Companion #1626

Traveling through space isn’t like how the movies made it out to be. There is no dreamscapes or fantastical light shows. No spunky sidekicks, no overly dramatic catchphrases, just the hum of the “space folders” and the “time rippers”. You simply stare blankly at the wall hoping that the ship doesn’t impact a small pebble like space object or course correct to close to a neutron star.

Do yo know what a small object with a little bit of mass can do to a ship traveling faster than the speed of light? Well, neither does anyone alive. Still staring at the magnetically enhanced rivets trying to calm your anxiety of perishing, either in a fiery blast or being sucked out into the cold void of space, is better than cowering under a desk. Meanwhile, trying desperately to kiss your ass goodbye after seeing the bright flash of the Czar Bombs being dropped.

It still sucks that interstellar travel is hampered by the restrictions set on Earth. Just another butterfly effect. Like how Roman roads effectively effected how the first space shuttle was launched. I wonder if there will be any butterfly’s in the system were all traveling to?

It’s hard to believe that only a few days ago we were scuttling the planet and preparing for this year long voyage to some distant star halfway across the universe. I guess when they ask how far can you trust a droid? The answer is as far away as earth is from this SolaVerse. Essentially flinging these companion droids to trail-blaze routes and ensure the rigors of space travel was safe for humans. Lucky enough for us it is. I sure hope they have Baja Blast in the cafeteria. If there was one thing we got right back on Earth it was that. War has a way of dampening everything about life, less one thing. For me that’s a nice Mountain Dew Baja Blast.

The financial wars of 2023 were really something. It all started after the long pandemic of 2019. A simple virus concocted in a laboratory had everyone questioning everything. They say that if there is one uncanny similarity or occurrence it is a happenstance, if there were two its a coincidence, and three or more and it becomes a conspiracy. Think about it, the United States intelligence community decided to release classified documentation about aliens and no one batted and eye. Want a history lesson? Well stay put. Get your favorite grog and put some pizza rolls in the air fryer.

In 2012 was the first happenstance. The economic bubble burst but no one knew it. It took 10 years and a worldwide pandemic to finally break Atlas’s back. People pointed fingers and just wanted to blame someone. Governments seemed to think they were going to get away with it like they did in the past. Raise interest rates, ease monetary policy, blame oil companies and inflation. They failed to look at the monopolistic companies that were the ones really behind it all. When one company controls who is able to get Fruity Pebbles and who isn’t all hell can break loose quite easily. In this case hell was slowly creeping like the hell mouths of bad Buffy storylines. Except in this case, civil wars came equipped with nuclear arsenals. Amazing how a man in Florida can power his home from a relic of the Cold War but some yahoo in the hills of West Virginia can create a dirty bomb that would ignite the world.

Russia and China started swindling the world, holding back resources and basically devastating all of the eastern countries. This led to feuds with the western world, kind of like a reverse World War II. Instead of the United States hoarding oil to be thrust into war of nations it was Putin and Xi Jinping. We thought that the Ukrainian war was going to lead to nuclear disaster, then we thought that Taiwan was going to erupt in tensions and US air forces to be shot down by Chinese antagonists. But the real devastating blow was going to come from somewhere completely unexpected. A dirty bomb if you will. Probably something put together by Jethro to own the ‘libs’. I mean even I have a hard time believing that a deer-turd picking Trump follower was able to create such a devastating domino of events is beyond comprehension. I’m sure it is just another conspiracy anyway. Luckily conspiracies aren’t strong in where were headed.

But back on Earth, the governments hid the truth. No one was ever going to send a missile across oceans and on a plotted trajectory. With as much surveillance and increased visual effects they would be able to put together a snuff video of Putin in a lunar base giving the order and pushing the button himself before the ICBM would hit its target. It would just lead to a lot of finger pointing and that weird Ebaum’s World video with the kangaroos and everyone firing all of their missiles. Anyway, this dirty bomb started the whole thing. They projected it would be in New York somewhere but of course that was to on the nose. Hell even the governor was like “Hey do this in the event of a nuclear blast.” Intelligence gets thrown around a lot but some people have none. Governments rarely have the elite brain trusts of the world in positions of power… most of the time they are just figure heads or Cheeto dusted adulterers.

No one knew what happened, it all took place so fast; that before Sunday brunch half the world was aflame. Surely it was a contingency plan. But hell at least we don’t have to worry about global warming! Ha, too soon… yeah too soon.

The national alert and emergency messages were all playing on every channel and radio stations. Messages telling people to stay in their homes and not come out. Radiation poisoning is no joke. The “preppers” were loving it though… Hell there are probably still some sitting in their bunkers eating freeze dried meats and berries. Those things have a 25 year shelf life you know.

Everyone was scrambling. Everyone acting like chickens with their heads cut off. It was a despicable sight for the likes of human beings. The once dominant species undone by their own inventions… sigh.

What heavenly miracle was going to be bestowed upon us failing simpletons? Along come the guide stones. Yeah those things that stood over in Georgia. Not the country, the state in America. These towering monoliths held the keys to rebuild the world even after it would be burned to the ground. Funny thing is that they were destroyed long before the ‘war of the world’ took place. Demolished by some loon in 2022. Turns out that it was a blessing in disguise. These giant stones held not only pertinent information for the rebuilding of the human race but where we could all thrive.

