Lights in the Sky
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I consider myself something of an amateur xeno-archaeologist, it’s not that I’m really good at it but when you are a card carrying member of the Intergalactic Xeno-Archaeologist Society “IXAS” you have access to sites that otherwise would be off limits. So I use my membership card any chance I get. I’ve visited many strange worlds and the thing I like best is the surprise and wonder when you are blown away by something totally unexpected. One of my favorite planets is “Stairways”, actually the planets real name is unknown as the entire population has been gone some ten thousand years ago. It was given the name stairways because that is what the entire planet is covered in, hundreds of millions of paths and stairs built above the planet surface to a height of up to 20,000 feet in some areas. This is a class A restricted planet and I was lucky to have a friend on the Stairways xeno-archaeologist governing body who allowed me some real time access to the planet. Once I was on the planet, after the required orientation, it was even more impressive that I could imagine. The most unique thing about all the structures is that none of them interfere with any other structure in any way that would diminish the usability of the lower paths and stairways. What I mean is that whatever was built above a current structure the head room was always the same so the inhabitants never had to bend down to avert any overhangs. Unfortunately they all seemed to be no taller than five feet so unless you wanted to crawl everywhere you had to use HT1’s to maneuver through the structures. Data from scans and planet probes determined that the structures date back twenty thousand years. The earliest structures are built of stone and wood and then progress to more modern materials at the very top. The structures are as varied as the materials and you can find stairs, platforms, pathways, and pedestals. Most of the structures seem random in their placement but the detail in design and execution is without rival. The earliest works are the simplest with roughly carved icons and figures and as you follow the structures upward they become more elaborate and detailed. There are sections that are a dizzyingly abstract and seem to have been designed by someone flinging paint in intricate detail but then abruptly stops and another more abstract design begins. Some of the designs on several hundred pieces seem to only have a meaning when viewed as a whole but the separate pieces were in some cases dated a thousand years apart. That would mean that the process to build the structures was planned and then executed over several thousand years!
The planet’s atmosphere is minimal and it was first thought that the inhabitants were nitrogen dependent, that being the dominant gas in the remaining atmosphere. But further investigation revealed that most of the atmosphere was stripped away by solar activity which was believed to have been a natural process until the Magma Mass Generator was discovered. The MMG had long ago failed so there was no way to turn on the planet’s power source, but once they located the node points they could trace the pathways and localize the planets electrical infrastructure. The majority of the electrical usage surprisingly was for lighting displays. We were allowed to power up certain areas that had been identified as closed loops so as not to disturb any areas not yet cataloged. Our HT1’s contain a portable power supply and with the sub-node map we were supplied with during orientation I could “light up” certain areas. If the intricate details of the structures themselves were not impressive enough then lighting them up added a factor of ten to nth power in what these people had accomplished.
I am usually not at a loss for words when detailing tech but then was just overwhelming, but I’ll give is a try. Color, lots of color and in maddening detail with hues and shadows and gradients and more. Lots of motion too with some effect unnerving and disorienting. And then the sounds many of which I assume were the sounds of the living planet’s fauna also long gone. I could only take a small amount of the display before I had to turn it off and it is speculated that the entire planet is wired in similar if not more elaborate displays. Beauty aside this planet must have been a madhouse when fully electrified. But if what I’ve detailed above seems unreal then the report just released by the IXAS makes it all seem tame in comparison.
IXAS Official Report of Planet “Stairways” In consideration of the ongoing archaeological exploration of the planet known as “Stairways” we have developed a theory of the planets inhabitants indirect involvement in the loss of the planets atmosphere and their eventual demise.
- Monuments of Doom
It has been determined through partial translations of icons, hieroglyphs and some recovered libraries that the purpose of the stairs, pathways, and other structures was for each to honor a particular individual. In essence each structure was a “monument” to an individual who had walked that exact path. From the earliest records it appears that they would honor an individual by building a decorated path and the carvings would describe that individuals accomplishments. In the beginning the individual accomplishments were of heroic context such as one early example of saving another from an attach by a wild animal, but over time the requirements for honoring individuals seems to have taken a different slant.The earliest period examined contained at least 90% heroic acts that were memorialized. The other 10% seemed to be less than heroic but were possibly more heroic that what was discovered in the later periods. As the planet evolved and the inhabitants developed an industrial infrastructure the monuments became more elaborate and more numerous.It seems that the desire to be memorialized outweighed the need for a natural world and the planets flora and fauna where the first casualties. During one period of about 500 years the structures were built at such a rate that all natural resources were consumed on the planets surface and the populous moved to underground cities. They developed extensive hydroponic farms to sustain themselves. The building of the monuments seemed to take on the aspect of a race and everyone that could participate did so and with more and more extreme memorials. One example of a memorial was translated as “I watched the child who held the hand of the father who made her smile and in turn I smiled and I wish to have this known for all eternity” A wonderful sentiment but this particular memorial was twelve stories in height and spanned a square kilometer. These excesses continued for several thousand years and consumed the entire planets resources but the populous survived and actually flourished in spite of the decimation. One odd point, all the below ground living quarters were stark and simple with no adornment or color. They were more like military dormitories. - Pretty Lights Deadly Lights
When the MMG was discovered and the node points uncovered the total electrical infrastructure was mapped and it was discovered that the largest structures, besides being memorials, were also designed as electromagnets. The planet was ringed with these electromagnets and could generate a magnetic flux that surpassed the planets natural magnetic field. The purpose of these electromagnets was uncovered when some of the lighting systems were activated and displayed a mural of the planet with an aurora circling the equator.In their bid to create the greatest lighting display ever they used the electromagnets to create an artificial aurora. From the records we have from that period they activated the electromagnet only on special occasions but soon they began to activate them more often. The effects on the planets natural magnetic field were dramatic. Pole polarity reversal that should have taken at least 7000 years occurred more than twenty times in approximately 50 years. The results were a magnetic flux cascade that distorted the planet’s natural magnetic field allowing their sun to begin to strip away their atmosphere. It was then only a mater of years before the atmosphere became unable to support life. As an aside the MMG was probably also affected and may have ceased to function at this time.
The one telling thing for me was the lack of a place to rest and reflect. The entire planet was devoted to the memorials and there was no place to get away from them. When I powered up that one section I was at first amazed but then I had to turn it off. I couldn’t image what it would be like with the entire planet electrified. What drives an entire populous to actions that eventually destroys them. The only thing I can imagine is that they could not see themselves or the folly of their ways. The importance of living was set aside for their memorials and now that is the only thing left. I said at the beginning that Stairways was one of my favorite planets and as an engineer it is, but as a human I find it difficult to spend more than a couple hours there before I have to leave. I’ve been on empty planets before but this planet is different, they all died because of the pretty lights in the sky.
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