Chapter 3: Eternal Guardians

The PolarDark shuttle lifted off from the Calypso with deep vibrations that resonated throughout the bowels of the main ship. Brenda Ivanova watched the planetoid through the small porthole, with Amanda Lindström at her side adjusting the portable sensors, while Roger operated the flight controls. CIO-2, the translator and artificial intelligence system integrated into their suits, transmitted in real time the messages of the aliens and the human responses.

On the planetoid’s mottled, grayish surface, a system of lights began to flicker, outlining a perfect circle.

“There’s our landing zone,” Brenda announced calmly, her fingers gripping the armrest.

Roger, the pilot, nodded and began the descent with the precision of a surgeon.

“I hope those lights are more than just a welcome sight,” he commented, as the shuttle adjusted its speed.

“If they wanted us dead, they would have tried from space already,” Amanda replied, although her tone did not hide a certain uneasiness.

When they touched down, the shuttle released a small cloud of fine dust that quickly dissipated into the vacuum. When the hatch opened, a delegation of three humanoid robots was waiting for them.

One of them emitted a message that was intercepted and translated by CIO-2 into the helmets of the Earth astronauts. A dull metallic voice could be heard, amplified by the built-in speaker. —”Welcome.”— One of the three robots that greeted them was slightly ahead. It was angular and stylized in design, a few centimeters taller than the others.

CIO-2 translated another message — “We are the Custodians of Eternity. We travel aimlessly through this galaxy.” The robots guided them to an access chamber. They entered.

One of the robots emitted a message - “We have adapted the atmosphere for you.”

Brenda turned to Amanda, who was already analyzing the atmospheric data. Dr. Lindström said, “Nitrogen 78.08%. Oxygen 20.95%. Argon 0.93%. Carbon dioxide 0.035%.” Amanda looked up, “It’s respirable. And aseptic.”

Brenda nodded, undoing the clasps on her helmet.

—”Ready?”— He asked, looking at his companions. In unison, they removed their helmets and breathed the alien air for the first time.

The tallest robot had plates of a quartz-like material that reflected the pale light of the stars; it introduced itself to Ivanova as Förare. It said, “We have been on a mission for about three thousand human years. Our mission is to collect and catalog life forms within this galaxy, which we call ‘Luminara Prime’ and according to what your computer said, you call ‘Milky Way.’”

The robots were friendly, and seemingly harmless.

They had lost contact with their creators through an unfortunate incident. About a thousand years ago, the ship had been caught in a solar storm near the center of the galaxy. In that storm, they suffered a catastrophic failure in the data support systems of their central memory, which was unprotected due to insufficient shielding. This incident meant that they were unable to access files essential to their mission.

The robot identified as Förare explained, “In the failure of our central memory, we lost part of our history. We know that in our initial programming, there were instructions to return to our home planet, but now we don’t know exactly where in the galaxy it is located. Perhaps you can help us?”

Roger raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t have a data backup?” He asked, puzzled, as the AI immediately translated.

Förare seemed to hesitate, as if considering the answer. “As you see, we are robots. Our programming is limited. The storage system uses what you would call ‘magnetism-based memories.’ It is durable, but its capacity and reliability were compromised by the radiation from the solar storm.” – He paused briefly for a couple of seconds – “We are in real trouble. Our units must be periodically repaired for wear and tear. And their memories must be rewritten. New programs for our brains allow us to evolve over time into more intelligent units, to become androids with self-awareness and determination. But a part of those programs are in the information affected by the storm. If we cannot recover them, simply a part of our population will not be able to repair itself and will quickly die. The rest will fail over time. And this small world you see now will end its existence.” – Roger leaned over to Amanda and Brenda and said, “From what you’re saying, it’s primitive technology. They basically have to alter the magnetism of minerals to encode information, similar to the magnetic hard drives humanity used centuries ago. It’s likely that solar wind radiation has misaligned the magnetic fields.”

—”Can you help us fix it?” Förare intervened, with what almost seemed like a hint of desperation in his mechanical voice. Roger frowned. “Maybe, but I need to examine their storage units.”

Förare had a read-write unit brought in from the central Storage system. They let Roger Haines analyze it closely, waiting patiently for a response.

After a few minutes, Roger finally said with a smile on his lips. -”I would never have imagined it. It seems that the data reading systems have broken down, not the information.”- He showed an unusual joy.

Brenda asked, “What are you trying to tell us, Roger?”

Haines responded optimistically, “The information may be preserved. Only the reading system seems to be affected.” He pointed to the unit he was analyzing. “I could try replacing the reading units with a mini compass system that reads the orientation of the magnetic field. And then, with a transducer, convert the magnetic orientations into readable data. A bit of simple electronics. Primitive electronics.”

Amanda turned to Förare to ask, “Your data storage system would probably be unworkable on our planet due to the presence of natural magnetic fields. Do you know if your home planet had magnetic fields? That could explain why this technology was suitable for you at the time.”

Förare shook his head slowly. “That knowledge was lost in the storm. It may be in the archives, if we can recover it.”

The Custodians led the three visitors into the interior of the megastructure. The vast halls echoed with metallic sounds. Some halls resembled vast zoos with pressurized cages with individual atmospheres. Instead of bars, large windows made of a glass-like material allowed a view of the sheltered and isolated specimens. From microorganisms floating in capsules of transparent liquid, to large creatures that seemed to be in some state of suspended hibernation.