“I’m now five hundred meters from the crystal cluster at Alpha-Delta-Two,” I said, taking a sample collector from my gathering kit. “Proceeding to take first soil sample.”

I bent down and put the cylinder in the ground. It was a bothersome task, but procedure had to be followed. This way, at least, I’d decrease the paperwork for the team that eventually found my remains.

Good thing you’re not here to hear me, Cass. I waited patiently for the device’s indicator to change colour. For some reason, it was taking longer than usual. You never liked it when I had morbid thoughts. Neither did Sev. The two of you were similar in that way.

In the distance, the sun was making its way past the horizon. Another hour and the temperature would start to drop. As a ship, I’d frozen several times, always after suffering significant hull breaching. Each time, part of my crew had died as a result. There were things that even med bots couldn’t fix. I remembered watching their vitals flatline as they froze, exposed to the vacuum of space.

“Well, Sev, I might not be sending any more letters, after all.” The light on the sample collector turned green. I put it in the kit, then continued towards the chunk of crystal. “I know you won’t be told until a year after my death, but when you get this, I don’t want you to feel guilty for making me rejoin the fleet. It was the right decision. This way, I got to experience the best of both worlds.” I grabbed a fresh sample cylinder. “And between you and me, I drove half the ships I met insane, captains included.”

Oxygen reserves at thirty percent. The obligatory warning message covered my visor. I waited for two seconds, then removed it. There was plenty of time before I had to use the reserve canister.

“Proceeding to take second soil sample, three hundred meters from artifact,” I said, putting the cylinder in the ground.

As I waited, I wondered what Alicia was doing now. She had been transferred to a brand new ship class, which meant that she was older than the vessel she was stationed on. If her experience was anything like mine, right now she probably felt like she was swimming along a Möbius strip with one foot tied to her ear. In my entire existence, nothing compared to the confusion I’d gone through those first five years. I had done everything in my power to have my captain replaced. He, however, in typical fashion, had ignored my attempts and stayed another three tours until it was time for him to retire. I had tried to locate him later, just to keep in touch, but all my attempts had been blocked. Apparently, Augustus valued his privacy.

“Retrieving second sample,” I said. This second batch of probing equipment was clearly faulty. So much for error-proof design. “Heading to artifact.” I walked on. My visor wobbled, making it difficult to see where I was going. It would have been hilarious if the circumstances had been different. “Due to equipment malfunctions, I’ll place the remaining sample collectors without retrieving the samples until after examining the artifact.” So much for that.

The crystal cluster here was significantly different than the other ones I’d seen so far—far smaller and twice as clear, as if something had stunted its growth. The symbol inside was the same shape and size, its edges almost touching the quartz confines.

Here’s something interesting. I moved closer. If there was any doubt that the shape might have been a natural, albeit absurdly rare, occurrence, they had now vanished—the segments that composed the pattern were in triangular prisms.

“I now have definite confirmation that the artifacts are manufactured in origin,” I said for the suit to record. “On close inspection, the segments that compose the object are triangular tubes.” I moved around the crystal. “Initial observation indicates that the triangles are equilateral. The entire object appears homogeneous, with no seams or holes. I recommend retrieval at first available convenience.”

Who put you there? I slid my hand along the quartz surface. It was less smooth than the previous one, with several patches of unevenness along the side. If I had my full set of cores, or Prometheus was in contact, I could have done a much better analysis of the situation. As it stood, I suspected that this particular quartz cluster was still forming.

“I’m proceeding to explore the base of the crystal.” I took out a miniature shovel from my gathering kit. “My theory is that the cluster is still in the process of formation. If true, the unnatural state of the crystals on the planet might be a direct effect of the artifact’s presence. I recommend further exploration and analyses of all high-density crystal fields.”

I almost sound important. I smiled as I started digging. One could almost say I was in charge of the situation. Technically, they wouldn’t be wrong, just as I was said to be in charge of myself when my captain slept. The difference was that, now, I actually had a say in the matter.

The digging was tedious. Whoever had designed the shovel hadn’t foreseen in it being used in anything other than sample gathering. Using it to dig felt like eating soup with chopsticks. If I wasn’t worried about suit tears, I’d have thrown it away and used my hands instead.

They didn’t teach us this at the academy. I moved to the side. All those push-ups, squats, sprints, and not a single course in digging.

The minutes passed away mercilessly, along my oxygen supply. In half an hour I had barely unearthed half a meter down one side of the crystal and there was no indication I was approaching the end. I tried to direct the rover here, but my link had been severed. Likely a redundancy had triggered, sending an authorization request from Prometheus. Since I didn’t know the code, the rover has become as useful as a giant paperweight.

“Hi, Alicia,” I said, digging further down. “I’m not sure you’ll get this message, but I wanted to say I’m sorry we didn’t get to be closer. I still think about the days in the recruitment center, back before you knew I was a ship. Things seemed so innocent back then.” A feeling of guilt echoed in my mind. At the time, I had thought of her as a temporary acquaintance I’d never see again. Now, I wish we had gotten to talk more. She, Jax, even the rest of the guys had been interesting characters. It wouldn’t have been a waste to get to know them better. “Take care, and when you get your first ship, treat it well. We could be interesting, once you get to know us.”

The sun went setting in the distance behind me, turning the sky bluish-white. The external temperature had dropped by fifteen degrees, and this was just the start. Soon, the residual heat would be gone, making it even colder. I put the shovel away and stood up. If there was one word to describe my achievement in the last hour, it would be ‘pathetic’.

