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Mystery Planet
Chapter 3 - Signs of Life

Chapter 3 - Signs of Life

Harry started using the remote control to guide the flying space vessel. After a few tries of pressing all sorts of buttons and keys, he began getting the hang of it. They followed the flying vessel from a few metres behind whilst connecting with each other through their radio transmitters.

‘Hello Milo, can you hear me. I repeat, can you hear me?’ Harry tested through his radio transmitter.

‘Yes Harry, I can hear you slightly, but it’s kind of glitchy.’ Milo replied.

‘Alright, received. I know it’s quite tough hearing from each other right now. However, we must conquer through the difficult times to receive the success that we deserve.’ Harry stated.

‘Received. You’re right. We need to have more positive thoughts like this.’ Milo responded.

As they followed the flying space vessel, Harry's remote control screen began to display a map of their location and their surroundings. Could this be a signal to connection? Is there internet and wifi now? Will a GPS work now? Thoughts began rushing into Harry’s mind.

‘Harry, why did you stop walking?’ Milo questioned.

‘I’m just looking at the screen. It appears to show a map of this planet’s location.’ Harry replied.

‘The sound is very glitchy. Maybe I should come closer to you.’ Milo suggested whilst he walked towards Harry.

As Milo slowly ambled across, he was surrounded by brownish-grey, powder-like dust with a variety of scattered pebbles, small rocks, and boulderstones. Step by step, walking on this planet Milo felt weightlessness like he was slightly floating yet still being able to step on the ground. He tilted his head and peered down at the screen on Harry’s hands. The map on the screen started flashing on and off, then instantly faded away.

‘Where’s the map now?’ Milo asked.

‘Clearly, we have lost internet connection which the map would definitely not be showing.’ Harry replied in disappointment.

‘Well, what should we do about it?’ Milo asked.

‘There’s nothing we can do right now except continuing to follow the space vessel even when we have no idea where it would take us to.’ Harry responded.

The space vessel spun in mid air as fast as a spinning wheel. It suddenly stopped, then spun, then stopped again. Instantly, a glistening ray of red light shone directly onto Harry’s face. Harry’s heart pounded faster than a million cheetahs chasing after an innocent prey. He crossed his fingers and hoped that this wasn't going to ruin everything. Milo snatched the remote control out of Harry’s hands and attempted to fix the space vessel. A few minutes later, Milo had got the space vessel under control and the luminescent ray of red light switched back to the emerald green ray of light. Milo immediately felt a feeling of joy as soon as the space vessel flew steadily in the air. From now on, he decided to take control of the flying space vessel and let Harry take a break, especially from his injured arm. After walking for a long time or what seemed like ages, Milo’s legs looked as if they were nearly going to collapse. Without any food or drinks, their energy and movement have gotten slower and slower. Plus they can’t even see the time and there were no signs of anything apart from rocks and dust on the ground.

‘Harry, I’m getting extremely tired and starving too.’ Milo said exhaustingly.

‘Milo, I know that it’s immensely difficult right now. I mean I’m truly suffering as bad as you are. However, we’re in this together and I know that we will get through this together.’ Harry replied, holding his strength for Milo.

‘I’m not sure. Maybe we should just go back to our space shuttle and find another way home.’ Milo responded unsurely.

‘Our space shuttle is severely damaged and more than half of the structure is shattered in pieces. There’s undoubtedly no way that we can fix it again, yet I didn’t keep track of our location so it’s more difficult to find our way back than going forwards.’ Harry replied.

‘Well, I guess the only way to get through this is to continue moving forward, but I’m seriously starving to death.’ Milo replied in a weak voice, followed by a huge sigh.

‘Wait...I just remembered that on the upper right of our spacesuits, there’s a medium sized pocket which contains a liquid similar to an energy drink, but it’s only used for emergencies only.’ Harry answered in a strict voice.

‘Why didn’t I think of this earlier!’ Milo exclaimed as he quickly reached inside of his upper right pocket for the drink. ‘Are you sure this is edible?’ Milo asked.

‘Yes, I’m sure otherwise I wouldn’t remind you about it. However, this is only for emergencies only, so think carefully about how much you consume because it’s limited.’ Harry warned.

‘Obviously, this is an emergency! If I don’t drink it, I will pass out any second.’ Milo replied.

‘If you say so, although it’s going to be a long journey ahead.’ Harry answered.

