GuNNhead

Launched and uncaught, we have arrived approximate to this old galaxy. The first detected to hold within its gossamer an ancient artifact prophesied to aid in the survival of this universe. While there is still a ways to travel to our destination, the announcement of a feast still spurs the Prophets to their bountiful banquet. I join for the exposition.

“Seers, believers, and special guests! The time has arrived, our allegiance with The Network has reached its first apex. Though many have tried to stop us, we have prevailed. The first artifact shall be ours, and together we will save our universe! Now, feast and revel in our salvation!”

The hall erupts in cheers, and they nourish themselves on spirit. I go back to my craft, but down the hall I am called out to by Vokrssel. It is about the artifacts, they are the heaviest materials in the universe. The current knowledge is that with their combined weight, that they will be able to embed them into the center of the universe, and re-ignite the collapse, renewing the universe for untold billions of years, creating new life once more, and preserving what lives have been built. He makes it clear that while I won’t be required for the archaeological or technical requirements, I may prove instrumental in acquiring the artifact. I do not focus on what he continues to say, because my focus is gradually drawn outwards. The Artifact. I can always feel the gravity of the universe, I sense it with every pulse of my existence, drawing it in. My suit bristles with a surge of power. Vokrssel notices, and knowingly inquires if I can feel the weight at this close range. I confirm, noting that I could feel it vaguely in the background as we were approaching, but it wasn’t until this range that it truly piqued my purview; as there are numerous neutron stars and black holes. Though, I add, that as theorized, these are far beyond the mass limit of a neutron star, surpassing that of a black hole, and yet it has not succumbed to it’s own weight into becoming a black hole itself.

Back on my ship I scour through what The Network’s database has so far for data on this relic of a galaxy. The Cannon is being built, but has quite the time yet to be operational. 28% scanned, 53% hostile border to the discovered edge. Not many are found this restricted, or, as The Network calls it “disavowed”. One of its primary operating parameters. If beings lay claim to a territory of space, and request that The Network not scan it, it will not scan it. That is, of course, if it runs into any sentient beings. Most of its scans find no such presence, and result in simple resource extraction. To build more scanners. To build another Galactic Canon. To launch more scanners. To scan and document and connect the universe. Ongoing, even in the face of a complete and total universal collapse. Which is where these “Prophets” come in. The Network’s own data supported The Prophet’s predictions, and it agreed to flag and notify them if any of the ‘gravitational artifacts’ appeared in their scans. With their galaxy’s aid and cooperation, their Galactic Cannon had marked improvements. From this point onward, The Network and The Prophets worked side by side. Though The Network would still not interfere if their scans were refused, The Prophets were free to spread their prophecies, often from there being able to extend the olive branch for The Network’s database.

The Prophets had one of the few wholly united galaxies. Second, of course, to The Network’s own home galaxy. My own was peaceful, though nowhere near united. Many welcomed the wealth of knowledge from across the stars, and wanted our records in the annals of their historical and current database. Under 25% disavowed space. With most of that spread out in small pockets. So, with the universe being 13 billion years old, theirs would be 8 to 9 billion years, while mine is 6.5 billion, right in the middle of expansion. No where near as old as this 11 billion year old obstinate curmudgeon we find ourselves in.