Ghost of the Distant Past

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by Lig

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Well I said there would be a follow up to the last pic with explanation of the kid's universe and here it is.

Captain Dalus walked down the corridor. The lights in the walls were dim and his dark skin and uniform did much to shroud his face in shadow. The Captain found this place odd. It was ancient and he felt like a child discovering the truth about Santa or something as he walked to a better lit chamber. The floor here shimmered like water but was solid. An optical effect. As The captain reached a small space at the end a "person" appeared before him. This odd being who's form seemed to fade as it neared and contacted the floor simply stood there a a moment before speaking.

"Hello Captain Dalus. I trust you are the new overseer of the excavation. And I assume you are here to hear what I have said for yourself rather than simply read a debriefing." The being spoke. It's voice sounded vaguely off. It had the faintest of an echo.

"Your as smart as they say. Smart as the machines we've built." The captain told it. "But yes that's why I'm here. I want to hear it from you."

"I am leaps and bounds ahead of them though our sapient machines are well on their way." It said with a hint of pride in it's voice and a smile on it's face. "Introductions first. I am Coren Archiver. I was created in the year 525,327 Of the 17th Age. Home Universe's age 99 Trillion years."

"You were built by humans?" The captain asked curiously.

"By one of their many descendants. By this time Humanity had given rise to billions of differing species spread across the stars and many of them far different than you are now. My physical form is modeled after The last human species before the major divisions. " Coren replied flashing an image of a tall creature who's form was humanoid but it's features were so alien. It was as distantly related to Dalus as Dalus was to the crustaceans he'd had for lunch that day.

"Why were you sent here? What is your purpose." Dalus asked it as it vanished the image.

"The universe in which I was created was dieing. The stars were burning out. There were so few left and everyone felt the sting of death coming. It wouldn't be long before the last star shined it's last ray of light and radiated it's last bit of energy and when that happened life would eventually perish. Even synthetic life would eventually die. The universe would become still and silent as though we never were. We would die and there would be nothing to remember us. That is why I and this probe. The Seed probe. Were created." Coren began as he projected an image of the galaxy and showed it slowly blinking out.

"So you were built to ensure something of your people survived." Dalus said watching the image before him.

"Yes. They created the Probe and myself and with what energy they hand managed to direct the probe to this virgin universe. Very much like the one I came from but much younger. Brand new. My job was to create recreated humanity. So I set about doing so. I found an appropriate nebula at the galaxy's edge and began my work forming the solar system. The Star, the planets. I chose to make the star a little different. It's habitable zone is larger than that of the original. This was to make your Venus and Mars easier to terraform and colonize. I guided the planet's development trying to mimic the old world as best I could. However there were differences. I had a hand in directing the course of evolution on this world to lead to you. Your world's history is a bit different though. I under-scaled the size of the asteroid to impact Earth to end the dinosaur Era and also underestimated how resilient they were. More species survived into the age of mammals than had been anticipated. But I worked with what I had and eventually 60 million years later I had the first hominids. It didn't take too long after that to eventually get you at which point my interference was held back. You are different than the humans of my universe. You have greater amounts of DNA from other contemporary humans aside from Sapiens. Neanderthal, Denisovan, Hiderberg and Erectus all contributed more to your genome. Pointed ears, brow ridges, enlarged canines, purple and gold eyes. None of those made it into the human population that would give rise to my builders."

"So you created us. Spent a few billion years in the process. Why not just recreate your builder's humans instead? Why go through the trouble of replaying all that geologic time to get something that isn't quite what was before?" Dalus asked with more accusation slipping into his voice than he meant.

"Because my builders felt their time was done. They wished to start things a new and hopefully have a better chance. Quite a lot of those trillions of years of existence were war, death, destruction, and slumber. You are the legacy of a species which despite all it's faults survived to see the end of time for it's universe. Now here you stand. Diverse, intelligent, spreading to the stars. You are the first sapient life in this galaxy. You have a head start on it all. Make the most of it." Coren said sounding defensive at first but it's voice slowly shifted to pride. In a way these creatures were his children. He'd shaped them. He pondered what many would think of that. He was akin to a diety all be it a minor and weak one.

"Thank you for that Coren." Captain Dalus said as he straightened his uniform. "Hopefully we can make the most of this head start. And that database of yours."

"I hope so. Though it is limited. I can give you the bare basics of things. It's up to you to figure it all out and move forward. Oh but Captain. One request." Corn said as his eyes drifted to the floor.

"Yes Coren." Captain Dalus spoke.

"Downplay what I am. I am aware this is already getting out to the public at large and I have no desire to be worshiped as anything more than what I am. Simply an old being who's been doing a job. Think you can do that for me?" Coren asked looking into the Captain's eyes.

"Heh. I'll see what I can do." The Captain said as he turned to walk backd own the hall a chill running up his spine. It's not everyday the architect of humanity divulges the history of a universe and your own creation and then ask you not treat it as a god.

Well hope you guys liked the pic and the lil story. ^^

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