A Planetary Ticking Time Bomb

10 MONTHS TILL TOTAL COLLAPSE

2 months pass by from the start of their journey. Before heading to the Ira System, they had made brief stops on various other planets along the way-as per Omne’s orders. Their pit-stops went by faster than the last.

One planet, named Ros, encompassed a global ocean. 85% of the planet was water while the other 15% consisted of inhabited islands. These land masses were constantly moving around due to the force of the waves, as such the population built turbines to stabilize and move their cities around. Due to their migratory nature, Hikyaku and Ako missed their landing zone by a couple kilometers-landing in the ocean.

They used the flaps on the ship’s wings as a makeshift paddle. Reaching the port after an hour, they were surprised to find the people had already accepted their ultimate doom. The erratic migratory nature was due to an ongoing voyage they wished to complete one last time. The duo’s whole purpose of travelling here was worthless. Not to mention both of them were covered with water, causing Hikyaku’s bio-suit to flip to aquatic mode while in the presence of the planet’s elders. They left faster than they arrived.

Another planet, named Abiit, had settlements built near active volcanoes. Considering the frigid temperatures, plummeting to -200 degrees celsius at its lowest, it was only natural for them to harness the heat and energy that the planet's mantle offered.

When the duo arrived, they realized most of the people had abandoned it. A mass exodus occurred shortly after word of the end had reached the civilians. They resorted to paying transport ships for their escape. This reduced the population to only a fraction. The reason was obvious: who would wish to suffer making a harsh land livable when no future generation could receive the benefits. Once again, their travel here had been for nothing. They left, paying respects to those who stayed.

Rinse and repeat, the cycle was the same until they were near the Ira System.

“It’s been weeks, but we’re back in the interstellar communication network.” Ako mentioned.

“It felt a lot longer than that.” Hikyaku said, growing sick and tired of her job

They received a transmission requested, the text read: ‘OMNE’

“Oh god, what more does she want?” She accepted the request.

A hologram pops up from Ako’s eye, it was Omne.

“Salute, Hikyaku and Ako. How has the journey been so far?”

“Quite mixed, some places abandoned hope while others strung together what sanity they had left. Not a pretty sight, it’s giving me flashbacks to our failed ventures of peace in the past.” Hikyaku noticed something was off about Omne.

She had visible wrinkles all over her face, her body looked to have been drained of life. Despite that, she was still barely functioning.

“Are you holding up ok, Omne?” She asked.

“I could be better, work has ramped up to the absolute limit. I don’t have time to rest, not yet.” Omne said with determination in her voice.

“Our next destination is the Ira system, it’s a war-torn set of colonies during the Laniakean war.” Ako commented.

“Exactly. A stray bullet coming from the system ended up destroying a civilian cruise liner flying across a neighboring star. Turns out the fight there is heating up again. Leopold Von Loticus, leader of the Ruvin empire. And Ainsel Albert V, leader of the Ivernia empire. Two armies of opposing nature, both hell bent on stopping each other due to their beliefs on the bubble.”

“So we got a war to stop?” Hikyaku asked.

“Yes, they should listen to the contents on the scroll and raise their white flags. That way there won’t be any unnecessary casualties.”

“And if they don’t listen?” Ako adds onto the questions.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. If so, abandon the system immediately.”

“Roger.” The duo respond.

“Also, I have one more planet I wish for you to visit before arriving at the Ira System. There’s a planet called Rufus orbiting a dwarf star. I need you guys to analyze the minerals left on that planet.”

“Another odd-job, huh?”

“Hikyaku, you’re the best for the job. Ako will be there beside you, helping you every step of the way.”

“But-”

“I’m cutting out, sorry I have a meeting to attend to. Bye!” Omne cuts transmission, her hologram fading.

Silence filled the cabin as they continued their journey, now focusing on the planet Rufus. Ako maintained the star-ship’s movement. As Hikyaku monitored their navigational system, a certain thought shrouded her mind. She decided to ruminate on it.

“Ako, you think I’m acting cold to these people we’ve been meeting?”

“How so?”

“I don’t know. Everything I say comes across as jagged to them.”

“I’ve only known you for 2 months. I haven’t had enough time to judge your character, but I can confirm that it is necessary to be straight-forward when getting the message across.”

“I wasn’t always like this… or was I?” Hikyaku tries to remember her past jobs as a Hikya-kukan, but her memories come back foggy.

“Maybe I was who I still am.” She answered her own question.

Ako was listening to her mumble to herself, but didn’t respond.

One small warp later, they arrived at planet Rufus. The outer crust of the land was made of cracked tungsten layers. The depth of the cracks ranged from a couple kilometers to hundreds of kilometers. A faint blue glow emanated from the openings. The sky was plagued with yellow crystalline particles.

