A concept novel of sorts. Im exploring this sortof basic idea. It seems sortof limited, but it works for a short story at least. "enjoy" :D
Metal breathes. It moans and sighs.
The walls stretch for the evening. "Evening"... morning, noon, whatever.
Ramirez opened his eyes.
Existence had been completely redefined for him lately. "Lately"... the past century, milennium, who knows.
He was a conglomeration of molecules, and nothing more. The sky was not even in his memory registry. It had faded, in the same sense that toddler memories fade within the first years of life. The memory of sky, it seems, would take a very long time to dissapear. One thing that did not change however, was the grave unnaturalness of it all. After so long, the gnawing sensation of hunger was still there, even though his metabolism had been halted down to almost a complete standstill, ages ago.
He licked the wall.
He had places to lick. It was a firm, long, and inclusive lick, scrubbing up any moisture and mold that had collected since last lick. The moisture from the lick itself would then over time grow new mold, while he licked off other places. It was his own mold-garden, in the pitch black darkness. He looked around. His eyes had adapted long ago, and he lived in a world of gray shades. On his buttocks his skin had grown into rough leathery pads. On his knees and elbows, the skin had over time been worn away completely, for then to grown back as a tough, hard protective chitinous shield. He didnt even know humans could grow such substances, but apparently given enough time, even a single individual could go through a "macroevolution".
"Time"... another concept he was long since sick of identifying. It was nothing. Time was just a synonym for energy in movement. He used to be at A, then he went to B, then to C. Each action required motion, and this motion was known as "Time".
He had long since lost track of motion. He had been in this dark, damp cargo hold forever. There was no way out. Sure, over time there was, but his reality had long since adapted itself to an eternal single moment.
Some day this vessel would have to be decomissioned, by whoever it was that flew it. He had not seen or heard from them in ages. Only the metal stretching and groaning.
He thought about it sometimes. The most probable explanation was that the vessel was headed for a far away destination, and that the crew was frozen down. This meant that the silence could go on for many thousands of years more to come.
He got up, and stretched his legs. He opened the hatch, into further darkness, climbed out of his little box, and landed in a deep, soft layer of dust. He waded over to a chosen little metallic edge, from a once broken cargo box, grabbed his beard, and cut it off against the sharp edge. Roughly every hundred beard cuts, there would go a hurricane through the vessel, pulling dust off the floor, and right into deep space. He had found ways to deal with this, that were by now mere routines.
This day, like all days, begun at no specific point, ended at no specific point, and consisted of nothing special. He had licked mold, stretched his legs, and cut his beard. That was more than he could say for most days.
"Hey!" someone whispered.
He pissed right onto the dusty floor before him, a short lasting startled ray. He looked around. He knew every single inch of this interior, and it took him only moments to see an entire human shape, in a corner, in the ceiling far above him, completely clothed in faded metal. Artificial eyes glowed in a mild blue color.
"Who... what... " he whispered back, in a growly voice that he had not used in ages.
"Are you alone?" it whispered again, in a voice that was by all likelyness female, and oddly young.
"Eh... maybe... almost... kinda... " he struggled, not being sure how to answer it in a completely factual way.
"Right. Me too. Been here long?" she said, still hidden behind a metallic mask, in a almost blackened dark corner in the ceiling.
"Yes." he replied.
"Do you remember me?" she said.
"No... " he replied.
"Heh. I dont remember you either. But we gotta have met. You know, considering... how many other people find themselves in places like these, right?" she said. It was long since he had encountered cheekyness.
"Heh." he said, and kinda smiled.
"Why are you naked?" she said.
"Eh... i dunno... no clothes... i guess... " he said.
"Hm. Theyre always so naked. Metal clothes, they dont dissolve like fabric. Well, most of them do, over time. But not these! This is good metal! You should get some!" she said, and knocked her metallic fist against her metallic chest.
"I dont know where... or how... " he said.
