HFY Stories_ Forgotten Humanity _ Where Did Humanity Go_

Space Stories | HFY SciFi

#scifistories1977 #hfy #scifi Special thanks to the author u/DarkPrince010 for granting permission to narrate this gripping tale.

Transcript

00:00The human homeworld, a ball of rock and water and mud deemed unimaginatively Earth,

00:05had been surprisingly difficult to find. Humans had spread across their entire arm of the Milky

00:10Way, a persistent and annoyingly resilient species that had refused to come under the thumb of any

00:15of the warlords and grand conquerors that had spread across the galaxy. Occasionally fighting

00:21to a standstill, mostly it was just a problem trying to corner humans before they could activate

00:26their jump drives, a technology they'd managed to miniaturize and streamline like few others had

00:31done before them. It meant that any one of their fleets could be light years away in a moment,

00:36well and truly gone by the time their pursuers managed to warm up their own core and follow suit.

00:41So when Retar the Magnificent began her campaign of conformity and unity,

00:46she had designated an entire task force of her armada to simply cornering and quelling the humans,

00:51seeking to bring them under her rule peacefully if possible, but completely regardless of

00:56the cost. So the task force had ventured forth, but upon reaching the outskirts of the human

01:01colonies, they found nothing there. No signs of damage or destruction. In fact, everything seemed

01:08to be in good repair. Fields still had crops, larders were still stocked, factories were still running,

01:14although most of those were automated to the point of only having a few living supervisors at any given

01:19time anyways. But no humans. Even the animals the humans kept as companions,

01:26a thought that made most right-thinking species in the galaxy shudder with revulsion, seemed calm.

01:33In previous experiments it had been found that these creatures, especially the ones known as dogs,

01:38could become agitated or even violent when separated from their humans for a prolonged period of time,

01:43time. But the ones the exploratory teams found running among the abandoned colonies and empty

01:48cities were happy. Cautious of outsiders and intruders, of course, and some injuries were

01:54sustained as a result, but lacking the basal fear response they had seen when separated from their

01:59prime companions. But still, no matter where they looked, no matter how many rocks they overturned,

02:05no sign of humanity remained. No real progress was made until they'd reached Earth itself.

02:10An unarmed transport barge with a few dozen researchers on board landing on the planet's

02:15surface. There, the story was much the same as the rest of the galaxy. Clear signs that it seemed

02:21like humanity had been there just mere minutes before, but had since vanished, not a trace to be

02:26found. A sense of a pervasive unease began to spread amongst the researchers. It grew as clues

02:32continued to be scarce as to what it truly happened to humanity, until one of the more experimentally

02:38minded sociologists in the group began to run surveys amongst the researchers.

02:44At first written off as a waste of time, some disturbing patterns began to emerge.

02:50The test was simple, providing a small nutritional supplement additive as a treat before depriving the

02:55research subject of it shortly afterwards, and gauging their response based on not getting what they

03:00had expected. As anticipated, the reactions were the normal range of frustration, discontent,

03:06and anger. But also included in those questions was a question of how they felt not having found

03:11humanity. And while disappointment was of course present, despite this being the sole goal of the

03:17expeditionary force, the frustrations were almost negligible compared to the disappointment and anger

03:22felt by the test subjects on simply losing out on a small snack. This caught the attention of the

03:28leads of the research force, and another round of tests was ordered, finding consistently similar

03:33results. But before further follow-up studies could be performed, tragedy struck as the researcher

03:39leading the surveys tumbled from the edge of a tall building, falling to their death on the mossy

03:44concrete below. After an appropriate period of mourning, the research pressed on, the curious surveys

03:51falling out of interest as renewed work began looking for some sign of where humanity might have left to.

03:57While there were great shipyards for spacefaring craft, nothing was of the size and scope that would be

04:02needed to evacuate even a single planet, let alone all of humanity's off-world holdings and stations.