“Planet Rufus, temperature ranges from 100 degrees celsius to -100 degrees celsius. The air is mixed with various toxic gases like tungsten trioxide and gallium oxide. This was once a research station on radioactive minerals. It turned into a nuclear power plant for some time before they reverted back into a research centre due to its geological inactivity. Extreme levels of radioactivity around the planet so protective wear is mandatory for survival.” Ako mentions.

Hikyaku saw one of the outposts partially submerged under the tungsten tectonic plates. As they landed and hopped onto the metal ground, it felt like they jumped on concrete. Her bio-suit wrapped her in thick metal layers to resist the radiation. Marching towards the facility, they found various industrial machines. Everything looked abandoned, not a sign of life was around.

“I can’t detect any movement around.” Ako had his antenna protruding from his eye.

“Maybe they all left, let me check around.” Hikyaku headed toward the facility.

“Possibly, let me start the operation.” Ako bounced from her shoulder and latched onto one of the robotic diggers.

“Using that? I know you can control ships and drones…”

“My design allows me to take control of any machine at will, I act like a parasite or a puppeteer.” Ako punctured his tendrils around the gears of the robot, fixing himself on top of its head.

“Very humane design. Your designers had a lazy eye for operational safety, letting you take the reins.”

“It does have its perks.” Now controlling the robot, Ako crawled out of the crevice it was trapped in; he began to uncover the rock around him with his shovel hand.

“You’re prideful too? They gave you the full package.” Hikyaku searched the empty facility in the meantime.

“Hikyaku, you seemed troubled about yourself.”

“You chose to be silent before, why bring it up now?”

“I am your colleague, not your therapist. But if you waver in a time of action, it’d make you a nuisance.”

“Ah, so that’s what this is about, huh?” Hikyaku was visibly annoyed.

“Look, we both know death’s door is right around the corner. The least we can do is finish our last jobs the best way possible.”

“Maybe it’s easy for you to say. But I’ve said the same thing for years now.”

“How did your jobs go in the past? Before the talk of the end.” Ako calmed her down with a question.

“They didn’t go as swimmingly as you’d expect. Sometimes it’d be a simple task of sending an order receipt for grains. Other times I’d be sticking my neck on the line to hand in top secret data, stuff that’d get me executed if I ever opened the contents.”

“That sounds like an interesting time.”

“What about you?” She asked Ako.

“I spent most of my life in the lab, always being tested with and played around. There were moments when I had the freedom to move around and feel what nature is like.”

“So I’m guessing these planets are like a vacation for you.”

“Of course. I’d expected you to enjoy it too.”

“Yeah, during my earlier years I enjoyed my time as a Hikya-kukan. There were many instances where the messages I sent actually received positivity. Leviticus reminded me of those golden days. It was all fine until one job…”

“Omne did say she kept you under protection after a certain task you finished. Was this it?”

“Probably, I don’t remember much. What I do recall was that it was the delivering of an armistice. I was tasked with transporting the scroll, and several guards were with me during the mission. I don’t remember much, but things didn’t go exactly as planned…”

A blurry memory popped up in her mind:

In front of her was a man holding some device in their hands, yelling at them. Her memory cuts there.

“Bad business?” Ako asked.

“I don’t rightfully know. Hey, are you almost done?”

“Not quite, the tungsten at ground level seems to have been hit with a similar radioactive blast as metals in the crevice. This is concerning.” Ako was on high alert.

After finding nothing but broken rubble, Hikyaku walked out through the back door. She came across a ship that had been almost entirely submerged in the tungsten crevice. It was hidden from her view when she first saw the facility.

“I found a ship.” She reported, scavenging around to find any source of life.

“Did you find any survivors?”

As she walked closer, she found piles of deformed bones, torn supplies, and a crevice that went down for hundreds of kilometers.

“Did you find any survivors? Hikyaku?” Ako asked once more.

For the first time in what felt like forever, she felt fear. Not the kind that made your heart spike, but the kind that’d make your soul want to crawl out of your body by how paralyzing that terror felt. Ako realized how bad the situation was.

“Vast amounts of plutonium are found in the planet’s core. The liquid gallium that moves around the core bounces the particles around the inner layer, causing a chain reaction that melts portions of the planet’s crust back within itself. This in turn causes the outer layer to shift, which worsens the state of the core causing a positive feedback loop.”

“R…ru…” Hikyaku tried to regain her composure.

“It’s unstable… this place-”

Ako felt a rumble coming from underneath him.

“THE PLANET IS STILL ACTIVE!” His sirens blurted out.

“RUN BACK TO THE SHIP!” Hikyaku shouted.