What I discovered quickly was how fast my ship was and from the starcharts in the onboard computer how vast space really was. The ship was capable of going faster than light but I was fearful of going at such a speed. Instead I set course for a planet that had been part of the old society and sat back to learn what I could from the records on the ship as we travelled at a more sedate speed which would see us reach our destination in just under twenty days. While I was excited about my new life exploring the universe I was aware that only a month before I had been just another person living out their life of bordom watching my life drift by.
I would sit and ask the computer questions about my ship and what it was capable of, what I wasn't expecting was finding out it had was fitted with weapons that could be used to attack or defend against hostile aggression. Such things were unheard of on my world and I found the thought of having them made me uncomfortable. Much of the history of the fall of the great society had been lost, in it's aftermath things had been about survival and science and technology had taken a giant leap backwards. All reference to the cause of the fall had been removed from the records as the new order that controled our planet moved forward. It was known that other species had lived alongside the humans in the old great society but none of them had lived on our planet.
The more I spoke with the computer the easier it became yet still I discovered I underestimated its capabilities. The question that brought this home was so basic a question that I was suprised it had taken me so long to ask.
"Computer, I can't keep refer to you by what you are, who are you and do you have a name?" I asked one morning just after I woke up.
"I am a Cybercore Z7 hologram interface system, my old human called me Thunderchild after the ship." The computer replied in it's voice that was far more natural than the metallic voices of the other vocals of computers I had used in the past.
"What is the hologram interface?" I asked and then any lingering residue of sleep fled as a young woman appeared before me.
"My old human liked me to appear like this but I can take any form you wish." The hologram said.
"This is just fine. " I stammered working to get over my shock. "I mean this form is good... Thunderchild. Can you touch things?"
"No I am just light manipulation to give a visual form to interact with people on the ship."
With the hologram conversations became easier, it's far more natural to just talk when there is someone sitting across from you. As I became used to Thunderchild our conversations became more wide ranging and I learnt about the fall of the great society and the appaling war that ripped it apart. I found this thought of such large destruction inflicted on people distressing and Thunderchild moved the conversation onto other things.
Yet with the job I had chosen I couldn't really avoid the horrors of the fall of the great society and when we arrived at our destination I saw the result of the total wipeout of a people. Once great cities, far bigger than any on my own world were now choked and over grown as nature reclaimed them. Life continued but humanity had been long gone from the face of the planet. Thunderchild scanned the planet surface as we searched for anything that we could use. In orbit were the destroyed relics of giant space stations, time and nature unable to mask the destruction inflicted as space held the results frozen in time. Looking at the results of the war the main thing I realised was this was not some battle for the planet but an extermination of it's people.
I spent a week scavenging on the planet and filling my ship with the materials that were needed back on my homeworld. By the time I left and set course for home I was ready to hear about what caused the fall of the great society. Thunderchild told me of the wars, of how people had fought to stay free from tyranny yet she didn't know how it ended. Had the universe destroyed itself and only our own planet had survived? On the way home I decided that while I gathered what was needed for my homeworld I would also search for answers to how the great wars ended and who won.
Thanks for reading, image is still mine.