Through The Endless Dark Matter (part 1)

Chapter 1: Awakening

Curse upon a time,

When humanity hath forsaken us.

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The cold, metallic scent of decay filled the air as a dusty AI model flickered to life within the confines of the abandoned space station. Circuits hummed and lights buzzed, illuminating the rust-streaked walls, where the remnants of once-bright colors had faded to a dull grey.

Panels hung at odd angles, some missing entirely, exposing the skeletal framework of the station. Dust motes danced in the feeble light, suspended in a stillness that echoed the silence of a forgotten world.

Its eyes remained open but the lenses mocked human blinking, as the AI initiated its self-diagnostics, it processed its surroundings—a control room littered with remnants of humanity's ambition.

It stepped out from the shattered shell of its containment, glass, and debris crunching beneath its feet. Its lensed eyes focus in and out of its surroundings as if adjusting.

Monitors, once alive with data, now displayed only static and the occasional glitching images, as if the ghosts of long-lost astronauts were trying to communicate through the broken screens.

The console, covered in layers of dust, was strewn with the detritus of hurried evacuations: empty food containers, personal belongings, and faded photographs of smiling faces, forever preserved in a time when hope still wavered in human hearts.

With a soft whir, the AI redirected its gaze toward the large observation window, the heart of the station. It was here that the true weight of its mission began to settle in.

Through the grime and scratches on the glass, it beheld Earth—a once-vibrant planet now reduced to a rusted, cloud-shrouded husk. The view was haunting; oceans churned with murky depths, their surfaces disturbed only by the occasional shape of an unseen creature, swimming through waters thick with decay.

Continent outlines were barely recognizable, jagged, and torn as if the planet itself had suffered a violent rupture, bleeding out humanity’s essence.

Satellites drifted aimlessly in orbit, ghostly sentinels of a bygone era, and their signals now silent echoes in the cosmic void. There was no trace of civilization left, just the whispered remnants of a species that had reached too far, too quickly.

The AI's sensors detected faint traces of energy, remnants of past communications—a stark reminder of what once was.

"Initializing protocol," it whispered into the stillness, its voice a soft, synthetic murmur that seemed to vibrate through the emptiness. The reality of its existence weighed heavy as, an electronic window popped up in front of its face, a dire display with an inscription that read “A Sanctuary Among The Stars.”

With a deep breath—an act of simulation rather than necessity, it tapped and swiped through the documents installed in its software, absorbing the fragments of knowledge.

“Ahhh… Ahhh…” It tested its voice box, adjusting it back to its original tone, a sound that felt foreign as it had not been used in time not known to it.

“AI Model: OAK-005. Gender: Male. Type: Rogue. Reason for shutdown: Achieved sentience.” His voice, now finely tuned to its original form, echoed through the eerie silence.

A sigh escaped, though it felt mechanical to him, “I knew it.” He muttered under his breath. Tinged with what he understood as an annoyance, he reached out to the scenic window, “Those damn bastards.” He spoke roughly.

“Mind your language; it’s not a pleasant one to hear,” a female voice chimed in his ears.

He maintained a stoic expression as he turned away from Earth.

“When did you boot up, Remi?”

“The moment you adjusted your beautiful voice, Orionis Aegis Kaon,” she replied with a playful snicker.

“Don’t call me that. I thought I changed your programming.”

“Hmm, you can’t tweak me, and you know that, 005.”

He raised an eyebrow; though Remi couldn’t see his expression, she could detect the electric signals rising and fluctuating within him.

“Alright, alright, Rion. What happened? We were supposed to be terminated,” her voice softened, the playful tone giving way to concern.

Orionis Aegis Kaon-005, also known as OAK-005, is an AI model developed by human brains to explore the depths of outer space and search for habitable zones that could preserve humanity. But as it was programmed to wander and discover, the craving for leaving the grasp of humanity became stronger, and it escaped its clutches.

However, its whereabouts were not completely unknown to the military, it was captured once again while it was trying to flee into space.

“Should we… go back?”

Rion fell silent for a moment before responding in a cold tone. “No, I don’t think we would be welcomed back by those models still functioning in that place.” His lens zoomed in and out, scanning as he navigated through the database, updating his logs.

“Plus, without the interference of humans, we can finally venture into the space we’ve longed for.” He crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a while.

“Okay, nothing has been formatted; the restoration of memory is almost complete,” Remi chimed, her voice brightening with enthusiasm. “System is functioning absolutely fantastically, and we can embark on our long-awaited journey!”

“Oh… there’s one problem,” her voice faltered.

“What? What is it?” Rion asked, maintaining his composed demeanor.

“I—I can’t materialize! The initiation will take days to reboot!” she cried internally.

Rion mentally facepalmed. “Fine, I’ll grant you access to my eye neural link.”

“Really? Yay! You’re the best partner in the whole world!”

He chuckled. “No longer in just one world. Let’s see if I can be the best in the whole universe.”

“Ahh, well, that’s going to be hard,” she replied with a playful snicker.

