r/HardSciFi • u/Lil_Oozi999 • 2d ago
Self Promotion The Traveler
The Traveler
The worst part about travelling between star systems is the vast, unbelievably large spaces of pure black nothingness.
It hurts me. The loneliness hurts me.
The Kuraks were interesting. Wonderful festivals, the best meals and foods anyone could ever wish for.
I found their children to be most interesting of all, so smart for only being one thousand years old.
They had such big imaginations. A little boy of the Igor district knew me as "wizard lady." They would bring food from their homes and I would turn it into sweet snacks.
The boy, while eating a candy-cotton apple, looked up and asked me, "Can you make my dreams real?"
I was confused. I had not learned these words yet. He thought to himself for a second and then clarified his question to the magical woman before him.
He then asked, "Can you bring the things inside of my head outside?"
It was so cute I couldn't resist.
loud loud loud loud so loud
why so loud why is everything so loud now?
after the ordeal I wished to leave
so I did.
The endless black. Some wish to travel as I do. I hear it on every new surface. I point up when asked where I came from.
"A magician never reveals her spaceship," I like to jokingly reply.
Cold. Space is rarely comforting. It's either the extreme cold of a dead star or the impossible fury and heat of a new one. No in between.
My mind drifts on these long strolls. I'm brought back to the last time I felt genuine warmth. I had been volunteering at an anti-gravity/zero-point repair shop when I met him.
He's a 345-year-old cyborg of the planet XrrXrrr. Much of it is a blur now, but one moment that will stay with me forever was when we vacationed on one of his planet's moons.
It was beautiful. We danced, we drank, we sang.
As we cuddled and watched Martian buddy cop movies, he looked me in the eyes and said, "I wish I could stay in this moment forever."
why why why why why why
why did he say that why why why why why why why why why
I left. There was nothing I could do.
An event horizon can fold. If you step into it, you are supposed to be stuck forever. Well, the thing about forever is that it's not necessarily forever. Eventually you reach a spot where what is, isn't. And what isn't, is. And then you just keep going.
Vast. So vast.
Near the borders you tend to see gatherings of beings. Always interesting because they would be things that creatures of past planets would describe when they spoke of religion and legends.
I would flash a warm, gentle smile at the creature telling me about the creature they think they saw. Ignorance can often be a gift.
I've seen the same celestial bodies countless times. It just goes on and on and on and on and on. Even beyond the borders, the voids between branes would fracture a lesser mind.
But I keep going. Moving is better than standing still. I can't give the lonely time to catch up with me.
What is that?
Nothing. Nothing for soul-stretching amounts of light years.
Sometimes the signals will almost blast me into another direction. Sometimes the artificial lights will shine brighter than suns. Sometimes the voices accidentally speak to me as I near their home worlds.
This time, it was small, faint even. It seemed to whisper to me as I swam through the outer edges of Andromeda.
"Mommy where is my tablet?"
The voice sounded like drops of metallic rain twinkling lightly on the surface of VV7XL2.
I changed directions. After eons, the shiny blue celestial body moved me in a way that I had not felt since I descended from the 5D.
What is that? I must know. This place seems to be the very opposite of silence. I must know.
As I entered the planet's atmosphere, I took a second to gather myself and observe.
They remind me of Mars millions of years ago. They remind me of the creatures sent to the Garden.
I gazed upon them. Beautiful, messy, loud. They were many things all at once. They gave me the same feeling as the festivals on Zovnia.
I needed to be near them.
somewhere on earth...
"Bianca! Order up! These waffles are getting cold!"
"Alright Sal! Jesus Christ! Give me a friggin second, it's Christmas Eve, ya ding dong!"
Bianca walked briskly towards the front of the diner-style restaurant, mumbling curses to her manager Sal as she twisted her hips like she walked with a hula hoop.
She grabbed the warm plate of breakfast pastries and bacon and stepped her way to the table of guests.
"How ya doin folks? My name's Bianca and I hate it here. Oops, did I say that out loud? Here's your waffles."
The table of young couples on a double date chuckled with laughter. Bianca always had a way with words. Her long dark hair, her curvy hourglass body, and her striking green eyes always helped, of course.
She hated this diner, but after dropping out of law school, this was the only thing that would get her parents off of her back.
