CHAPTER 1
1053 Words
“Another rock, again and again. How exciting.” Two weeks had passed since Willow Carter first set foot on the Moon.
So far, nothing had happened that was worth remembering. Because every day felt the same, as she can say so. Inspecting research equipment, then collecting rock samples, sending reports back to Earth, and returning to the habitat module to rest.
That day, it was Willow’s turn to inspect a seismic sensor that had suddenly stopped transmitting data. It was located nearly a kilometer away from Artemis Base. After putting on her spacesuit, she headed out alone. Each step left a long trail of footprints across the untouched lunar dust.
“Wait... what’s that?”
“Hold on...” Willow narrowed her eyes. “Are those footprints?”
“That’s... strange.” She took a few more steps forward. “Those really look like footprints.”
The trip went smoothly until something made her stop. A few meters ahead, there was another set of footprints. They were still clearly visible on the surface of the Moon.
“Who’s been out here?”
She looked around, but the empty lunar landscape stretched in every direction.
“...No, that’s impossible.”
Willow frowned, they didn’t belong to anyone on her team. She knew where every crew member was supposed to be, and no one was scheduled for an EVA that day.
“There’s no life on the Moon. There shouldn’t be footprints out here except ours.”
She walked closer while checking the display on her wrist. There were no signs of any other life nearby. The tracking system showed only one signal, her own.
She looked back at the footprints. They were slightly different from the boots used by NASA astronauts. They were narrower, and the distance between each step was noticeably longer.
She took several photos and sent them to Mission Control.
“Gilbert, take a look at this. I found another set of footprints out here.”
A few moments later, Gilbert’s voice came through the radio.
“I’m looking at it now... Relax, Willow. It’s probably just the sunlight playing tricks on your camera. Rocks can cast some pretty strange shadows up there.”
Willow looked back at the footprints.
“Those don’t look like shadows to me.”
“You’re the only one outside, remember? Just finish checking the sensor and head back. Don’t let your imagination run wild.”
Willow let out a quiet sigh.
“Fine.”
He thought the camera had mistaken shadows on the lunar surface for footprints. According to him, the sunlight often made rocks appear to have unusual shapes.
Willow wasn’t completely convinced, but she decided to finish her assignment instead of arguing over the radio.
The faulty sensor turned out to be covered by a thin layer of lunar dust caused by extreme temperature changes. After cleaning it, the device started working normally again.
Willow smiled to herself. Maybe Gilbert was right. Maybe she had simply been outside for too long and was beginning to see things that weren’t really there.
Before heading back to the base, something made her look at the footprints one more time.
“Why would they end over there?”
They didn’t lead toward Artemis Base or the landing site. Instead, they ended at a small crater that had never been included in any of their research plans.
Without thinking much about it, Willow followed the trail. The closer she got to the crater, the faster her heart began to beat. From a distance, it looked completely ordinary. But when she looked down into it, she saw something that shouldn’t have been there. A dark metallic object was half buried beneath the lunar dust. Its surface was perfectly smooth, without a single dent, as if it had been placed there on purpose.
Willow carefully climbed down into the crater. The object was a little larger than a car. It carried no NASA markings, nor the logo of any other space agency she recognized.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before...” she murmured.
She slowly walked around it while recording everything with her camera. There was no door. No window. Just a smooth metallic surface unlike anything she had ever seen.
“So... what exactly are you?”
As Willow accidentally brushed the object with her gloved hand, a thin blue line suddenly appeared across its surface.
Within seconds, the light spread over the entire structure. She quickly stepped back, holding her breath. Right before her eyes, the metal slowly split open down the middle, revealing something that had been hidden beneath the lunar dust all this time.
Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away from the Moon, NASA’s Mission Control continued to operate as usual. Dozens of large monitors covered the walls, each displaying live data from Artemis Base. Engineers kept a close eye on every reading, while flight controllers remained in constant contact with the crew on the lunar surface.
“That’s... weird.”
Madison was reviewing the crew’s medical reports when a warning tone suddenly echoed from the monitor beside her.
“Gilbert... I think you should see this.”
“What is it?”
A new graph appeared on the screen, showing an unusual energy spike. The signal was coming from Willow’s location.
“I’m picking up an energy spike from Willow’s position.”
She immediately pulled up the raw data to make sure it wasn’t a system error. The results didn’t change. Every sensor near Willow had recorded the same brief burst of energy, and none of the readings matched anything produced by NASA’s equipment.
Gilbert noticed Madison staring at the screen and walked over to her station. After looking at the data for a few seconds, he called over the rest of the team.
Nobody in Mission Control could explain the sudden energy spike. They checked the readings again and again, but the result never changed. Every sensor pointed to the same place.
Gilbert stared at the monitor for a few seconds before grabbing his headset.
"Patch me through to Willow."
"Channel open."
Gilbert pressed the transmit button.
"Willow, this is Mission Control. We're detecting an unusual energy reading from your location. What's happening out there?"
Everyone suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked toward the monitor, waiting for Willow's reply.
- Writer
