Lunch Outside the Solar System

Sixteen

After cuddling while Layla played with her curly hair, Ariel got up from the pull down bed and went to make some coffee for them, for her there was nothing better messing around doing the "horizontal mambo" than a nice warm cup of black coffee with two sugars, she was pouring a cup for Layla when the alarm of proximity warned them to turn off the Auto Pilot and get outside of the Cosmoway into open space near an asteroid belt around a gas planet.

Layla dressed up as quickly as she could entering the protocol permission to validate the data that will allow them to approach the entrance bay from an artificial asteroid inside the belt. They approach the fake piece of floating rock and a gate opened letting them inside, after being authorized, Ariel opened the door seeing a long white corridor illuminated very dimly leading to a small chamber, at the center she saw a chair with a holographic screen waiting to be occupied.

Layla sat on the chair initiating the communication process. From the holo-screen, a real-time screening commenced projecting a video feed and Ariel noticed someone that resembled a little bit to Layla, but it looked rougher, like more beat up, more real she thought.

- Hello Red, this is Layla, commanding captain of the Black Zeppelin, code 09087809 asking for 2-3COM-T23 authorization. – Layla talked to the figure on the video feed.

- Hi Captain, code verified, 2-3COM-T23 communication authorized – Red answered-, what can I do for you, my friend. –Ariel looked better to the features of Red who wore some goggles adapted to the shape of her eyes.

- Thanks Red, it's nice seeing you, what I'm about to tell you might sound a little bit crazy, but you need to bear with me.

- No problem Layla, I'm used to hear some strange shit from the hacking community, so shoots.

Layla nodded in an affirmative way making a sign for Ariel to approach next to the chair, Red shocked when she noticed a human from the enhanced dream reality.

- Layla, what are you doing? You know it's forbidden for induced auto-generated beings to interact with the outside. –Red accommodated her head comm.

- I know Red but this is an unusual situation, apparently, she is not generated by the system, it seems to be self-generated; for what we know she projected herself inside and we wanted to know if it's possible.

Red was shocked by what she was hearing but she didn't hesitate much and start doing some research manipulating data from all her holo-panels.

- You really got me into something Layla; I hope we won't get into trouble. – Red smiled and winked while she continued to go through the information– what else do you need?

- Do you have some info about Immovable Structures?

- Let me see what I can found about...that – Red put a screen in front of her with some info scrolling down -, we have something about this structures you are referring, apparently there is a theory proposed by an Universialogist from planet Myagros, stating the existence of some Structures in the Universe evolving from a physical existence. Apparently, these beings managed to get restructured through time and space, kind of a reincarnation process, until they get so essential that the Universe turned them into a structure necessary to the proper functionality of it, but so far there's been no proof of the existence of such structures.

Layla and Ariel stood in silence.

- I'm still looking for something related to your first question but please, if you have something else go ahead.

- We have this symbol – Layla upload a picture to Red - is there some information about the human race interacting with it, or some kind of relationship for this to appear through human history?

Red handled information more vigorously, she liked whenever she found a research challenge. After a couple of minutes, Layla noticed a small glitch in the video feed but it fixed quickly, Red continued.

- Lucky for you guys there is something; according to this hidden document it states there was a rouge crew that escaped from the authorities at the very beginning of the space career of the Alulim, it says they arrived to Earth making contact with ancient civilizations, maybe this crew was responsible why the humans possessed the symbol; this info was very secured and actually the last known record of a human interacting with the symbols only refers to something related to some Pyjama Protocol, whatever that means.

- I see. –Layla sighed. - Do you have you anything on the self-projected beings? Layla asked again

- Nop, nothing.

- Ok, so give us some moment offline and we'll communicate with you again. Thanks Red.

- No problem, I'll be here, just enter the code and it will connect automatically.

Ariel and Layla step aside from the chair

- Ok, so we know that someone called Benthura needs to become an Immovable Structure right? Layla asked kind of nervous.

- Well, we do know that someone must absorb another one to survive. If the One that became absorbs the one who belongs, then Benthura will become an Immovable Structure. –Ariel rationalized.

- And with the information from Red, an Immovable Structure is something that apparently becomes essential for the Universe, so if Benthura absorbs the human memory, then it will remain essential. –Layla pointed. And because the Alulim has the inner goal as a race to become the gatherers of all the information in the Universe, they are the only ones that have the full recorded information from the human race. – Layla looked straight into Ariel eyes, - this information allows us to create this projected reality, and I think that in order to become immovable, this Benthura thing must absorb something that contains all of the human memories and thus maintaining the human history within the Universal Memory.

After hearing that last part it hit Ariel like a bucket of cold water in the face, she quickly accessed the information on the SentiCube searching for what happened to the Commander and International Mission Specialist Ariel Rubinak, Captain of the Lunar Equation. She got stone cold. Layla was babbling about the info when Ariel interrupted her.

- Layla, I died. – Ariel said in a cold and dry voice.

- Sorry, what? –Layla asked.

- What you heard, I died Layla. I search in the Cube you gave me with all the information about me and it says the Commander and International Mission Specialist Ariel Rubinak, Captain of the Lunar Equation died in her mission. It says that she completed her mission of traveling outside the Solar System and back but when she was entering Earth's atmosphere, due to his induced sleep condition and a mixed communication call, the systems failed and her ship exploded with no registered survivors.

Layla stayed silent watching Ariel trying to understand everything, Ariel looked at her.

- Ariel from the past died Layla, I don't exist in here, I should be dead in this reality, the history registry indicates Ariel died entering Earth, she didn't jump into time, everything fits, that's why I remember noticing the symbols where no one's else had noticed, and that's why everything feels like I'm experimenting all for the first time and that's because I just awoke here, I need to evolve. I am Benthura.