Minotaur
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LOCATION: TERRA

ROUGHLY 230,000 YEARS PRIOR TO CURRENT DATE

AFTER DECADES OF TRAVEL, A CROSS-UNIVERSAL VOYAGER ARRIVES AT THE CELESTIAL BODY

AND CRASHES INTO AN EXPANSE OF WATER

ITS MISSION: TO OBSERVE AND ANALYZE, TO GATHER AND LOG, TO ASSESS AND UNDERSTAND

FOR AS LONG AS NECESSARY


A man stands at the edge of a rocky cliff, overlooking a smooth lake far below it. It is morning, dew still dripping down blades of grass. He is tired.

There's a certain milky look in his eyes that reflects his view of the world, yet distorts it in tandem. You often see that kind of look in the dead and the dying, in those that cannot process the beauty of the planet which surrounds them. It isn't necessarily their fault, however— their spirits have simply been abused for too long, now incapable of recalling even the very notion of good things.

There was a time before the hurting, back when this man would sleep well and live richly. He'd look outside and smile at the rays of light that cast themselves through his bedroom window, go downstairs just to step outside and breathe in the air as much as his lungs would allow him to. It wasn't ever a perfect life, mind you, but if you'd seen him during that time you probably would've remarked— there's a happy man. He was the type to express his joy, as he found little use in reserving it to only himself.

But times had changed and situations worsened. Maybe something terrible had happened to him. Maybe nothing happened to him. But his mind broke, as so many often do, and he would soon spend less time in the morning breathing and more time at night thinking. The bedroom became a prison, its window a set of iron bars, the moonlight cast from it acting like a taunt from god. Comparing the two mindsets would make it seem as though you were looking at two different people, both battling for dominance, the outer optimist losing to the pessimist within.

And so there the man stands, hopeless and devoid, his past self only managing to summon a small flicker of light beneath the grayed-out windows of the tortured soul that has taken control. His plan— if you can call it that— is simple: To let it all go, forever.


LOCATION: TERRA

1 YEAR TO CURRENT DATE

SENSORS AWAKE THE CRAFT FROM YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SLUMBER

A HUMAN ORGANISM HAS BEEN DETECTED

ORDERS ARE TO PROCEED WITH CAUTION

THE ORGANISM NEARS A SELF-IMPOSED OBLIVION

ORDERS ARE TO STAND BY

INTERFERENCE WITH ORGANISM WILL DISRUPT SCANNING PROCESS

YEARS OF PROGRESS MAY BE RESET

ORDERS ARE TO AVOID CONTACT

BUT ORDERS ARE ILLOGICAL


The man is floating now, suspended amidst his life as death dangles below his flailing legs. Looking downward and into the maw below, his terrified eyes begin to detect movement underneath the silver water, a disturbance in the waves that moves opposite from the growing wind. A circular light beams just beneath, growing larger and larger as something breaks out of the depths and begins to move upward toward him.

Soon he finds himself resting on the cliff yet again, only this time he is faced with a sight far more miraculous than that of the lake, hovering just inches away from him:

The being he is face-to-face with is like nothing he has ever witnessed before. It is a large, flattened thing with a row of bright neon lights brandished across a thin edge. Its body is sleek, almost entirely flat save for two curved pieces that rest on its topside— they must be antennae of some kind, but in the right lightning one might manage to mistake them for a long pair of horns. There are no obvious signs of wear on its surface, but the man is still able to determine that it must've been under the lake for years, if not longer: It is covered in algae and weeds, shackled down by little bits of the earth that have refused to part with it entirely.

Although the creature is truly dazzling in its constitution, there's some kind of undefinable loneliness beneath which manages to evoke pity and even solidarity in the man. Though it might not show its damage as clearly as he does, he can tell that he has encountered another one of his kind— another lost cause, that is to say.


LOCATION: TERRA

1 YEAR TO CURRENT DATE

THE CRAFT HAS ESTABLISHED CONTACT

THE ORGANISM HAS RECIPROCATED CONTACT

THE MACHINE HAS TWO CHOICES

TO RESUME ITS WORK

TO CONTINUE ANALYZING FOR A CIVILIZATION THAT IT WILL NEVER MEET AGAIN

TO LOG CHANGES THAT WILL NEVER BE SUBSTANTIAL

OR

TO HELP ANOTHER

TO UNDERSTAND THE ORGANISM


The man returns to the lake, his reasons for visiting much different than before. Though he is not the kind of person he was in ages past, he is neither the kind of person he was the last time he visited this place. Someone new has taken hold, both invigorated by the prospects of the future but still slightly weary of his present struggles. His eyes now reflect something more balanced, neither joyous nor bleak, but hopeful.

He returns to the cliff face, attempting to ignore the damaged mindset he associates with it. Picking up a rock, he drops it downward— and watches as it upsets the water.

The lights beneath come to life just as they had done one year prior. Yet again, a strange sleek saucer parts the lake and rises into the air, hurriedly moving over to the cliff face and greeting him with a show of lights even more impressive than the last. Its hull is polished and cleaned now— the results of a parting gift from his last visit, which he is pleased to see has managed to hold up since then.

"You know, I'm still not really sure what you are— or what to call you."

His head moves upward to view the pair of antennae that rest on top of his extra-terrestrial friend.

"But I think I've got an idea."


LOCATION: TERRA

CURRENT DATE

THE ORGANISM CALLS THE CRAFT "MINOTAUR"

THE CRAFT DOES NOT KNOW WHY

SCAN HULL

CROSS-REFERENCE "MINOTAUR" WITH KNOWN ORGANISM HISTORY

THE CRAFT FINDS THE NAME SUITABLE


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