The Hope sped through the deep void.
Twelve days later, it encountered Jupiter.
Seeing the colossal planet for the first time, and at such close proximity, was breathtaking. The swirling gas streams within its atmosphere were each powerful enough to obliterate Earth.
The legendary Great Red Spot compelled Luna to take pictures, though there was no social media to share them on.
Observing the small celestial bodies around Jupiter, Luna suddenly had an idea.
"Ayla, let's pause for a moment. Deploy probe drones to Europa."
Europa was an ice moon, its surface covered in a thick layer of ice.
Scientists on Earth had theorized that beneath this ice lay a vast liquid ocean, and based on Earth's experience, where there was water, there was the potential for life.
Life might exist on Europa.
Luna's reasons for deploying the drones were simple.
First, to collect biological samples.
Second, to replenish the spacecraft's liquid water reserves.
The original food stores on board were long gone. She now subsisted on Ayla-synthesized protein, fats, carbohydrates, sugars...
A substantial supply of liquid water could be added to the water circulation system and that 18% of agricultural space can also be utilized.
Luna remembered she still had those seeds.
The spacecraft stopped in the space above Europa.
Thirty drones launched from the Hope and landed on Europa's surface. Through their cameras, Luna saw the moon's landscape.
It was indeed a world of ice and snow.
The drones began to drill, probing downwards. After 57 kilometers, they finally broke through the ice and entered a watery realm.
Electromagnetic scans revealed that Europa's ice and water layers combined reached a depth of 113 kilometers, 102 kilometers deeper than the deepest point in Earth's oceans.
The drones began collecting large quantities of water, then returned to the spacecraft using tethers lowered from above.
The entire operation took only ten days.
A negligible amount of time on a cosmic scale.
The retrieved samples were analyzed.
Ayla's anime avatar wore a look of astonishment.
"Luna, life truly is abundant in the universe."
"Traces of microorganisms were found in Europa's waters. These are microorganisms not present in my database."
An image appeared on the screen.
It was a microorganism resembling a paramecium, but ten times larger.
It was already a relatively complex life form. Given the right conditions, perhaps intelligent life could emerge on Europa in a few hundred million years.
Ten hours later.
5000 tons of water had been collected, a sufficient amount for now.
"Ayla, activate the agricultural section. Plant those seeds."
There was no immediate response.
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A moment later, Ayla reappeared, a grave expression on her face. The screen in front of Luna displayed an image.
The Sun had suddenly become intensely bright.
She knew.
It was the debris of Earth entering the Sun.
An intense solar storm erupted, almost instantly reaching X-class levels. On the screen, the readings jumped from X1 to X122 and continued to climb.
Through specialized energy-monitoring lenses, the normally pale Sun had turned a fiery orange, unleashing waves of terrifying energy that radiated outwards into the cosmos.
In just ten seconds, this solar storm released the equivalent of 150 billion hydrogen bombs detonating simultaneously, an unprecedented event.
It swept through space like a cosmic sandstorm, poised to obliterate anything in its path.
"Maximum speed, Ayla!"
"Yes, Luna!"
The only good news was that this terrifying thing traveled at only 679 km/s.
...
Once the Hope was underway, Luna returned to the cryogenic hibernation pod.
This was a second-generation pod, significantly safer than the previous model, eliminating the need for the anti-coagulant.
Sleep.
Eternal sleep.
This time it would be much longer, so long that she didn't know when she would awaken.
Ayla managed everything within the spacecraft, devoting all her processing power to calculating cutting-edge scientific advancements.
She utilized Jupiter's immense gravity for a slingshot maneuver.
The spacecraft's velocity increased from 758.2 km/s to 815 km/s.
Apart from some radiation exposure, they escaped the brunt of the solar storm's particle bombardment.
...
88 days later, the Hope arrived at Pluto's orbit, 41 AU (astronomical units) from the Sun.
This dwarf planet, once considered the ninth planet of the Solar System, carried many stories of humanity's astronomical endeavors.
At its furthest point, Pluto could reach 49 AU into the dark void.
It served as a boundary marker, residing within the Kuiper Belt, with only the Oort cloud beyond.
The majority of the Solar System's mass lay within the Kuiper Belt. Beyond, there was only the vast expanse of the universe, increasingly empty.
Pluto wasn't currently along their trajectory, so Ayla didn't observe it directly.
However, here, Ayla directed the spacecraft's large, 10-meter diameter external camera towards the inner system and captured an image. The entire image was dominated by a small but intensely bright point of light.
The Sun was still in a state of violent activity.
Venus, Mars, the asteroid belt, Jupiter, and Saturn had all been consumed by the raging energy.
It was unknown whether the machines left behind in the asteroid belt had managed to withstand the onslaught.
...
773 days later.
After enduring six days of bombardment at the heliopause, the Hope finally escaped the reach of the Sun's expanding wave of charged particles.
They were safe.
Here, Ayla received a signal.
She used the telescope to image the source, and after extensive analysis, identified a tiny black speck, almost invisible against the backdrop of space.
She determined it was Voyager 1. Its trajectory was also towards Proxima Centauri.
Humanity's farthest-reaching probe, 168 years after its departure from Earth, was overtaken by the Hope.
It was now 2145.
The probe's batteries were depleted. Ayla intercepted and captured it.
It carried humanity's dreams of exploring the cosmos.
Back on Earth, some had worried about Voyager 1 and 2 being intercepted by another civilization, potentially revealing humanity's existence.
Such worries were unfounded. Voyager 1 wouldn't truly leave the Solar System's boundaries until around the year 42,145, or 40,000 years from now.
And for any advanced civilization capable of interstellar travel, Earth's existence would likely be detectable long before then. Voyager would merely confirm the specifics of Earth's civilization.
Ayla made some minor modifications to the probe, installing a nuclear battery and launching it back on its original trajectory at 17 km/s.
Its power was restored.
It would continue to transmit its message annually.
However, unbeknownst to the probe, its signal would never be received by anyone on Earth.
They were now 420 AU from the Sun.
But their long journey had only just begun.
...
9 years later.
The Hope reached the outer edge of the Oort Cloud.
Also known as the cometary cloud, the legendary home of comets, this region was filled with water ice, methane, ethane, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide.
Ayla collected some samples for research.
...
Another 279 years passed, and the Hope exited the vast Oort Cloud, entering the 50,000 AU boundary region.
...
Another 288 years passed in a blink. The Hope finally left the Oort Cloud entirely, entering the silent blackness of interstellar space.
Looking back at the Sun now, it was indistinguishable from the background stars.
Their journey had lasted 578 years, and they were 100,000 AU from the Sun, approximately 1.58 light-years—the edge of the Sun's gravitational influence.
The Hope had truly left the Solar System.
This marked humanity's first departure from its home star.
...
86 years after leaving the Solar System, 664 years into their voyage.
A bright light suddenly streaked past the Hope, impacting its hull.
"Warning!"
"Warning!"
"Extraterrestrial civilization signature detected 0.7 AU away. Spacecraft under attack."
Luna was abruptly awakened to flashing red alerts.