Thump...

Throughout the world, people were going about their business and day-to-day lives. But regardless of what they were doing, or the situation around them, a single sound was heard, was felt, by all.

Thump...

The world seemed to go dim, slow down. The sounds of nature, sounds of traffic, of conversation, everything, seemed muffled as the sound was heard by all. But no one understood - no, no one even noticed this recurring sound. Just like their own heartbeat, it went unnoticed by even the world itself.

Thump...

The world went quiet. All movement ceased at the tone of that pulse. People were halted no matter what they were doing, as if time itself had stopped moving. All colours seemed to fade away, replaced by a small violet hue that rose from the ground.

Thump...

All creation stood still. The consciousness of everyone faded away, as if they had fallen into a deep sleep. The violet hue covering the world quickly grew in size, encompassing everything in a violet mist that shrouded the world.

Thump...

In the hearts and minds of everyone, a single question arose. It was a simple question that everyone hears at some point in their life. All intelligent life felt this question in their hearts, and their hearts answered this single question.

Thump...

Everyone answered the question in their own way. Some wishes were evil, some were good. Some wished for complex things, while others wanted simple things. There were even some who wished for nothing, and instead felt satisfied with their lives. With the amount of imaginative stories out there, many people had wished to exist those sort of places, or wished that they were real. On the other hand, some people even wished for something small and material, such as food or a toy that they hadn't gotten. In the end, everyone had their own form of wish that they responded with.

Thump...

With one final pulse, all intelligent life vanished from the world along with the violet cloud. The myriad of souls of those who had existed followed shortly. Some were sent to one of the limitless parallel worlds to fulfill the wish they had, returning to a life that was similar to their own. Others were sent to universes unknown and only imagined by the creative writers that had previously existed. Those who did not have the intelligence to make a solid wish had their souls sent into the circles of reincarnation to be born again when time was ready for them.

The world. That was all that remained. A testament to the life that once existed on it. Deep within it, a single being remained. It had a formless shape, but it resembled the people, humans, that had once lived. And on its undefined face, a smile rose on its lips. It had used its own life, its own 'soul', to carry out one final task. A selfish wish of its own, before the end. To protect the life it had once nurtured. And so, it smiled.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

A sound without noice. A flash without light. A feeling without senses. A single, undescribable thing occured. And after that, the universe became nothing and everything as it returned to the void. The earth disappeared with it, still with a satisfied smile, vanishing into non-existence.

----------------------------------------

"What do you wish for?"

In the depths of his heart, Yasu "Leo" Elliot responded not with words, but with his imagination. In his 25 years of life, there was always one thing he would come back to, be it by reading or by playing games, and that was science fiction. There was always these amazing innovations that were thought of, that always had him hoping that someday, they would be invented for real. Unfortunately, he knew that with his short lifespan, there would be no way to survive from the 21st century all the way to the 23rd, minimum. And so he imagined the amazing universe of science fiction.

When asked what he wished for, he didn't wish to be in a specific universe, or be in a specific group as a unique gender or species. No, he just wanted the marvel that was a space ship filled with all of those technological advancements. How amazing would it be to own and control one of those things? It doesn't have to be insanely large, or have some over-the-top breakthroughs such as time travel. He didn't want the responsibility, or even the threat to his life that came with owning such desired and dangerous technology. He just wanted a ship all to himself, that he owned, and could travel in, free to do as his heart desired, and live his life as a free man.

When he thought of having a ship of his own, it of course had to have some things as a definite. Powerful defenses to survive a battle against things bigger than itself. Defensive systems against things smaller than itself. Internal safeties and defenses to fight back if boarded while unaware. Weapons powerful enough to push back against things smaller and bigger than itself, while also having hardpoints for both energy and physical emplacements. Thrusters fast enough to outmaneuver most threats for its own size, while having optional sublight stuff or something to move quickly inside a star system. And of course, something he always thinks should be included; multiple FTL drives. Along with these main things, he thought it would be nice if the design of the ship could still be sleek and stylish.