“I’m stopping my excavation—” If that’s the correct word for it. “—at twenty-three fifteen standard ship time, due to low visibility and decreasing surface temperatures. The rover has developed a malfunction, so I’ll spend the night at Alpha-Delta-Two and hopefully continue in the morning. Oxygen reserves are...” I hesitated. “...currently sufficient.”

I could feel drops trickle down my forehead. The amount of sweat had filled my suit with a strong, slightly tangy smell. The internal ventilation system would usually prevent this from happening, but I had turned it off along with all other non-vital systems to preserve power.

See you tomorrow. I patted the side of the crystal, then made my way to the rover. Even with its system messed up, I could take advantage of its energy cells to power up my suit and keep me warm until dawn.

“Prometheus, are you out there?” I looked up. Thousands of stars sparkled above me, yet none of them were a ship. “Well, good night to you too.” See you in the morning, I hope.

Using the backup redundancies of both the rover and my suit, I plugged in and set the heating and recycling settings to maximum. A wave of warm freshness enveloped me. It felt nice.

Seventeen hours—that was how much time I had left before my organic body died, leaving my mind to gradually shut off. After that, I would be nothing more than skeleton with a box of memories.

Lying down on top of the rover, I looked at the stars. There was so many things I wanted to do in my time remaining; so many things I could have done, if I had the processing power of my former self. I could have composed a thousand letters for everyone I knew and stored them safely to the next landing team to find. Now, I had to rely on the voice recorder of an archaic oversized suit.

“This one is for you, Bull Calf,” I said, moving into a slightly more comfortable position. “We didn’t get to spend a lot of time together, but you were a big help when I rejoined. I probably didn’t show it much, but I enjoyed our talks back then. You can blame it on me being a battleship, I guess. You transport kids always seemed a bit too easy going for my taste.” I tilted my head to the side. “After spending a while in a human body, I can say you knew what you were doing all the time.” I closed my eyes. “Thank you.”

That was it, the final message I felt like sending. Three people in a galaxy of trillions... not many by any standard, but for me it was three times more than I ever thought I’d have.

The night passed quickly and silently. I managed to get eighteen minutes of sleep, spending the rest of the time going through my memories of Sev, watching as my role gradually changed from caregiver, to daughter, then granddaughter. In his mind, he probably still thought of me as his responsibility, despite my promise to take care of him.

As the sun rose, I prepared for a final day of digging. Unplugging my suit from the rover, I attempted one last transmission to Prometheus. After a minute of silence, I refilled my oxygen supply and went to the artifact. The hole I had dug out seemed even smaller in the light. Just to make sure, I leaned into the other side of the quartz, pushing with all my strength. It didn’t budge. Based on initial calculations, I estimated that it continued at least three meters down, or alternatively was connected to a much larger quartz body under the surface. Either way, that was for the next landing team to find out; the only thing I could do was make their joy slightly easier.

By noon, I received another low oxygen level warning. At thirty percent, I had a choice to make: keep unearthing the base of the crystal, or go back to the pod and restock with oxygen again. After a few seconds of consideration, I chose both.

“According to my estimates I have half a day of oxygen remaining,” I said, taking a step back. “The rover has become completely unresponsive, and my efforts to dig out the quartz crystal have failed. I’ll attempt to use the rover’s metal plating and extract the artifact itself. Should I be successful, I’ll carry it on foot to the landing pad. That should make future retrieval and analyses easier. With luck, I’ll make another report in two hours.”

I looked at the chunk of crystal. The light of the sun made it appear more orange than usual, creating the illusion of a faint surrounding glow. I smiled behind my visor, then went to get something hard and sturdy enough to shatter it with. At first I thought I’d use a piece of armor plating, yet upon closer inspection, the empty oxygen canister seemed the better choice. As Sev loved to say, “They didn’t make them like this anymore”. Personally, I still didn’t know exactly what he was referring to, but the phrase amused me.

Reaching the crystal, I stopped. Sorry it has come to this. I grabbed the metal cylinder beneath the valve with both hands, then swung. I expected the force of the impact to break the crystal in several large chunks, but what happened was beyond all my estimations.

The moment the hard metal surface struck the quartz, the entire cluster shattered in an explosion of fragments. It was as if I had smashed a glass window with a sledgehammer. I watched the artifact break free of its shell and be propelled into the sand twenty meters away.

This wasn’t part of the simulation! I let go of the oxygen canister and rushed towards the artifact. The last time I was so worried about damaging something was when I accidentally scraped the service arm of a shipyard. Back then, I was three months old and utterly terrified what would happen to me. Now I was almost two centuries older, and twice as scared.

Please be fine! I grabbed the metallic object. It seemed to be in one piece, no chips or bends on its surface. From what I could tell, the artifact was in pristine condition, completely unaffected by the forceful removal I had subjected it to. If anything, it appeared perfect... too perfect.

How were you able to remained in such good shape?

“Elcy? Elcy!” a voice mixed with static boomed in my helmet.

“Prometheus?” I looked up to the sky. “Where are—”

“Stay put! Landing teams are flying to Delta-Two.” The static faded away, making his voice more recognizable. “ETA forty-seven minutes. Can you make it that long?”

“No problem, Prometheus.” I checked my oxygen reserves. Twenty-two percent—more than enough even without economizing. “I’ll be waiting for you at the site of the artifact.”

“Confirmed. What’s your status? Any major damage?”

“I’m fine.” Of course, now you’re worried. “Nothing a bath and some food won’t fix. For a moment, I thought you guys had abandoned me.”

“Yes, well... there were complications.” He paused for two-point-five seconds. “Just hang on for a little longer. We’re coming to pick you up.”

“Will do, Prometheus. And thank you.”

Well, Sev. Seems like I’ll be writing more letters after all.