Last man on earth when there is no earth?

Ch 03.5

“Um… uh… are you alright?"

“I... I don’t think so…”

Lilia's concerned voice reached me from the side, but despite my desire to see the gaze she graced me with, I could only respond weakly without raising my head, walking in slow steps while barely keeping track of my surroundings.

We had to cut the ruin exploration short soon after investigating the room I woke up in.

The broken pods and the metal plates inscribed with the words "Original Human Sample" were enough hints that something messed up had happened in that place but I still failed to grasp the extent of what awaited us.

I caught a glimpse of Ms. Alien's shadow as she increased her pace so she would be walking ahead of me. I guessed that I was straying away from our chosen route which is why she was trying to subtly guide me.

“I understand how you feel, but... let’s not rush to conclusions, okay?" She spoke in a much gentler tone than before. "There must be some logical explanation behind it…”

The room beyond the one with the pods was larger and had a slightly higher ceiling. It was filled with rows of shelves that went on from one side to the other, each one stacked with pods, but none like the ones we saw before.

Most were still intact, their size not even a tenth compared to the ones from the previous room. They were labeled with metal plates as well, but unlike the one I was kept in, the smaller pods only had numbers. No words. Not even letters.

With the pods intact, their contents were preserved to a certain extent. Apparently, the cleaning system of the underground structure only dealt with things that were left on the floor.

If something were to be kept sealed inside a glass container, it would remain inside until someone took it out.

I find myself counting. I started with one then quickly reached the second digits. Before long, I reached the last pod, the one with the number 346.

I almost threw up the energy bars I had just eaten.

The sick bastards didn't even bother to clean after themselves. They simply fled and left everything behind as is.

Three hundred and forty-six pods. Each one contained human remains. I wasn't a doctor or an archeologist, but even with next to no expertise, I could still tell those belonged to children no older than one year old.

I had to immediately leave that place. Lilia soon followed.

My fears were confirmed.

Original Human Sample.

There weren't many reasons for why one would be given such a label. One of them would be the existence of something derivative, and in the case of a human being, the implications couldn't be uglier.

“Shit….”

~◇~

Back at the camp, I sat in a corner inside Lilia's ship, hugging my knees and facing the wall.

Hello depression, my old friend.

Lilia was considerate enough to give me some space. She remained in the pilot seat on the other side of the craft, and though she clearly didn't want to turn her back to me, she still faced forward and didn't look my way.

After hours of silence, the sunlight started to dwindle. When it got too dark to see the lights inside the ship switched On by themselves.

Lilia got up and opened the door.

“I will heat the soup, do you want some?” She asked as she lifted the pot.

“Yeah, I will have some.”

If there was one thing that could beat depression it would be an empty stomach complaining about the growing hunger. That was my hope, at least.

Sitting at the fire we tried to eat, but in the end, I couldn’t muster the appetite. Spacing out once again, I raise my head to take a look at the sky.

Just then, I ended up witnessing something truly amazing. A light show I only ever saw in videos and on TV. Colors spread through the sky like ocean waves, some fading only for others to take their place.

The variety was unlike anything that graced the skies of Earth, that much I was sure of. It was like countless rainbows plastered on a starry sky framed by the tips of the giant trees.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Lilia said.

“Yeah..." Unbeknownst to me, I had been holding my breath the entire time I was looking at the sky. "This is the first time I see it with my own eyes...”

“Is that so?" Ms. Alien spoke in a wistful voice. "I used to watch it every night when I first came here, waiting for someone to respond to my distress calls.”

Though I already knew the answer, I found myself asking the question anyway.

“Did something happen?”

“I eventually gave up, that’s all." She shrugged with a smile. "Since the surface is far from what we were made to believe, I speculated that there might be a way out as well."

“… I see”

The silence returned as we observed the lightworks and the bothersome feeling at the end of my throat weakened along with the stress I felt.

I hurriedly finished my dish before the disturbing thoughts returned, and even went for more. The pot was empty now, and continuously looking at the sky became awkward.

Ugh… This is painful...

This could have been a romantic event where I up my affection points, but after everything we went through during the day, I couldn't bring myself to make any moves.

No, I doubt I would've done anything even if nothing happened...

Thinking that I descended to the grass and rested my back on the log I used as a chair.

“H-hey..." Even though it was only the two of us here Lilia's voice still managed to startle me. “What do you think they were trying to do in that place?”

I pretended to think about it for some time even though I had already formed an idea of what was happening there.

“They were trying to recreate the human male population, I guess…”

If Lilia was telling the truth and human males did indeed go extinct, it wouldn't be very hard to figure out what was happening in that place.

A world where only human females live. Some may say it’s heaven, some might say it’s hell. Either way, there are two questions you ask when hearing this. What happened, and how did they survive?

“Lilia, could you tell me more of what you know about the state the humans are in those days? What you said before is a little vague.”

“Hmm… Wait just a minute.”