But no, it didn't stop there. The minds of those with large imaginations are hard to stop once they start, as one thing often leads to several other things. Leo had constantly imagined different ships of different shows and games and stories while he watched them. He would often think to himself; what works together? What doesn't work? What counters each of these things? What are the disadvantages to having these things? And so his own imagined ship became more refined, but also more impossible to exist or even remember without writing it down. Which he never did. In answer to the question, he pictured many more things in that ship of his that he wished he could have. Electronic warfare in order to fight back without firing a shot. A mix of both organic and inorganic parts and circuitry with a lot of redundancies. Hangar bay enough to hold a single squadron of 12 fighters, and large enough to swap out fighters for shuttles and other such things. Refining and manufacturing facilities to make the ship capable of surviving on its own for extended periods. Matter Converters so that energy can be used in place of raw materials in order to make something, such as food. Storage bays filled with replacement parts and stocked with raw materials and some simple refined materials, as well as some empty storage bays. Even an entire storage bay dedicated to the fuel for the power cores and enough to keep the ship running at full power for a thousand years. Software which is fully protected and with many standalones, with several different AI's to govern different facilities like medical bay, engineering bay, hydroponics bay, everything. All AI's being connected to a single AGI would also be good, to serve like a governing body.

With all of these things, Leo had far too many thoughts cluttering his mind with ideas, until it all suddenly cleared, and it felt as if his heart had been read, and all of his subconscious and conscious thoughts created his ideal starship in a few breaths. And with that, his mind started to go to sleep as he had finished answering the question. It was as if an omnipresent existence had cleared his cluttered thoughts and read his mind and memories to help him answer the question. A feeling similar to that which you get when you feel someone is looking over your shoulder, only to find no one there.

As his mind started to fade, before he knew it, he bolted up. It felt like those times when you're trying to stay awake but nodding off, only to suddenly realize that you had fallen asleep before jolting awake. Rubbing his blurry eyes, Leo yawned and stretched. He felt refreshed after his sleep, the first in a long time since he usually woke up feeling more tired than when he went to bed. But as the light entered his eyes, he wasn't in his bed in his own room like he remembered. Instead, he was laying on a hard and cold floor. He only had questions in his mind towards this unfamiliar space, because there was nothing like it in any place he knew. And in the back of his mind, he had a nagging feeling that along with this being real, this was also not his own world. Looking at the white walls and the grey floor, he saw how clean it looked, but also noticed how silent it was. It was somewhat unnerving, as if being alone in a house in the woods. Just the feeling of absence was unsettling. Putting his hand on the floor to stand up, he heard his shoes making noise, letting him feel comfort in the fact that his hearing wasn't gone.

Taking a quick look at himself, he was wearing his favorite outfit, despite his last memory being of going to bed in just a shirt and underwear. It was summer, and he didn't have any air conditioning in his room. Or... in that room, since he wasn't in it anymore. Currently, he was wearing a pair of black military boots with thick woolen socks. He liked these sort of boots, because they were durable and supported his ankles, and the socks being thick helped protect his feet from rubbing, as well as cushioning. His pants were cargo pants in a similar black color, with the pockets on the thighs being zips feeding inside instead of bulking outwards. It meant less things could go in it, but it looked sleeker. The hems reached to just above the top of the boots, without being baggy. On top, he had a simple grey singlet made with a breathable material, underneath an unbuttoned cotton shirt with a black and white plaid pattern. On his head was his favorite white visor cap which was offset to his right eye, and mostly used to keep his hair out of his face. Around his neck were his usual wireless headphones, black in color.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

Checking his pockets, he found only his phone. In the screens reflection, he saw his stoic and lightly tanned face that was known for being expresionless. He never took the words to heart, since he at least did a good enough fake smile for politeness, and showing emotion to his friends and family. His chest-length hair was a shiny black, which had a hint of midnight blue when looked at in the light. If looking at the rest of his body, he had a toned build that wasn't under or overweight, and had hints of muscle. He never really liked exercise, and mostly worked on his cardio rather than muscle mass. Looking at his own green eyes in his reflection, he finally turned on the screen, finding that there was no service and no connection. At least he still had access to his music, which he promptly turned on along with his headphones. With the amount of confusion in his mind, some music would be nice about now to distract him.