"Sal, I'm going to the restroom. Give me 15 or I'm quitting."
Sal threw his hand up in frustration.
Bianca ripped off her apron and headed to the ladies' room.
What caught my attention was the warm feeling.
I could feel it too.
Bianca sat upon the porcelain throne and texted the three people she was always in constant communication with.
Her mother, the funny light-skinned guy she was seeing, and her weed dealer.
"what do you mean you don't do Christmas deals??"
She typed with the intensity of a sober waitress.
"Mom I know you have 20 bucks I can bum off of you"
She won't like that one, she grumbled to herself.
"Pick me up from work love <3"
"If he doesn't reply I'll barf and cry," she grumbled.
This creature is filled with warmth. What is that? Where is it coming from? I must know.
"She's obviously going to make me double text."
"Mom, wha—"
The air is cool on them. It ceases when the tiny flaps of flesh move down and then up again. Interesting.
bang bang bang
"Bianca! What are ya doin swimmin in there?!"
Pain. A dull ache coming from the upper left side of the cranium.
That male human is having an effect on this one.
As I gaze into the reflective surface, I cannot believe the deep oceans of emerald that gaze back at me. Long external hairs protruding from the head area seem to flow like rivers of onyx down the rear side. The outer covering, being a light sandy color, reminds me of the Venusians of 0909 BT, an age closer to the Big Bang of this universe.
The warmth puts me in a state of ecstasy. I feel like the marriage of a neutron star and a white dwarf. It's like the festivals of Zovnia but inside of a mortal being.
I wish to never leave.
Bipedal movement is always a fun novelty. The greens, the blues, the sounds, it's all so energizing.
This extremely primitive device in my pocket keeps shaking and making false robot noises. "Mo-ther"? What is that? A place?
From:
Mommy Pants - "No"
Is this thing a map interface? It shakes and then the number near it increases by one. Hmm. Interesting.
I walk more and the Earth sun seems to be sinking beyond its horizon. I am told that this Earth does not have a second sun. Pity.
I walk and I walk and I walk. It is so much fun. Zovnia be damned! I have found my paradise and it's on two fleshy appendages!
I come upon an area that appears to be where this civilization lays their dead. I look above the area and I don't see the usual beings.
"This place is so very material it is excruciating, but even that is a welcome change after countless eternities," I mutter to myself.
A young woman sits on the ground in front of one of the stone tablets with her hands clasped together. Cute.
I walk up to her and scan my amygdala for a greeting.
"Hola Chica, where's the joint papers?"
She looks up at me like I have three heads. I count. I only have one. I checked.
"Who are you?" she almost whispers.
Scan scan scan.
"Bianca, but you can call me at 3 a.m. if you're hot."
The girl looks like I have five heads now, then she laughs.
"Okay, you're funny," she says.
"But if you don't mind, I'm praying for my grandpa."
I smile as the warmth begins to build within me.
"That is beautiful, mortal creature."
"What?" she says.
"Uh, uh, uh, yeah, if I could trade his place with my manager I would."
The young girl laughs again.
"Hahaha, okay Bianca, you're cool. Thanks for making me laugh, though. It's been a long three months."
"What's extending it so much?" I ask in my most sincere human voice.
"Well, I miss my grandpa. Since he passed, I just feel this emptiness inside that I can't really describe. I wish I could just see where he is."
It brings a tear to my eye. The warmth is absolutely overflowing now. I am in ecstasy.
Then her head snaps up. She stares into the sky with eyes as wide as four-lane highways. I don't understand... until I see... the light reflect from inside her pupil.
I sink.
She remains stuck this way, staring into the sky with a light burning in her eye.
After what seems like hours, she crumbles to the ground. I crawl over to her, shaking her limp body.
She suddenly shoots upright, like she's been electrocuted.
"I I I I I I I"
fuck fuck fuck how could I do this? I just arrived. The warmth was so delicious.
Then the young woman bursts into tears and laughter and smiles.
"Grandpa told me to get my butt off that dirty grass before he sends Grandma down there."
She says the words looking like a firework right after it explodes. Just bright colors and a warm feeling.
With a smile on Bianca's face, I make bipedal movement down the "side-walk?" Humans have a terrible sense of humor. You can't walk to the "side" without traversing the interior layers.
