text: This was from on r/WritingPrompts, but I wanted to put this here too because I think it's one of my favorite stories that I've ever written “If you are hearing this message, then the human race is dead. The information I am about to tell you is crucial, and it is imperative that you listen closely. I can’t say what our future may bring. I can’t say who or what will receive this recording, and under what circumstances that will happen, but there’s one thing I can say: this will be all we have left.” Adam picked up the device with a metal arm, and turned back to Eve. “Eve, take a look at this!” “Where you are standing used to be our home planet, Earth. We sent out a manned space vessel, the Ark, into the deepest regions of space carrying the last of our kind, in case those on Earth were wiped out by our interstellar neighbors. At the time this will be found, we expect that the mission will either be successful, or every single person on that ship will be dead. But it gives me peace of mind to know that, maybe someday, we’ll be found.” The two androids stood dumbfounded at the creature who was delivering the message. From nothing more than a small box, the creature was projected as a hologram. Two legs. Two arms. Bipedal, yes. A head on top that seemed to be where the thought processor was. It was built similarly to the android observers, but it was very organic, no metal parts anywhere. “They call themselves humans, then” Eve said, waving an arm back and forth through the hologram, finding that the human wasn’t in solid form. “It’s just an image,” Adam said. “I’m not sure if there are any real ones left” “It’s an interesting finding, nonetheless. If they built these ruins, I’d be pretty impressed” “Must’ve been the place the ship was launched. Maybe a military base” The human continued to speak over Adam and Eve. “In this ship you can expect a library of the stories we’ve written and the history we’ve made. I hope you can find solace in knowing that we didn’t waste our short time in this universe. The stories are ones of triumph and suffering, of good and evil, and of a species trying to do their best. Myself and the other members of the crew, if we live to see this day, await your arrival with anxiety and eagerness. If you encrypt this message, you can find the estimated coordinates the ship will be at on the date you receive this. I hope we can meet each other sometime soon. I hope whoever is out there will see that we are kind, and mean no harm. May the Gods be with you. Signing out.” The androids stood in silence for a second before Adam began scanning the device. “What are you doing?” Eve asked. Adam finished his scan and turned around. “We’re finding the Ark. The people aboard that ship might be the last organic lifeforms in the universe” “It’s the human’s own fault that they let their planet die. I mean, what’s the point anyway, if they’ll be gone in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only what they destroyed” “They made us” Eve sat down on a rock. “We don’t know that. You’ve said that about every other lifeform we’ve come across” “No-you don’t understand. We didn’t just come from nothing. If we really are the only ones left in the universe I at least want to know who gave us that opportunity” “How is Earth any different? How is it different from the hundreds of planets that we’ve searched?” Adam started to pace around the ruins. “Stories. They said they tell stories. And they kept them on the Ark, an endless vault of information both real and imaginary. If they made us, we’re the stories they’ve made, we’re the stories that they passed on to stay here long after they’re gone. We have a wealth of knowledge as expansive as the universe itself, and that's what they would have wanted. I just want to know that we’re not chunks of metal. I want to be the universe. I want to be infinite.” “Fine, we’ll go. You know, it’s ridiculous that we contain the entire wealth of knowledge in the universe and we can’t even find who gave it to us. You’re right, we owe them a debt. Did you get the coordinates?” Adam nodded. “It transmitted radio waves that I downloaded, and you could find the numbers in the code. It’s only a few light years from here.” “Great” Eve eagerly marched back to their ship. “Let’s meet our maker” \~ Adam slowed the ship to a stop as they reached the coordinates. “It should be here. That is, if it kept going on the intended trajectory.” Eve pointed at a gray blur in the distance. “Look!” They flew closer to find a massive, box-like ship that was about 50 miles long. Atop it seemed to be a city- or what used to be one. Massive skyscrapers with hundreds of glimmering windows dominated the area. Once it must’ve been full of light, but now, there were just occasional flickers behind the windows. Eve’s excitement turned into melancholy. “They must’ve done so much here. I’ve never seen anything like this.” Adam approached a landing pad that was coming into view. “I hope someone’s still in there. Even Earth isn’t like this, at least not anymore.” The exit ramp lowered and released a puff of gas. Carefully, Adam and Eve both stepped out and surveyed the surroundings. “There’s an entrance in that building over there. And- an elevator” Eve rushed to the elevator, Adam trailing behind