"Oh yes, of course. Cant help you there. I dunno metallurgy or mining and stuff... " she said, and sighed. He did not reply. This conversation had been a delightful and surprising refreshment less than ten seconds ago, and now it was allready getting on his nerves. Her eyes flickered, and her metallic mask withdrew, showing a profoundly filthy face, with naturally blue eyes, and a stiffened-by-filth blonde hair, where the blonde was long since disguised by beige dust.
"Watch." she said, and smiled widely, so that her mask of filth cracked apart, and sprinkled down to the ground.
"Heh." he said, and smiled.
"I have no fucking idea how i collect so much dust inside my helmet. Im even out there most of the time, dipping into stars. Stars arent dusty! Are they? Fucking stars... " she said.
"Eh... i dont think stars are dusty... " he said, a bit more confused again.
"You want out?" she said, in a cheery tone.
"Out?" he said.
"Out!" she said.
"Out?" he said.
"Out!" she said.
"Out? he said...
"Yes, out. I blast a hole in the wall, you can hop out!" she said.
"Blast?" he said.
"Yes, blast. You want out?" she said.
"Eh... i... dont... have... clothes... for outside." he said.
"Ohhh... thats right. Cant you find any?" she said.
"I... no... " he said.
"What did you arrive in? You gotta have arrived w a space suit or something, no?" she said.
"Actually no... eh... its a long story... and i dont even remember most of it... " he said.
"Thats a bitch isnt it!" she said, with a happy tone.
"How... did you get in here?" he said.
"Oh, ive been here for a while. I get bored. You know... thats how i got so dusty! Cus stars arent dusty at all!" she yelled, and hovered down from the ceiling, to land right in front of him, "Tell you what! Since your probably gonna be here a while, why dont you work on some of all this trash in here! You know, work it! Work metals and stuff! I can come back in bah... two thousand? Three thousand years? If i remember of course. If you got a space suit by then, ill blast you out of here!"
"I cant make a space suit!" he said, with some desperation in his voice. She was, after all, dangling an impossible freedom before him.
"Sure you can. Take metals, take plastics, melt and mold, no problem! Try and fail! You got ages to get it right! This vessel isnt gonna stop anytime soon, i hacked the mainframe! Theyre headed for distant flat disk galaxy, no idea what for, ive been there, theres nothing there. Imagine that, an entire galaxy, of nothing! Can you imagine?" she said.
"What?" he said.
"A whole galaxy! With no life! Riberai is full of life!" she said eagerly.
"Riberai?" he said.
"Yeah. Maybe you guys call it something else. Hard to keep track of everyone. Well, not anymore! Haha! Get it?" she said.
"Yes, yes i get it." he said.
"By the way, what language are we speaking in right now?" she said.
"I have no idea." he said.
"Well, its an awesome coincidence that we understand each others! It woulda sucked if we didnt! Anyway, my suit needs a recharge! Time for star-dipping!" she said, and stretched her arm right out towards a wall, while it seemed to expand itself, and form a big cannon, seemingly on her will alone.
"H-hey! The wall!" he said.
"Oh! Haha! Your right. I didnt think about that. I made myself an entrance, but its far away. I guess im not in that much of a hurry, ive allready wasted like a century in here!" she laughed.
"You... what?" he said.
"Cya later then! And make yourself some pants while your at it! Its not appropriate to be naked for guests!" she yelled as she dove into an airvent and dissapeared.
"Wait... " he muttered, in a voice that could not be raised even if he wanted to. If she was free to roam around, why couldnt she keep an eye out for space suits? Some would have had to survive...
The following days time returned. It manifested in reality.
Seconds ticked loudly, hours announced themselves, and days were meticulously counted.
Outside of the sound-proof chryochambers guttural screams could be heard, of desperation and agony.
It was true what they said about screaming in space. He sighed deeply, and gazed at a collection of mold on the wall. His mouth watered. The walls groaned.