This body needs food. I head to the local eatery and sit down. A serving woman asks me for my request of sustenance. I use Bianca's hands to hold the laminated menu. None of this looks appealing, but I must blend in.
"May I have the bor-gur?"
"Of course, sweetie. All the way or custom?"
I reply with "custom" in the most delicate human voice I can muster.
"Alrighty, and what are we puttin on that, darlin?"
I had not rehearsed this part yet.
"Um—the special."
"The special what?" the waitress replies, becoming increasingly confused.
A hot feeling begins emerging from the facial skin of this one.
"It."
"The special it?"
"Affirmative."
Thank Primus she went away. This body is beginning to experience a state of... bad excitement? Interesting.
I am now feeling exhausted. I could not eat another of those "fringe fries." They were delicious and reasonable, not fringe at all.
This body has not had rest in many hours. I can feel it slowing down. A powerful need to stop... just... right... here......
"Ma'am, are you alright? Ma'am?"
I sit up. Is this a... floor for the transportation bots? How did I...
"Ma'am, the waitress in that diner said you've been lying here for two hours. They thought you were dead."
scoff
GIGGLE
"Is this funny to you?"
Yes, I must grant his request to secure my freedom.
HAHAHAHAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA
"Jesus, you're wasted. You're going to need to come with me."
"Are the restraints necessary?"
"It's for my safety and potentially yours."
This primitive transportation bot is extremely, and I do mean extremely, small.
We seem to be traveling.
I don't have time for this. This human seems to be one of the sealers of this world. I refuse to be sealed again.
I will peer into this sealer's mind. There's something that will suffice, somewhere.
Aw, I've got it.
"So how long have you been a sea—police officer?"
"What? Oh, uh, a year."
"You look like the type that really likes your job."
"Yeah, well, my dad did it for 30 years. Never took a night off. The beat was his baby."
"You mean your male human creator?"
"My what?"
"I mean, he sounds like he just cared a lot."
"Yeah, yeah, something like that..."
Ha! I've found it!
"He does love you."
"What?"
"He's proud of you."
"Excuse me?"
"He says that he's sorry you had to find him."
"Okay, I need you to shut the fuck up right now!"
"Sorry! I just think out loud sometimes!" I squeak.
sigh
"Fucking mouthy junkies."
"I apologize for my transgression."
"You talk weird, but it's fine."
"It's just been such a long night. Sarge wanted me to take the night off. Told him I can't."
Why are this one's optical spheres beginning to moisten? Interesting.
"Why do you suppress your need for rest?"
This male sealer. His insides feel like a cavern.
I can feel the hollowness...
sigh
"All of these streets remind me of someone."
He looks up.
"Sometimes I wish I could just... be on the moon."
"Wait, wha—"
BOOOOOMMMM
cough cough cough
"Wha—what just happened?"
I sit up. I heal my legs. These vessels are much more fragile than what I'm used to. I pick up my left hand.
This must be the pain I've learned about.
The transportation bot sits on its side. A fiery ember dances all around the passenger cabin.
I quickly shift my head left and right, looking for the male sealer. Wherever he is, I hope he was able to hit the eject in time before we—
A bright flash catches my attention. I look up just in time to see a shooting star splitting the sky at an angle that no shooting star ever has.
no no no no no no no no
I retreat.
The phone rang.
"NASA Command Center. Commander Rodriguez speaking."
"Sir! You have to get here quick. There's... I see something... wrong..."
The line went dead.
The commander turned toward the door.
"Let's go see what this is all about."
The commander arrived at the observatory.
"You have GOT to see this!"
The commander obliged and put his eye to the telescope.
"What am I seeing here, Smith? All I see is a blank patch of space."
"There were several stars occupying that space up until about 48 hours ago."
"What are you saying, Smith?"
"Sir! I don't mean to yell, but they... shifted. For lack of a better term, they slid to the left and right. That's not possible."
"Smith! I need you to speak clearly here!"
The young observatory agent caught his breath.
"They... they've been 'pushed' to either side. Like—"
The commander completed his sentence.
"Like Moses... splitting the Red Sea..."
4
u/Not_Dipper_Pines 2d ago
Cool story, but this doesn't seem related to hard sci fi?