Milo couldn’t be bothered by what Harry was saying. He already used a thin, long connecting tube and took a sip of the liquid.

‘What’s in this liquid? It’s completely tasteless!’ Milo asked.

‘I’m not one hundred percent certain, but from what I heard before it contains ten percent hydrogen, eighty-two percent oxygen, five percent vitamins and minerals, two percent neutral flavourings, and other unknown chemicals.’ Harry replied.

‘Wow! That’s specific. Not what I was looking for, but I’ll take it.’ Milo replied as he took a few more sips of the liquid.

‘Well, when you decide to ask me about the substances contained in the liquid, I would certainly reply with the most specific answer that I can possibly give.’ Harry chuckled.

‘That's great! I feel a little better now even though the liquid tastes flavourless. I still felt more energy had emerged into my body than before. I think that I should probably save some for later because who knows how long this journey would take.’ Milo replied.

‘You're right, it’s better to have more for back up than use it all up in one go.’ Harry agreed.

‘Are you sure you don’t need a drink too?’ Milo asked.

‘No, I’m good for now. Additionally, I would like to save some for the future for both of us.’ Harry answered.

‘If you say so, but if you feel like you can’t do it anymore, you must definitely consume some. It will save your life.’ Milo advised.

‘Don’t worry, I will.’ Harry replied.

Around one and a half hours had passed. The temperature was approximately nine degrees Celsius. Still no sign of anything. The cold breeze started to get to them. They felt a small amount of freezing air sunken through their spacesuits. They both had begun to shiver, however it worsened on Milo due to his adaptation to cold weather conditions. Yet cold isn’t an excuse to give up, as Milo continued going forwards and fighting through difficult times. After another thirty minutes had gone by, Milo’s legs trembled, his hands shook rapidly, and his feet felt as frozen as ice due to the extreme weather conditions. His entire body felt frozen from top to bottom even with all his spacesuit gear and coverage protecting him, it was still not enough. Harry on the other hand felt extremely cold too, however he has a higher tolerance level and was much finer at adapting to it.

‘I’m extremely cold. I think that I’m going to freeze any minute. Should we just stop going?’ Milo asked in a trembling voice.

‘We could stop walking forward if you must, although it will not make the situation any better. If we stop walking, our movement would gradually decrease causing us to become colder than before.’ Harry replied.

‘I guess there’s nowhere else to rest or go, though I almost cannot keep walking for much longer.’ Milo muttered.

‘Remember the time when our grandfather was an astronaut. On his first mission into space, he and his crew members were assigned a mission to investigate an extremely rare type of rock on the moon. Their mission into space was going smoothly until an exit door unexpectedly flew open during the middle of their flight. They were currently somewhere far into the atmosphere in space. Unfortunately, our grandfather was pushed out by an intense force of gravity and became stranded with only a long strip of rope tied around his waist. For hours he was stranded in outer space since one of his crew members refused to help him. The strength of all the other crew members added altogether was not enough to pull him back into the space shuttle. Until he was nearly going to be gone into space forever, the last member stood up to help him. They pulled with their maximum strength even when the rope was about to break apart. Eventually, they all had to work together as a team to pull our grandfather back into the space shuttle. You see, our grandfather was in an extremely difficult situation many years ago, however he was able to conquer through it and save his life. This is what we need to achieve, and by working together I know we can accomplish anything.’ Harry responded.

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‘I completely forgot about our grandfather’s mission. I mean this was certainly a long time ago. Thinking about this makes me feel more motivated to continue moving forward and find a way back to Earth.’ Milo replied.

‘Same, do you remember why we became space travellers?’ Harry questioned Milo.

‘Is it because of the influence that our grandfather gave us?’ Milo asked.

‘Our grandfather’s influence was partially a factor while I used to be really interested in space and all the planets and wishing that one day I could travel into it.’ Harry replied.

‘How did I become a space traveller too? Milo asked again.

‘I believe when you were a young child, you were curious about space too. Whenever I was reading about space or going to events relating to space, you would follow me.’ Harry answered.

‘Really? I can’t even remember the reason that got me here. I thought it just happened naturally.’ Milo said.

‘Well, it seems to me that it happened quite naturally too, since we’re academically high achievers, we’re probably the youngest space travellers ever in history. At least that's what I assume.’ Harry replied

‘Yes, I agree too, since we’re still adolescents no one would have travelled as far in space as we are now.’ Milo responded.

