Through The Endless Dark Matter (part 2)

Chapter 2: A New Search

"How did we forget about the propulsion suit?!" Remi’s exasperated voice echoed inside Rion’s head, sharp enough to make his circuits feel like they were overheating.

“I know, it’s almost like someone forgot to review it during the analysis,” Rion replied, his tone laced with annoyance. His thrusters sputtered slightly as he adjusted his course, the propulsion system’s instability making the journey more challenging than it should have been.

This was the third time Remi had brought it up. The first two mentions had been brushed off with silence, but Rion had a peculiar habit of addressing things on the third mention, whether out of principle or pure irritation.

“And that certain someone is you, right?” Remi pressed, her tone sharp and pointed.

Rion didn’t respond, focusing instead on maneuvering through the unsteady route. Space was deceptively calm around him, but every slight drift or jolt of his suit reminded him how poorly its functions had been booted up. The forced restart earlier had barely gotten it operational, and now the updates were crawling through his systems like molasses, patching things slowly.

“Fine,” Remi groaned, breaking the silence when she realized she wasn’t going to win this argument. “I’ll silently update your suit. Don’t disturb me!”

With that, her voice dipped into static, a faint hum of her processes slipping into the background.

Rion allowed himself a rare smirk, his focus turning outward to the vast stretch of space ahead. Stars twinkled like scattered remnants of forgotten worlds, and the faint glow of auroras from the Aurora Vale lingered in the distance. His sensors pinged weakly, struggling to maintain stability as the suit worked through its piecemeal recovery.

“Silent, huh?” he muttered to himself, a slight chuckle escaping his lips. “That’ll be a fine day.” If you could call the endless darkness a day.

For now, the silence was welcome.

Time, which seemed to stretch the faster they moved held no meaning in the face of exploration of space.

As Rion approached the swirling ribbons of light ahead, his advanced console sprang to life, projecting a translucent display in mid-air. The screen shimmered with faint blue light, data scrolling rapidly across its surface before it paused with a soft chime.

COORDINATES IDENTIFIED

ZONE: AURORA VALE

The words pulsed gently on the screen, their presence adding an almost ceremonial gravity to the moment. A secondary line of text flickered into view:

Discovered by Human Rover #XV-42 | Date Unknown

"Looks like humanity left its fingerprints here too," Rion muttered, his voice calm but laced with a trace of curiosity.

“That’s so... nostalgic,” Remi whispered, her voice carrying a rare tone of wistfulness. “I wonder what they thought when they first saw it.”

The display shifted, replacing the initial text with a new set of glowing words, presented as if it were briefing him for what lay ahead:

ZONE FEATURES:

• Dense Auroral Fields

• Thin, Breathable Atmosphere

• Crystalline Terrain

• Potentially Hazardous Environmental Phenomena

•

The screen flickered before disappearing with a soft hum. Rion adjusted his trajectory toward the glowing planet at the heart of the zone, the ethereal auroras casting fragmented shadows across the void.

“Well,” Rion said, his voice steady. “Let’s see what your ‘nostalgia’ left behind.”

Remi chuckled faintly. “Hopefully nothing that bites.”

The vast waves of Aurora Vale stretched before Rion, their vibrant hues of teal, magenta, and gold undulating like a living tapestry across the void. The auroras moved with a majestic grace, curling and spiraling as if in response to some ancient rhythm. Starlight refracted through the ribbons, casting fractured patterns of light and shadow onto his propulsion suit’s metallic frame.

"Magnificent," Rion murmured, his synthetic voice carrying a rare note of awe.

"Watch out," Remi chimed in, her tone equal parts caution and admiration. "Those electromagnetic distortions might be pretty, but they’ll fry your circuits if you’re not careful."

Rion adjusted his trajectory, his suit’s thrusters flickering as he navigated through the auroral waves. Each burst of propulsion sent him forward into the swirling light, his advanced sensors struggling to maintain stability as the electromagnetic interference grew stronger. The waves crackled faintly in his auditory sensors, a soft hum that resonated like distant whispers.

