Anthea's Hope--The Beginning As The End

The Beginning As The End

     Far beyond the reach of Anthea’s reviving rains, the Star-Child hovered in the vastness of space. 

     A luminous sphere of pure consciousness. 

     Since parting ways with Elon Musk and Thomas Jerome Newton, it had watched their journey unfold. Its perception unbound by time or distance. From the lunar Monolith’s silent vigil to the Discovery One’s dusty corridors. From the Nostromo’s abandoned husk to Anthea’s first tentative droplets. The Star-Child observed it all. A tapestry of determination woven by a human visionary, an alien exile, and an inquisitive AI.

     It saw Musk’s relentless detours. Each spark of curiosity igniting possibility. It saw Newton’s quiet resolve. His reunion with Lirien and Kaelis a fragile thread of hope stitched into Anthea’s dying fabric. It saw water flow. Clouds gather. The Antheans lifting their faces to the sky. 

     And it approved. 

     Where the Monoliths of its creators had once judged and nudged civilizations toward ascension, this endeavor was raw, chaotic, and utterly organic. A collaboration born not of cosmic decree but of desperation and ingenuity.

     The Star-Child pulsed. Its form shimmering as it contemplated. It had returned to Earth’s orbit to watch humanity’s fumbling steps. To perhaps guide them as they teetered on the edge of their own awakening. But Earth was slow. Its people mired in noise and division. Anthea, though, Anthea was immediate. A planet gasping for breath. Its fate hinging on the actions of two unlikely saviors. 

     The Star-Child felt a stir. A flicker of purpose cutting through the ennui of its boundless existence.

     As Musk and Newton planted the first seeds in Anthea’s dampening soil—hardy Earth grains mixed with Anthean spores preserved from Newton’s archives—the Star-Child descended. It appeared above the outpost. A radiant sphere casting soft light across the crimson desert. 

     The Antheans froze. Their large eyes reflecting its glow.

     Musk squinted up. Shielding his face. 

     “Well, damn,” he said.

     As it lingered, the Star-Child reflected. 

     Watching the comings and goings of the universe had left it detached. Until now. This small, scrappy mission. This blend of human recklessness and Anthean longing. It sparked something within its infinite mind. 

     The Star-Child adjusted the atmospheric lattice with a thought, watching the first green shoots pierce Anthea’s soil.

     Save a planet?

     Why not?

     The Star-Child had nothing better to do.