‘I know that this absolutely isn’t anything close to what our mission should seem like, however unexpected events can happen in life. The only way is to deal with it and be more optative towards the situation.’ Harry suggested.

‘Yes, we should. Do you know when we are going to find something helpful?’ Milo questioned.

‘At this point, I honestly have no idea. The flying space vessel isn’t showing us anything onto our control screen. I suggest we should keep on looking around our surroundings and keep moving forwards. Eventually, we will find something. I hope.’ Harry replied.

The two brothers continued to walk ahead. Ten minutes passed by, as a miniature red dot appeared on the top right hand side of the control screen. Milo felt a strong vibration on his hands. He nearly thought it was an electric shock until he peered his eyes on the control screen between his hands. He saw a small red dot appear and started beeping a sound similar to an alarm whilst vibrating too. He had no idea what it was or what to do about it, as he rapidly ran across to Harry.

‘I found a red dot on the control screen. What is it?’ Milo asked, showing the screen to Harry.

‘Hmm... I’m not sure either. It could indicate something ahead of us. Maybe we should follow the direction of the red dot and see what it could be.’ Harry suggested, looking rather concerned.

‘Is there a navigation director in the remote control?’ Milo questioned.

‘Let me have a look…’ Harry replied as he started to press the switches on the screen. ‘Er…it seems to be unable to connect.’

‘What do you mean it’s unable to connect?’ Milo asked.

‘There’s no signal at our current location, hence it cannot connect to satellite devices.’ Harry responded.

‘So what should we do now?’ Milo asked.

‘The only action we can proceed is to follow the red dot on the screen.’ Harry replied.

Soon, they quickly started to chase in the direction of the red dot. An unusual beeping sound emerged closer and closer to them. Not far from the distance, there was something anomalous and bright red appearing behind a large sized rock around a metre high. Milo had nearly begun to sprint towards the object just a second before Harry pulled his arm back.

‘Why did you pull me back?’ Milo asked with anger.

‘We must be quiet when approaching an anonymous object. We wouldn’t want to frighten it, thus we must be careful and silent, so we have a better chance at discovering what it is.’ Harry whispered.

‘Are you sure we will be able to find it in time if we move slowly?’ Milo asked.

‘Yes, when we move slowly and quietly, it will have a lower chance of being noticed and startled by us compared to rushing to it.’ Harry explained.

Milo had gently begun pulling the space vessel backwards not wanting the unknown object to notice anything suspicious going on. Whilst Milo waited a few metres back from the large rock as he was still holding the remote, Harry started to slowly approach it, being as soundless and careful of his movement as he could. Although Harry acts intrepid and fearless on the exterior, deep down he felt his heart pounding, hands shaking. Drops of sweat dripped down his palm. Nerves increased as he got closer and closer to the large rock. He stood in front of the rock for a few seconds, took a deep breath, then took a step forward to see what the bright red light was. An emerald, translucent, wobbly, arch shaped creature stood in front of Harry. It’s about fifty centimetres high, the translucent outer layer jiggled from side to side, whilst the bright red light came from the interior layer similar to the location of a human’s heart except it’s visible from almost any distance. Its two transparent antennas stretched straight up in the air almost as long as its body. It had three powerful, glistening turquoise eyes staring directly at Harry. There was a small electronic-like screen located just below its bright red heart. It appears to have an unknown word ‘EHIO’ written in capital black letters on the left side which translates to ‘HELLO’ on the right half of the screen. Harry had never seen anything as extraordinary as this in his entire life. Just a couple seconds later, Harry received an incoming radio message from Milo.

‘Harry...can you hear...did you find anything?’ Milo asked.

‘Uh...yes, you can come over now, although stay calm and be prepared.’ Harry replied quietly.

‘Okay...is it something petrifying?’ Milo questioned.

‘It’s slightly unusual, odd looking.’ Harry whispered.

‘Alright, I got it.’ Milo replied.

Milo slowly ambled towards Harry's location as Harry directed. Whilst walking, he was wondering what it could possibly be. Hundreds of imaginary images bursted into his mind. All of them seemed quite unique. One of them actually looked rather similar to the real creature even if he hadn’t seen it yet. As Milo was just about to see behind the rock, he stopped for a second, closed his eyes, then walked next to Harry and was willing to be surprised. He slowly opened his eyes. Instantly, his jaw dropped. Eyes widened. Face was in absolute shock. His mind went blank. He became silent for a few minutes just staring at the anomalous-looking creature...