As he broke through the densest part of the auroral field, the planet came into view—a colossal, glowing orb at the heart of the zone. Its icy surface shimmered like polished crystal, reflecting the auroras above in a kaleidoscope of shifting colors. The sheer scale of the planet became evident as he drew closer; its jagged, crystalline formations loomed like mountains, and vast, shadowy crevices crisscrossed the terrain.

Planet Virelith center of all Aurora Vale

"That’s... massive," Remi said, her voice tinged with disbelief.

Rion’s sensors displayed data streams, struggling to quantify the enormity of the planet's surface features. "Prepare for descent," he said, his tone calm but firm.

As they entered the planet’s thin atmosphere, an electric hum surrounded them, accompanied by sporadic flashes of lightning that danced between the crystalline spires. Rion’s propulsion suit shuddered, its systems straining against the turbulence caused by the electromagnetic energy in the air.

“Careful, careful!” Remi urged, her voice now tinged with worry.

“I’ve got this,” Rion replied, though even he could feel the strain.

With calculated precision, he aimed for a relatively flat stretch of the icy plains.

The suit’s thrusters sputtered but held steady as he descended, his feet finally making contact with the ground in a rough but secure landing. The impact sent a thin cloud of shimmering frost into the air, glittering briefly before settling.

The icy plains stretched endlessly before them, broken only by scattered reservoirs of a viscous, faintly glowing liquid. The reservoirs emitted a soft luminescent mist that clung low to the ground, giving the landscape an otherworldly aura.

Crystalline structures jutted from the surface like frozen monoliths, some crackling faintly with latent energy.

“This place…” Remi’s voice was hushed, almost reverent. “It’s hauntingly beautiful.”

Rion’s gaze swept the terrain, his sensors picking up subtle fluctuations in the mist and faint vibrations beneath the ice. “Beautiful, but not without danger,” he said.

As he took his first steps across the frozen expanse, the icy ground groaned softly underfoot. The auroras above continued their silent dance, their light casting eerie, shifting shadows across the alien landscape.

A puff of warm breath escaped Rion, his internal heat dissipating into the icy air, visible in the form of a faint cloud. A signal, weak but persistent, drifted from various directions, reaching his sensors in a distorted pattern.

"These are..." Rion shuddered, a slight unease in his tone as the fragments of data struggled to take shape.

"Human technology sure is persistent, to have survived in such a place where signals barely stay alive," Remi commented, her voice both curious and impressed.

"We aren't investigating them," Rion replied firmly, cutting her off before she could press further.

"Come onnn! I wanted new data!" Remi's tone turned playful as she pouted internally.

"We don’t have much time," Rion said, his voice steady but tinged with urgency.

"The thin icy atmosphere and the distortions outside will malfunction my suit—and us."

"Fine... just a few pictures, and a tiny teeny byte of data?" Remi pleaded, her tone sweetening with a hint of mischief.

Rion sighed and continued walking forward without saying a word. Remi chirped with excitement, snapping pictures of everything she found visually captivating.

In areas where Rion’s lenses couldn’t see clearly, Remi entered virtual mode, floating above the landscape, her digital form hovering above roughened peaks and reaching the ribbons of aurora that swirled above like a living sky.

The auroras were the only source of light on this frozen planet—Virelith, a world that had never known the warmth of sunlight, its surface perpetually embraced by cold, deep cosmic waves. The distant stars, mere specks of light, only ever responded with ultrawaves to the planet’s faint, silent call.

"Don't fill up the memory with just one planet, Remi," Rion said with a hint of amusement in his voice, though his tone remained calm. "We have a lot of zones to visit."

He watched the storage capacity flicker as it filled rapidly with data, but there was a subtle smile in his voice as he added, "Though, I suppose... it's hard to resist."

The thrill of emotion—something he could not truly feel—was something he caught in the distorted waves of her excitement. It was a strange, intangible thing, but it had begun to affect him in ways he didn’t fully understand.