04:09Still, some clues were found. There were researchers that said they had found written documents

04:14mentioning something about a project oublier. But when they went to take further notes, the writings

04:19had disappeared. Ritar had become impatient with their lack of progress, for humanity was the only major

04:25faction not under her control in this entire sector of the galaxy, and her armies on the distant

04:30frontiers were making significant headway into the other empires that ruled across the cosmos.

04:36The military commander who was sent to oversee the project and hasten their work was found dead in

04:41his office, clear signs of foul play as he had been strangled with the very whip that once hung at his belt.

04:48This infuriated Ritar the Magnificent, for her rule was one of unquestioning devotion and harsh

04:53penalties for disloyalty. She showed some degree of mercy by sending merely a squad of enforcers to torture

04:59those they deemed responsible for the assassination, while allowing the rest to go on with their work.

05:05But within hours of them setting foot on earth, the enforcers to met unfortunate fates,

05:10falling off of high ledges even where safety railings had been established, weapons malfunctions that

05:16resulted in clean shots through craniums and spinal columns, and the replacement commander likewise

05:21becoming entangled in his own whip. He was alive, but humiliated as he had to ask help from his

05:27blessers in freeing and untangling him. Security tapes and footage were evaluated for any signs of

05:33foul play, but nothing untoward was noticed, simply poor luck and happenstance leading to the deaths of

05:39over a dozen elite soldiers. It was under these bleak circumstances, as further troops were sent to

05:44reinforce the infuriated commander, that one of the junior researchers noticed what they had at first

05:50described to be an anomalous item. It was a small multicoloured ball, a child's toy to any species,

05:57but one that for some reason seemed omnipresent. At first it was assumed it was simply a mass-produced

06:02item, one of thousands or millions of such toys meant to entertain small and young minds,

06:07but others reported never seeing two of them at the same time. It was only one ball, but one that seemed

06:12to show up in lockers and on tables, and even occasionally in the pockets of their uniforms,

06:17as if it had fallen from an otherwise empty shelf overhead. Curiosity mounted until the toy was

06:23brought to the attention of the commander, who dismissed it with a snarl, throwing the offending

06:28item a great distance. When the researcher went to recover the artifact, they found it had impacted

06:34a wall at great speed, cracking open along a purposeful seam in the plastic structure. Within was a

06:40small foil-covered human delicacy, a food referred to as chocolate, made from a dried and refined bean paste,

06:47and sweetened with a glucose additive. While technically edible, it wasn't an especially

06:51desirable foodstuff for the researchers, but what they found was curious was that when they snapped

06:57the pieces of the ball back together, idly popping it back apart a few hours later, resulted in the

07:03appearance of more of the foil-wrapped food. This seemed to repeat itself, as whenever the ball was

07:09left unattended on an open surface, almost every time it could be opened to uncover more edible items.

07:14What was within also changed, at first being the foil-wrapped chocolates, then replaced by a small

07:20handful of disc-like waxed glucose-coated chocolates, also in a bright array of colors. Although it seemed

07:26the more frequently the ball was open, the fewer of these chocolate discs were included.

07:32Finally, after some study of human dialects and writing structures, the junior researcher carefully

07:37scribed a note on a small slip of paper and enclosed it within the empty orb. This time the orb

07:42disappeared and did not reappear for some weeks. It had almost faded out of memory, the researchers

07:48back to studying over abandoned cities as keen-eyed and paranoid soldiers watched, with weapons raised

07:53on hair triggers in the event the researchers were responsible for the deaths and incidents earlier.

08:00While pouring through one of these human libraries as the dawn broke, the researcher noticed a weight in

08:05their pocket once more, and pulled out the ball once again. Confused but delighted, they popped it open

08:12to reveal another curiosity. This was a piece of paper, different from the one they put in,

08:18but while the paper was legible enough, the researcher was struck by the odd and empty ball.