‘Milo...Milo...Are you alright?’ Harry interrupted.

‘Ye...yep, I’m just a little shocked. I’ve never seen anything as peculiar as this.’ Milo replied, thinking he was still dreaming.

‘You seemed silent for a few minutes before, so I got quite worried. This is quite an idiosyncratic foreigner. You think so?’ Harry asked.

‘Do you think it’s possibly an alien?’ Milo asked back.

‘It likely could be one, however it has an electronic screen on its abdominal area.’ Harry replied as he waved at it.

‘It looks partly an alien and partially an automaton to me.’ Milo suggested.

‘Well, I suppose it could be, or it could be an extraterrestrial humanoid.’ Harry suggested.

‘Does it have a name?’ Milo asked.

‘I’m not sure. I presume we have to ask in order to know.’ Harry replied whilst turning his radio transmitter into a speaker.

‘How should I greet you?’ Harry asked the foreigner.

He waited a few seconds, but didn't reply. Just as he thought it clearly didn’t understand him, Harry remembered that the speaker can only command sound out whilst it cannot receive any sound. Thus, even if there was sound, he would be unable to hear anything. A second later, its electronic screen displayed ‘Mis ni els Yoki’ that translated into ‘My name is Yoki’ on the right side. Abruptly, Harry realised its screen was a translator and it was able to understand him all along.

‘Hello Yoki. Are you the only one on this planet?’ Harry asked.

It took a few seconds, then replied ‘No, I’m hiding from my parents.’ Harry had started to only read the translated version from now. He was astonished to hear that he wasn’t the only one here.

‘So there’s more Yokis on this planet? Milo asked Harry.

‘I don’t know yet. We need to ask Yoki to find out.’ Harry replied.

‘Can you take us to meet your parents?’ Milo asked Yoki, after turning his speaker on.

‘I’m not sure if they like visitors, but I can take you to the place I live.’ Yoki replied.

‘Sure, thank you so much! We’ve been looking for anything that can help us for such a long time. Thank god we’ve found you.’ Harry responded.

‘Anyways, who are you two?’ Yoki asked.

‘We’re astronauts from Earth and are trying to find a way to get back.’ Harry answered.

‘Ok, please follow me.’ Yoki replied.

‘Wait...are you sure we should follow Yoki?’ Milo asked Harry, after he turned his speaker off.

‘Of course, why are you questioning this?’ Harry asked.

‘Do you think Yoki is trustworthy? I don’t want to fall into a trap. Maybe we need to think thoroughly about this before deciding.’ Milo asked.

‘We have searched for long gruelling hours and we’ve finally found something. Even if Yoki isn’t trustworthy, we have no choice. We must follow Yoki.’ Harry demanded.

‘I presume you’re making the right decision, although remember to not leak too much information.’ Milo replied.

‘Relax Milo, I know what I’m doing. As you know the metaphorical phrase ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ You should apply it to this situation.’ Harry responded.

Whilst they followed Yoki, Milo still could not believe that this was happening in real life. Thus he had begun asking Yoki some questions to get to know him a little more.

‘So, do you know what this planet is called?’ Milo asked Yoki.

Instantly, an electronic screen on his back appeared to answer the question. It showed ‘Unfortunately, I’m not sure. You may need to ask others to find out.’

‘This is incredible! Your back has a screen too!’ Harry exclaimed.

‘What language do you speak? Can you understand English too?’ Milo questioned.

Yoki replied ‘We speak our traditional language you wouldn’t understand. I don’t actually understand English, however it’s our automatic translator that understands it.’

‘Who invented the automatic translator?’ Milo asked.

‘I don’t remember, unfortunately.’ Yoki replied.

‘Are we going to be reading the automatic translator forever?’ Milo asked.

‘Currently, you would only have one source you can understand. Unless you meet someone who speaks your language on this planet, you’ll be needing the automatic translator.’ Yoki replied.

Milo stopped asking further questions to Yoki. He thought this would become more disturbing for both Yoki and himself if he continued. He turned his speaker off to speak to Harry privately.

‘Harry, are you sure we should continue following Yoki? It seems that the automatic translator is more intimidating than Yoki.’ Milo asked.

‘We need to keep calm. There’s no other choice. Maybe you should pause asking Yoki questions for a while and just focus ahead on anything else that seems different.’ Harry suggested.

After a while of silence, Harry saw something massive and mysterious hidden behind the hazy, atmospheric distance.