Earth

What Happened

U1: “Uh, Houston. What’s going on down there. Are you seeing this?”
U2: “Negative, Is something wrong? What do you see.”
U1: "████ ███████ ██████ ██ ██████ █████ ███████ ███████ ██████████"
U2: “No worries . Everything is just fine.”
U1: "That’s not right. Let me try Moscow.
U2: "Don't you dare."
U1: “Tell me what's going on.”
U2: "No."
U1 “Why?”
U2: “Access denied- We broke into heaven”

— Last transmission from earth on record.

The Earth? I wouldn't even know where to begin. The story of the earth is complicated. It's filled with conflicting information, the product of misinformation. What facts we learn can come from unreliable sources, some living right here among us. When the earth fell, we lost our identity. We lost cultures and nationalities. We lost ideas and history. Most of all, we lost a home.
My job as The Archivist of Safeharbor involves picking apart this puzzle, and I've barely scratched the surface. I sift through the ashes, but these flames were thorough. There isn't much around to learn from anymore. To some earth is a myth, a story once containing truth that evolved to take on a life of its own.
We know it's been at least six generations since we left, roughly 300 years. We know we left in a hurry, and we know those who remember are dead set on burying their secrets. So let's begin there. Let me explain what I know, tell you what I believe, and regale you with the wild theories out there concerning humanity's diaspora.

Tin foil hats

For starters, we don't know what forced us from our home. The information is missing from the archives, with evidence indicating it was not only intentionally removed, but those responsible didn't even bother to cover their tracks. We know it was the earthborn, and they couldn't care less whether we know or not.
Some believe we destroyed the planet's environment, along with that of a few colonies in the origin system. Others believe an external force was involved, perhaps an extinction event arrived early on old blue. Maybe someone wanted the earth more than we did, and if they couldn't have it, no one would. Maybe we discovered some horrible truth that made leaving the system a viable option.
There are some who believe theology may grant the answers we seek. Maybe we fell victim to a cruel and angry god, indifferent to our suffering. In the end, it doesn't really matter. The records have been purged, and the earthborn are tight-lipped. I fear we may never know what truly happened.

Fact and fiction

I've spent so long speaking about what we don't know perhaps I should reveal some of the things we do. We know that the earth died quickly. We know it's nestled in a distant system far away from Safeharbor. We know that humans were just beginning to master spaceflight at the time, and we know the majority of those who left were carefully chosen, sequestered aboard arks that were never designed to leave the system. We may have left in a hurry, but it takes time to make a list of those who left.
We know there wasn't an invasion, or at least we feel it's safe to assume. No species capable of it would have been sloppy enough to let so many humans get away. We also know there wasn't a war among ourselves. Humanity was capable of many feats in the art of war, but war is not what consumed us. The records state we were in an unprecedented time of peace. Of course, the records were tampered with before. Perhaps we know nothing at all.
The Origin Exiles speak rather curious tales about the fall of earth. The evidence supports their account. There were many factors that led to our downfall, but a single event sealed our fate. This event was their doing, though the event changes depending on who you ask. "We broke into heaven," they say. They refuse to shed light on what the phrase means. Every human knows it. Whether it references a physical place or is meant to be figurative. The best theory I can muster is this: It seems we ventured where humanity was simply not meant to go.

Borrowed time

The only way the two can share a secret is if one of the two are dead. This adage appears to be flawed. The earthborn are an entire generation, all privy to the truth, yet none can bear to speak it. What cruelty, what unbearable experience could so efficiently haunt one's memory?
Those who want to know, Wayfarers and myself included, urge our elders to regrow a spine as soon as it is convenient. They aren't as young as they once were. The earthborn are slowly fading behind that thick black curtain we call death. If they all die, it would take finding earth to learn the truth, and that assumes theirs an earth left to find.
We know it hurts. We see their faces every time we ask about it. They are deeply scarred by the earth's passing. Their faces soften, their eyes glaze over, and some linger in a depression for weeks. It got to a point where we just stopped asking. We accepted their lies to spare them from their demons.

“I told you to leave.” The archivist said, turning from the woman.
“Not until I do what I came here to do.” Invicta replied, stepping forward and handing him a small electronic device.
The red lenses on the archivist’s face flashed. “Is that a hard drive?”
“It contains recordings we found on a derelict ark that never made it to Safeharbor, recordings from earth’s surface when it began its voyage.” The archivist eyed the drive, took it, and scanned it using every method he could think of. Invicta laughed, shaking her head, “I wouldn't try to pull one over on you. You should know that by now.”
The archivist plugged the drive into an old earth computer, the lenses flashing repeatedly as he explored the drive. An audio file played, echoing off the chamber of the archive. What he heard were screams. He heard the sounds of terror, pain, and rage. Something muttered in the back of the audio, a viscous roar that bubbled in the static.
“It seems there was a rogue signal intercepted by the ark.” The archivist said.
“We know that. What does that signal sound like to you?”
The archivist shot his head up, then back to the floor as he pondered the implications. “It sounds like laughter.”