Doctor Delphi couldn’t suppress his excitement. In his eyes this dead planet was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Not only was it the home of their ancestors but its existence also proved that all his effort over the years, his life’s work, wasn’t for nothing.

Delphi excitedly took a few steps forward. He crouched down, grabbing a few stones from the ground and crushing them in his hand.

Next, a small spherical drone came out of his space storage. It floated in the air, shining a red light on the stone and sending its findings to the power armor.

“Hmm a lot of silicates, seems fairly standard. The proportion of oxygen is rather low…”

“Doctor, the captain is waiting for us.”, interrupted Scorpio unhappily.

“Yes, yes. Whatever. This is more important.

Aren’t you wondering why the atmosphere is so thin here? In this state the planet couldn’t have supported human life. So, what happened?”

“I don’t c…”

“And gravity! Based on the body structures of ancient humans we always suspected the gravity on earth to be rather high. But this… it’s not even a fraction of what our calculations said.

So, either, gravity somehow reduced or our ancestors had something on them which we haven’t found yet.

The same is true for the intensity of the sun. The radiation in the air is stronger than expected. We…”

At this point Scorpio and Gemini gritted their teeth in impatience. Their discipline prompted them to follow the major’s orders.

Not waiting for the doctor to finish Scorpio suddenly grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him away.

“Hey, Scorpio, what are you doing? Let go! I’m not finished yet.

Do you know what you are doing? My work will make history! Can you bear the consequences of interrupting me?”

“Can you bear the consequences of letting the major wait?”

“I… well you win this time. But still, let go of my arm!”

“Hmpf.”

Scorpio scoffed as he took his hand away. Finally, the doctor trotted behind him although the face below his helmet was more than unhappy.

Soon, the buildings grew bigger in their vision.

“So, this is the style of our ancestors? Purely efficient. Seemingly overlooking this area. Maybe some kind of command center for those rockets…”

“Wait!”

Gemini and Scorpio froze in place, their weapons ready to fire, scanning their surroundings.

“Doctor, what did you see?”

“Look up there! By the window!”

The two soldier instantly shifted their aim, defending against the potential danger.

Suddenly a voice was projected into everyone’s power armor.

“Go ahead… we already secured… this place.”

Scorpio moved his head slightly, finding two of his companions signaling him to go on.

“Cancer, Libra?”

“The major ordered us… to guard here.”

“Alright. Then we will advance.”

The soldiers nodded at each other before Scorpio and Gemini led the doctor forward.

“Strange, strange… how could our signal be disrupted? This is Gen17 power armor. Our communication is founded on the newest technology developed by Doctor Menronow himself.

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We should be able to communicate even in the absence of any medium. It’s impossible…”

Scorpio and Gemini ignored the doctor’s murmurs. Their pace increased slightly, quickly reaching the control center, where two soldiers were already waiting for them, guarding the open door.

“Doctor, the major is waiting downstairs.”

“Got it.”

Delphi answered perfunctory, his attention attracted by something else. He recognized the cloud made from Aries’s ability, approaching it, and staring at the trapped robot with sparkling eyes.

“Our ancestors already used such technology? Fascinating! Just judging from one look I can tell that our technology must have made a step back at the beginning of the space age!

We need to tell Aries to remove her glue, I want to take a closer look!”

“Later, doctor, first come here!”

The major’s familiar voice reached Delphi’s ears. Leo came up the stairs after noticing the commotion.

“Leo. Tell me, what is interesting enough to even ignore this robot?”

“We found bodies of ancient humans. You sh…”

Before Leo finished his sentence, a black flash already passed him. He could only shake his head, staring at the doctor’s back.

When he returned to the lower floor, he found Delphi leaning over a compartment at the side, staring at a body placed there. A few small drones circled around him, gathering all kinds of data.

“Hah, this place was a cryochamber. How strange. After so many years their bodies should not look this full of vitality even in a cryochamber.

I need to take a closer look.”

