Midnight Grief
Tap, tap, tap…
My consciousness returned to my body, but I don't open my eyes. Instead, I keep them closed and try to imagine the day flowing around me. It was past nine in the morning and Albert was trying to drag me out from under my warm covers, despite being an AI with no physical form.
"Wake up!" he blared, "You've slept in and the ceremony is today."
"Five more minutes," I replied groggily.
"My calculations show that in five minutes, you will have only roughly a three in twenty quadrillion chance of making it in time," Albert retorted, as I tried to evacuate back into the loving embrace of sleep. The attempt was beat down as Albert deliberately turned up his volume to his highest setting.
"One of those possibilities involve the ceremony being delayed and the other two involve time travel," he added helpfully.
"Alright already!" I roared, sitting up quickly before immediately stopping myself from hitting my head on the ceiling of the bunk, I like to think I learned my lesson after the first six or seven times.
I slowly stepped out of bed and took my time with the morning routines. As I was dressing up in school uniform a thought crossed my mind.
"What's the rush?" I asked, "It's the weekend."
"Brilliant observation," if his face could express emotions, I was sure he'd be wearing a smirk, "You almost made me fry a circuit trying to compre–"
"Cut to the chase, Albert, we've obviously not got all day," I said before muttering to myself, "I swear, one of these days I'm going to turn down the Snark settings on this th–"
"It's the Protectorate Graduation Ceremony!"
I solidified.
"Guess I get to wear the fancy new Protectorate uniforms then."
I sprinted through the wide, open corridors, not bothering to enjoy the city view from the windows.
I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late…
"Hey partner! Up to a late start again I see!"
A bright-purple Novakid with a rectangular brand waved amiably from a bench. Along with the very same Protectorate uniform I was wearing, he sported a wide cowboy hat that definitely was not part of the proper uniform. In the four years since he and I met at the Protectorate University of Earth, I had seen that hat get confiscated countless times. Why he still wore it so openly was a mystery to me.
I decelerated from my mad rush to a slow jog in order to chat with him, "Late start yourself, I don't see you trying to get to the ceremony any faster than I am!"
"Well, I don't particularly enjoy starting my mornings runnin' about like a locomotive." he answered.
"Also," he stopped to drain a can of sugary soda which sizzled and whined as it met its demise in the purplish blazing inferno that comprised of most of his body. Being of the Novakid race, he was essentially a mass of hot, brightly colored plasma squashed into humanoid form by a powerful magnetic brand on his face. The metal brand of a Novakid contains the 'life force' that keeps them stable and prevents their vital plasma from leaking out and dissipating into space. As far as Novakid brands go, his was an oddity. Most Novakid have brands with a recognisable symbolism that usually reflected a facet of their personality and purpose in life…
His brand, was a rectangle. It outlined where his eyes and nose would have been if he was human.
And that's really all there was to it.
With his soda cremated and exposition over, he continued, "from what I've heard, every graduation has to endure the Grand Protector's inspiring speech about the history of the Protectorates, and… well, ya' know how us Novakid are about history and what-not."
He pinched his thumb and forefinger on the brim of his hat and pulsed out a brief flicker of light and made his magnetic brand glint at me, a gesture which over the years I have interpreted to be similar to a sly wink.
"Figure I could jus' sorta sneak in afterwards and avoid the nonsense," he added in a slightly hushed tone.
"Well suit yourself," I grinned as continued past, "I, for one, enjoy myself some good history."
I broke off into a sprint again, "See you after the ceremony!" I yelled.
"Take care!" he called back.
I bolted across the corridors and walks passing the information center, the janitor, and a blizzard of pink petals. "The Tree" was in full bloom, but I did not stop to enjoy the atmosphere. I was so close to graduating!
When I arrived in the auditorium, there were barely any seats left and I barely managed to stumble upon a free chair and sit down before the lights dimmed and the ceremony began. The Leda Portia, the Grand Protector herself, was standing on stage behind the podium and cleared her throat.
