"How long has it been?"

  "A little over 500 years."

  I stared emptily into space as I tried to process that revelation. Ajax simply continued, impartially delivering his assessment: "In addition, due to the mental immersion, the participant likely experienced that period severalfold."

  I continue to sit silently before staring at the smooth tiled ceiling. My gaze seemed to pierce through, go beyond the mountain rock, and reflect the night sky above. I stared before my pupils slowly rotated – a blood red mist in their wake.

  'I wonder if there's anything left.'

  ///

  Moira let out a small, quiet sigh as the reports of the first round of exploration came flooding back to the command center.

  'Nothing'

  Her usually stoic expression cracked as the corner of her lips twitched slightly.

  'Ahhh,' she moaned internally before composing herself.

  'Well, it's to be expected. Nothing viable. Always encrypted. Business as usual.'

  A voice came from behind—smooth and silky like a rushing stream. "I'm assuming they haven't found anything," the blue-skinned man questioned from behind. Amos leaned leisurely against the wall, focused on the ship's proximity and warp detectors.

  Moira answered without turning around:

  "You know how it is. Human tech works in a fundamentally different way.'

  Yes. Everything about human advancement was contradictory and troubling. After all, they had developed in an area devoid of the Source. And as such, were the only species cut off from its connection throughout the University. How that came to be was a mystery.

  It was a paradox: Source was the root of all things, the origin of existence itself, and so how could something come into being without it or, perhaps, in spite of it?

  Moira actually held deep respect for human engineering. They had rivalled the advanced civilizations that ruled as universal hegemons without access to the sublimation of personal power but solely through sheer ingenuity and technical prowess.

  She kept those thoughts to herself, though. Positive views of the Empire weren't exactly popular.

  Moreover, she was also secretly peeved at how difficult their prowess made her job.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  'I mean seriously you create mountains of things light years ahead of any of the other civilizations but then make it nearly impossible for anyone to ever make use of it. Well, anyone except a human, of course, but they aren't any of them left around.'

  She pouted for a bit before Amos tore her away from her thoughts.

  "You know if we don't find anything we could just strip the wreckages," he joked.

  "It's not like we're lacking options," he added as he made an exaggerated gesture from right to left, indicating the endless sea of twisted metal and pulses of verdant green.

  "As if!" she decided to play along. "That metal is worthless. It's the worst."

  "And are you seriously telling me that after all this time you still don't know that the only reason it holds up is because it's infused with that artificial Source of theirs and the second you unbind it turns into scrap metal."

  "Fucking cheapskates."

  "Smart, actually," he countered, "it made mass production feasible."

  Her expression twisted in an over-the-top emulation of anger and indignation.

  "Not another word before I teach you a lesson you won't forget," she threatened as she held her small, clawed fist up menacingly. Her skin was pale tawny, but it was rough and thick—near solid—with her joints receding inwards, taking the appearance of deep grooves.

  He raised in his hands in mock defeat, wearing a terribly contrived recalcitrant expression:

  "All right, you win."

  "That's what I thought," she snorted in response.

  "You know," Amos's voice turned serious.

  "I still don't understand why we mimic and integrate human mannerisms."

  "I told you it was an attempt to reproduce a human will to gain access."

  "You know that's not how manifesting will works," he pointed out.

  Moira simply crossed her arms as her face dimmed a little, conveying clear exasperation. Her eyes rolled slightly. 'Yes, I know. You only remind me of the fact constantly.'

  He continued unperturbed, "Humanity's perception, consciousness, and very existence operate on a completely different wavelength than everything else."

  "It's impossible to reproduce, emulate, or mimic," he stated, garnering only a halfhearted nod in response. "A foolish endeavor indeed," he said, earning himself another glare as he pensively stroked his chin with his hand.

  "But that does make me wonder if replicating human behavior was a total and complete failure why exactly do we continue to do it?" he asked with a smile.

  Unbothered by his antics, Moira redawned her stoic captain's expression before answering, "Because it's fun, and it's grown into a habit."

  Amos simply smirked lightly 'It is indeed'

  He then looked forward, taking in the desolate landscape. The sheer devastation always struck him, no matter how many times they visited this world. He glanced sideways at Moira's back before sighing, 'Though I think you underestimate how truly terrifying they could be.'

  Above, far away, past the immobile clouds and beyond the edge of the atmosphere, space began to ripple. It flexed and shuddered, convulsing in regular intervals as something seemed to try to force itself through the veil.

  It pulsed. Once. Twice. The barrier, wordlessly groaning with effort before finally giving in, cracked before spewing outwards like the edges of a piece of paper that had been punched through.

  A ship descended, sporting a triangular design as it drifted silently towards the planet's surface. It was externally featureless save for the countless black filaments it carried like some otherworldly jellyfish. Behind it, space flashed to more times, revealing two more identical ships all bearing a similar malevolent sigil:

  A reaper - though an alien interpretation.

  Below, the scavenger flagship flew in low orbit, probing the surface for suitable targets. Suddenly, an alarm started blaring, and warning notifications flooded the viewing screen overhead. Inside, hidden deeply within the cargo hold, an object flickered with light. Moira only had one thought on her mind - a primordial feeling that transcended all races:

  'Shit.'