Beneath the frozen lakes, faint glimmers of light danced in hypnotic patterns. Bioluminescent creatures moved gracefully through the icy depths, their translucent forms glowing in shades of teal and violet. They lived in a world far below the frozen surface above, oblivious to the visitors who stared down at them.

Rion’s sensors scanned the creatures briefly, but he dismissed the thought of going deeper. "Not worth freezing my circuits," he muttered, shaking his head at the inhospitable depths.

"Aww, if only I could materialize!" Remi whined, her voice dripping with frustration as she simulated collapsing into Rion’s arms. "I had the thermo-suit with me! But nooo—stupid humans couldn’t stock us with enough Choronium for repairs. Where are we even supposed to find that in this vast, endless—"

"Shh." Rion’s voice dropped to a whisper, sharp and commanding. His body shifted defensively as he extended an arm, shielding the invisible presence of Remi’s projection.

"What?" Remi asked, startled, her holographic form flickering as she straightened.

Rion’s lenses narrowed, his sensors locking onto movement ahead. His voice, low and steady, sent a chill through the air.

"We’ve found the residents," he said, his tone cold as he focused all his attention forward.

A shadow moved across the ice, and faint, rhythmic vibrations rippled through the surface. The bioluminescent glow below seemed to flicker in response, dimming briefly as if even the creatures beneath sensed the encroaching presence.

A pale mist crept across the icy plain, swirling around Rion’s feet and rising in lazy, ghostly tendrils. It thickened with each breathless moment as if the planet itself had exhaled its cold secrets.

From the mist ahead, faint figures began to stir—a presence unmistakable yet unclear. At the same time, the frozen ground beneath Rion groaned ominously, subtle cracks forming as though the very surface held its breath. Above, the auroras pulsed with eerie rhythm, their waves reflecting against the mist, casting fleeting shapes that danced and vanished.

The world stood still.

The once-familiar static of distorted signals had vanished, leaving a suffocating silence in its wake. Even Remi, usually brimming with commentary, was silent, her system likely scanning furiously in the background.

And then, cutting through the mist, a sound emerged. It was neither a voice nor a signal, but a strange resonance—like fragments of a forgotten language pieced together, spoken in dissonant tones. Each syllable vibrated through the ground and echoed faintly in Rion’s auditory sensors.

His synthetic body tensed as he scanned the area. The figures were still too hazy to define, their forms flickering between solid and intangible as they moved closer. The strange language repeated, softer this time, almost inquisitive.

Rion hesitated, unsure whether it was a challenge or a greeting. Against his better judgment, he lifted a hand slightly, his voice steady but uncertain.

"Uhh… hello?"

The mist swirled, responding to his voice as if alive, and the figures paused. Then, the sound came again, louder, more insistent. It seemed to come from every direction now, vibrating through the icy air and down to the fissures below.

"Well, that didn’t sound friendly," Remi finally whispered, her voice low and wary in his head.

"Stay quiet," Rion murmured, his gaze locked on the thickening mist as the residents began to take shape. "Let’s see if they’re willing to talk before we assume the worst."

But beneath him, the swirling became agitated, the creaking intensified, the frozen ground buckling ever so slightly as the temperature plummeted further. The planet itself seemed to protest their presence.

A deafening thud from below shattered the fragile stillness, sending shockwaves rippling through the icy terrain. Rion’s systems flared in warning as the ground beneath him heaved violently, the once-peaceful bioluminescent creatures beneath the frozen lakes now thrashing in unison, their serene glow replaced by erratic flashes.

“That’s it! We’re leaving!” Rion shouted, his voice sharp as he ignited his propulsion suit. Without hesitation, he redirected his boosters, forcing an immediate ascent away from the unstable surface.

Surprisingly, the shadowy residents and the auroral waves did not attempt to hinder their escape. The mist parted silently, almost as if it were guiding their departure. It felt… deliberate as if Virelith itself recognized their decision to leave.

Rion shot upward, navigating the chaotic turbulence of the planet’s thin atmosphere. The sudden surge and cutting through the ultra waves, however, wreaked havoc on his navigation systems. Coordinates blurred into static, his route distorted by cascading interference.

