by Ethan Bibile
“So, you’re sure this planet’s atmosphere is breathable for humans?” Quinn asked Morgan.
“Of course, it is, Quinn. Why would I send you to a planet with an atmosphere that isn’t breathable?” Morgan asked Quinn like he was being stupid.
“Just checking,” Quinn said in defence. “I don’t really feel like being suffocated today of all the days if you get my point.”
Quinn hopped out of the seat and swung open the door before descending the stairs. He went through the lounge and through into the cargo room. Quinn pressed the button next to the closed cargo room ramp, and a churning noise came from within the ship as the ramp descended to the ground.
“See you, Morgan,” Quinn said, putting his hands in his pockets and walking down the ramp.
The surface as Aqrastion was quite beautiful and peaceful. Whilst Quinn had ventured to other planets that had displayed beauty, none of them had held the peaceful element that Aqrastion had.
The grassy planes stretchy as far as Quinn’s eyes could see, the grass was reasonably long and went up to his shins. Dew clung to the still wet grass, a misty haze hanging about the air. In the distance, mountains could be seen, yet mainly obscured by the haze. The sky was a grim grey colour that was filled with clouds that slowly puffed through the sky.
Quinn slowly set off through the field, the cargo door shutting behind him as he walked.
Quinn walked in pure silence and peace, absorbing the pure, fresh and clean atmosphere. As he looked around, he saw no trace of a war that had once happened. Maybe it had happened on the other side of the planet or something.
Quinn could feel his shoes getting wet and his jeans getting damp, but he really didn’t care. He didn’t get many chances to peacefully stroll through a field, and he was going to savour every moment of this that he possibly could.
As Quinn walked, his mind wandered to Nespritia, one hundred and fifty years in the future. He wondered what he would be doing right now if he was still home if nothing had happened to his family and he was still there. Perhaps he would be sitting around the table eating breakfast with his family. Perhaps he would be receiving presents at the table. Maybe he would be with his father, making some sort of adjustments to the Audion. However, the most likely scenario would be that he would be asleep.
Yet instead of being home for his eighteenth birthday, one of the biggest birthdays for a human being, he was wandering through a field, pretending he was back home. Was he really eighteen? Could he call himself eighteen years old? He was eighteen years old to himself. He had done the proper calculations so that he had been seventeen for the right amount of days. But what about to the rest of the universe? Really, to the rest of the universe, he was a complete nobody. Very few people knew him, and technically, he didn’t even exist yet.
Quinn hadn’t even realised it, but he had walked a long way from the Audion. He turned around to look in the direction had come, and lucky for him he could still see the Audion, yet all it was now was an odd shape formation sitting among the grass. Quinn looked up around himself and realised that he had walked all the way to the mountains that he had seen in the distance. He had begun walking up a rocky slope that had patches of grass growing off it.
Quinn looked around and noticed that towards his left was the mouth of a cave. The mouth of the cave was rather large, and lucky for Quinn, inside the cave was filled with strange, luminous stones that emitted a blue colour. Quinn picked one up and studied it, turning it over in his hand. He threw it up into the air a few times before putting it back on the ground.
Quinn walked through the cave, his path illuminated by the stones. He continued making his way through the cave, making an occasional turn. Whenever he did this he would clump a heap of the luminous stones together, so he knew the right way to get back.
Quinn wasn’t really looking for anything, but as he walked through the cave system, and stumbled upon a room formed by the cave that was full of about a dozen robots.
None of them were functioning, each of them just lying there, old remnants of their past selves.
The robots had a human-like shape about them, two legs and two arms with a head that was like a human’s. The robots were silver, yet they seemed to be covered in armour plates all over its body, yet there were spots where there were gaps in between the armour plates where the was a clear, hard substance. The robot’s heads were round, two clear eyes and a silver nose and mouth. The arms had fingers upon them and the feet had toes.
Quinn went up to the robots and began searching them. He turned the first one he found over and found a silver door upon its back. This robot’s door was jammed, so Quinn moved over to another robot which also had a door upon its back, yet this time it opened.
Quinn opened it up, and to no surprise, he saw the part that made the robot run. Wires and lights, switches, a small screen that indicated the status of the robot. There were several holes in this small motor from several missing parts. Quinn rummaged through all twelve of the robots, each having parts that the others did not have. Some were more battered than the others and some had motors that were destroyed. Yet for the most of it, the robots looked decent considering they had just been sitting in a cave.
Why would these robots be simply sitting here? With some patching up, these robots could run.
Quinn looked at them all and thought. They were all just sitting here, it wasn’t like they belonged to anyone, right?
Just to make sure, Quinn walked back out into the tunnel and shouted out, “Hello?”. He waited a bit before shouting out again. Nobody made a sound except for Quinn.
Shrugging, Quinn went back into the rocky room. These robots belonged to no one. And to leave without taking one would be a crime! The robots could be very useful if they were properly patched up. And besides, one of these would make a nice birthday present to himself.
Quinn chose which robot looked the best, had the least dints and had all its exterior parts. Quinn found the right one rather quickly, pulling this one away from the rest. Quinn then began to sort through the other robots, finding parts that this one was missing so he could repair the robot so that it could function to its highest potential.
