Humans Don't Hibernate [Part 30/?] (Patreon)

It was only after the nature of our purpose here was revealed to us by the satellites did my suspicions on the nature of this vessel become validated. Throughout the days leading up to our encounter with the second satellite, I had long assumed that this vessel couldn’t have possibly been your run of the mill resupply vessel. I realized that humanity was advanced, I understood that they were paranoid and more than capable of expending resources to ensure that their vessels were ready to deal with anything that they could realistically encounter. However, the fact remains that there were too many inconsistencies and over engineered aspects of the ship that had always forced me to rethink its true purpose.

If there was ever another element of the ship that truly betrayed the role it was intended to play in the grander scheme of things, it would most certainly be the litany of drones that Vir had prepared in just a few short hours. Live video feeds from the cargo bay displayed what I could only describe as a small army of autonomous drones of varying makes and models. Most of them were non-humanoid. More oriented towards a variety of generalized tasks. However a considerable portion were in fact modeled in such a way that would pose even the most well armed and well seasoned of Vanaran special forces to wince in fear as to their capabilities. Most notable of which were these levitating platforms held in the air by 4 boosters. These were clearly small enough to fit the bill for tunnel exploration. Indeed, their armaments and defenses were well more than enough to handle even the fiercest Vanaran soldier. Vir wasn’t just planning on sending one of these drones however, but a whole fleet of ten. From a total roster of around a hundred of them.

We couldn’t recuperate our losses that quickly using the minifacturies after all, so there was a level of caution to be had with the deployment of these drones.

“Sensors report that there’s a good 10 or so miles worth of tunnels down there. And an additional 20 naturally forming tunnels as well.” Vir reported, his ‘eyes’ transfixed on the hologram despite not having to do so.

“You’re able to distinguish that from the sensor readings?” I inquired back.

“Yeah, you can see here, the jagged, almost rocky edges of the natural forming caves, and the smoother, machined edges of the walls of the artificial ones. The weird thing is, all of the artificial tunnels seem to be made in an attempt to join in with these natural ones.”

“Some hypotheses here.” I began, raising my hand. “One, this is some sort of an attempt at a natural satellite-borne hibernation shelter for VIPs of this species. They might have been in their early stages of space development and might have likewise discovered the hibernation cycle through archeological records or other means. As a result, they know that space-borne shelters are more often than not less prone to the environmental hazards down on a geologically active planet. That’s what we’ve seen from most civilizations anyways.” I paused, taking a breath. “Two, this is some sort of a mining operation intending to link up with these natural cave systems. Now, I have no idea why this may be the case, but it’s… a hunch.” I shrugged.

It was only after I had finished the second hypothesis did I realized I’d done it again. I’d just spouted out something impulsively without much thought for its basis in objective fact and precedence. Yet unlike in the past where I was able to not just keep these intrusive thoughts at bay, but would actively suppress any such thoughts from emerging…

I wouldn’t dwell on that now.

There were many more pressing matters to attend to.

“Given the context of the whole hibernation thing I’d definitely see the first option as a definite probability.” Vir nodded. “The second one? I’m not quite sure, a civilization at this state might be more inclined to mine out their home planet first, it’s more economical than going full lunar colony. I’m not saying it’s impossible, I’m just saying that it’s not too likely at least compared to what humanity did in the early days.” The AI’s platform shrugged for a moment as it paused to allow me to process that. “However, I don’t disagree that the tunnels do seem a bit fishy. The layout here leads me to believe there has to be something to the mining theory. There has to be. Or maybe it’s just an attempt at trying to reach existing caves and tunnels to save on labor expenses and mining in order to have more space for a lunar refuge, who knows.” Vir shrugged once more as the drones in the cargo bay began whirring to life. “Shall we go in and find out?”

“You really needn’t ask me that question Vir.” I grinned back as with a single nod from the AI’s platform, all ten drones began their perilous descent to the moon’s surface, and down to the entrance of the facility. The entrance was made short work of with a few seconds of plasma torching, which allowed the drones to whizz in soon after.

Live feeds were being displayed on the bridge in a grid-like pattern. The drones began their fly-throughs of the tunnel systems in pairs so that one will be able to correct for the discrepancy of the other should the components of one fail to report or send erroneous sensor readings back to the ship. This was done out of protocol, but likewise, was immensely useful for what was more than likely a machine thousands of years past its intended service life. The halls leading immediately from the moon’s surface was decidedly strange. Whilst it resembled something of a docking bay, with all the shortcomings of a planet-bound civilization’s attempts at their first forays into long-term off-planet habitation, the size just felt a bit too off. We were certain this wasn’t because of the size of the sapients who built this, for the tools and machines left abandoned clearly hinted at their actual size, something between the height of a Vanaran and an autonomous combat unit, about 9 feet give or take.