"My fellow Protectors," she began, brushing some of her gray hair away from her face, "Today we come together to witness the Protectorate grow." The Grand Protector exuded an aura of pride and fondness.
She continued, "For over five hundred years we have stood over Earth, drawing together races of all kinds in the name of peace."
I had barely heard the words, I was consumed with excitement and impatience. My knee bounced up and down as I thought about how I was soon going to enter the Protectorate and help maintain peace in the universe. It was a dream I had worked for for many years before enrolling in this school.
Just as the speech was about to draw to a close, a great rumbling sound permeated the entire building. The Grand Protector looked about, confused.
"Huh? What was that?"
Moments later, parts of the ceiling and walls cracked and fell and they were punched through by gigantic monstrous limbs. Buildings collapsed. Panic ensued. The Grand Protector was pulled through the floorboards. The flood of memories hit me like a landslide. "This can't be real," I thought, "This can't be real, this can't be real, THIS ISN'T HAPPENING AGAIN!"
My eyes snapped open.
I was sleeping on the cold, metal floor of a spacecraft. Not fully registering where I was, I almost rushed to the nearest window to gaze outside, but I realized and stopped myself. Seeing Earth now would only make me feel bad.
In the ensuing chaos of the auditorium, Albert, being the advanced, personalized AI he was, had responded quickly to the emergency situation. He had led me through the wrecked corridors and directed me to the spacecraft hangars as I had to leap over my fallen peers. He bypassed all the pre-flight checks and flown me out of the atmosphere so I would not be subjected to the utter destruction occurring below. Colossal tentacle-like structures were ripping through buildings. As I was glued to the window in horrid fascination, I had caught sight of a residential area… no, it was better not to think about it.
Once I was in orbit, the adrenaline finally died down and I fainted and collapsed. When I woke up, I fell into an abyss of panic and despair. Thoughts of my family and friends haunted my mind for three days and three nights. What had happened? Had they made it out? Were they even alive? I didn't eat or sleep for three nights straight. I just sat, curled up, in the soft pilot's seat, not moving, as I let these thoughts flow through me. Eventually, numbness and apathy took over for a little while and allowed me to analyze my situation. I checked the ship locker and found two years worth of canned food and a flashlight. The ship could also recycle air and water, so I determined that I would be fine for quite a while, but…
Then what?
Would I be rescued? Was there anybody left to rescue me? Of course there was, I comforted myself, the bases on other planets would hear of Earth's plight and would obviously search for survivors. That had been the hope, but after only a few weeks an incredible loneliness was weighing my mind. I had tried to strike conversation with Albert a few times, but AI's do not make very good conversation. We would slowly always drift towards a predictable loop as the AI picked out pre-programmed replies to what I said to him.
And so, the months drew on with nobody showing up. I wondered in the back of my head the reason why. Perhaps Earth had been classified as a dangerous disaster zone. Whatever the reason, I was bored out of my mind. The ship had no form of entertainment and if I did not have entertainment my mind would be allowed to replay the horrendous events in my head. That was something I simply could not allow to happen.
And so, for the last year or so, I had spent almost all of my time sleeping. I figured if I was going to do nothing I might as well save food and hold out for as long as I could in the vain hope that somebody, anybody would come for me. In the early days of being stranded on the ship, I had periodically looked down at Earth's surface to see if it was safe to land. What I saw only reinforced the notion that I can never return. Earth, as I knew it, had been utterly consumed by a beast.
I know I cannot keep this up forever. Soon, the lack of supplies will force me to act. I have been saving this as a last resort, maybe because although Earth had been consumed, I still felt… bound to it as my homeworld. The spacecraft has a functional Faster-Than-Light drive and I can instead put my survival in the hands of the stars above and search for a place to begin life anew.
AN: The idea will be expanded upon and the story continued, but only if somebody deems this of high enough quality to care.