The only thing that Quinn could not find was the actual brains of the robot. These would be the program that runs the metallic shell, a series of numbers that could think for itself and could unite all the body parts to make them move in unison.
Quinn knew that there was no way in hell he was going to be able to take the robotic shell and all the pieces back to the Audion, so he picked up the robot and began to carry is out of the cave, following the trail of luminous stones he had left for himself.
Despite the cave being well lit, it took Quinn a while to adjust his eyes back to the natural daylight. He squinted, not able to cover his eyes as he held the robot in both arms.
It took some time to carry the robot back to the Audion as it was rather heavy. Quinn found himself needing to take repetitive breaks from the cave the Audion.
Eventually, he made it back though, walking up the just opened ramp door.
“Seriously,” Morgan said, and if he had a body Quinn knew he would have been shaking his head. “Half the time you walk in here you surprise me. First, you tell me the planets under attack, then we’re stuck in the past, then Agross is here and you rode down the side of a building, then that the pirates didn’t kill you and now you’re carrying a robot?”
Quinn laughed at this.
“I’m sorry Morgan for the chaotic life we now live,” Quinn said, mocking the A.I as he pretended to feel sorry for him.
“Where did you find the robot shell?” Morgan asked as Quinn awkwardly went into the lounge.
“In a cave in the mountains, I found about a dozen of these just lying there. No one was in there apart from a dozen of these robots. I’m going back to salvage some part to fix this one up, I couldn’t make it in one trip,” Quinn said as he walked through the hallways.
He eventually went into the study.
There was a large bookshelf that was along one wall, books overfilling it. In one corner was a desk that was filled with paper that Quinn had used in his time fully living upon the ship. In the centre of the room, there was a table upon which Quinn put the robot.
Quinn then left the study and went and got a backpack from his room, which he put on his back.
“I’ll be back soon Morgan, I’ll just go and get the other parts,” Quinn said as he went into the cargo room. “And don’t shut the cargo room ramp!” Quinn yelled out as he walked down the ramp and back out onto the surface of Aqrastion, his feet connecting with the soft, damp ground yet again.
It didn’t take Quinn too long to get back to the cave, now that he knew where he was going, and he wasn’t carrying a robot in his arms or imagining he was elsewhere. He trouped through the grassy planes and up the mountain slope, returning into the large, illuminated cave. He followed the path that he had created for himself, eventually returning to the room.
Once Quinn was back in the room he opened his backpack and began to fill it with all kinds of parts that he had salvaged from other robots. He checked each part to see if it was in good condition, searching other robots to make sure that this was the best version of this part that he could find. Once he was done filling his backpack, he zipped it up and put it on his back.
He nearly fell over as he tried to stand up. He stretched his arms out to balance his weight out, and luckily it stopped him from falling over. The backpack was defiantly heavy, the parts seeming to way a ton each. Quinn hunched himself over to balance the weight, so he didn’t fall over, before leaving the room.
“Hello?” Quinn called out one final time before he left the cave. “No one here?” Quinn yelled out, his voice echoing off down into the tunnel. “I’m just taking these robots parts because nobody seems to own them!” Quinn shouted out, and after no response yet again, he shrugged his shoulders and set off out of the cave.
The walk back to the Audion was harder than it had been before. He was carrying a lot more weight than he had been with the robot. He stopped for even more rests as he trekked across the grassy plain of Aqrastion.
“Phew!” Quinn sighed as he entered the cargo room, sliding the backpack off and putting it on the floor. “That was heavy,” Quinn said as he slid down to side on the floor, trying the catch his breath.
“Are there a lot of parts in there? Or do they all weight heaps,” Morgan asked, curious.
“Both,” Quinn said as he stood up, picking up the bag in his right-hand walking through the ship to the study. “You know, I never thought I’d spend a birthday exercising that much,” Quinn said, and Morgan emulated his best robotic laugh.
Quinn put the backpack on the floor of the study, unzipping it and carefully taking out each piece and putting in on the floor next to the robot’s body. Quinn picked up each one and began to look at it. He supposed these pieces were all rather new technology for the time, but for him, they were all old.
“Are these pieces good?” Quinn asked, holding up a device that had wires attached to it.
“For this time, my sources say yes,” Morgan replied, thoughtfully. “I’m comparing it to an image now of the latest pieces in robotics, and that piece right there seems pretty new,” Morgan said.
Quinn stood up, putting his hands on his hips, nodding his head, a large smile on his face as he looked at the robot shell and all the pieces next to it.
“I haven’t done engineering or robotics in so long,” Quinn said, and he rubbed his hands together. “I haven’t had a project like this in months,” Quinn said with pure excitement. “Happy birthday me.”
“Ah, yes Quinn, that reminds me,” Morgan said suddenly. “You’ve got to eat that cake you brought on Nigellia yesterday, after all your mother had her customs about eating cake on your birthday.”
“Right you are,” Quinn said, taking a deep breath in and spinning on his heels and leaving the room, excited to be having a good project to keep his mind off things.