Comparatively, he was taking things rather slow and easily in his situation. Not fussing, not panicking, accepting his situation, even if its just ignoring things to cope, and a calm air about him. Or rather, it was abnormal, even if he thought about it himself. But every time he thought about why it was abnormal, he would just suddenly think "this is normal". It was as if he had the natural disposition to be in this place. As if he belonged here. In fact, the moment he thought "where am I?", the response from his subconscious mind was "level 3 corridor, outside of the cryo-stasis bay" as if he knew it already. It was a weird feeling, as if all the knowledge was there, but he couldn't recall it. This did help him keep calm, though. But the questions were still swirling in his head. He didn't know what to do now, though. So, for starters, he decided to get some food, taking things at his own pace like usual. But where was--- oh, that way.

Just by thinking about where to go to get food, he already knew intuitively in his head how to get there. Walking down the hallways, his boots made a rhythmic and low thudding on the deck plating as he went along. After a few turns, and down a lift using buttons he couldn't read but somehow understood, he eventually arrived at what he felt was the mess hall. Walking in, there were enough tables and seats for about a hundred people. When querying his mysterious database in his head, the ship could support a maximum crew of about 260, and that there were 2 mess halls, and 2 officers' mess. While thinking about more details of the ship crew capacity, it turned out that if the cryopods were included, another 400 crew, prisoners or passengers could be on board. In addition, the minimum crew needed to run the ship at 100% was as little as 9, which were all consoles on the bridge. Captain, pilot, navigation, sensors, electronic warfare, tactical, defenses, engineering, and internal. And on top of that, the ship could be run alone by just one person, usually the captain, in dire situations. The main need for a minimum of 9 was apparently for that little bit of 'human intelligence', as the rest could be handled by the computer and on-board assets such as repair drones.

Looking around, Leo couldn't really find a kitchen or any sort of food, be it cooked or uncooked. But once he asked himself how to get some food, his eyes were directed to the wall that had a coffee machine looking utility. Walking up to it, he once again saw a language which he didn't know but somehow understood, while also recognizing that it could also take verbal input. His mind quickly understood what this machine was and what it did. It was a replicator, and could replicate stored patterns. That was the simple version, anyway. The detailed version made his mind hurt, since it was a dense info packet on the understanding of it, rather than just a paragraph or something. He at least understood that it could replicate the foods he knew and liked. In fact, it somehow knew every recipe he knew and had them stored in its database, including that home-made mixture his older sister used to make for him. Thinking for a short bit on what he felt like having, he nodded to himself before speaking.

"Teri---... Teriyaki-marinated pork spare ribs, off the bone, bowl of salted rice, and a bowl of my family's surimi mix. And a large bottle of peach ice tea."

Leo couldn't help but pause after speaking at the start because while his thoughts were in English, the words that came out of his mouth were that unknown language. It took him a few seconds to realise that he could speak English if he wanted, but he decided to use this unknown one. It was already used on the ship in the writings, so better to conform. 'When in Rome', as the saying went. After he finished speaking, a small hum came from the machine as it got to work. Not even a few seconds had passed when it had completed its task, causing two bowls, one plate, one large pitcher and one glass to appear along with the tray it was on, and eating utensils. Picking it up, he brought it to an empty seat... of which there were many, before placing it down and taking a seat. Picking up a fork, he stabbed it into a piece of meat on the plate and giving it a sniff first before eating it. It smelled and tasted exactly as he remembered. Juicy, tender, and also had that shredded texture as if it was scraped off the bone. And it was just the right temperature, too. Moving on to the others, the rice was indeed salted and warm, and the surimi mix was even better than back home, because the ingredients were actually mixed properly. And the ice tea was indeed peachy.