While Delphi spoke, he turned to a panel on the left, shaking his head. It was obvious that the display had long ceased to function.

“Leo, can you get Scorpio down here? I need him to dissolve the glass.”

“Are you suggesting to destroy the cryochamber, doctor?”, questioned Leo with a frown.

“Yes. How else am I supposed to examine this body?”

“Wouldn’t this mean certain death for the frozen person?”

“Leo. None of our scans detected any signals of life. I know that these bodies look as if they would open their eyes the next second. That’s exactly why I need to know more about them.

It is fascinating. What keeps them in such pristine conditions? Special preservation methods? Something unique to earth?”

Towards the end the doctor trailed off, speaking more to himself. Leo stared at the man for a second before calling Scorpio.

“You’re the expert…”

A short while later Scorpio stood before the cryochamber, putting his hands on the glass. Delphi watched by his side, a worried expression on his face.

“Be careful, Scorpio. You only need to dissolve the glass! Don’t damage the body!”

“I know…”

Scorpio gritted his teeth, having been warned more than once. Before Delphi could speak more, he quickly activated his ability. A sizzling sound could be heard as a green liquid attached to the glass.

Under the three men’s intense gaze it slowly dissolved.

Suddenly a blearing alarm echoed through the lower floor. Loud warning bells shook everyone’s minds. Rumbling came from the ceiling.

“LEO! I thought you secured the area!”, shouted Delphi anxiously.

The major however kept his cool. His senses didn’t warn him of any danger. He glanced at the ceiling where a few gaps opened.

Small bombs fell out filling the room with a light green gas. At the same time more movement could be heard. Something seemingly tried to come out, but the holes didn’t open wide enough.

After a few bumps the ceiling turned silent. Only footsteps could be heard, coming from outside.

“Stay in position, everyone! There is no danger here.”

“Yes, sir!”

Glancing around for a bit even the doctor calmed down. He took a deep breath.

“Poison? Quite useless against our armors…”

Scorpio scoffed, thinking that the doctor was feigning courage. He focused back on his work.

After a few seconds most of the glass was accurately dissolved, allowing the doctor access to the body.

With eager eyes he immediately took out tools from his storage space. In no time a table with all kinds of devices appeared in the room.

Scorpio shivered watching the doctor stab a large syringe into the frozen body. It slowly filled with solid blood crystals.

“Beautiful…”

Hearing the doctor’s sigh, Scorpio decided not to stay any longer and went back to his position.

Meanwhile, Delphi was in his own world. He gathered probes from the body, putting them in all kinds of devices.

“Blood shock frozen, body preserved. However, after such a long time even a frozen body won’t survive.

Even if the organs receive energy, they won’t restart operations. Still, they are full of vitality. Strange…

Those cells… what is this? An additional core? Fascinating…

This man has quite the rough hands. Some particles detected. Is it oil? Fuel? A mechanic?”

Delphi continued murmuring to himself, sinking deeper and deeper. Gradually his vision blurred. His mind seemed to travel through the stars.

Suddenly the world shook. Delphi floated in the air, looking down on a futuristic town. Most of it was blurry, except for a single spot where he recognized the face of a bearded man. It was the body found in the cryochamber.

At this moment he stood before a house, surrounded by two blurry silhouettes.

“ZZdhae, my son, don’t worry about us. This is our wish as well!”

“Dad… I… how can I do this?”, answered a voice filled with worry.

“Son, listen to us. We worked hard to get this pass. Please, take it and live a good life.”

“But…”

“No buts. Please don’t make things difficult for us. We will be alright.”

“How about we sell the house? We might have enough money to buy two more passes.”

“Who would buy a house these days? Listen son, me and your mother just want the best for you. And furthermore, the council has already prepared cryochambers. We will only go to sleep. It’s not a big deal.”

“Dad…”, the voice shook, obviously holding back tears. “… wait for your son! The council said we will come back! I will find you and wake you up. Then we will be reunited.”

“Exactly. At that time, you can also bring our grandson along!”, laughed the female voice.