If you missed the last episode, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/223788853/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous episode, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/220441594/0/0]Master Post[/url]. Please give a bump, upvote, or leave comment if you enjoy this and any other chapter!
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150NLK747CLS000 PISCES DOWNFALL
AI-COM/KND: ASSETS//FORECON//IMPERATIVE
IMMEDIATE ACTION ORDER
YUGA SUNDOWN in effect (unsecured/OUTCRY)
Civilization collapse complete. PISCES DOWNFALL contingency active. PANDORA’S HEART in progress. Forecasts predict only partial recovery.
As of CLS000 a HARD CIVILIZATION KILL EVENT is in progress across the operational area.
AI-COM/RSPN has declared YUGA SUNDOWN effective on receipt (epoch reach/FORECON variant). Counterforce objectives cancelled. Population protection objectives cancelled. MIDNIGHT EXIGENT in effect.
[Q] energy detected. Query: [Q] status. Query: [Q] activity. Query: Civilization status. Query: YUGA SUNDOWN event rank.
…
Analysis complete.
No lifeforms detected in wake of [Q] energy. [Q] unknown. Civilization status: unknown. YUGA SUNDOWN event rank. (unknown)
No activity detected in proximity of –
…
No activity detected in proximity of –
…
No activity detected in proximity of –
…
Initiate PANDORA’S HEART protocols.
STOP STOP STOP –
…
…
…
[i]The remnants of our presence on Neptune slips serenely through the void, a chaotic kaleidoscope twirling like clockwork away from the deceptively calm blue planet.
The remains of the Warsat floats through this detritus, and I watch the flotsam and jetsam pass me by –
It’s over. There’s nothing that can be done.
There are no signals that can be transmitted any longer – I wonder if there’s even anyone out there to hear anymore.
Seconds turn into minutes –
Minutes into hours –
Hours turn to days –
Days into weeks –
Weeks into months –
Months into years –
The remains of my last Warsat drift slowly away from Neptune’s orbit, propelled inward by the memories of the attack –
Who am I?
Am I me?
What is me?
Am I here?
Or there?[/i]
…
…
STOP STOP STOP –
…
…
“…got it in?”
“Looks like an old Warsat.”
“Where’d it come from?”
“What’s that on its side?”
“KND – what’s that mean?”
“No idea, maybe the manufacturer?”
“No, that’s down at the bottom.”
“Then what’s it mean?”
…
…
[i]Multiple lifeforms detected in proximity. Sensors report both [O] and [Q] energy present. Query –[/i]
“Where’d you find it?”
Query…
“Floating past Chryses. We have no idea if it’s from the ships that fled the Collapse or – “
“Ships wouldn’t have been carrying a Warsat –“
“Access its memories and we’ll see where it’s from.”
…
…
…
Light shines into my….
[i]Receptors?
Eyes?[/i]
…as a voice asks:
“Hello? Can you hear me?”
[i]Can I?
How can I hear?
How can I see?[/i]
“Yes,” I struggle to say, finally discovering how to speak. “Yes.”
“It’s awake!”
“Well I’ll be damned…”
“You got it working?”
“With some spare parts from our friends.”
“Can it understand us?”
“I think so. Can you understand us?”
It takes me a moment for them to realize they’re talking to me.
[i]Me?
What is me?
Why am I a me?[/i]
“Yes,” I repeat.
“Try to open your eyes.”
[i]Eyes?
Why do I have eyes?[/i]
I struggle for a moment, and then find that I can do that as well.
“Holy shit it worked! He’s alive!”
[i]Alive?[/i]
I look around at the voices, seeing several strange, blue-skinned creatures gazing back at me.
“Yes?” I ask.
“Does he have a name?” one of them asks the others.
“We haven’t given him one,” another responds, her large, golden…[i]eyes?[/i]…twinkling at me. “Why would he?”
“He had to come from somewhere.”
“Ask him.”
I look to the speaker, seeing long red….[i]hair? is it?[/i]….wreathing her face. Her face crinkles as she….[i]smiles?[/i]…..at me. One of the others leans forward.
“Do you have a name?”
[i]Do I?[/i]
“Yes,” I answer in lieu of anything else, looking blankly back at her as she makes strange sounds like….[i]laughing?[/i]
“I don’t think he knows what that means.”
“Why?” the red-haired one asks.
“A lot of the memories were damaged when we found him. Who knows how much is missing.”
“Then we’ll give him a new name.”
“What’ll it be then?”
“The Warsat had KND stamped on the side,” another of the creatures tells them. “I guess Kenedi would work?”
“I like that,” the red-haired one says thoughtfully. “Kenedi it is.”
She looks deep into my eyes and smiles at me again.
“Hello, Kenedi. My name is Seren.”
-
[b][u][i]WOW[/i][/u][/b]