her. The doors closed, and they began travelling to the lower levels. It was pitch black for the first few minutes. The tunnel was probably a mile long. After some time of silent anticipation, the glass doors slid open to reveal the bottom levels. Right away it was clear that the Ark was no more. The halls were barely illuminated by only a few flickering lights, and sparks flew out of some machinery on the wall. A loud ringing sound filled the room as they stepped onto the unstable metal floors. Something had happened here. Perhaps the extraterrestrials they were trying to avoid caught up with them. Perhaps they ran out of supplies. Or were killed off by a disease. But no matter what, Adam and Eve were now the only remaining inhabitants of the universe. Eve led the way through the winding, almost labyrinth-like halls. “Typical organic beings. They could never get along. Always out for blood. It just makes me sad that they had to end like this.” Adam stopped to look at the chunks of metal that were scattered across the hallway floors. “Everything has to end eventually. You can’t have a beginning without an end.” “Who’s to say you can’t begin again?” “There’s no way we can do that, Eve. Come on, let’s find that library” They turned right to find a massive chamber that was several stories high. Along the walls were hundreds of pods, each one carrying a human. “Cryosleep. They must’ve been kept in suspended animation. They’re alive” Eve barely smiled, but she knew this was wishful thinking. “No. Look at the pods.” They observed the bodies more closely. Many of them seemed to be in the middle of a scream, or were writhing in pain. Some of their skin had started to decay, and frost had built up inside the glass shield. A few of them had bones that were exposed. And every single one of them had the same cold, empty, dead eyes. One full of life, once full of pride, once full of the wonders of a species that was determined to make their mark on the universe and reach beyond the night sky. “That’s what happened, then” Adam said. “The pods were turned off, and everyone in them suffocated. The aliens- whoever or whatever they were- then looted the ship” They stood in silence, almost in mourning. Mourning people they never even knew. Mourning the death of organic life. “I need to see the library,” Adam said, turning around to continue exploring the ship. “I just need to read what the humans had to say so I can have peace of mind.” Eve didn’t say a word, but she continued on, and Adam followed. They were dead silent as they continued down the halls. Windows to either side of them gave a stunning view of the realm outside, of the infinite void of space. A reminder of what the universe represented. Discovery, survival, possibility. The creatures of the cosmos working in harmony. That chance for universal peace, that began its path to destruction the day the Ark was attacked, would never come back. The hall only led to a dead end, with access to only one room. As it came into view, it was clear that this was the library. It was nothing like the rest of the ship. Instead of metal, it was built with wood. A winding staircase circled the room and kept going up, beyond a point that was even visible. Shelves lined the wall- bookshelves. Physical manifestations of the human legacy. Each packed with a book, a book tirelessly constructed by one person, with nothing but a pen, and a dream. The creators of the Ark had chosen to abandon a modern digital storage system, instead opting to pay homage to the work of the authors who had written about and documented the legacy of a species. Adam and Eve began browsing the bookshelves and flipping through every title. Historical books like *The History of the Roman Empire* or *The Renaissance*. Works by great thinkers who were long gone. *Romeo and Juliet. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Great Gatsby. War and Peace*. New worlds, new universes, completely sculpted by thought alone. It was like a chance to start over, to construct the universe in your own image. “The humans sure told good stories” Adam said as he browsed through the works of Shakespeare. “I guess the only way to cope with the fact that you are alone on a ship in the middle of nowhere, and you’re the last of your kind, is to start over” Eve smiled at the thought. “Who’s to say we can’t start over too?” “What?” “The only thing you need to create a new universe is thought. We contain every thought there is to know. Who’s to say we can’t give these humans another chance? A chance to start over in a new world, where the only thing they need to enter it is a thought.” “So we put them in a simulation?” “It’s the least we can do. And then they can keep writing stories, and they can keep sculpting their own universes. We can’t die. These people can. But their thoughts don’t.” Adam nodded in agreement. Then he spotted a single table in the middle of the room, with only one book on it. *The Holy Bible.* Hesitantly, he came down the stairs, opened to the first page, and read. “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters” The world around him began to dissolve, and Adam began to feel like he was floating. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’” Everything went black. And there was light.