Quinn entered the kitchen and went over to the fridge where he pulled out a cake that was covered in white icing. He put it on the table, before getting candles out from a draw behind him and adding them to the cake. Quinn then took out a lighter and lit the candles.
Morgan sang Quinn a happy birthday, which as he was an A.I, was in perfect tune. Quinn sighed to himself, before blowing out the candles, making sure to make a wish.
“Did you wish for anything?” Morgan asked as Quinn cut himself a slice of cake and putting it on a plate.
“Nah, there’s not anything I can think to wish for,” Quinn said, lying straight through his teeth to his friend.
He had made a wish, for the single thing he wanted more than anything else in the entire universe.
For a family.
A DAY OUT IN THE MARKETPLACE
Through his journey throughout the stars and cosmos, Quinn never strayed terribly far from Krezar. In the months since he had met Laura, he visited her at least once a week. Morgan said it was good for him to interact with other people after such a crisis, and it was fantastic that he had managed to build up a solid friendship with someone. Quinn certainly agreed with his A.I companion. He felt happy when he was in Laura’s company, an emotion he was certainly feeling a lot more now.
Despite a sturdy and strong friendship with Laura, Quinn still hadn’t told her of what happened to him. Morgan, of course, had strongly advised Quinn to talk to Laura about him being from one hundred and fifty years in the future, but Quinn didn’t really want to.
Laura’s lessons with Quinn on how to use a gun had finished, Quinn now finding himself quite good with the weapon, which had come in handy for encounters like the pirates one.
The Audion flew through the Tricuspid system, Quinn glancing out the window as he flew the Audion, looking out at the suns with Krezar in the centre of these giant stars.
Quinn continued flying throughout the stars and within minutes he was passing through the atmosphere of Krezar, and Nigellia had come into view, a small smile coming onto Quinn’s face.
“Is it good to be back here?” Morgan asked Quinn, who didn’t notice anything unusual in his voice.
“Sure, is Morgan, sure is,” Quinn replied, smiling to himself.
“For any specific reason?” Morgan inquired, purposefully teasing Quinn, who widened his eyes and shook his head at his A.I companion.
Quinn reached up and flicked some switches up on the roof and pulled a lever forward, causing the Audion to begin its descent to the ground, the side thrusters pointing towards the ground.
Suddenly, a voice overcame the entire Audion, a voice that certainly did not belong to Morgan in the slightest.
“Who is this?” Grunted a voice through the speakers where Morgan’s voice usually came from, the A.I having been taken over by this voice.
“Hello Sagra, it’s Quinn,” Quinn replied, only to hear a grunt from the other side of the intercom, Quinn shook his head. Despite using Sagra’s landing pad every time he came to Nigellia, Sagra still hadn’t seemed to have taken a liking to Quinn. “I’d have thought you’d know what the Audion looks like by now.”
At this, the usual slight crackle of static that would always accompany Sagra’s voice was gone, indicating that the alien had hung up.
“Honestly,” Morgan said in a huff. “That man. The way he just takes over the intercom like he owns it. Seriously, you should just radio in and tell him that you’re coming,” Morgan suggested, complaining heavily, his voice laced with paranoia.
“Is it really that bad?” Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow yet still smiling.
It didn’t take long before the Audion touched down onto the ground. Quinn grabbed his translator, gun, credit card and fake ID. Despite now legally being of age according to the rules of Krezar, Quinn hadn’t found a place where he could acquire a real license. He knew for a fact that places where you’d get a spacecraft license back in Quinn’s home time would require some proof of identification, and if
it was anything like here, then there would be no way Quinn could get a license as legally he still didn’t exist.
“Bye Morgan,” Quinn said as he lowered the cargo door inside the cargo room, the door descending onto the earthy, dusty ground of the flight pad. Quinn strolled down the ramp, before shutting the ramp again, locking his ship up.
Quinn strode through the landing pads with his hands in his pockets, getting a few looks of disgust almost from some of the other aliens who owned ships that occupied a space on the landing pads. Quinn smiled to himself, shaking his head. Perhaps they weren’t accustomed to seeing people so young park a spaceship alone, or maybe it was the fact that there wasn’t a plentiful supply of humans in Nigellia.
“Sagra,” Quinn said in greeting to the large alien who stood off near his office, Quinn raising a hand in greeting. Sagra grunted at Quinn before turning around into his office to write down Quinn’s name in his records.
Quinn simply shook his head at the alien’s antics, before walking through the archway and out onto the bustling street of Nigellia.
It was the same as ever, different species running market stalls, calling through the crowd to advertise some brand new yet strange product. As always, Quinn looked around at the stalls in interest, his eye gazing over the exotic foods and treasures this planet had to offer.
Quinn continued his way down the paved footpath, in between the sand covered buildings with greenish roofs and archways. Up ahead was the large city that Quinn had only ventured to once with Laura, upon his mentioning about how impressive it looked.
Quinn strode over to the spot where he and Laura would usually meet. It was a small courtyard that was filled with rectangle blocks of some rough material that Quinn was unfamiliar with. In the middle of the courtyard was a large tree with light blue leaves and a very thick trunk, a small pond surrounding the small island that the tree stood upon.