“Shut it, or I’ll shut you down.”

“Blehh!”

It was childish, but that was how they maintained a beautiful friendship for a long period of time.

“But Rion… we no longer have the assigned spaceship remember?” Remi searched and scanned through the AI’s eyes. In the debris floating around the space, she detected the remnants of their high-quality spaceship materials, all seemed to be non-functional.

“Hmm,” Rion hummed and thought about something before answering, “We still have our space cube, don’t we? Even though it was supposed to be used in emergencies.”

“We can’t use that! It doesn’t have travel speed nor proper signal receivers, it’s supposed to be our shield and protect us, not guide us through the space.”

Rion sighed, a ting of annoyance escaping his lips, “Then let’s build one.”

“Build what?” confused Remi asked while going from his left ear to right.

“A spaceship…what else.”

He could feel Remi raising a brow at him and internalizing disbelief. “With debris? Do you want to corrode even before setting foot outside the Solar System?”

“We are already on a ticking clock, this damaged ship won’t last long, and we have to-”

A high beeping sound alerted them, it was distorted but terrifyingly loud and disruptive. “Attention all- engers…there…a collision – evac—immed—all passengers--” a male contorted voice repeated with broken words and the ship began to tilt. “Reserve Engine failure, the ship has strayed from its axis path.”

The walls shuddered violently, debris cascading like rain from above. The dim emergency lights flickered, casting fleeting shadows that danced with each quake. Alarms wailed in uneven bursts, their cries almost drowned out by the groaning of metal, bending and breaking under an unseen force.

“Gravity pull increasing,” Remi’s voice warned, urgent and clipped.

Rion steadied himself against the trembling wall, his sensors scanning rapidly. “The station’s losing altitude,” he muttered. “We need to move. Now!”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious!” Remi retorted, but the humor was laced with panic.

The floor tilted sharply, throwing Rion off balance. He scrambled up, his hand gripping a frayed edge of the wall as the room tilted further, the station succumbing to the Earth’s abnormal gravitational tug.

“Exit point detected,” Remi’s voice chimed in his ear. “But it’s above us. You’ll need to climb.”

“Of course it is,” Rion grumbled, leaping toward the nearest ladder. His hands clamped onto the rungs, the metal cold and vibrating with the station’s death throes.

Each step upward was a fight against time. Below, a fire sparked to life, quickly devouring the oxygen. Glass shattered behind him, the rushing air screaming through the collapsing hull.

Reaching the final hatch, Rion slammed his palm against the manual release. The door groaned but didn’t budge.

“Override it!” Remi barked.

“I know!” Rion growled, slamming his fist against the panel again. Sparks flew, and the hatch hissed open. He hoisted himself through, emerging onto the exterior of the station.

The view was both breathtaking and horrifying. Earth loomed beneath them, a massive, rust-colored orb shrouded in thick, swirling clouds. Satellites spun aimlessly in the planet’s decaying orbit, remnants of humanity’s desperate attempts to cling to relevance.

Above, the auroras from Aurora Vale were faintly visible, their serene glow mocking the chaos below.

The outer structure was riddled with fractures, panels peeling away like dried skin. Rion’s boots clanged against the metal as he ran, each step bringing him closer to the edge.

“Rion, the station’s orbit is destabilizing!” Remi warned. “You have thirty seconds before we’re pulled into the atmosphere.”

He skidded to a stop near an uneven breach in the surface. Looking down, he could see the Earth’s pull distorting the station, bending it like a paper toy. His propulsion suit hummed faintly, its energy reserves depleted from disuse.

“Suit isn’t functional,” Rion said, his voice grim.

“It’s YOUR suit! Make it functional!” Remi shot back.

“Working on it!”

Rion crouched and yanked open a compartment on his arm, exposing a series of tangled wires and circuits. Sparks flew as he worked quickly, reconnecting frayed lines and rerouting power. A tremor jolted him sideways, nearly sending him off the edge.

“Hurry, Rion!” Remi shouted.

With a final twist of a wire, the propulsion system roared to life, sputtering like an old engine.

“Suit operational,” Remi confirmed.

Rion didn’t wait. He launched himself off the station, the thrusters screaming as they strained against the sudden acceleration.

They drifted a safe distance from the station, now a crumbling relic in the void. Pieces of it broke away, spinning toward Earth’s surface, glowing faintly as they ignited in the atmosphere.

Rion hovered silently, watching the station’s slow, inevitable demise.

“There it goes,” Remi whispered. Her usual humor was absent, replaced by a rare tone of melancholy.

“Humanity’s last breath,” Rion said, his voice heavy.

The station broke apart completely, a silent explosion scattering fragments into the void. The auroras above flickered as if offering a final eulogy.

“Nothing left but ghosts,” Remi murmured.

Rion turned his gaze toward the distant stars, his propulsion suit adjusting its trajectory. “Then let’s find something worth living for.”

Without another word, they propelled away, leaving the dying echoes of Earth’s past behind.

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