"The scanners have detected structures," my wife said.
"Structures? There are signs of life, or at least ruins."
"Running a full scan... No signs of life detected... Infrastructure intact..." my wife said, and a few seconds later, we were on the outskirts of... a city... a very large city...
I expected to see some ruins, some unknown civilization, but not an entire fucking city, which looked far too advanced.
"How is that possible..." Elena said, staring at the screen.
"I don't know, but I hope we find out," I said, then looked at my wife.
"Enterprise, can you track the signal?"
"Yes, I've already found the exact location. There's a large building in the center of the city, and the signal is coming from that building," she said.
"Can you land the ship next to that building?" I asked.
"Yes, there's plenty of empty space there where we could land the ship," she said.
"Okay, land the ship there, I'm heading down to the surface," I said, and was about to leave, but Elena grabbed my sleeve.
"Be careful..." she said, squeezing my sleeve again and letting go.
I simply smiled at her and nodded.
Approaching the airlock, I didn't bother putting on my spacesuit, as the planet was habitable and had air.
I felt a jolt, signaling we'd landed.
Soon enough, the door opened, and I stepped onto the surface.
As soon as I stepped out, I saw a large building in front of me, somewhat reminiscent of a temple, set a considerable distance from the other buildings. "Enterprise, can you hear me?" I asked over the holostic.
"I read you fine, Captain," she replied.
"Then stay in touch, just in case. We don't know why there aren't any creatures here. Perhaps whatever killed them is still here," I said.
"Roger!" she replied over the holostic.
Having cut off the connection, I put on my visor so that everything I saw was also visible to the Enterprise.
Taking my pistol, I headed for the temple entrance, which, fortunately, wasn't locked.
Emerging from the storm, the shuttle continued to fall, but it was somewhat under my control.
I walked with my pistol at the ready, not knowing what could jump out at me at any moment. I hope it wouldn't be something terrifying...
But I think the scanners weren't lying. I didn't see any signs of life or activity, which was very strange. All these buildings, this city, were completely untouched. It was as if time had stood still here...
What if there's some kind of life-threatening virus here and...
"Okay, stop worrying," I said to myself, shaking my head, as if trying to clear the bad thoughts from my head.
"I hope there aren't any traps in there..."
Okay, stop!
What am I even thinking!
This temple doesn't look ancient, so there definitely won't be arrows, spears, or lava here... but there might be lasers...
I carefully made my way to the entrance of this temple.
I felt like some kind of Lara Croft.
Entering the temple, I found myself in a large hall filled with frescoes, and at the end of which stood a statue...
"It can't be!" I whispered.
"Enterprise, do you see that?" I asked.
"Yes, and it's a little intriguing and frightening," she said.
I looked at the statue. A girl with ears and a tail... that can't be a coincidence.
Then my gaze was drawn to the frescoes, which didn't quite fit with the temple's concept, but that didn't make them any less inconspicuous.
Approaching the frescoes, I immediately began recording, just in case I couldn't figure out anything.
The first fresco depicted the jungle that made up this planet, although there was also an image of water, somewhat reminiscent of an ocean. It also depicted people scattered throughout various places. These people also had ears and tails of various kinds.
I saw fox tails and ears, dogs, cats, and even bears?
If people lived on this planet, then where are they now?
Moving on to the next fresco, which depicted a battle, I think, you can see all the representatives from the previous fresco fighting each other. Well, that was pretty understandable, since they had a primitive life, I guess.
Different species, different interests...
The next one showed something I didn't expect!
I hadn't seen the Reapers and their ships in this world yet, but I remember them from the game, but it's impossible to forget them. This fresco shows a Reaper ship descending on this planet, apparently to bring it in for the "harvest"! Now the puzzle is starting to come together, but then where did the city come from? That means they outlived the Reapers and even evolved too much...
Moving on to the next fresco, you could see how the Reapers began to enslave these species, but they didn't give in and fought back.
But I can't understand, don't the reapers leave behind civilizations that are very undeveloped, so that they can develop further and only then arrive to fulfill their "harvest?"
It was clear that these beastmen were losing; of course, they didn't stand a chance against advanced weapons.
But the next fresco surprised me.
It depicted a catwoman, one might even say she looked like a snow leopard, like me, judging by the color of her ears and tail. The people around her were kneeling, unlike the previous fresco where they were fighting, but I could see there were more species here.
Foxes, wolves, cats, dogs, bears, hares, owls.
There were also people with horns, which I assumed were either rams or bulls. But honestly, they looked more like demons. Like something out of anime.
There were a couple more, but I didn't recognize any of them.
So this was a planet inhabited by people with animal parts. But as far as I could tell, they were just ears and a tail. No furries!
The next fresco depicted the same catwoman, holding some kind of "cube," and it was clear she was sharing this "cube" with people.
Moving on to the next fresco, which depicted these people confronting the Reapers. And I couldn't believe it; not only were they defeating them, but they were doing it practically unarmed.
Is it all about that cube?
The next fresco showed me the Reapers flying away, and the people celebrating their victory.
The next fresco showed them building this temple, where they placed this "cube" from the past on a pedestal in some room, and then they erected a city that began to develop until it became too technologically advanced.
Wait!
So it's still here?
Maybe it was calling me?
Like a legacy?
It was like I'd fallen into some self-improvement novel and found the legacy of an "ancestor"! I hope I don't have to undergo a test that would force me to go beyond my limits.
Sigh.
The last fresco showed these people dwindling in number until there was none left.
What?
How can this be?
They defeated the Reapers, the galaxy's greatest threat.
And what killed them then?
Is there something even more terrifying than the Reapers that they couldn't defeat?
Sigh.
If so, I hope he's dead too.
I looked at the statues of the girl, who was most likely either a goddess or, at least, the inhabitants of this planet considered her one.
Who are you? And why do I look so much like you?
Shutting my thoughts aside, I turned back.
The frescoes ended, and it was time to approach the statue.
It was made of a material similar to marble, with an outstretched arm, but on its hand was a finger that it bent.
This confused me, and I climbed onto the statue to see what was wrong with that finger.
Reaching her hand, I saw some kind of mechanism running through the slits in her finger. I pulled her finger to straighten it. Hearing a click, I stepped over her shoulder, and a secret passage opened behind the statue.
Interesting!
I climbed down from the statue and approached this passage, where I hadn't seen anything.
"Well, there's one way to find out!" I said.
And I headed inside.