's bigger, dimension maybe? time... crystal?... And look here! Do you recognize this?! This symbol. It's just like...

Dad?

Leo Alvi pats his father nervously.

What is it son?

Dad look.

They both look up and out in the distance, just beyond where the creatures stop. There is something there...

You step closer as if drawn by a compulsive force. One step after another is planted before you even know it. The closer you are, the stronger your desire. Your hair buffets lightly against a small breeze. Your hands move up slowly delicately grasping the air currents. Your eyes water. An uneasy feeling fills your chest.

The soft flowing shape defies your ability to describe it. It's round perimeter grows before you until you are just a few feet away. It's black yet alight, solid yet flowing, adourless yet fragrant, quiet yet cacophonous. The air itself ebbs and twists, flowing through everything, twisting the space and you.

As you look at the effect you see that you are not alone. Around the shape are five other entities. Their visage is blurred, faces indiscernible, all of you surround it. There is you, a young man, and then another, an older man with what looks like a child, and the last, the last is a strange figure with five limbs. You look back to see the person you came here with, but they are gone.

The sensations overwhelm you. You shake uncontrollably and start to vomit as your brain spasms. This thing is wrong. Everything is wrong. You are wrong. Nothing makes sense. Your thoughts become incoherent. Words and images appear randomly in your mind. "Other", "Nightmare", "Universe", "Time"", "Broken", "Entropy".

Everything around you and your body explode into millions of tiny specs and the light goes out as you lose all sensation of the world and your voice track stops. 

The smell of smoke reaches Leo Alvi’s nostrils long before seeing any fire. Unir NaDoldor and he hurry into the beleaguered ruins they called home for so many years. Leo Alvi has never seen his stepfather move so fast before. This man’s steady paced composure that the son always took for granted was gone and it scared the hell out of the boy.

Hurry son. You must move faster. We have to get home.

Leo Alvi willed his legs forward. The robot steadied him as he struggled to chase his father.

Dad? What is happening?

They’re here.

Who’s here?

Radix. They must have found…

 Hey stop right there!

A man dressed in a military uniform with a shield entirely concealing his face barks at them. Unir NaDoldor stops mid step and instinctively extends two of his left hands to shield Leo Alvi behind his back. 

You’re not supposed to be here. Everyone is ordered to go to the square.

The soldier points his rifle at them, motioning towards the center.

Move.

Leo Alvi’s mind is racing his heart is pounding. He’s never seen armed conflict and now someone is pointing a big gun at him. His father acquiesces,

Come on son. We have to do what the man says.

He moves Leo Alvi in front of him, mindful to keep himself between the gun and his son. The two start walking towards the town center. Smoke starts to visibly waft through the streets. Buildings are on fire. Armed men stare at them menacingly as they move forward. A loud megaphone bounces a male voice off building walls.

Shouts and cries permeate the large town square as John Beaumann, Cynthia Schawrz, and the rest of the squad emerge through smoke. Other squads are already on the scene corralling a sizable crowd of locals into the center, as a man in a long brown trench coat, square pointy hat, and small round glasses stands on a makeshift podium and addresses everyone through a handset that is pumped into a loudspeaker,

Listen up everyone. This is important. 

The crowd is loud and cacophonous.

I’m not going to repeat this, so I advise you to listen!

Yells and protests persist, drowning out the speaker. The man looks at Rush McGorry and nods as a spray of bullets penetrate the air, right over peoples heads. Screams ring out, but silence quickly spreads just as Leo Alvi and Unir are pushed into the crowd by two soldiers. Leo Alvi looks at his father,

Dad, I’m scared.

Unir shields his son against the firing soldiers as the man continues,

Now. You are here ordered off of this planet.

Protests break out, but are quickly silenced as the soldiers raise their rifles. The man continues,

This town has been settled illegally and as the new rightful owner of this planet, Radix corporation is giving you two hours to leave.

Protests sound throughout the group and Unir yells out,

But we’ve lived here for two decades, how can you do this? We don’t have anywhere to go nor ships to leave in.

Unfazed the man continues with a sneer,

If you do not have a means of transport, we have provided one.

He motions to a cargo vessel, barely big enough o fit half the crowd. Unir yells back,

This is impossible. That vessel won’t even provide enough air for half of us. You can't...

