A Dying Android's Final Song

~

“The universe is rich with life,” is what they always say

And I know better than to wish the universe away

But what nobody tells you, is that though there may be life

The universe is seeped in an eternity of strife

The stars are just a thing to wish on, for the ones at home

But they are nought but graveyards known to us who choose to roam

To us who travel deep into the galaxy alone

The worlds beyond our children’s eyes are better left unknown

I came upon a planet just as any you can find

I’d seen the remnants of a thousand battles left behind

But I’ll admit, as dark a world as this one might have been

It truly was the most majestic world that I have seen

The ruins told me of a war fought long before our time

And how the way it ended must have been a bitter crime

A single, nuclear attack had wiped the whole world out

With neither side alive to tell me what it was about

I wandered through the desert of an ancient battlefield

And saw decrepit androids near the weapons they would wield

I had grown to see such things as resources to sell

But something felt a little odd about this ancient hell

I’d wandered farther from my ship than I normally would

And getting lost out there at night would hardly do me good

But when I turned to walk back to my shelter for the night

I was suddenly aware of one small eerie light

I couldn’t help but wonder what the light out there could be

A lonely light that flickered by itself eternally

Considering how long the world had been completely dead

All manner of emotions poured into my sleepy head

Perhaps it was my curiosity that drew me there

A sense of higher purpose of which I’m still unaware

It didn’t matter then, and well, it doesn’t matter now

Something in the light was calling out to me somehow

And so I came to stand before the broken down machine

Upon its helm a button which was flashing red and green

Ignoring every instinct and the many years I trained

I pushed the button of the android broken down and stained

It wasn’t like the robots of today, I knew that well

How it was constructed is impossible to tell

At first I thought it clunky as it’s lights began to glow

But in its artificial eyes was something that I know

Exploring strange new worlds was always something I enjoyed

But suddenly, the robot seemed a little bit annoyed

“So tell me, ancient android, what has happened to this place”

I asked of it, with childish glee upon my weary face

“A human, from another world, I shouldn’t be surprised

Your species always was much stronger than we realized”

It almost sounded like the android sighed, but I was shocked

How could it be I knew its language when the android talked

“I can’t believe you know of humans, we’ve never been here”

I Will admit, at that point, I was overcome with fear

“My people only left our world a century ago

And all we find are ruined worlds wherever we all go”

The android’s eyes grew redder, but they calmed back down in time

I understood its craftsmanship was utterly sublime

“Of course the universe is filled with only death and pain

Your ancestors touched every world, and brought them only pain”

“But I don’t understand how humans could have done all this

In history class, such a war is not something I’d miss”

“I shouldn’t be surprised at humans’ short lived memory

They only ever cared for killing anything they see

My people were not always androids, but we paid the price

We lost to humans once, and we refused to give in twice

We almost finished off your species, many years ago

If judging by the stars, a million years back or so

But here you stand before me, as my body rusts away

Unaware of all your kind accomplished on that day

The cultures of this galaxy all wiped away at once

The only ones surviving, sent me back this little dunce”

I stepped away and thought upon the overwhelming tale

Had ancient humans really gone so far only to fail

And how could such a history have disappeared from lore

I doubt a single person ever heard of it before

Before I had a chance to ask the android one last thing

The moment slipped away as I was caught hesitating

The android’s secrets died along with its old power cell

And any hope of learning more about it died as well

I looked for many years upon that ancient world alone

But I could spend no longer running from the life I’d known

The world was truly dead, no information had survived

No books or old computers told of those who once had thrived

I went back to my life, collecting scraps and things to sell

But still I longed to know the stories all those scraps could tell

Until this day, I’ve never told a single soul this fact

For I could never guess how my whole species would react

Before I die, I felt at least a single soul should know

About the words I heard that day, but now I have to go

I might just join that android out there in the stars somewhere

So let this knowledge die with me, or use it, if you dare

~