The moment the three of us stepped across the threshold, the air inside the spaceship felt strange. If anything, it felt maintained, which, considering the fact that the ship has been sitting in that meadow for half a million years, was frankly ridiculous.
Hovering slightly behind them in my digital ghost form, the interior stretched into a colossal hallway. The walls were made of the same black metal as the exterior shell with faint lines of dormant circuitry embedded beneath the surface. The ceiling rose dozens of meters above our heads and lined with geometric structures that looked like dormant lighting systems. The floor beneath their feet was polished so perfectly that it mirrored their silhouettes as they walked.
I began scanning the entire structure. Layers of information ran through my perception as my sensors spread across the hallway. Every system I could access appeared stable.
The moment Veneri's foot crossed a faintly glowing line on the floor, the entire spaceship shook. Elyonari immediately raised her bow. I paused my scan. Then suddenly, a sphere of golden light formed in the air directly in front of us.
A three-dimensional hologram appeared. It was the figure of a woman.
She floated about two meters above the ground. Her body was composed entirely of golden projection light, though the resolution is so precise that she almost looks real. She has short dark hair that barely reached her chin, smooth features and a pair of striking golden eyes that glowed faintly as they focused on the three visitors standing in the hallway.
For a moment she said nothing.
"Biological analysis complete."
Her gaze landed on Veneri first.
"Subject one."
Then Elyonari.
"Subject two."
Finally me.
"Subject three. I detect three members of the four Ancient Races."
Veneri tilted his head. "Do you now?"
The hologram continued calmly.
"Omniscient."
Her eyes shifted to me.
"Aeterium."
They moved to Veneri.
"Verdarite."
Finally they landed on Ely, who looked mildly surprised.
"That was fast."
"My designation is Hansel."
She placed one hand over her chest in a formal gesture.
"I am the artificial intelligence lifeform responsible for managing the Class S Continental Spaceship Gretel."
"Wait."
The hologram looked at him.
"Yes?"
"Your name is Hansel?"
"Yes."
"But… Hansel is a male name."
The hologram blinked.
"No."
"Yes," he said immediately.
"No," she repeated calmly.
Ely slowly turned toward him.
"What do you mean it's a male name?"
Veneri rubbed the back of his head.
"Okay, this might sound weird. Hansel and Gretel is a story."
Elyonari frowned.
"A story?"
"Yes. From Earth."
That immediately caught my attention as he explained.
"Apparently on Earth, there was or is, if it exists, an old fairy tale about two siblings named Hansel and Gretel. They were abandoned in a forest by their parents and eventually discovered a house made of candy owned by a witch who intended to eat them. They threw her in an oven by tricking her. Well, the girl."
Ely's expression gradually shifted from confusion to mild horror as he summarized the plot.
"So let me get this straight. Two children find a house made of sweets, then a cannibalistic witch tries to eat them. Then Gretel throws the witch to the oven after she tricked her into looking inside it?"
"Yes."
"That's a children's story?"
"Yes."
She stared at him.
"Your world is disturbing."
I couldn't help laughing a little but what fascinated me more was something else. I turned to Veneri.
"You realize this means your grandfather named the spaceship after the story."
"Yeah. And apparently he named the AI Hansel."
The hologram tilted her head slightly.
"My master designated this name upon my creation."
"But Hansel is the boy in the story."
She stared at him.
"I am aware."
"Then why—"
"My master said it would be amusing."
Veneri closed his eyes for a moment.
"That actually sounds like something my grandfather would do. My dad would actually do the same. Seriously..."
Meanwhile, Ely was still processing the earlier explanation.
"So this witch baked children and people told this story to their children?"
"Yes."
She shook her head slowly.
"Earth is terrifying."
I was still thinking about something else entirely.
"You're wondering how I didn't know this story, Darling."
"Yeah actually. Considering you scanned my memories when we first met after I woke up from my coma at the age of seven, I thought you knew this."
"Well, I'm not someone who enjoys knowing everything."
That made Elyonari glance at me.
"You're literally an Omniscient."
"Yes, but curiosity is much more interesting than certainty."
I floated upside down for a moment as I spoke, watching them from above.
"If I already know everything, existence becomes terribly boring. But moments like this are fun. If I knew about this, it wouldn't be humorous, right?"
Veneri actually smiled.
"That's… a surprisingly good reason."
I shrugged again.
"Even omniscience needs entertainment."
The hologram—Hansel—watched this exchange silently for several seconds before speaking again.
"My master anticipated your arrival."
Veneri looked up at her.
"He did?"
"Yes. Master Vasreveilder left instructions regarding a future individual possessing Aeterium lineage who would eventually arrive aboard this vessel."
Elyonari blinked.
"Your grandfather planned this?"
Veneri looked mildly concerned.
"That sounds like something he'd do."
"In accordance with those instructions, the individual who fulfills the necessary conditions may inherit ownership of the spaceship Gretel."
That got my attention immediately.
"Ownership?"
"Yes. If the trials are completed successfully, he will become my new master."
"And if I fail?"
Her tone did not change.
"You will all die during the attempt. There are three tests."
"Of course there are."
"The tests were designed by my master to determine whether the candidate possesses sufficient capability, intellect and resolve to command this vessel. If you succeed, Gretel will recognize you as its rightful master. If you fail…"
Her golden eyes glowed brighter.
"…your biological functions will cease."
He looked up at the holographic AI.
"Alright. Let's hear these tests."
Hansel's eyes shimmered with golden light.
"As you wish. The first test is Jack and the Beanstalk."
So, imagine this: one second, Hansel is floating there, all calm and ominous and the next, she snaps her fingers and suddenly, the world exploded. Well, not literally, but it felt like it.
We fell through a space that looked like someone had stolen every color in existence and smashed it into a kaleidoscope. My glitch aesthetic was glitching even more out of sheer confusion.
Veneri, of course, remained annoyingly calm. Elyonari however, was muttering under her breath, probably cursing in Elvish and Spheran. I was floating alongside them in my physical form that I didn't create.
We landed hard in a freshly plowed field with dirt and grass erupting from the sonic boom. Veneri rolled once and popped up, dusting off the soil off his clothes. Elyonari stood up, groaning. I floated above the crater, observing with the detached amusement that only an immortal digital ghost can have.
"Well, that was… educational. And by educational, I mean terrifying, confusing, and mildly insulting to the laws of physics."
Ely shot me a glare.
"Educational? We just fell through a vortex and slammed into dirt. That's your takeaway?"
I twirled midair, letting a few pixels glitch away for flair.
"Perspective. From where I float, it's fascinating. You guys, on the other hand…"
Veneri finally muttered.
"This is not good at all."
Hansel appeared once again, hovering above us like some cruel deity. Her golden eyes scanned our disheveled forms.
"Greetings and welcome to your first trial. The rules are simple: climb the beanstalk, retrieve the golden goose from the castle above the clouds and return alive. Should you survive, you pass. Should you fail, you die. This is not a simulation. The world you see is real, your bodies are real and your deaths are also real. You have ten days. Fail, and the giant will awaken. The world will be destroyed."
So we have ten days to climb a beanstalk, steal a goose from a giant and not die. Nothing to worry about at all...