Ignoring the argument, the man with small round glasses presses the handset close to his mouth and hisses,

The transport will leave in 20 minutes. You have been warned.

He steps down the podium and the crowd seeing the impossible demand starts to rouse. Leo Alvi grabs his fathers jacket,

Dad, what is happening?

Unir turns around and puts two hands on Leo Alvi’s shoulders,

Son, listen to me. You have to run.

Tears streak down the boy’s face,

Dad, what is happening? I don't understand. Run where?

Unir squeezes the boys shoulders,

I love you son. We have no time. You have to just run. Keep this robot close to you. Do you understand?

Around them chaos breaks out as people start to yell at the soldiers.

Dad, no. Dad. You have to come with me.

Someone throws a rock at one of the armed men. The soldiers respond with a valley of bullets aimed at the townspeople. Children start to scream and cry.

I love you. No matter what happens, you have to run.

The boy and his father are pushed around by the force of the panicking crowd. The robot steps in to try to protect them but it too has a hard time.

A man lounges at Rush McGorry who steps back and fires point blank at the man's face,

What the fuck are you all waiting for?

John Beaumann looks at Cynthia Schawrz and then Rush McGorry,

This is fucked up. No! What the fuck are we doing? I don’t want to do this!

Rush McGorry stares daggers at John Beaumann,

God damn it! I don’t give a shit about what you fucking want.

Cynthia Schawrz yells through the noise of the crowd and stray gunfire,

Boss there is no way!

Rush McGorry looks at both of them, and makes a clicking noise,

[Click-clock] delta-kilo

Both Cynthia Schawrz and John Beaumann turn their guns onto the crowd and fire as they scream and strain to stop,

Aaaaaaaa

The bullets pierce flesh and blood sprays as rows of people go down.

Aaaaaaaa

Unir turns to face the gunfire and spreads his hands to cover Leo who shuts his eyes tight and holds onto his dad’s jacket. As the bullets whizz over his head, he can feel his father’s body go limp and both fall to the floor. John Beaumann sees the boys face as he cries out for his father. The robot swiftly stands to shield them both as Rush McGorry utters,

[Click-clock] bravo-foxtrot

Cynthia Schawrz swivels her gun, pointing it straight at John Beaumann as he does the same. Cynthia Schawrz tries to yell through clenched teeth,

Fuck you Rush McGorry. Don’t do this!

Unfazed Rush McGorry responds with that clicking sound and says,

I’m done dealing with your bullshit. [Click-clock] delta-kilo

Tears streak down John Beaumann and Cynthia Schawrz’s faces as they struggle to resist. John Beaumann strains and manages to muster out,

I'm sorry. I, I can’t stop. I can't stop.

With water pooled in her eyes, Cynthia Schawrz strains and responds,

It’s ok. I love you.

John Beaumann’s finger squeezes around the trigger and everything slows. He hears no sound as the round leaves his gun's nuzzle, no sound as his wife manages to resist the command and fire her bullet to the left of John Beaumann’s head, no sound as John Beaumann’s bullet rips through her throat.

John Beaumann falls to his knees and drops the gun. Rush McGorry steps behind him. John Beaumann’s heart feels like it’s on fire as he stares at Cynthia Schawrz choking on her own blood. Her wet eyes never stop looking into John Beaumann’s as her life leaves her body. Then John Beaumann’s chest bursts with pain and the world slowly dims into darkness.

Leo Alvi holds onto his dad,

Dad, you have to come with me. Daddy, get up.

Unir spits blood and tries to talk as he slowly painfully reaches into his jacket and puts something into Leo Alvi’s hand,

Robot you take him. Take my boy far away! I’m sorry son, I never told you. Leo Alvi, you have a sister.

Leo Alvi looks down at a pendant and a photo of a little girl laughing as her mother pokes her tickle spot, which is exposed as her father, Unir holds her up in the air.

By the time Leo Alvi looks back at his dad, the man’s eyes are devoid of life. Bullets clink and tear at the robot’s back. His strong hands pick up the boy as he protests and pushes helplessly towards his father.

Put me down! No Dad! Put me down! Dad, please I love you! Dad!

Leo Alvi cries and fights, but the robot swiftly breaks into a run and whisks the boy off as the chaos behind them rages.