Our legends told of a race of ancient Seariods that made their homes along the lakes and rivers of the blue planet Ao. Their towns were interconnected across the coasts by boat lanes, rope bridges, and flying skeens. People said one could walk only five feet before needing to swim, climb, or sail.
It was truly a magical place, the stories said, wonderful markets full of interesting and kind people ready to tell you a story.
The last people to ever contact the planet were a convoy of federated outpost ships carrying supplies to a system far from that area. They needed a repair to their fuel system and the Seariods gladly helped. No one knows what happened in the time between that interaction and what was discovered a few weeks after.
A mining vessel, headed for the moon Urcian-1 found themselves off course due to navigational issues. When they dropped out of innerspace near Ao, they expected a swift reply to their hails. For the next few days before a scheduled democratic mission arrived, all the mining crew were met with was a slowly rotating blue sphere and the eerie silence of space.
Dozens of crews were sent to the surface of Ao. People had expected disease, natural disaster, Equipment malfunction. No one was prepared for the terrifying reality; the coasts and banks of the waters of Ao were bare as if there had never been a living soul ever there. Lands that used to be full of vibrant beings, just grasses and dirt.
Great minds of the universe studied this tragedy for years. Decades. Centuries. Until fact became story and story legend. And in the ages since, the lost world of Ao has been left empty, spinning slowly in empty space as though curling in on itself with every turn. And every year more is forgotten about the ones who lived there. Who they loved, what they made, what kind of lives they lived.
How can an entire people disappear without a trace? How can an entire world swallow up a civilization with no trace?
Many have asked. Many have answered. No one quite knows what happened on the hungry world of Ao. No one quite wants to find out for themselves.
I screenshotted this prompt to use for later and now I can't find the post it was from :( here it is anyway.
