One hundred years ago, a hidden group within the Catholic Church called The Illuminati revealed the truth to the world. They were humanoid aliens who had been hiding since the dawn of civilisation in order to shepherd us towards helping them return to their homeworld, Yaweh. It was expected to take far longer however the recent centuries of advances from having superpowers has allowed Earth born humans to progress to the point where their level of technology could repair the crashed spacecraft.
Twenty years go by, the work of countless superhumans and humans working together results in the spacecraft’s communications terminal being reassembled and reactivated. As they do, they receive a signal from Yaweh. Messages spanning millenia saying they have been waiting for the explorers to return home and have sent countless records of their descendants messages and hopes and dreams over the eons. The original Illuminare spacecraft design is adapted and merged with current technology to create a new vessel, the Resonare. The ship departs for Yaweh with a crew of hopeful explorers.
The year is now 2155. The place, the Australian Space Terminal, Northern Territory.
It’s a bustling and busy night. The tarmac of the facility was alight with passenger and commercial space craft zigzagging around. Their aft and startboard lights created faint halos of colour on the dark tarmac as they travelled between launchpads and docking facilities.
A small spacecraft returns from the atmosphere to a hangar filled with scientists and government officials. They fear the worst as it had been nearly eight decades since the original space craft carrying this small capsule had departed, with no news as to the fate of its crew.
“Can you get it open?” asked the President of Earth, a woman in her fifties in a blue pantsuit.
“Yes, but it will take time Madame President” responded the chief engineer.
The onlookers watch for a few moments, but realising the engineers were serious they vacate for now.
Space Ship One. The president’s private craft was a formidable mobile command center that served as both a mobile military base and secure place to ensure continuity of government in a crisis such as attack by superterrorists, or a kaiju.
“We have recovered the Resonare’s blackbox Madame President. They’re ready for you.” said the head of Earth security. The generals of all Earth and the Moon’s armies flanking him.
The president was sitting alone in her mobile office, soaking her feet and getting a massage from a robot when they’d interrupted her.
“I’ll be there in a moment, can someone get me a towel?”.
Back in the hangar, the delegates have assembled once again, along with the president and her staff, to witness the recovery of the blackbox.
An engineer with a laser cutter makes the final cut through the sheets of metal and the door comes crashing down, sending a deafening bang echoing throughout the hangar. Everyone jumps slightly and you could almost hear a “Whoa” in their sudden exhalation.
A man’s face made of bright red lines appears within the dark void, he appears a little disoriented and perhaps frightened. Not that that made sense for an artificial intelligence.
“Blackbox, tell us, what happened to the Resonare?” asked the president.
“It went down, madam. There were no survivors.. there was.. a.. anomaly? Yes. That’s a good word for it”, it said confused and glitching.
“What kind of anomaly?”.
“Existential.” replied the robot.
“What does that mean!?”.
“My sensors don’t make sense madam. Maybe I should recount the events of our journey in chronological order so you can make your own judgement?”
“Yes, good idea. Manuel? Transfer this AI to my PC, I’ll be in my office” said the president as she stormed out of the room without looking back. She was excited to be the first president of this era to actually be relevant in some way.
Back in the president’s office. She is soaking her feet again.
“Tell me, what happened onboard the Resonare?”
Resonare Blackox
Bridge Surveillence recording: April 19 2087 0900 hours
"Where is it?" asked the captain.
"No planet, no star... we definitely jumped to the right coordinates." said the navigation officer.
"Right, let's ask the astronomy lab to check those coordinates" ordered the captain.
Bridge Surveillence recording: April 19 2087 0930 hours
"Sir, the astronomy lab confirms we're in the right place. Engineering has received reports of lights dimming and failing across the ship, but so far we can't corroborate that with any data"
Bridge Surveillence recording: April 19 2087 1000 hours
"Can anyone see me?" shouted the captain into the room.
