Marion floated in space, emptiness surrounded him, the planet, the world he knew shattered and scattered all around, only debris left, pieces of a rock, nothing more.
How trivial was it all, how inconsequential, they were burned out, snuffed out as fuel, nothing more, everyone he knew was gone...
'mom, dad, jas...' Marion sighed
''Hey, what happened to the people that went with the swarm''
''they are to be bred and harvested as karma so that the hive can further its ascension''
'karma...'
looking around all he could see was emptiness, space, a world he never thought he would one day experience, nothing really could have prepared him for this kind of view,
Time passed, floating in space, aimlessly,
'i feel weirdly empty, alone... i never knew how much i relied on other people until now, it feels weird to be truly alone, i guess that's my reality now'
'i feel nothing, i guess i don't know what to feel, what to do, it's all black, with a sprinkle of white dust, it's mesmerising, it really is, beauty, art, untouched art... at least that's what i would've said previously'
time passed slowly, agonisingly,
'i'm alone, i really am, i feel nauseous' Marion twisted in place, vomiting around,
The vomit dissapeared as soon as it left his mouth,
''the vessel should beware of losing too much vital fluids and energy reserves as the sphere is not equipped with the resources to feed an inferior lifeform such as the vessel''
''inferior lifeform my ass, this is all your fault, the whole planet exploded, all humans are going to be used as some kind of fuel for your species to grow, and now i'm drifting in outer space all alone with absolutely no idea on what to do next, screw you''
''it is the fate of inferior lifeforms to suffer at the hands of its superior, it is only natural, that is only logical and true, however if the vessel is currently lost, some steps can be recommended for the vessel's survival until judgement is administered''
'the fate of inferior lifeforms, what bullshit... it's bullshit, but i can't refute it, we're nothing compared to the swarm, why even try, if i'm to face judgment either way, what's the point, how could i even escape those, things, those flawless things'
Marion stared off into space, and time passed,
the more time passed, the narrower the infinite expanse of space felt, the world felt like it was closing in on Marion, it seemed as if the walls of space were going to close in on him at any moment,
''bring back the walls and the room, NOW'' Marion hyperventilated, his chest heaving up and down,
''As you wish vessel'' as soon as the voice had spoken, the walls and the expanse of white was back, along with the chair.
Marion sat down for the first time in god knows how long,
'Wait, how long have i been drifting'
''how long has it been since we've left earth'' Marion palmed his face afraid of the answer to come, not knowing what to expect.
''vessel we have been drifting for about an hour in your planet's unit of time''
''An hour? only? jesus christ...'' Marion put his face between his hands trying to calm down,
Marion stared at the white for a while,
''Hey, how powerful is the swarm? as an army, entity, or lifeform, whatever it is''
''the swarm is beyond what you could comprehend vessel, it would be like trying to teach you to unite with the voice when you haven't even learned what a sound is, it is beyond your realm of understanding''
''you said anyone can ascend to perfection, how do i do that''
''you wield karma, that is how''
''what is karma''
''energy''
Marion furrowed his brows, the voice wasn't being useful, it seemed he lacked a basic understanding of many things, at the very least he knew he wasn't helpless, the voice had stated that there were some options for survival,
''you said previously that there are some recommended steps that i can take for survival, what are they?'' Marion hoped for the best,
''Until you can be judged properly in front of the swarm, there are multiple steps we can take to ensure your survival, as this vessel is not provisioned with energy fit for an inferior lifeform such as yourself''
Marion furrowed his brows,
'again with the inferior lifeform stuff, it's getting on my nerves'
''There are multiple systems in the vicinity which are under supervision of the swarm for feeding, we can position ourselves on one of these systems until further notice, however even though these systems are of very low standing, for an individual such as yourself that has not even stepped onto the karmik path, even these systems pose a significant threat that may cost you your life, additionally with your current state of depleted liquid and energy you may perish before we arrive at any system''
'again with how inferior i am, does this voice only know how to talk about that?'
''After calculating our odds, the best chance for our survival is to set the shard to sleep so that you expend less energy and liquid, while we enter high speed travel to reach a suitable planet, that is the only way we can reach any system in your current condition''
''Understood, and what are these systems?''
''These systems are individual or groups of planets with ecosystems rich in karma, far richer than your planet yet still extremely low compared to truly wealthy systems, these planets are left to proliferate and breed karma so that one day they too can become feed for the swarm''
'i guess we weren't the only ones with this fate, i don't know if that makes me feel better or worse...'
''why was earth destroyed now and not later, left to 'proliferate' karma?''
''because it had no potential, it would be waste of time, your planet was one not blessed by 'him' therefore deemed useless and limited''
'him...'
''what are the systems we can reach as we are now?'' Marion folded his arms and focused up, he couldn't help but be a little excited, yet still his legs jittered, nervousness still lay there, this wasn't exactly a safe situation,
'i'm going to an alien planet, the first human to ever set foot in a place so far away... well i am the last human, no point in getting excited, i'm alone and with nowhere to return to, in a place where according to this voice i'm probably not going to survive'
''we can reach about 100459 systems as we are now, of those the vast majority would be unwelcoming to an individual such as yourself, due to oxygen requirements on your part, due to extreme temperatures, due to extreme or lack of gravity, due to lack of digestable food supplies, due to excessive danger, due to na-''
''Okay, i understand, what systems can i land on? preferably one that's similar to my own, one where the civilisation or culture resembles the civilisation of earth''
''narrowing it down, to those where you would have some chance of survival, and a similar civilisation as that of the most flourished civilisation on earth, the system most fitting that description would be 'Asana',''
''Asana, huh...''
''Yet your chances of surviving the local flora and fauna, and befriending the local dominant species are close to 0%, does the vessel not want to listen to better recommendations?''
''no, if this one is like earth, then i'm going to be fine, after all no one knows how to deal with people like me''
''As you wish vessel, we will now be entering high speed travel, when you wake up you will be in Asana, beware of the local fauna, stay underground, best of luck vessel, you will need to live to receive judgement''
''judgement huh...''
Marion felt his eyes turn heavy as he slipped into unconsciousness.