Scattered around the entryway were what could only be described as an eclectic collection of equipment, preserved over the centuries by a lack of atmosphere and spared from decay. I’d expected most of the equipment present to be medical or engineering in nature, these sort of ad-hoc, last minute efforts to hibernative survival trended towards only the bare necessities in maintaining a species and their host civilization. However, what we found was anything but the bare necessities of survival.

Instead. What we found were weapons.

A great number of them in fact.

Abandoned and left haphazardly along the composite floors were primitive slug-throwers of varying sizes and makes. Indeed, brief scans revealed chemical-propellants for pre-caseless kinetic weapons. However, it didn’t just end there. A great number of high-explosives were scattered throughout, stored in large containers, and even in large munition-style crates.

The facility more resembled a military base rather than a last resort safe haven.

Though the litany of construction equipment that lined the walls indicated that there was still much more to this than met the eye.

So we pushed onwards.

With five main tunnels, the teams of two drones began scattering. Plunging deeper and deeper still into the alien facility.

The first two teams reported hallways with no clear purpose. Comprising bare bone supports and the bare minimum of paneling to maintain an atmosphere, it seemed like these tunnels were dug aimlessly, and were ultimately abandoned.

There were no rooms, no side corridors, nothing that would indicate an attempt at constructing any facilities worthwhile… Indeed, these tunnels went entire miles into the moon, only to stop with little to no rhyme or reason.

The third team however discovered something more resembling what a facility of this scale might require. There were housing facilities, albeit cramped and somewhat primitive. Offices, medical centers, and even a fully kitted lab.

Computers and the data held within them were of course of immense priority to the drones as they attempted to interface or at the very least gauge the state of the station’s existing electronics. What was discovered however wasn’t so much a natural decay or wear and tear of the environment on these sensitive electronics. Nor was there any signs of potential damage caused by accidents over the course of the years from falling debris or any external factor.

Instead, the computers themselves were in pristine condition… with only the hard drives and memory units, wiped clean of any data. It was a meticulous process that could not have been done without the expressed intent of those at the helm of these systems.

Hundreds upon hundred of drives were individually scanned and logged, with each and every one leading to the same autopsy report: the intentional and systematic wiping of each and every drive and data storage unit within what we were quickly dubbing the habitation zone.

Yet despite the name we’d given it, not a single room was found to host anything even remotely similar to that of a hibernation pod.

Indeed, not a single alien body had yet to be found.

The circumstances just didn’t add up.

So we decided to press on.

Team four moved deeper and deeper into the tunnels, and seemed to have entered a space that indicated a dead end… at least, that’s what it would’ve looked like to the naked eye.

A false wall was in the way, which the drones torched through without much hassle.

Behind this false wall was a hallway of even shabbier construction than the rest of the facility. It was doubtful these panels could even survive a few months of constant pressurization, let alone the centuries it’d have to, in order to survive hibernation.

Yet the hallway led to what could only be described as a space that was architecturally and thematically dissonant with the rest of the hallways.

Everything up to this point had been extremely utilitarian, with little in the way of personal embellishments even in the housing facilities team three had found.

This hallway however… was coated in what could only be described as layers of ink and paint. The patterns were haphazard, and there was no cohesive design philosophy all throughout. Yet as we moved further still, pushing deeper into the hallway and into what could barely count as a ‘room’, simply consisting of a hastily mined-out hole in the wall… a sight greeted me that I had not expected to see again after realizing the fate of my kind.

In front of me, was an admittedly crude, but undeniable sculpture of the Great Elders. Or rather, a stylistic interpretation of one of the core tenets of the primary religion of Vanaran kind.

“Halt the drones.” I urged, as the cameras were now squarely trained on what was undeniable proof of one of the most ancient and revered symbols of my kind, present here, on some far off, unexplored, unknown moon. Hidden in a small hovel, underneath miles of stellar dust and rock.

“Do you recognize that?” Vir chimed in.

“Yes. It’s the symbol of the practice of ancestral worship for the dominant religion for us Vanarans.” I stated plainly in no uncertain terms.

“Then… what the heck is it doing all the way out here?” Vir asked with that sense of unease that I had yet heard from him.

To these ends, and with the absolute bizarreness of what was presented before me… I had little way of a coherent response. The entire scene felt like something a dream sequencer would generate, or some image compiler that had no sense of reference or context. It didn’t look right, it didn’t feel right, seeing this projected on a screen from tens of miles underneath the moon’s surface was a cognitive dissonance on a level that I found difficult to handle, even after everything we’ve been through.

It was because, perhaps, this was truly something that hit home. It wasn’t just an abstract concept bound to the lofty and technologically superior humans, or the existential dread and horror of the Interlopers, nor was it the real and practical concept and threat of AI. This… this was a tangible part of my childhood, of home, of the life prior to all of this, misappropriated, and taken out of any of the contexts I could discern. “I… I have no clue.”