Inside the stones were markers. These markers weren’t human made. No-way were they human made. Definitely deposited within the stones by some extraterrestrial being. Certainly not some magical wizard in the sky. They were immediately swept up by the government and kept under lock and key. Luckily the brain trusts that aren’t in the government authority do actually work in the back rooms. Every nation sent their best and brightest to help decipher and figure out what exactly were in these beacons.

We of course never found out about any of this until it was necessary. Much like the secret bunkers that each government has to hide the “important” people when all hell breaks loose. Turns out all of those lights in the sky over South Carolina and in Los Angeles and in the desert of Nevada weren’t extraterrestrials. They were in fact test space craft. You heard me correctly. Test space craft. Each of them different in what they were capable of. Every government sworn to secrecy. Man did they ever throw the guy who looks like Rick, from Rick and Morty, on Ancient Aliens for a loop. I know he believe it was aliens…

Some crafts were so fast that they were dropping people off from different timelines. As soon as someone claimed they were from the future like some T-9 would only be able to post 1 or 2 videos on InstaGram or TikTok before the government would snatch them up. But oh, how cool were the space craft. There were a few different types. Some were heavy cargo ships, they were slower than the other ships but were sent close to the “destination” so even if the drill line came up empty, searchers could go out to their projected coordinates and retrieve them if there was a successful mission.

The missions space craft were nicknamed “the borers”. These tiny crafts that were able to tunnel through space at hyper-light travel. You have all heard of faster than light. Well that is slower than slow compared to hyper-light. Think of “beam me up Scottie” but on PCP, Steroids, and thick black coffee with a red Bull mixed in. You get the picture. One minute you are here and the next your halfway across the universe. The only thing was that with the first installments of these ships there would be no way of having enough supplies for a return trip it was a one and done. So if a human went, well suicide mission is what would be best to describe it.

To avoid the horrors of that fantastical trip we created these AI driven robots. They were able to carry out these tasks for us. They were just simple droids that all looked the same. But with so many projects and so many different supposed destinations the creators wanted a better way to tell them all apart. Much like a 3rd grade design contest each of the robots teams were able to distinguish themselves from everyone else by dressing up their fated companions. And that is how that name came. The companions.

With every companion mission came the hope that we would find, life, sentience, a new home, civilization. We never thought that we would be needing a new home so quickly. The beacons contained within the Guide-stones were markers that showed 10,000 different possible safe havens. We didn’t know if there would be life, if there were habitable planets. But there was always a chance. So we sent 10,000 companions out in their borers to tunnel their way and scout ahead. Only 2000 of them were able to find anything. Those 2000 all found stars. Each star had planets and each planet was in the Goldilocks zone.

But how did we get the message that they were able to find these stars? Cool thing is that nothing is ever quite what it seems. The James Webb Space Telescope that was sent into low Earth orbit to scout the vast expanse of our universe. Yeah, that one that showed us some cool images from the beginning of time as we know it. Yup, it was just a façade. Turns out it was just what we needed in order to receive the messages of a job well done from our fateful little droids.

Granted we knew where to fix James Webb’s gaze since the markers all pointed to a distinct region in space. But if they were so accurate why did we need to send 10,000 of these companions. Well, It’s easier if I just give you a little anecdote. You know William Tell? Well if he were shooting at an apple 10 feet away he might be able to be off an inch or so an still hit his mark. But, take that same apple and put it 1000 feet away. Now if he is off that same inch or two that he was at 10 feet he would miss the apple by a, well a long way. Anyway, amplify this over light years. Hell, some of them crazy droids could get swallowed by a rogue black hole… Luckily all of them made it but not all of them in one piece. Only 2000 actually were able to plot the coordinates to the stars for reconnaissance..

Long story short, it is a good thing that we are going to the SolaVerse. Everyone can be who they want. There is no real governing authority. There are of course the factions and the Nebulas but the only thing that anyone agrees on is the currency. It’s all digital… SOLA.

With the financial wars, that ended up killing society as we know it, there was one thing to come out which was good. ‘Crypto’ or cryptocurrency was the saving grace. Those who knew, knew. And those who didn’t well, lets say that some boomers caught on. Digitalized money, tokenization of and the internet of value. It all was something that transferred from our first terrestrial home to our new solar one. We weren’t all that original, but more nostalgic, when whoever came up with the name of the SolaVerse. I’m sure that it all started as a joke and eventually the name just stuck. You know when someone was X years old when they found out that the Sun actually has a name that isn’t ‘Sun’ but is in actuality Sol. So, we got Sol and that manifested into Solar and then shortened to Sola. Hard to believe our new vestige of sanctitude was decided on or over water cooler talk. But SolaVerse is way better than SolarVerse. Like Dumb and Dumber, ‘Sol…Solar…Solana…SolaVerse glad the droids weren’t that inch or two off.’

Cool thing though is that in the SolaVerse there is SOLA mullah! The companions first mission once they found the stars was to start collecting SOLA. This currency wasn’t just something for trade but also a resource that was needed to sustain life. Now everyone can collect SOLA and be who they want to be. Sure there are still some whales that throw around their SOLA bankroll. But, everyone has a chance. No, corporations, No Putins, none of that stuff the old world had plenty of. Everyone is free and everyone is able to make their own way. Sure you might have to work a little bit, but you can explore, travel, trade, barter, or if your feeling froggy there are plenty of rogue adventures and mercenary quests to test your meter and fill your pockets. Pirates, mercenaries, anarchists all roam freely just as I will. And just as easily as you can too.