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Curiosity. One of the greatest gifts that humanity was bestowed with. One could argue that its identity is rather a curse, it had led some people to the darkest of paths, revealed secrets a person shouldn’t know or fathom…
Other can say that most of living things are gifted with it, they want to explore what’s around them, check what that noise across their nest was, but…Only humans fuel their curiosity, try to build roads and ways to reach anything their eyes set on, you could say they’re ready to run toward the sun and they’ll do that deliberately.
What lies beyond there? Something? Nothing? Will you end up satisfied or disappointed with whichever answer you’ll get? Will it be a momentary or end up as a fuel for your inner fire? Which answer will be the worst in that case?
In the end, fire is the greatest gift humanity was bestowed with, but it can lead to disastrous outcomes, too.
Space. Cosmos. Something humanity dreamed of reaching, understanding, possibly grasping with their own hands in the age of old. An unreachable dream becoming possible with the help of modern technology. A product fueled by none other than curiosity itself.
And who can blame humans for wanting to reach that sky box above? To explore its vast and enigmatic darkness? To see what lies beyond with their own eyes…as well as to maybe figure out where some other living inhabitants of their world came from. And maybe them too. Who knows for certain.
It’s just vast, vast and empty , occupied by only you and your station, with that and the planet below as the only indication that you didn’t fell into some bottomless, actual empty void. And it feels extremely lonely outside. You know there can’t be any noise in space after all. Thanks god for that, you say, ‘cause you bet the sun would be noisy if you could hear that. Which is to say, you can’t deny that this void was calling you for oh so long, it feels like an eternity, for as long as you can remember yourself. You wanted to see, you wanted to know. And most of all, you wanted to experience… What exactly though? You couldn’t fully tell.
Either way, you’re here on the task of checking some station’s parts. You may be young, but it’s not your first time being here, you know your stuff!
But the world doesn’t operate on just a straight line, odds that something unexpected occurs, be it a happy event or an unforeseen meeting, always distort it. And before you realize, something feels…wrong. You turn back and see yourself drifting a bit further from the spot you should've been. Oh. The cord seems to be damaged. How. You’re losing oxygen. You should head back. But somehow…you can’t move. Technically, nothing stopping you yet, but…you feel a gaze on your back. It’s oxygen deficiency , runs through your mind, it should be and probably is, yet…Yet! You’re too curious to let this opportunity slide, to the point of not caring for your own well being.
You turn again. Looking in the direction you originally were facing, and you swear you didn’t see anything there before.
And you see it .
For a brief moment, no , for a split second, you see it , something of red and blue, something you have never encountered on your planet, something out of this world, out of your world, something that you find… mesmerizing. Even though your vision is too blur to make its shape out properly, to get what it is, but it draws you in, you’re about to try and extend your hand, almost as if you were drawing it to the greatest discovery in centuries or…to your death. Yet both felt equivalent. Both felt same.
And then the darkness hits.
Upon opening your eyes you get greeted by your crewmates. You’re inside the station and seemingly alive and unharmed. The report says your oxygen cord got cut likely due to getting tangled with some station’s part along the way. It’s the most likely explanation. Which feels…just unprecedented to you? They managed to pull you inside, near the entrance. Which’s…again, feels odd to you. You swear you were further from it and couldn’t get there before passing out. The report says nothing of your encounter, nor does your crew mentions spotting anything irregular. You write it off as hallucination and try not to think about it after.
Years pass and you’re still visiting space. Sadly, your curiosity started to fade by now. Not thinking much about that encounter of the past, though, as much as you tried to suppress it, your heart lingered to know the answer…A hopeless wish.
Space still had its charm, but got more ordinary as well. That how you felt until getting assigned a visit to the satellite. The satellite.
Suddenly life shines with new colors. Even if these colors mostly gray and silver. You have not been there. Humans have hardly been there. You’ve heard that some species on your planet possibly came from there, which only fueled your curiosity. Would you met them there? Is there a chance that it be their original, unaltered by earthly gravity looks? Or there be vast nothing. An empty big space rock. Either way it will bring some answers to your own questions.
It’s empty. Space dust. Craters. Some mountain and hills formations. All that terrain stuff. Seeing your home planet from such angle still was magnificent. And yet…disappointment was lingering inside of you. What now? Are you gonna just be clogged in this cell of Earth and nearby space? It felt like no matter how much in love you were with the scenery, with that vast and seemingly endless darkness, that yet was so full of possibilities, with the ability to explore what others only dream of…you still craved something new. You still were hungry.
And something universe just so happens to satisfy that hunger.
A triangle. Floating one. Seemingly made out of platinum? Or at least that's what comes into your mind. And is far aways from your set area. Despite that, you take a step toward it. And another. Another. No thoughts aside from getting to it flash through your head. It draws you to itself as if it were something…familiar. Shape might be different, but you know, you know , you’ve seen it before!
You get close to it. It isn't a mirage! It’s real! And…suddenly it burst into movements! Movements that seem extremely sporadic to you at first due to its high speed, until you notice some pattern. It feels like you might have heard or read of something similar somewhere before…? An article about weird island in the waters not far from few certain regions, maybe? And you thought it was just something editors made up for their cryptid sighting magazine!
It doesn’t take long for it to stop. You know it is right behind you. Deja vu.
But, as you’re about to turn, something peculiar catches your eyes. An aurora. Wait, it doesn’t makes sense, there’s no atmosphere on the Moon for it to happen. Unless your mind is playing games with you. But, but…! You’re seeing it! It is here! Right in front of your eyes!...It occurs to you that you actually never saw it from the ground before. It is as beautiful as the tales told.
It takes a moment for you to feel the familiar gaze again, and you will not lose the second opportunity life gave you to properly meet its owner. You cannot afford to.
And so you turn.
And you see it .
It is not red, but more orange? But you were not wrong about the blue. To add, it has some gray. You try to inspect it more as fast as you can, but it all feels like an infinity to you. Odd, you mutter, you swear it was more pointy back then, though maybe you’re mistaken. There’s something shiny inside its chest. So shiny and dazzling…like an aurora. Of course. And it has…four arms? Tentacles? Coiled in some familiar shape…. DNA, runs through your head, it’s DNA.
Pair of eyes look at your helmet and you swear it can understand its reflection in your visor. Is it mesmerized by it? Or by you ? Or are you reading it wrong? Is it sentient? What is it? An alien? A hallucination?...A pokemon? It does not matter, as all you feel is fascination, your gaze is glued to this oddity.
That’s it ! That’s what you’ve been chasing your whole life! Your chest is about to burst from elation! The thoughts inside your head are rapturing in unison! This all falls into one loud cacophony that you don’t want to silence.
All you need…All you need is to extend your hand.
And you do.
And then the darkness hits.
Only this time it’s never-ending. All there is left is a humanoid figure standing beside your body. It wasn’t the one who brought your demise, but your own non-stop chase for the unknown. How sad. At least you were happy.
And all I feel is sorrow.