Fiction:Arrival

Arrival is the story of the after the Annihilation and how they rebuilt following the destruction of the universe.

Part One
Part one takes place during the Annihilation, when the LSA is being evacuated

The Ark shuddered. Dava'Krov clung to his seat, squashed between two bulky Burness. Even though he had been trained his whole life to leave his emotions behind, he felt just as terrified as the countless other beings all crammed into this great ship. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply and shrunk backward in his seat, entering a deep meditative state and probing the Anarica Mind Realm, a strange dimension where the thoughts of the Anarica intertwine with reality, and viewed the ship from the outside. They were being tossed about through the Quantum Foam, along with many other similar ships. But something was wrong-Time was flowing in a different direction for the two Alliance arks, guiding them to a completely different Universe from that which the others were headed. What this Universe contained was yet to be seen.

Suddenly, they took a violent turn, the ship shaking like a huge tumble-dryer, tossing its poor occupants in every conceivable direction. Then...Nothing. A tranquil feeling descended, washing the minds of the Alliance with a blank happiness.

Weeks later, they rematierialized in orbit around Sector Capital. The memories and thoughts of the people of the Light Sector rushed back to them. Dava'Krov detected something strange-The only stars that were in the right place were those of the Light Sector. The rest was wild and disordered. He zoomed out his mind to cover the whole Gigaquadrant. There were no galaxies, no order of any sort, save the rough sphere of stars which was the Light Sector and what appeared to be a smattering of stars from Kread. The rest had far fewer stars than there should be, and if he stretched his mind to its furthest possible reach-The Universe itself seemed to have some form of boundary.

The whole Alliance left the Ark onto Sector Capital. The other Ark, filled mainly with Zarvos, had split in two and half was sent to the true universe, the other half to this strange, wild Universe. As more and more people realised that something was wrong, a panic began to arise. The planet was, more or less, exactly the same as it was before the Annihilation. There were cars in the street, ships in the air, and to Dava'Krov's left, the venerable Senate House loomed. Everywhere was an artificial feeling, but as Krov strolled over to the Senate and stroked its walls lovingly, he could find nothing wrong with anything. He entered the Senate House, taking in every detail of the luxurious lobby. The great fountains still flowed, the plants still flowered and swayed, and even many of the electronic devices were still switched on. Suddenly, the Holo-Projectors on the main information desk flared as one into life, projecting an image of a Grimbolsaurian.

"Grimbies? What do the Coalition have to do with this?" thought Dava'Krov. In reply, the virtual Grimbolsaurian began reciting a recorded message.

"Hail, Light Sector Alliance! I am a holographic representation of a massive conciousness, known as the Technoosphere. This message is being broadcast through every electronic device in the Sector. We have created this simulated Universe, containing an exact copy of your home sector, while we must quarantine the sector in the true Universe for reasons which will be explained in due time. For now, access is granted to the true Universe by a portal orbiting the capital planet. Unfortunately, we were unable to save the whole sector, and many worlds may be severely damaged or even destroyed. We are leaving it up to you to rebuild, and explore this Universe. You will be returned as soon as we are finished. Goodbye, and thank you for complying."