In the far future, a group of scientists is trying to make sense of early 21st Century’s Internet.
Two years. Two years since I found the coordinates buried deep within the Archive. And it’s marvellous. This world’s star tries to hide behind a thick layer of clouds, and storms race from the seas over to the open grass fields, carrying pockets of dust with them. It’s cold out here. Nevertheless, we got out as soon as we landed and took our first breath of fresh air. The grass feels soft underneath my boots, and if I weren’t so scared about potential infections on this unknown world, I’d probably try to walk over it barefoot.
I can barely imagine how this place must have looked thousands of years ago. There was a time when they built towers of steel and glass. There was a time when they muddied the waters and poisoned the air by burning fossil fuels. There was a time when they where hypnotized by a global data communications network that nearly made them forget that they were human. Luckily, they turned it around and sent our ancestors to the stars, seven thousand years ago.
Seven thousand years. And I, a former trash kid from a garbage arm pit of the sector, am one of the lucky few to dig up its past.
Lucky we are, indeed. I breath the air, I feel the wind, and I can’t wait to uncover the secrets and mysteries that await us. Someone brought wine. Some sing. Even our captain joined us. She doesn’t care for history and/or humanity’s past at all, but I believe I can see a faint smirk on her face as she looks over the cheering scientists…
Some white birds fly over from the coast as I look into the sky. I have never seen birds like these before.
Taken from Mel’s Diary
christoph-david volbers 