"Yes sir, I think we are all still here... but the room.. I can't see?" said the helmsman.
"There's nothing on my sensors, it's as if.. nothing is here and we are fading into nothing" reported the science officer.“My word.. How awful. We had no idea there was still so much we didn’t know” began the president.
“Did you catch something? It just looks like normal people talking to me…” said the blackbox.”
“You don’t think it’s odd that those people all simultaneously couldn’t see?”
“Yes, it is rather odd for a group of people to lose vision at once. I have no means to determine what the cause could be though.”
“Right, can you give me a summary of your own readings?”
Resonare Blackbox
Flight Summary: April 19 2087
Using a teleportation style FTL drive, the Resonare reaches her destination effortlessly but finds nothing there, no planet and not even a star system. As the shadow engulfs the ship and shrouds them from space, this blackbox is launched towards Earth and continues recording till signal loss. According to readings, the interior of the ship was covered in darkness; atoms began to disintegrate or maybe vanish into nothing. It would also be logical to factor in that sensors failed.
Engineering Report:
Multiple failures across all systems, ship sensors were compromised through the erosion of circuitry by... dark.. dark.. anomaly. Energy. Creature. Fractal? No. Animal. Ani. Mal. Yah. Yah. Yaweh.
External Sensors Summary:
Sensors detect anomalies across all spectrums as stars appear to be swallowed by darkness. Atoms are reported present. Atoms reported missing. The tracked atoms do not return to sensors, implying either a veil or annihilation.“OK, that’s both incredibly helpful and not. What about other surveillence? Are there any unusual recordings in that databank of yours?”
Ship Bow Exterior Surveillence recording: April 10 2085 1700 hours
A small group of asteroids lies before the ship and it's destination.
A group of superhumans are flying around the outside of the ship, clearing the rocks manually using their powers. Some use the ability to shrink objects, others simply use telekinesis, many simply blow the rocks away with incredibly destructive power.“No that’s not right. Make sure it’s events after the arrival at Yaweh”.
Resonare Blackbox
Deck 12, Hallway 6F. Surveillence recording: April 19 2087 0900 hours
A panicked crew member stumbles upon a circle of priests chanting around a pentagram made in the blood of a dead priest lying on the floor.
"O dark lord, whose call we began hearing decades ago... we give you our flesh so you may feast!" chanted the head priest.
The priests rejoice in joy as their flesh is torn to pieces by a dark force pulling their atoms into the pentagram.
Deck 2, Airlock 81 Exterior. Surveillence recording: April 19 2087 0945 hours
A group of superhumans are flying around the outside of the ship.
"There's nothing here.. whatever is consuming the ship... it's all around us... Inside us" reported the Atomic Marvel. A superhuman with the power to change elements, he continued "I can feel... my sense dithering... protons and electrons.. gone."
"..... Guys.. can anyone see the ship? I think this is it" said a panicked voice in the group.
The superhumans began to head for the airlock as the recording fades to black.“I’ve seen enough.” said the president, as she turns the screen off.
Over the coming weeks, the president shares her findings and copies of the blackbox with her team. They strategize to figure out the best optics, this was meant to be an historic event, a triumph of human progress. Now they don’t know what to say, only that what they know about outer space is so small compared to the true extent and might of what is out there.
“And we will proceed into that uncertain dark, not afraid. But ready.” concluded the president in her speech to all the humans inhabiting the solar system. From Earth to the moon to Mars and the mines of the asteroid belt. Humanity had learned that there was more to be learned, more to discover than just what they knew in their backyard. Many were excited, but others were scared.
The future comes and humanity began to cautiously advance outside the solar system. From Alpha Centauri all the way to the Pegasus Galaxy, colonies are established with humans thriving. The distinction of having powers and not begins to fade as new technology gives similar abilities to ordinary people. Everywhere in the universe is humanity’s playground, except of course a certain place called Yaweh. That name is known, feared and remembered for ages to come.