She went to the ship for some time then returned with a thin board about the size of a notebook. Instead of going back to her spot, she walked over and sat down on the log I was leaning against, and that put her delicious exposed thighs right beside me.

Though she seemed unaware at first, it didn't take her long to realize that she had bridged the gap between us too abruptly. Looking slightly uncomfortable, she got up and sat back down a short distance away.

“I remember reading a book about the hierarchy in the Interplanetary Union…”

The board was similar to the tablets we had back on Earth. The main difference was that it didn’t have a normal screen, but a half-transparent rectangular window that appears when you switch it on. Then it hit me.

Wait a minute… is there a chance for his device to have some games like ours did? 

I have to make sure of that at a later time.

Lilia tapped on the half-transparent window multiple times, moved her finger here and there then tapped it again.

“This is the one.” She said as she showed me the screen.

I leaned in to take a closer look, and in only a couple of seconds, I was already knitting my brows.

“Uh… Lilia, I don’t know if I said this before but… I don’t understand this language.”

Ms. Alien glanced at me as if she didn't understand what I said. She turned the tablet to herself, gazed at it for a while, and tilted her head slightly. Gradually, a faint pink color took over her cheeks.

“S-sorry, I just assumed…” She said in a small voice. So cute.

Now that I think about it...

“I've been ignoring it for a while now but... how are we able to understand each other? Even when we are from completely different species?”

Once again Ms. Alien gave me a confused look. She was a little slow on the uptake but eventually came to understand that I had no idea about what appeared to be basic knowledge to the people of this time.

“Well, when you are about to leave your homeworld they require you to implant a microchip that does the translation." She explained. "When activated, it gives you the ability to talk and understand a common language used across all the Known Universe. You should have one too, since we are able to communicate.”

“That… sure is convenient...”

Now I have a microchip in my body that I never knew of. 

Wait, what about the situation where one has this microchip and the other doesn’t? Shouldn’t they make one that translates all languages? 

Is the technology of this era not at that level yet? Even though interstellar travel is accessible enough that a normal girl can just leave her world and wander around?

“As for written language, you would have to learn it to read. There are devices that can translate some, but those are illegal in a lot of places and situations.”

"Illegal?" My right eyebrow rose on its own. "Why is that?"

"Who knows..."

Lilia went silent and stared absentmindedly at the tablet in her hands. The faint blue light from the screen mixed with the orange glow of the bonfire, gently illuminating her fair skin and silky hair.

She had been less on guard compared to yesterday and allowed herself to come closer. However, it was only now that I got the chance to have a closer look at her, and indeed, she was as captivating up close as she was from afar.

Whoa...

When I woke up in that underground room, I jokingly thought of her as my first heroine. She fit the criteria of a love interest in an isekai, after all. Still, when my heart skipped a beat as I gazed at her profile, all of it suddenly felt real.

This wasn't just some show on a screen. I was one of the characters and I felt myself experiencing what one would experience in such scenes. The emotion was real, true, and far too strong. It quickly overwhelmed me and I found myself seeking retreat.

“Can you read it for me? The book, I mean?”

I'm still a man. A very simple man. All it takes is a woman being nice for me to fall for her. If that woman is an exceptional beauty, that would only speed up the process.

I'm still at the start and her charms have yet to ensnare me, but with the two of us having no choice but to keep each other company, I know for sure it was only a matter of time before I'm enthralled by her.

“Sure.” She cleared her throat. “You want to know about the state humans are currently in, correct?”

Lilia started reading, entirely oblivious to the effects every action she takes has on me.

I found it hard to believe most of what I heard. From the part where the human empire is the strongest of the three empires that rule the inner cycles of the Luminous Veil Galaxy, to the part where it has hundreds of planets under its reign. But that wasn't the most shocking discovery I made.

The galaxy we are in right now, the one called Luminous Veil, was in fact the Milky Way. It baffled me that I was able to recognize it from a single picture, but I was entirely convinced that I was right on the spot.

I was shocked to the core by the revelation, but as I gave it more thought I realized it doesn't really matter. Even if Earth is still out there somewhere, it had nothing to do with me.

To begin with, why did I even ask about the current humans?

Interstellar travel and the colonization of thousands of planets couldn't have happened in a day or two. Centuries, maybe even millennia, must have passed since I almost got killed by the green aliens.

I have no connection left to that world or the species. There is no point in worrying about them considering our paths will never cross again.

No, I'm definitely staying away from that hell.  I thought to myself. Last thing I want is to be involved with a female-dominated human society.

After some thought, I felt the need to know the answer to some of my questions. Leaving them at the back of my mind was bound to bother me over time.

“Does it say which year that information is from?”

Lilia slid her finger on the half-transparent rectangle.

“This is an article from 7356, which is last year on my planet. As for the human calendar, it says it was the year 2129.”

“… huh?”

Hold on, that can't be true...

“Coincidentally humans use the Default Interstellar Calendar and Clock, which is a bit different from Zesion.”

“You mean to say…” please tell me I’m wrong “I was asleep for just a hundred years!!?”

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