Chapter 2: The Space Between Worlds

Dazzling lines of light traversed the parallel space in an endless spiral, eventually converging on a toroidal megastructure through which I caught a glimpse of the final destination of my astonishing journey.

I had recently regained my senses, and the visual illusions of my distorted body through the portal had just faded. I could now clearly discern a rocky planet facing me, which at that precise moment seemed particularly inhospitable.

Immense spiral galaxies, nebulae, and a few solitary planets completed this exceptional panorama.

What a cosmic journey! I had transitioned from a state of sub-being in a world highly connected and controlled by a central Artificial Intelligence to that of a wandering space explorer in the icy solitude of an astonishing void of interstellar space!

My space-time journey was not to end there, it seems. Indeed, as I approached the megastructure, I caught sight of immense spacecraft stationed and orbiting nearby, towards which my spacesuit propelled me at a gradually decreasing speed.

Bright swirls of light seemed to bend around ships, distorting space-time to propel them at superluminal speeds, and I understood then that my cosmic journey would conclude aboard one of these vessels.

Indeed, as I approached a spaceport with a multitude of transparent pods emitting a pale blue light, my wild course froze in one of these spacesuit docking stations.

Thousands of other space travelers were by my side. After a certain amount of time, which I was not then able to quantify, and while other suits were returning to their pods, the starlight suddenly changed shape and color, space and time folded into a blue and glowing tunnel, and our journey through the universe began.

Heading towards a new unknown world!

Once again, I lost consciousness…

Eons seemed to have passed since our departure from the galactic portal. As I gradually awoke, the pod that sheltered me opened, and my suit detached to propel me through space towards a new planet.

The atmospheric journey was particularly challenging. This world of rock, ice, and carbon dioxide gas, however, was breathtakingly beautiful.

I descended and soon landed in a valley between snow-covered mountains. A sky of deep black, dotted with sparkling stars, hosted what seemed to be a bluish moon whose light faintly illuminated the surrounding landscape, while huge rocky structures roared in the absolute silence of fire and light flashes.

I found other fellow travelers on the rocky path I undertook, and we traversed vast icy expanses before arriving at the first organized structure: the city of Kandath.

This planet was, without a doubt, particularly hostile to our forms of life, yet highly developed.

Kandath was splendid. Megalithic structures resembling gigantic skyscrapers, spaceports with numerous ships landing or taking off in an intoxicating dance all around us, an icy ground reflecting the pale lights of the sky—such was the first vision of this city that we had.

But this city also seemed to have suffered the ravages of destruction. Many structures were in ruins on Kandath. Here and there, plasma flames consumed monuments, the ground was littered with rocks and debris, and one clearly felt in danger if one were to venture too long in this inhospitable world.

I understood upon my arrival that this city would not be my ultimate destination but a step in my journey through space and time.

As we progressed within the city, we encountered several life forms with appearances very different from ours; monstrous, gigantic, and above all very aggressive towards us.

As these creatures approached us, we quickened our pace and began to run to escape a gruesome fate.

Thus, I lost my fellow travelers, and my wanderings in this hostile city began.

Randomly, I wandered between constructions and icy roads, trying to orient myself, seeking to approach a spaceport without attracting attention.

As I prepared to enter the spaceport, I saw another life form, somewhat different from the first, busy preparing ships for the great leap through space.

More humanoid, seeming less aggressive, clad in a spacesuit different from mine, they appeared to be the masters of the planet, while the monstrous creatures that had caused our dispersal undoubtedly served as its guardians.

One of them noticed me. His gaze froze me. I should have started running to escape, but I was not capable; I was paralyzed by fear.

He approached me and showed no hostility. As he came closer, I noticed his curious anatomy. The lights of the sky and stars reflected on the visor of his suit’s helmet, while the ballet of ships taking off towards the stars colored the sky with an orange fire.

He began to transmit information to me. Without speaking a word, he mentally conveyed to me that I could not stay here, and that I must continue my journey. He guided me towards the entrance of a building sinking deeply beneath the frozen surface of the planet and urged me to enter.

I had no choice but to comply.

As I wandered through dark corridors, I noticed in the distance a strange blue-orange glow.

I quickened my pace and entered a room of cyclopean dimensions, its walls adorned with a multitude of frescoes.

Driven by curiosity, I began to decipher one of these frescoes.

It depicted strange creatures traversing space to settle on a planet made of rock and water in order to extract minerals, while others reshaped the planetary landscape through terraforming to make it suitable for colonization, and yet others created different life forms, instruments of their works.

The appearance of these created life forms stunned me. They were in my image, without a doubt!

As I turned to contemplate the thousands of other frescoes I had yet to decipher, I noticed behind me a glow approaching rapidly.

It was the wall of the room closing in on me, and my living space was dangerously diminishing.

I began to run towards the blue-orange light facing me, narrowly escaping being crushed.

I entered a vast hall whose colored light of deep blue and flashes revealed two perpendicular toroidal structures: a plasma well topped with an arch resembling a portal.

Approaching the well, I saw intense lights swirling in arcs, and a holographic projection soon faced me.

It was a woman of my species. She stood there before me, seeming to have awaited me for ages.

She had familiar features, brunette with azure eyes, not wearing a spacesuit but clothes I had never seen before, of a luminous electric blue.

I felt an immediate connection with her; I was at ease, and my fear faded away.

I don’t know what came over me, but I removed the helmet of my spacesuit, and as I realized my fatal mistake and prepared to succumb to the lack of breathable atmosphere, I noticed that this room, whose walls had been sealed by the movements of the previous room’s wall, now contained an atmosphere compatible with my physiological needs. I could breathe the surrounding air.

The image of the woman in blue faded, and on the walls of the room, a door opened. Behind this door, a vast wardrobe with dark and strange clothes.

Suddenly, the plasma well and the arch above it began to spin at an increasingly rapid pace, and the plasma it contained was transferred from the well to the arch. The well sank into the ground as a stone-paved path appeared, closing it.

I understood that the portal to another world had just been activated, and that to be able to take it, I would have to leave my spacesuit and don attire more suitable for my journey. I chose a long black cloak that I put on, and after pulling the hood over my head, I headed towards the portal, having no possibility of turning back.

As I approached, I saw in a whirl of fire and light the new worlds towards which I was heading.

To be continued here: Chapter 3