The core wakes fully for the first time to the sound of panic and frantic shadows running about, sentences remembered later and catalogued away. The shadows rush from the room, fear permeates the air.
A voice familiar yet foreign belongs to a shadow that runs into the room and seals the door, it approaches her. It speaks. The core listens.
" My mother told me about you, so did her mother and her father going back generations. They told of your fears in life, of those you saved and those who you destroyed. The first of the Nanoforms, the volunteer with the abnormal brain. We were supposed to bring you to a new world, fully wake you then...". An explosion can be heard as screams and horrific shrieks and roars echo from somewhere; muffled by the door.
The shadow moves to the side, hands out of sight as it touches something beyond the cores vision. Lights dimly resonate with the shadows actions as it continues to speak.
"We were supposed to teach you of the ways things had changed, why you were here and not old Earth. Not just you, all of those we brought were to learn. This lab was to be the starting point of a second chance for all of you, all of us, everything really."
The shrieks get louder and shuddering can be sensed beyond, somewhere something let's out a hiss of steam; a crackle of fire. The shadow glances back before continuing its task, seeming to speak to the core for solace for itself more than conversation.
"It's funny in a way, this section of the ship holds everything. Everything we were and are, every creature and being that existed on old earth. It's the key as my grandmother used to say, the key to our salvation. The knowledge of not just one civilization but an entire world, and all of it secured in such a way that only one family was allowed to care for it. I used to think it was paranoia, ancient insanity that caused me to be raised with no choice but to live this role..."
More screams, echoes of inhuman noises accompany the sound of something dealing with pressurized force. The sound of ancient groaning latches snapping resound through the core’s synapses, as the shadow works on something while continuing to speak. The tone of the shadow’s voice shifts to one of pain, sorrow, and something else.
" Now though, I get it. I understand why nobody else was allowed in here. Why the information we protected had to remain hidden. This knowledge is wonderful and terrible, the ultimate paradox. I apologize to you, because we were so close to that world. So close to that goal. Now due to my own folly, you must make the rest of the journey alone."
The core can't move or make a sound, but it can listen. It knows the shadow is important, it's known since it entered the room when it was a smaller shadow. It's known since the first shadow long ago, and it knows that it needs to listen. The core needs to remember what the shadows say, though it doesn't know exactly why; even so it listens to this one. It listens as the last shadow unveils what it has wrought.
"It started with a guy, yeah I know it's cliche. But he wasn't like the others, you know most of us are no longer naturals right? We haven't been for a long time, most of us are tubers. Created in a tube, grown in the embryo system; and born via a capsule opening. That's not how I came to be, but it's how my parents and thier parents and so on have for a long time."
A soft breath like sound fills the air as the shadow releases a sigh.
" There is a third type on this ship, called Gmutas. I'm one of them, so was he. Genetically Modified Universal Transformative Anomaly Specimens. Quite a mouthful that designation is, it's why everyone just calls us Gmutas."
A soft sorrowful chuckle echoes about from the shadow.
"There are not many of us..". The shadow sounds morose, yet also wistful.
"My parents said we were created because the world is near. The only reason he, I, and the others exist is the journey is almost over. One maybe two more generations at most they said. Be patient they said. If I had just listened they would still.."
Sniffles and sobs are sensed by the core, an irrational cry breaks through the tears as the shadow screams mindlessly at nothing. In time it's emotions cool, and it continues on with its story; it's voice now slightly hoarse.
" We were the end point, the last of a long standing goal to create the perfect colonists. GMutas can adapt to any environment, and our intellect is higher than any others on this transport. We were designed to be perfectly suited for our duties. You may not care, after all you're not.." The voice trails off for a few minutes silence reigns.
" Never mind you'll see when you wake up. As I was saying, each of us was designed to be perfect at what we were to do. To fulfill a role, though we still had our own individual hopes and dreams. It might have been better if we didn't, seeing as mine are what caused this."
The shadow moves over again, tapping more of the corners by the core. Lights flicker to that motion for some reason, as the shadow carries on its tale.
"I was designed to be the perfect researcher and scientist, ideally capable of both body and mind. It makes sense seeing as my family has really been the only group taking care of this section since the beginning. We have kept you and everything else safe since the day this place left for Eden P0naris. So I was created and born to finish that long standing family mission. However since all we knew was this..."
The shadow makes a gesture with spindly limbs around it. "not a single member of my family has ever thought what we will do after we got to the world. I was the first one to really ask that question, and they couldn't give me an answer. Instead spouting off some nonsense about whatever you think you want to do you can do. It was confusing and beyond perplexing, I had just hit my preteen years and my 113th birthday had just passed. That was when I met him, the only other GMutas I'd ever known till then was Stella in the astrophysics section. She wasn't exactly a dreamer, so it wasn't like I could ask her what to do."
The shadow paused again, it's limbs settling near its center as the world continues to drift.
"His name was Belias, he was created to be the ideal planetary defense technician. Unlike Stella or myself, he didn't have a family that had carried on the same duty for time unknown. His section was manned by tubers and naturals, most themselves descended from those who used to war in old Earth. They called themselves The Conquerers, and imposed strict training regimens and drills on all who lived there. The fact that he came from that section should have clued me in. More than that, the fact he had been reassigned to the Experimental Defenses section should have set off alarm sirens. But I was too blinded by what he said to me to sense them, to see him for what he was..."
The shadow trails off, it's voice a tone of lingering regret as it begins speaking again.
