Microstory 693: Quantum Darkness Survives and Spreads

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When the quantum darkness first plagued our galaxy, shrouding the stars like giant cosmic blackout curtains, we were horrified. We were ecstatic when it was somehow destroyed in only one day. The Book of Light never said that it would be destroyed completely that quickly, but it also never said exactly what it would look like in between the first time we were to be saved by it, and its final death. It certainly never said that it would travel to other galaxies to cover their stars as well. When this happened, we were afraid for the Earthan humans, who are too primitive at this point in their history to explain such a thing. Luckily, Earth is also incapable of detecting objects, communicating, or traveling using faster-than-light methods. They have given their closest neighbor the name of Proxima, and are currently only hopeful to one day reach it. At best, according to their calculations, this couldn’t happen any sooner than just over four of their years (closer to three and a half standard years). This means they have no idea that all stars in their galaxy of Lactea are presently invisible. They won’t know for another four years that anything is wrong, and it’ll be even longer before enough of their stars blink out for them to start seeing a trend. This doesn’t mean that we have that long to figure out how to stop the darkness, but it does give us a little breathing room. Many scientists have set aside their projects in order to research this catastrophe, and find a way to turn the stars back on. They also need to find some means of creating a massive illusion so that, when the last remaining Proxima light reaches the Earthans, they perceive no change. We don’t know how long this will take, but even with all this darkness, one thing is becoming clear: the taikon are going to take much longer than our past experiences with them have led us to believe.