It was imperative that I figure out what was down those stairs. As much as it scared me to think of another life form being down there, I was more concerned with why concrete was part of the equation. There had not been contact with aliens for the time that I was on Earth, so I didn’t know how concrete could have been brought here. Although, SR had made a point to say “similar” and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other things out there like concrete. It also baffled me that there was a possibility of another person being here before me, that I’m not the first thing to traipse this planet.
From behind the rock I could see the brilliant lights coming from the stairwell. It was a different kind of light; I could only assume that it was possibly black light. I couldn’t imagine what black lights were doing here…
As I came to the bottom of the stairs my eyes adjusted to the light. It illuminated everything in such an odd way that I was almost caught off guard by the giant white statue and the pale skeleton lying before it. I approached the statue with caution, so to avoid any traps that might lie dormant. The statue was brilliant. It appeared to be an early human head, maybe of the earlier civilizations. I couldn’t fathom how this got here or what it was doing here. There was a small inscription on the base, but it was in a different language, it was obviously not an Earthly language. SR was going to have to help me with this one.
I booted him up promptly and he greeted me as cheerfully as ever.
“Dr. Eden, wonderful to see you again.”
“Yes, SR, wonderful. Now I need your help again.”
“Well that’s what I was created for, what can I do for you?”
“Do you see that statue over there? It has alien language on it, I need to know what that passage says. It might help me figure out what is going on here.”
“Certainly Dr. Eden.”
“It appears to be a language that Earth was familiar with, from a neighboring galaxy. The scripture reads, ‘This statue is dedicated to the titan Menoetius, brother of human creator Prometheus, and who is responsible for human mortality. He was murdered by Zeus for his arrogance. Titan of violent anger and rash action, Menoetius was the embodiment of everything that plagues the human race. This statue is to remind us of what we are to never become. We are immortals among those without restraint.’”
“Wow, SR, that is chilling…”
“Dr. Eden, I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
“…We are immortals among those without restraint.”
“That could mean anything, really. I doubt there are actual immortals out there.”
“SR, doubt is not something to rely on now.”
The scripture on the statue repeated itself in my mind several times. What did it mean to call upon Greek mythology now? It certainly wasn’t our last belief system; it had all but been abolished in most parts of the world under the Universal Religion laws. Almost no one on Earth had known of mythology because it simply wasn’t allowed anymore. Only privileged historians and few scientists got the pleasure to read the myths of the first civilizations. The makers of this statue very well could have been immortal if they knew of the myths. That would also explain the Earth materials in the staircase.
“SR, I’m going to look around, that door over there is open.”
“Okay Dr. Eden.”
The keypad next to the door had long been dead. The room ahead was dark and from what I saw, parts of the floor were charred. As I stepped into the room, I saw the chairs. Those chairs, strangely enough were similar to the ones I had at my loft back on Earth. There was no way this was a coincidence. There was a television mounted on the wall, though it appeared to be broken and rusted. The chairs also had rust and a thick layer of dust on the cloth seats. There must be other things like this in this facility.
What is this facility? Why are there human amenities in it? I had so many questions, and no answers. This place was as empty as this entire planet, but then again, there was still no explanation for the smoke I had seen this morning. Something was here before me, but this place had long been abandoned. I had almost forgotten about the skeleton in the main room. I checked the door down the hallway to the left of the television room, but it was locked.
I returned to the main room to examine the skeleton.
“SR, could you do a full detail markup on this skeleton?”
“Of course, Dr. Eden.”
“Thank you.”
“This skeleton is most certainly a human skeleton. It matches the bone count and bone shapes of yours, minus the fact that this skeleton is male, and yours is female. He was about 75 years in age before passing, and this skeleton appears to have been sitting here for over 7 years. There are still traces of tissue on the bones, and his teeth are fully intact… Well what’s left of his teeth anyway.”
“Facinating, SR, simply fascinating.”
“Dr. Eden, might I suggest that maybe you were not the first human to come to this planet? This skeleton is undeniably human.”
“SR, I am quickly coming to terms with the fact that I wasn’t told everything, even though the government assured me I was.”
“Governments are notorious for keeping secrets from their people. Look at the history of the world, Dr. Eden.”
“I know, but I was sure that I was at the top of the privileged information list. The President assured me if anything involving space and human life was going on, I would know about it. But why keep this from me? We could have been moving people here decades ago… We could have saved all those people, SR!”
“It really is irrational to get worked up over it now, Dr. Eden.”
“SR, you don’t understand. You never will… I’m going to go check the other corridors. There might be food here.”
I walked away promptly. I was completely furious with the government, even though they seized to exist. There was no one to blame now, they had gotten away with their secret long enough. Who was it that lived here, that never tried to help the people on Earth? I was disgusted that a fellow scientist or even astronaut would keep this planet all to himself. Maybe he never knew of the nuclear plague, maybe he was here before any of that happened…
I put my emotions aside and checked the hallways to the right of the statue. One hallway lead to a door that was open, but it was blocked by something very large, perhaps rubble. The other hallway led to the bathroom for the facility.
I decided I needed a good shower to wash away my fears and anguish over my discoveries today. I figured SR wouldn’t be too worried if I was gone for a while.
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