Eidol leapt forwards, showing multicellular life and the reproductive means that these new creatures brought with them. It showed how these creatures pulled themselves from the sea to become land dwellers. It flashed through a series of crude but fascinating animals, some with feathers and some with scales. Then it fell silent.
Visitant, who had actually been enjoying the show, now spoke up.
'It ended there? With the crude monsters?' it asked, keenly, 'Some extinction event, no doubt?'
'Not quite,' said Eidol, 'not quite.'
Eidol recommenced its stream of information.
Visitant watched with respectful reverence as meteors struck the planet, wiping out vast swathes of life. To its surprise life continued, springing up once again. This time with creatures quite different to the giant lizards of before. These mammals went from few and far between to suddenly dominating the planet.
Visitant let out a gasp of dark fission at seeing one species seemingly leap from the planet in simple machines and land upon its long departed moon.
Eidol deliberately slowed down his findings so that Visitant could watch as this young species leapt out again and again, creating small stations in space, and eventually reaching other planets. Like a solar flare the race of tiny mammals spread out, but also like a flare they suddenly vanished.
'Now what?' demanded Visitant, keen to know what happened next.
'They died out,' said Eidos, 'at least as far as I can tell.'
Visitant sighed, its form quivering, 'but they did so much, relatively, at least. What did it all mean if they were just to vanish without any real traces?'
'That,' said Eidol, 'is exactly what I'm trying to work out.'
Visitant detached itself from its fellow and considered what it had learned for a few more rotations.
'What if there's no answer?' it asked eventually, having ruminated on the question itself, 'what if after all that struggle it amounts to nothing but an echo?'
Eidol gave its equivalent to a shrug and then returned to its study.
Visitant, seeing that it had gained all the knowledge it was likely to from its friend, and deciding that it didn't want any more, decided to leave. As delicately as it could it tore open a new portal and vanished through it in a blink.
It took several rotations for Eidol to notice that Visitant had gone.
'Nothing but echoes,' it murmured, in waves of radiation that spread out from its centre.
'Nothing but echoes.'
END
About the Author
Sebastyan A.J. Smith can often be found in Wales, staring at mountains, just to see if they'll move. He usually writes comedy fantasy, which leaves very little room for sadness. This sadness often pools together and results in something like Death Echo. If you would like to know more about him you can follow his blog at:
https://sebastyansmith.wordpress.com/
He can also be found on
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SebastyanAJSmith/
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Death Echo - Volume 1 Page 6