Heartron carried Tom in its luxury starcraft.
Thomas watched as a blue-green world grew bigger and bigger. It had only taken days for Heartron to bring him here. In that time, they had amused themselves—Heartron generating games, and Tom playing through them.
And now, here they were.
The only world Heartron's scans had deemed worth exploring.
Tom wouldn't necessarily be able to survive on the surface on his own, but with Heartron able to adapt into a suit, a land rover, or even a flying vehicle, Tom had full faith his friend would keep him alive.
By sight alone, it was obvious the planet held life—green life, at least.
"Hey, Heartron… you see any signs of civilization down there?"
Heartron made a few playful beeps—something it did just for Tom—before replying:
"Just one. Possibly ancient ruins. I can only speculate there is still some ongoing function there, as plant life is present all but in that area."
Another question popped into Tom's mind.
"Is the gravity going to feel weird down there?"
"No," Heartron replied. "I will be your suit and replicate your native 1G."
"Thanks, Heartron," Tom said with a laugh.
His heart raced, eyes wide, as Heartron's craft pierced the atmosphere.
Within moments, Tom could see mountains and forests on the horizon. A whole foreign world.
And it startled him—how fast the ground rushed up. For a moment, he thought they might crash, but Heartron effortlessly slowed the ship.
Tom thought of inertial dampeners from Star Trek… but whatever he was experiencing was far beyond that.
"All right," Tom said. "What's next?"
"Stand still with your arms out," Heartron instructed.
Tom obeyed.
An odd sensation enveloped him, and suddenly he found himself floating in midair, just a few feet above the ground. Slowly, he descended.
He couldn't see any suit. The only difference was a gauntlet on his arm.
Heartron, sensing his confusion, explained:
"This is me in my truest form. I am a force field around you. The gauntlet is simply an interface—fortunately, your species has arms."
Tom bent down and touched the ground. He scooped up some dirt and let it crumble through his fingers.
He could feel it.
"I'm seriously on another world…"
Heartron had landed about half a mile from the ruins—a precaution, in case there were any defenses.
But it gave Tom the chance to walk.
He crossed a valley ridge and saw things no human had ever seen before.
It was incredible—how much resembled Earth, and how much didn't.
A creature scurried away from him—like a string of rocks tied together, moving like an unfastened necklace.
The trees were made of twisted vines, warm to the touch.
He stopped to admire what he could only describe as a cross between a possum and a tortoise, watching him suspiciously from a branch.
The leaves seemed to breathe.
Tom touched one.
He felt a pulsing inside.
He tugged it.
It shrieked.
Tom immediately let go and decided not to touch any more leaves.
Heartron mostly stayed quiet, letting Tom explore, while projecting a holographic interface with maps and scans.
Cresting the final hill brought the structure fully into view.
In an enormous valley sat a massive metal cube.
It was pristine.
Tom estimated it to be the size of fifty Walmarts—and somehow, that felt accurate.
The only signs it had ever connected to the outside world were what looked like roads subcome to nature,leading into dozens of hangar-sized doors surrounding it.
It was completely out of place.
Just… a giant, silent structure on an alien world.
Tom made his way down into the valley.
He noticed something odd—there were no insects. Nothing flying.
Just armored rodents.
And those strange rock-snakes.
As he approached the facility, the plant life abruptly stopped—about three feet from its edge. The ground became perfectly smooth.
Tom reached out and touched the outer wall.
Its sheer size, flatness, and scale were unlike anything he had ever experienced.
He began walking along it, hand gliding across the metal.
"Hey, Heartron—how long would it take to walk around this thing?"
"At your current pace, factoring rest," Heartron replied, "approximately six and a half hours."
That somehow made it feel smaller… though it didn't look it.
Tom almost wished Heartron had said a week.
After about two hours of walking, Tom thought he heard something.
A faint humming.
A holographic screen popped up before him.
A blinking dot.
"Something is approaching the facility," Heartron said. "High speed."
The dot moved—fast.
Very fast.
"Get off the path, Tom. Now."
Tom didn't hesitate. He leapt away from the wall.
Something blasted past them—
Faster than anything he had ever seen.
It looked like…
"A giant killer lawnmower," Tom muttered.
And just like that, it was gone.
Tom steadied himself, catching his breath.
"Well… now I know why there are no plants here," he said. "They're still paying their lawn care bill."
They continued walking.
Twice more, the machine roared past. Each time, they got out of the way just in time.
Eventually, they reached one of the massive hangar doors.
"Okay, Heartron… I know this is probably a bad idea… but I want to go inside."
"As do I," Heartron replied.
"Hold your hand to the door. I will attempt to revive its mechanisms."
Tom did as instructed.
He watched as colored, gem-like lights shifted across the gauntlet on his arm.
He felt nothing—
But inside the door, something moved.
A deep groan echoed.
The massive door began to open.
Light from the planet's sun spilled into the darkness, revealing an enormous empty interior.
Tom stepped cautiously inside.
Heartron spawned several baseball-sized glowing orbs, lighting the space around him.
"I am now able to perform deeper scans," Heartron said. "This was once a factory—of that I am certain. Further inside, I detect equipment in pristine condition, maintained by autonomous systems."
"Maintenance bots?"
"Yes. Machine intelligences. They will continue their function and likely ignore you entirely. However, I detect no active production."
Tom smiled slightly.
"Well… let's go check it out."