Last Man On Earth When There Is No Earth ?

Laboratory ruins, Lilia

"ooookkaaaay…NOW YOU PISSED ME OFF YO GODDAMNED CAT!!!!"

It's the second time I see Seven this angry. He is usually so calm, except when fighting night crawlers. He really does hate those things.

But unlike when fighting those eight legged monsters the state he is in now isn't fear or disgust , but a form of pure anger that completely flips his personality around. It made me doubt the well being of his mind.

…..

We spent three days fighting night crawlers underground, killing about a hundred of them in the process. some of them escaped of course but the speed in which their eggs hatched helped replenishing their numbers through the night.

That's why on top of destroying the creatures we had to burn down all the eggs, rooms filled with them.

We have yet to find anything useful in repairing the ship. All the equipment in the rooms got crushed to make space for building nests, most of it was old computers.

By the third day there was no trace left of the night crawlers and all the eggs got ridden of, that's when we arrived at the final room on that floor.

" this is the largest so far huh…it seems those insects left it intact" from what I understood back on his home planet there exist a species that resembles the night crawlers in form but is too small in size, and he really hated them. What I don't understand is why. If they are too small then dealing with them should be easy, and a bigger version shouldn't be that scary.

Anyways Seven really can't handle those things, he brought a flame thrower from the armory to help kill them but using it in a closed space came at the cost of breathable air and we almost suffocated to death.

The first underground floor had ten rooms facing each other all of them were full of eggs, then there is the eleventh one which is three times the size but had so little in it.

" Lilia, do you know what those things are used for?"

" even if you ask me…" I'm not that informed in advanced technological matters " is it a capsule ?"

There are ten of them, it seems like a person could fit in each… ten of them?

"there is something written down here" said seven.

But sadly it's in a language we both can't read, I wish we had one of those translators with us….hm?

" I think I know this writing from somewhere…" I'm sure I have seen it before. Think, think , think!

A lightning bolt struck my head, I took my 'book' out and surfed through the 'library' list

" ah, here it is "

This language belongs to an ancient civilization called 'Aljus' from thousands of years ago. I don't why I couldn't recognize it from the start.

"the Aljus empire is an ancient civilization formed by a race of the same name. this race is known for having a major god complex, seeking reign over all the known universe. They conquered thousands of plant and enslaved whoever they came into contact with using their greatly advanced technology. At some point in time they lost the ability to reproduce and slowly went extinct after the great liberation war" the Aljus empire is always mentioned along with the great liberation.

I remember studying about it some years ago. It's a war where all the sentient species put their conflicts aside to fight the evil that threatened their peace. It happened three thousand years ago and there are little traces of it left to this day.

"Aljus huh… just to be sure, do they look like giant lizards that walk on two legs?" asked seven, but

"what do you mean by lizards…." Is it another earthen life form?

"mostly green, have scales, long tails, sharp teeth "

"you know there are more than one race with all those. But it seems you were close, they are mostly known for their 'Doth' like heads"

" doth?"

" they look like this" I showed him the image of a 'Doth' I found in the catalog

"Lilia… isn't this just a giant sized lizard"

"huh? Is this what you call a lizard?"

" well, they usually aren't the size of a two story house"

Strange, why is everything on earth so tiny?

" if those Aljus guys are the same lizard-men bastards that attacked us back then, then I think I know what those things are"

Hmmmmm….it's strange how he can conclude things so fast, where did he get all that knowledge ?

"those are freezing chambers, it makes more sense now"

"what does?"

"according to what you told me before I'm more than a hundred years old, but I don't think I grew that much from the time the attack happened. The pods had a component that helped preserving my body but it didn't completely stop it's growth, hence the long hair and the beard"

" so that's what you mean. you also said that you are seventeen " he looks younger though, I think that's because he is so skinny.

" humans usually don't live to their hundreds and even if they do they don't stay like this. either we got kidnapped by those Aljus grunts before men went extinct, or we were saved using their technology then got stored for experimental use"

Zesionens don't live that long too, you know.

Seven is more than a hundred years old huh. It must be harder than he lets out; he doesn't even remember his name, then he hears that he may not see anyone he would remember ever again, not to mention the chance that he may spend the rest of his life on this planet.

How can he be so strong?

"Lilia… there is another door here, it seems to lead downward"

Is he really strong or is he just acting, I think I will never know.

I'm not too good at reading people, even Iris who was my friend for so long, it was still hard for me to guess what's going on in her mind. Come to think of it, Seven and Iris are very similar in how they are always so calm.

That time he held me in his arms, I felt a kind of nostalgia as he slowly c.a.r.e.s.sed my hair, just like Iris used to do when we were kids…

No no no, I mustn't think that way. I already slept with him once, then I let him touch me like that. if this continues then I have to…. But he from a deferent species... but it's possible right?

...

The door lead to a set of stairs that goes downward, at the end of the hallway that followed them was an elevator that also lead deeper. Unfortunately this one didn't seem to work so we had to make use of the emergency ladder to get down.

There weren't any other floors on the way and after nearly fifty minutes we arrived to the bottom.

There was only one room from this point on. It was larger than the one with the automata colossus, several times larger.

"beautiful…" that was the only word I could use to describe what we found there.

The room wasn't paved like the rest of the construction; it's more accurate to call it an underground cave, but that also wasn't enough.

It's made of crystals; the floor , the walls and the ceiling, all of them were covered in shining glass, then there were those boulder sized crystals , emitting light of many colors.

" it seems we found the power generator "

Like always, Seven was quick to notice the cords connected to the crystals, most of them were underneath a layer of transparent glass.

"Lilia, could you check what material are those made of"

"okay"

"wait… first we need to check if it's safe to walk in"

I poke the floor with the end of my spear then took out the scanner

"it says the ground has a null charge, it's made cubic zirconia "

We walk to the nearest crystal to perform the same scan. since they are emitting those lights it's safer not to touch them carelessly. And I'm so glad I didn't

"those… they are made of pure glassume! not only that " taking a few steps back I continued "it's charged a few million 'Verta' units! "

"… and?" said Seven, not able to understand what I'm saying

"that's enough energy to power a city for an entire year, one touch and it could evaporate you!"

Seven looked at me with a blank expression, then at the crystal before slowly moving away from it.

I don't understand, it's true that glassume could handle that kind of charge , that's why it's used in light speed portals. But is that even possible in its raw form? Without any kind of refining? In the first place where does all that energy come from?

" em… Lilia, if that rock contains that much energy, then what about that one"

It's surprising that I missed it until now. At the center of the room, a crystal so large in size connected the floor and the ceiling. A number of smaller crystals surrounded it.

For a reason unknown to me I unconsciously started to walk toward the giant crystal. I think it's so beautiful I couldn't resist, but Seven raised his arm stopping me. when I looked at him he put a finger in front of his lips telling me to stay silent, then pointed at the edge of the central crystal.

There is something there, it kinda looks out of place. Squinting my eyes I noticed there is some kind of fur on it. did some animal make a nest down here?

We circled around, leaving as much distance between us and the center as possible. I prepared my spear on Seven's orders, heating the blade as we walked. This isn't something like the night crawlers, if a living creature is comfortable enough to make a nest in this place then there is no question it's able to kill us.

Little by little, the beast came to view, and I felt strength.

The white and blue fur, the series of black straps, and that size. There is no mistaking it

"a Verta?"