Ultraviolet Observer - a short sci-fi from a Dark Forest Lord perspective

[Stormtrooper (OP)]

Hello everyone,

The Groaxian DLC to my original AAR is coming to an end, but instead of writing the ending sequence I've decided to prepare something else for now. I've written a short story from a perspective of a Dark Forest Lord. Since I hate the "reskinned humans" trope in sci-fi when it comes to alien life, I constantly try to come up with something truly alien, beyond the comprehence of a human mind when writing these stories. The short story below is an attempt at this. I've written it to be bizarre, even trippy and open for interpretation. If you don't understand some bits, it's by design. It's written by an alien, after all, and one much more advanced than humans are as of now.

Also this is an experiment for me in which I want to find out whether such format and writing style has any potential, possibly for my future AARs as well, so I'd be really grateful for any feedback as to whether I should continue down this path or is it just too incomprehensible to enjoy.

P.S. If you have any questions regarding what the hell did you just read, you can ask me, I'll try to explain best to my human understanding

[Stormtrooper (OP)]

The time of my final journey was coming to an end. I sensed the cosmos around me. It was dark as always. Some stars were still shining in this galaxy, but they were not going to last. For the past five Claws Vivvuns were doing a great job lashing out Strings of Damnation at whatever world got revealed to them. They swarmed and danced across the stars, always in search for the next prey. They were the Purgers.

We were not Purgers ourselves. We’ve never felt like ones. It was such a bizarre concept. We still remember the first extraterrestrial life encountered, way back in the second Claw of 5079 Cleansing Period. We slayed their bodies, not aware they were really ceasing to live. Such a strange concept. One plasma burst and all is gone. No second chances. Our species wouldn’t last through a single Claw if we were like them. And they were only one out of many to be like that. So many civilizations revolved around combating this phenomena. Some fused with machines, some tried to ascend into brighter consciousness. So many resources wasted. No wonder they could not defend against our Weavers of Countersurge. Let alone Strings of Damnation. Even we didn’t have a response against Strings of Damnation.

We were not Purgers ourselves. But not long after the First Encounter we could sense the Universe as what it truly was – a Dark Forest. Then the Surge happened. Little is remembered from these darkest Claws. That’s when we’ve raised the Weavers. Meant to combat the Surge within us and beyond. Yet to this Claw it doesn’t make sense to us. How a Dark Forest is even supposed to function. How is that even possible. To wipe out life. As long as the Oceans flow, there’s no way to stop us. But many others were not like us. Their Oceans still flew and yet they were so weak. But there are weapons that can dry them up. They can blast entire stars, too.

We were not Purgers ourselves. But Dark Forest called and we answered. In previous Cleansing Period we’ve heard a call from a young, inexperienced and weak race. It came from a star only 231 Hyperclaws away. Some strange creatures with only four limbs and slim figures. A golden disc with sounds of a bizarre planet. Eight planets according to their classification, a few smaller ones and a big one far, far away from the star. It took a solid while to figure it out that it was really this system since the data didn’t match. Now we know they didn’t know about the ninth planet when they’d sent the golden disc. They learned not long after, though.

All we could do was to fire Blind Beacon at them. Later we learned many others sent theirs, too. They stood no chance.

[Stormtrooper (OP)]

That’s when I reached Ultraviolet Clearance and it was my turn to be on my own in the final journey through the dark cosmos. I looked at my body, pulsating in ultraviolet light. There was no Ocean for me anymore, so I had to depart and carry the duty of a Purger. With the help of quantum amplifiers I could see clearly into Ultralanes, even after collapse of hyperspace. And I saw a galaxy brimming with life. It could not hide from the eyes of an Ultraviolet. But without hyperspace the journey was slow. Claws were passing, but it didn’t bother me anymore. I’ve already burned through the entire spectrum. I had time. Something this galaxy didn’t.

Recently I received some coordinates. No big deal, I thought as I reached for a Weaver of Countersurge. But before firing I just had to look through the Ultralane. Technically it was against the demand of Dark Forest, but I was radiating ultraviolet light, after all. I had all the time I wanted. I could afford to look before destroying. I waited patiently through many claws before gathering all the data through Ultralane. But I had time.

