The Beginning

In the distant future, project M0K.0 - 3 advanced and intelligent robots - embarks on a journey. Their goal was to find a new, inhabitable planet for their human creators. Mankind had reached a point of no return in the destruction of their own home.

For light years, they scanned the vast universe for an energy great enough to power human technology.

Finally, they come upon a planet, rocky and glowing orange.

The three robots land to find endless cave systems filled with a pulsing orange crystal. The crystal’s power was so great that it warped the space around it, like a fire’s heat distorting the air. The robots felt themselves charge up simply by approaching the golden light.

They entered the mouth of one of the largest caves, physically drawn in by the droning buzz of electricity. The bravest and most desperate of the three - known simply as the tall one - reached out to touch the crystal and felt an overwhelming power and sentience. He felt like it empathized with their long journey - not the crystal itself, but merely its aura. He lowered himself into a pose of submission, as he’d seen humans do, and asked for the successful end of their mission.

After testing the planet for suitable conditions, the robots returned to the ship, hoping the energy of the planet would finally allow them to reach Earth and inform them. A great translucent screen emerged from the wall and lit up the ship. With hope, the three robots waited to be faced with eager human scientists, but what they saw was an abandoned white room, once filled with fluorescent lighting, now reclaimed by nature. They were too late. 

When the realization of his failure began to set in, an overwhelming warm light outshone the screen and bounced off the tall one’s smooth, metallic exterior. The crystal’s power sympathized with their despair and offered its planet as a blank slate. 

The robots decided to carry out their mission with their knowledge and with new generations of robots. The tall one had seen the cruelty and neglect that led to his creation. He had witnessed the hypocrisy of mankind, grasping for some way technology could find them a new way of life, yet negligent of the life that suffered around them; The tall one decided they would treat this planet better than the humans did, but they would include all the best aspects of humanity in their honor.

Photo by Peter de Vink: https://www.pexels.com/photo/lighted-cave-849385/