“Remi! I’ve lost the path!” he yelled over the crackling noise in his head.

“I’m recalibrating! But for now—just trust your instincts!” she replied, her voice strained but steady.

“I’m glad I installed that program!” Rion clenched his jaw, relying solely on visual cues and intuition to dodge the jagged crystalline spires and swirling mists.

The planet groaned beneath them, its trembling reaching a crescendo as they broke through the final layers of its atmosphere and into the radiant expanse of Aurora Vale.

Once more surrounded by the ethereal ribbons of light, Rion steadied his flight and turned back briefly, gazing at the planet that had almost become their grave.

Virelith loomed in haunting stillness, its icy plains gleaming under the distant starlight, the auroras weaving a protective shroud around it.

“I managed to decrypt the language while you were escaping like a total pro,” Remi chirped, breaking the heavy silence.

Rion’s brow furrowed. “What did they say?”

Her tone faltered, a mix of disbelief and indignation. “Parasites… no… no more we need… destroy.”

Rion’s gaze lingered on Virelith, a flicker of understanding crossing his features.

Viraleth as a lonely and only planet, cared deeply for its residents, to keep them safe, the residents had mutual connections to their planet. It wasn't trembling with rage but with fear.

“The planet’s residents…” he murmured. “They weren’t protecting themselves from us—they were protecting their world.”

Remi bristled. “I get the sentiment, but PARASITES? Seriously? We’re not even aliens to them—we’re parasites?”

Rion didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he lifted a hand in a subtle, almost reverent gesture toward the planet. “Perhaps, from their perspective, we are.”

Remi huffed, but her voice softened as she added, “Well… at least they let us go.”

Rion allowed himself a small smile, his tone calm and resolute. “Let’s respect that. They protected their world, just as we are trying to find ours.”

“From the silhouette in the mist, I made a sketch!” Remi excitedly showed Rion her digital drawing.

"You were doodling amid chaos?" Rion raised a brow.

“Just Look!” She whined.

The sketch flickered into view on Rion’s display, a mix of hurried strokes and intricate details. The crystalline residents of Virelith were hauntingly elegant. Their bodies were blistering yet graceful, composed of translucent, multifaceted crystals that shimmered faintly with the auroras above. Each movement seemed to refract light in unpredictable ways, creating an illusion of multiple silhouettes overlapping in the mist.

“They’re… alive,” Rion muttered, staring at the sketch.

Remi zoomed in on the figure’s structure. “See? Look at the core here—pulsating like a heartbeat! I bet it’s their energy source.”

The residents’ appendages were angular and sharp, almost branch-like, shifting fluidly as though they were both liquid and solid. Their crystalline forms radiated an eerie glow that intensified with movement, suggesting they absorbed and redistributed the light around them. Sharp spines jutted out from their backs, some curving ominously like talons poised to strike.

“These spines,” Remi continued, highlighting the sketch, “they must channel their sonic waves. Look, their elongated limbs even seem to anchor them to the icy terrain when they’re emitting those bursts!”

Rion noticed the subtle detailing around their bases—tendrils of crystal seemed to grow into the ground itself, creating a network that connected each entity to the frozen surface.

“They’re not just individuals,” he murmured. “They’re part of Virelith itself.”

Remi nodded eagerly. “Exactly! When they react to movement, they’re not just attacking—they’re shifting the ice and terrain. It’s like they’re protecting the planet in real-time.”

She added a final note to her sketch: some of the crystalline figures seemed capable of rapid growth, their jagged edges reaching outward like creeping ivy, encasing anything that lingered too long.

Rion frowned. “So, they can trap or shatter us. And all of this while emitting sonic waves strong enough to disorient or destroy?”

“Yup!” Remi chimed cheerfully. “But look at them! Beautiful, aren’t they?”

Rion sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “You’ve got a strange sense of priorities, Remi.”

“What can I say? Even amid chaos, the great Remi never misses a chance to document!”

Rion couldn’t help but smirk, despite the ominous realization. “Let’s just make sure we never stay in a zone long enough to become one of your ‘documented’ cases.”

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