Needless to say, Leo polished all of his dishes off, including the nearly 2L pitcher of peach ice tea. Considering that there was a sizable amount on each, he was surprised he managed to eat it all. Well, when eating delicious food, it always is easier to eat more of it. With all of that done and a satisfied stomach, he picked up the tray with everything on it, stood up and pushed his chair in, and then put the tray down on a bench against the wall before pressing a button. When it was pressed, the tray de-materialized with everything, recycling it all. Only after it happened did he realize he had done all of those instinctively. On the negative side, it meant he may do things he doesn't intend to or want to. On the positive side, it meant he now knew that if trouble happened, he'd be able to respond properly. But then again, he didn't know how much knowledge he had. Does it expend to combat? Does he know how to fight and defend himself? He would need to come back to these questions later.

Nodding his head to his music, he looked at the door out of the mess hall and contemplated what to do next. And then he realized something; he questioned earlier about the crew capacity and got a return about a ship. Only now did he realize... ship. He was on a ship. And not just any ship, based on the minimum crew compliment information. A starship. Where else would there be such amazing technology such as the replicator? His eyes opened wide in delight at this realization. He wanted to see everything, and know everything about this ship. Why was he on it? That no longer mattered. In fact, the moment he thought of the question, it vanished, as if it was only natural for him to be on the ship. Now, where was the best place to get an overall understanding of a starship? Of course, it's the bridge! With that thought in his mind, he started walking at a fast pace down the hallways towards where his instinct said the bridge was. To get there, he traveled through different corridors and through a couple of airlocks - probably in case there was a hull breach, in order to divide sections while still allowing access without decompressing undamaged areas. After these, he went up a lift before arriving to one of the entrances to the bridge. And what a beauty it was.

There was a holographic display of the entire exterior of the ship on top of a table which looked to be a sort of briefing table. Towards the back of the table, which was the rear of the ship, there were several control stations back to back down a short walkway with an airlock there. It also had a blast door that could be closed, and it was specially protected both physically and electronically. To the sides of the display table were hip-height panels which had displays on the walls, each in charge of different things. On one wall, he could see cross-sections of the ship with different areas highlighted, and all of it in a light blue color to indicate that there was no problems. To the front of the table were three paths. The two on the side lead downwards into an area each which had more control stations, and a clear protective window to separate these lower hubs from the upper walkway, which lead a single chair and several more panels lined up nearby. In front of the captain's control station, was a large and clear reinforced window. The material it was made out of was just as tough as the outer hull, while there was also an inner layer which could change view modes, including becoming another screen if necessary. Between the two main layers of this viewscreen was a blast door for added protection for the bridge crew.

It was an amazing view, right out of his dreams. Leo couldn't wait, and went straight up to the captain's chair. He would've gone to the other ones, but he didn't understand a thing on the monitors. So why not go to the one with the best view? Immediately sitting down in it, he saw additional holographic displays appear around him, as if it had detected a user in its chair. There were 12 sub-screens which fluttered with lines and lines of text repeatedly and at a speed that humans were typically unable to read, and then 1 main screen directly in front of him, but it was blank. After a while, the sub-screens eventually halted before becoming blank. These monitors were black with a white border and white text, and it was opaque by probably half. Just enough to see through while still reading the text. Once all of the screens were blank, the main display showed lines of text one after the other at a more readable speed. And its words somewhat shocked him, even if the emotion didn't show on his face.

----------------------------------------

Unable to identify intruder

Authority overridden --- Attempting to identify

New information detected --- Searching for origin

Search superceded by Entity ■?■■?■■■?■

Database updated

Intruder identified as "Yasu Elliot"

Program "Inheritance" initiated by ■?■■?■■■?■

Yasu Elliot has been granted Level 0 authorization

Yasu Elliot has been registered as Captain

This is the Artificial General Intelligence, designation "Lacrimosa".

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

I am currently set to silent mode until a voice is designated for my representation.

I will now display the basic information of this ship.

Designation --- NCS-00

Manufacturer --- Nine-Circles Industries

Name --- "Memento Mori"

Welcome aboard, Captain.

----------------------------------------