NMS: The Next Adventurer

NMS: THE NEXT ADVENTURER

FIVE: THE MESSAGE

The traveller climbed into the cockpit of the now fully-repaired Radiant Pillar and began the startup sequence. The ship went from being an inert lump of metal to something almost alive, lights and computer readouts bathing the cockpit in multicolour light. As the engines fired up and increased their power, the vibrations the traveller felt were somehow comforting, as though they connected to a deep part of vis very being.

With the engines wound up to full capacity, the traveller fired up the launch thrusters. Radiant Pillar took off, its roar filling the sky. It swiftly gained height, the rocky, dusty land receding below it.

Passing through the cloud cover and beyond the atmosphere, Radiant Pillar entered sub-orbital flight. The traveller felt a sense of yearning as ve beheld space dusted with countless stars. Then, an alert from the ship’s comms snapped attention back to the here and now. Somebody-or something-was broadcasting a message.

“Please identify yourself. I’m…” and then there was a burst of static, conspiring to obscure the identity of the messages sender. “You are not….alone”. The broadcast ended, but just before it did, a set of planetary coordinates was transmitted.

The traveller contemplated the message. Logically, it had been a broadcast that any ship could have picked up, yet somehow it felt like it had been meant for the traveller. Sheer curiosity and a sense of purpose urged the traveller to input the coordination data and see where it lead.

The ship’s interplanetary drive was activated and the Radiant Pillar sped away from the rocky world with its strange plants and giant crabs. After a while the new world loomed ahead, growing from a speck of light to a planet with oceans that glittered in the sunlight. Another alert, this time a proximity warning, as asteroids came dangerously close to the ship.

The traveller steered a course through the rocks and headed down toward the planet’s surface. Red vegetation carpeted the land, and tall green plants grew in abundance. The terrain was less hilly than the rocky world from whence the traveller had come. Looking around for a place to land, the traveller spotted a clearing and guided the Pillar toward it.

Countless blades of red grass waved furiously beneath the landing thrusters of the craft as the Pillar gently touched down. The traveller climbed out of the cockpit and set foot on a new world. The suit’s diagnostics indicated that this was a far less environmentally harsh world compared to the one ve had left. This was good; it meant the traveller would not have to be quite so preoccupied with maintaining the suit’s power. The traveller walked a little way to one of the many trees that grew here. Beside them, as tall as the trees, were plants with wooden stems that held aloft one giant leaf. You could tell from the coolness of the atmosphere and abundance of vegetation that it rained here a lot.

The traveller’s handheld scanner indicated the direction from which the message had been sent, and ve began the trek toward it. After walking for a while, the traveller noticed a creature grazing contentedly on the red grass. The animal was stockily built, with four thick legs that supported a bulky, gray-striped body. A dorsal fin grew from its back.

As the traveller drew nearer, ve could get a better look at its features. Its head had an almost stone-like appearance and the creature had no eyes. It also seemed to show no concern as the traveller approached. Evidently, this animal had not evolved to be wary. Instead it just carried on grazing, as at ease with its circumstances as any being can be.

The traveller continued on, leaving the docile creature to its peaceful existence. On and on ve travelled, pushing through the knee-high grass, sometimes negotiating forests, and all the while the signal grew stronger.

Finally, the traveller arrived at the source of the signal. It was a pod of some kind, laying there amidst the grass, patiently transmitting its broadcast in the hope that somebody would come along.

“Well”, thought the traveller, “someone has”.

The adventure continued.

Thanks to Hello Games for the images.