08:23Picking it up to close it as they wondered how it had gotten on the floor, the researcher felt a

08:28shiver pass over their short fur. Looking back, they saw that there was a piece of paper on the ground,

08:33some sort of discarded human writing, something they must not have noticed when they first stepped

08:38into the room. The writing on it was clear but felt fuzzy to the researcher's mind despite the ink

08:43being stark and plain on the paper. Looking up to find a book, the researcher couldn't recall what book

08:50they were looking for, or whether they were looking for a book in the first place. After all, they were

08:55in a library, not even one of their own culture, so it would be odd for them to be seeking a specific

09:01alien book out. Still, the structure did offer a welcome relief from the hot noon sun overhead,

09:07so they were glad not to be working in one of the outside excavation zones.

09:12Then they glanced down and started, realizing they were holding a piece of paper in their hand,

09:17when they didn't remember picking it up. Its writing was blurry, indistinct, and hard to make

09:22out even though the letters were unblemished, and the researcher began to feel a headache overtaken them,

09:27their mouth dry if they had not eaten or drank in some hours. Smacking their tongue against the

09:33parched mouth, they looked up to a library, feeling like they were looking for something within the

09:37library but not sure what. Presumably a book, for that was almost all the library contained,

09:44but they couldn't recall why until they felt an odd sensation in their hand. Looking down,

09:49they blinked in confusion, for there was a piece of paper fluttering in the slight wind from the open

09:54window, a sound they could only now hear, even though they felt the breeze on them from some

09:59minutes before. The researcher, feeling exhaustion on the edge of their senses as they looked up to

10:04realize they had stood in the same position since almost nightfall, on some instinct kept the paper

10:10in front of them as they glanced from side to side, not moving their head so as to keep the paper

10:15within their field of vision. They remembered they wanted to find a way translate the odd and

10:20indistinct writings clearly written on the page, and found their notebook alongside a number of human

10:26encyclopedias and dictionaries. Slowly but painstakingly, keeping the paper before them the

10:32whole time, they managed to reach their translation section. Not all of the words were able to be

10:37translated, but those that the researcher could find equivalence for resulted in a message that said,

10:42You have come to the end of your search. We wish to be left alone, but we also do not want to

10:47abandon those in need. Do you need help? The researcher stared at the message, stunned,

10:53and then glanced up. The sun had set hours ago, the moon far overhead, and they could feel a tightness

10:59in their throat as they caught sight of a glimpse of a scrap of paper fluttering on the ground.

11:03Their throat was raw as if they'd been screaming, but they couldn't recall saying a word.

11:09Then the researcher saw them, an adult and child, the human standing before them but seeming to slide

11:14in shift within their vision without ever moving. The child was holding the ball that seemed to be

11:19everywhere all at once, and gave the researcher an expression referred to by humans as a smile

11:24before the adult nodded. Then the child tossed the researcher the ball. As the researcher looked down

11:30and caught it, they looked up, confused why the ball had fallen into their hands, and unsure why the

11:36sudden flood of emotions through their mind was causing them to feel every kind of frustration and

11:40excited joy all at once. In the weeks to come, Ritar the Magnificent was soon known as Ritar the

11:47Unfortunate. Some even whispered she should be better known as Ritar the Cursed, as her empire crumbled

11:53through the worst combination of circumstances and incidental accidents. Shipyards were destroyed as

11:58their reactor cores were accidentally blocked by mere space debris. Countless politicians and military

12:05leaders perished, some by their own hand, others by falls. Equipment malfunctions. And on one notable

12:11occasion, an explosive decompression of an entire political delegation thanks to an unfortunate

12:17micrometeoroid burrowing a hole through the side of a shuttle. In all, it was scarcely two years later

12:22before Ritar the Unfortunate's reign ended, the Queen herself having leapt in despair from her balcony,

12:28although some onlookers claimed that her actions as she did so were strangely stiff.

12:31Still, with her demise, the empire crumbled, replaced by nation-states and minor leaders,

12:36each trying to carve out some measure of stability from the loss of a dictatorship.

12:42And for one researcher in particular, they kept until the end of their days a small toy,

12:46a colorful plastic ball on their mantle, a memento from the days before humanity was forgotten.

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