It was such a unique world. Not perfect, their Oceans could not help them. Yet they were developing so quickly. But they seemed foolish, so foolish. That wouldn’t be so extraordinary if not for that Ultraviolet essence shining deep inside them. How could such a smart race not do as Dark Forest told? Or maybe they knew something we didn’t? Maybe they held an advantage I could not understand? Maybe what we called weapons were just important energy sources for them? Maybe they wanted as many strikes to come as to get fuel for their reactors before retaliating in a horrible way? So many questions, so little answers.

Weaver was ready for launch when I noticed the fabric of the universe shattering around me. It was a String of Damnation for sure. It flashed past me, splitting the observable universe in half like a claw. Unfortunately, I became on the opposite side of the split than my recent target. Time started accelerating infinitely between me and then. No way my Weaver could reach them as both realities departed.

I had nothing to do but to listen to the data stream on an Ultralane still linking me with this alien world. Images of a frozen planet appeared in my ultraconsciousness. Visions of cosmic drama flew through me and my vessel. It was a third planet from the sun, much like in case of the ones who sent a golden disc encapsulated within ancient debris, except in this case there were only three planets in total.

Suddenly the Ultralane connection started to stutter. I observed a glitch in reality. Something was happening there, Hyperclaws away from me. Something I’ve never encountered, but if one was able to glitch reality itself, it could only mean they were Dark Forest Lords themselves. The pace at which they’ve risen to this status from a frozen planet was impressive.

An alarm sounded on my machine. String of Damnation flew too close. My flow of light slowed down. It interfered with wavelength. I was losing my Ultraviolet Clearance. But as I shifted into Infrared and then towards Microwave, I started feeling a strange, unexplained connection with the frozen planet. My time flow accelerated. Soon I caught up to the other side of Ultralane. I was thinking as fast as them. My body burned through light and time, but I could feel something I’ve never felt before. And as I started at them, I sensed someone else. An ancient presence rooted deeply in their history and culture. Something that did not wish to destroy them.

I filtered the data through the recordings of the Purged, not expecting much. But I got one match. The patterns were just like the ones from the golden disc, except far more mature and advanced. The species I and many others sentenced into nothingness prevailed. And still didn’t listen to the guidance of Dark Forest.

String of Damnation was already far away from me. Time slowed again and I regained Ultraviolet Clearance. But the feeling was still there.

I could not bring myself to fire on them. And I had all the time in the universe to not do it.

I overcharged the machine’s reactor. Once my time is up, all the Weavers will be gone with me, too. And nobody can stop me because I have all the time I need to prepare for this moment. I am an Ultraviolet, after all, pulsating slowly through the void.

And through all of this time I will be watching them.

[nuclearslurpee]

It is an interesting perspective... to think of these beings of, what, EM spectrum and beyond existing as creatures of instinct locked in battles with each other while casually wiping out entire worlds, it is certainly a different plane of existence. 

I probably would find an entire AAR in this style hard to keep up with, but for a short story this works for someone who has followed the Groaxian AAR and is familiar with the concepts and writing style, so many of the terms map to what we know of the galaxy even if they are not anything we have actually encountered before. Maybe in a more narrative AAR which shifts perspectives between different characters at all the different levels of consciousness as they experience the Dark Forest it could be a cool writing technique.

[Stormtrooper (OP)]

Hey, glad you liked it!

I probably would find an entire AAR in this style hard to keep up with

Truth be told, I also would find it hard to keep up with, but that's the entire point, isn't it? How can human beings who can imagine laser beams, FTL and maybe higher dimensions beyond classic 3D world at most keep up with a mastermind of species eons ahead in terms of evolution and civilisation progress? That'd be like asking for a task orders of magnitude harder than expecting stone age cavemen to imagine computer programming.

This was another attempt at writing aliens that are alien rather than reskins of humanity, but ultimately it makes me wonder this task might be even more impossible long-term than I anticipated, because not only of not being able to not think like a human which is a must have here, but also because even if I could hypothetically abandon all human ways of thinking and come up with something truly alien with nothing human in it, it would be incomprehensible gibberish for me or anyone else from this planet.

[nuclearslurpee]

I suspect that trying to make such an incredibly alien perspective somehow human-comprehensible is the fun part.