The township's central square featured a dilapidated fountain, its basin dry and filled with rubble.
Statues that once adorned it lay broken, their pieces scattered around the base.
Scattered throughout the township were signs of hurried departure: abandoned carts laden with half-rotted goods, homes with doors left ajar, and personal belongings strewn about. A thick layer of dust covered everything, indicating that no one had set foot here in a very long time.
As Aksai's clone moved through the streets, he noticed faint, almost imperceptible, signs of life that once thrived here—a child's toy left on a doorstep, a weathered sign swinging gently in the breeze, and a market stall with remnants of what might have been vibrant cloth.
The air was thick with an unidentifiable scent, a mix of earth, decay, and something metallic. The silence was occasionally broken by the distant sound of crumbling stone or the eerie whisper of the wind through the hollowed buildings.
"Let me see what kind of aboriginals I'll have to deal with."
Aksai's clone moved cautiously through a dilapidated house, his footsteps echoing softly in the stillness.\\
Dust motes floated lazily in the shafts of light that filtered through the broken windows. The house, like the rest of the township, bore the signs of a sudden, tragic departure—furniture left in disarray, personal items scattered as if their owners had left in haste.
Entering the living room, Aksai's eyes were immediately drawn to an unusual capsule jutting out from the middle of the ceiling.
"What is this? A light source? No… perhaps… a projector?"
He squinted at the device, noticing its sleek design and the faint, almost alien, glow it emitted. It looked like some sort of projector. As he inspected it, he saw instructions written in a language he couldn't read.
"Well, let's see if this thing still works," Aksai muttered to himself, poking at a few buttons. Nothing happened. He tried a few more combinations, but the capsule remained unresponsive.
"No wonder they left this good-for-nothing scrap here."
Frustrated, he slapped the capsule, and to his surprise, it whirred to life.
A spectral screen flickered into existence, hovering in mid-air like a television screen.
On it, a beautiful anchorwoman appeared, speaking urgently, her face tense with stress.
Messages flashed below her in the same unreadable language.
"Hmm. Humans. This world has humans. That's good or bad news depending upon how I interact with them and how they respond."
Aksai marveled at the advanced technology of this world but quickly noticed something peculiar: the device wasn't powered by electricity but by embedded crystals.
"Interesting...," he murmured, playing with the spectral screen's controls. The audio played continuously, filling the room with the anchor's voice. He fiddled with the screen a bit more, fascinated by the advanced yet different technology.
"Hmm. I don't have to understand her language to know that she is saying the same message on a loop. Guess some professions never change."
Leaving the spectral screen on, Aksai continued his exploration. He soon found a bookshelf lined with books, some of which were clearly elementary educational materials.
"Yes! Let me learn what this world has for me."
Intrigued, he started scanning the books, instructing the subroutine of his neural link fabric to record everything.
"Record everything," he said, flipping through the pages.
The subroutine worked silently in the background, analyzing the data and cross-referencing it. As it processed the information, Aksai scanned book after book, each one adding to the growing database.
[Acarnis language pack has been created. Would you like to install it now?]
After about ten minutes, the subroutine beeped softly, signaling that it had deduced the language of this new world.
Aksai gave it the go-ahead to inject the knowledge into his subconsciousness. He gritted his teeth, feeling a sudden influx of information. It was like having a language book downloaded directly into his mind.
Within a few breaths, the new language started to make sense. He glanced back at the spectral screen, the anchor's words now intelligible.
"… citizens are urged to evacuate immediately. The situation has escalated beyond control. Repeat, evacuate immediately…"
Aksai's eyes widened as he understood the urgency in her voice. The messages flashing below the anchor were evacuation orders and warnings about an imminent threat.
"Hmm. This place really went to hell at a moment's notice," Aksai muttered, absorbing the gravity of the situation.
He explored the rest of the house with renewed purpose, now understanding the significance of the items he found. Each piece of furniture, each abandoned toy, and each forgotten book told a story of a city on the brink of disaster.
Returning to the living room, Aksai gave one last look at the spectral screen. "Guess it's time to figure out what caused all this," he said, his mind racing with possibilities.
Just as Aksai was about to focus on the news being projected in the air, a soft hum filled the sky above the abandoned city. He went to the window and looked up to see a drone-like aerial object, sleek and metallic, hovering high above. Content originally comes from NoveI★Fire.net
It had an ominous, almost predatory appearance, with several metal-like appendages extending from its central body.
"Well, that's new," Aksai muttered, squinting at the drone.
The drone emitted a soft, pulsing light as it scanned the surroundings.
"Hm? This feeling… Spirit Sense? No… something else."
Aksai felt a tingle in the back of his mind—something similar to Spirit Sense was being used. Before he could react, the drone's lights turned a menacing red, indicating that it had detected him.
"Great, just what I needed," Aksai sighed, realizing he had no time to hide or counter the scan. The drone, now fully aware of his presence, retracted its appendages and shot away, disappearing into the distance.
"What the hell was that?" Aksai muttered, a mixture of curiosity and annoyance in his voice.
His curiosity turned to grim concern as his Spirit Sense picked up something much larger approaching rapidly.
A quick mental scan confirmed his worst suspicion: a spaceship-like flying object was heading straight for him.
"Fantastic. First the drone, now this," Aksai muttered, glancing around for a possible escape route. But it was too late. The ship was closing in fast.