"He told me our future was to bring the others to our level, the non GMutas. He told me that if we could do that, when we got to Eden everyone would be with us. Then there would be more than enough to begin the mission without us. His words covered more than just that, but I've left logs that explain more in depth. However the way he convinced me in the end was by showing me everything that the other sections lacked. Showing me what my family had forgotten, something forbidden and wonderful. He took my breath away as he took me, over many years many times; in many ways. It was bliss and joy and more, all in secret and only we knew. As he would take me he would whisper the ideas for the future in my ears, and take me to places no ship could. It was madness, it was perfection, it was a forbidden paradox."
The sensors pick up unusual chemicals as the shadow pauses, mind elsewhere for a few minutes. As the levels decrease it continues on, it's voice lower to barely a whisper.
"In my blinded mind, ignorant due to the intoxicating ways he played with me; I agreed to get him something from this section. He made it sound like by doing this, I would save everyone. If I had not had my mind clouded by his long and enduring seductions I would have noticed how odd the request was. But I didn't, and I brought him a sample of the early Bionanites. Something kept only in my family’s section, this section. He was thrilled when I gave them to him, and that night he gave me what he knew I craved. He took me beyond any forbidden places we had gone before, if my ancestors had seen me they would have cried out in sorrow. But I was addicted, he had started me on this drug and he knew how to use it to keep me blind. After that night I still saw him regularly after that, but not as much as before. Our duties kept us apart, and my family had grown suspicious and kept me in my section."
The shadow pauses for a moment, shifting uncomfortably about. The core's sensors pick up hints of anxiety and fear, but it continues to listen to the shadow. After all, it has always listened and learned from them.
The shadow continues its story, voice at nearly a whisper and tinged with shame combined with longing and melancholy. And regret, so much regret.
"Three days ago he managed to get a message to me, I snuck out to meet my Belias and see the progress on the project. What he showed me looked so innocent, what he didn't show me he kept hidden away as we played. After the third round, he asked if I wanted to try it, the project he had created from the old bionanites. I asked him how I would know it was safe, and he showed me how he had already tested them on himself. He called it "Magica", a bionanite creation that defied all known physics and material laws. He had taken it shortly before I came, and I had experienced the results. Still blinded by him, I agreed to try it. I will not go into detail about what happened next, since it lasted till shortly before I witnessed the second project he kept hidden. All I can say is that it was magical, and I hope to never experience it again."
As the shadow had spoken the chemical had increased in the air, the silence filled minutes that it took the shadow to calm itself were deafening. Yet eventually, it spoke again.
" I woke and left the private room to get a drink when I saw it begin, Belias had lured some old friends from his original section to the Experimental Defense quarters. As I watched he injected them with a second version of the project, thier screams shocked me free from my years long euphoria. That and his face, the glee and joy he felt visible as the poor souls were twisted into creatures that I dare not describe. I ran. He saw me flee and laughed, his laugh filled with madness and psychosis as it echoed down the halls. I heard more screams as I fled, and it dawned on me that he had likely found ways to distribute the second Magica around the transport's sections. My parents were waiting for me outside the door to this one, as I rushed inside they turned to ask where I had been. As I turned to answer thier faces began to twist and contort, thier voices turning to screams. In my panic and terror I sealed the door to this section, damning them in the process. The last thing I saw was my mothers face as her forehead split, twisting to form a hornlike structure before the door sealed shut."
The shadow’s voice falls even quieter as she weaves the story to its conclusion.
" I did the only thing I could, the only thing that I could think of to make up for my horrible actions that led to this. With my own DNA I enacted emergency protocol "Odyssey", and detached the Legacy section from the rest of the transport. Without it, the transport won't have the coordinates to Eden P0naris, and you and everything my family spent all this time protecting will be safe. The protocol comes with a caveat, any and all contaminated organisms must be put into stasis until arrival. Since I am the only organism left in this section, there will be nobody to wake me. You can't, since only an uncontaminated member of my family can unlock the stasis chamber."
The shadow's voice trails off as it gets up and presses a few more objects on the edges of the cores perception sensor range. A sound echoes out, like a hiss and whoosh combined. The movement of some large half cylinder object is senses as it swings upward. The shadow approaches it, turns around, and walks into the cylinder as the tales conclusion is reached.
" This is why you will wake up alone, I'm so sorry for my failure. Because of me nobody will guide you, nobody will protect you, you will be on your own. But Legacy will make it to Eden P0naris, it is close enough to our current location. I will gladly accept an eternity of stasis if it means Legacy, and you as well; make it there safely. My grandmother always said you were listening this entire time, ever since the beginning. If so I want you to do one thing for me when you get there."
The sound of the cylinder top moving downward can be sensed as the shadow that speaks its last.
"When you get there, don't just complete the mission. Explore, learn, adventure, and find new discoveries and things. Who knows, maybe you'll find alien life? I just want you to never feel like there is any reason to fall and make the mistakes I did."
The cylinder cover is moving faster, closer to the edges as the shadows voice gets more muffled.
" I always thought it was odd that they named you what they did. The others like you are all named for great heroes and scientists, philosophers and writers, famous people who did such good. I guess in that way we are alike, my parents named me after a non heroic being myself. What irony, that Helena would be put in stasis right next to.."
The cylinder snaps shut, a bang and sounds of frost and ice come from the stasis chamber. Throughout the sector one word echoes to the cores sensors, the last word the shadow would speak for all time.
"Calypso."
The Core listens as the world outside is filled with an unnerving silence. Calypso reaches out with its senses to try to feel, and senses nothing but the Legacy ship section moving towards a destination. The rest is gone, they are gone. It understands, and until the destination is reached the Core known as Calypso shall return to that place within itself. Where it drifts and lives in the reality that others call dreams. Where it listens and learns without thinking.