When Xiao and Mei, followed by Katya and Georges, turned simultaneously, a mix of astonishment and fear appeared on their faces: three human figures stood before them, one man and two women not wearing spacesuits.
The man raised his hands in a sign of peace and said:
- Forgive me, I didn’t mean to scare you.
- Who are you? Xiao’s question cut through the heavy silence.
The man with raised hands offered a reassuring smile:
- My name is Fred, and this is Soraya and Inès. We are Terrans, like you, right?
- Yes, we are Terrans, Xiao replied. “He is Georges, she is Katya, this is my daughter Mei, and I am Xiao. And those two are our humanoids. How did you get here? Are you from a community?
- Yes, Fred nodded. “We are from community 3. And you?
- We are from Community 5, Xiao replied.
- Oh, Soraya said, exchanging a meaningful look with her companions. “So it’s been about twenty years since we’ve been here, I deduce.
- Time flies, Inès added, with a touch of melancholy.
- What are you doing here? Where is community 3? Katya asked.
- Only they know where they are now, Soraya’s voice hardened. “They abandoned us here during a supposed stopover.
- What!? That’s horrible! How? Xiao replied.
- We were naive; we thought it was really a stopover”, Inès said. “We later learned that community 3 had resource problems and that the command decided to sacrifice us.”
- That’s dreadful”, Georges felt his throat constrict. “How did you survive?”
- They left us some supplies, CRISPR kits, protein synthesizers, etc., Soraya replied.
- And do you know how to use them? Katya asked, impressed.
- In our misfortune, we’re lucky to have several resourceful scientists, Soraya replied.
- But how many of you are there? Katya asked.
- We are thirteen, including two children born here.
- Incredible, Georges said.
- So your community is still here? Soraya asked.
- Uh, yes, Xiao replied, concerned by the intentions of the three individuals.
- Okay, so you don’t plan to stay? Soraya asked. “You’ll continue toward Proxima Centauri B, as all communities are programmed to do?
- Yes, that’s right, Xiao replied.
Seeing Xiao become uneasy, Soraya added:
- Don’t worry, we have no intention to join you.
- Yes, we’re quite happy here”, Fred confirmed. “Would you like to come see where we live?” he offered.
Suddenly Katya and Georges received a group transmission initiated by Xiao through their neural chips. “They seem honest, let’s follow them. But first, I propose we send a message to the ship’s commander explaining the situation, then return in an hour.
- Yes, agreed, Katya replied.
- Yes, very well”, Georges said in turn. “I have a weapon.”
- I hope you won’t need to use it, Xiao replied via chip.
- Yes okay, we’ll follow you, but can’t stay long, Xiao said aloud to Fred.
Meanwhile, Xiao sent a message to the ship’s commander who had brought them to Sinesol, to explain the situation.
- No problem, stay as long as you’d like, Fred said. “And you can remove your helmets, the air is perfectly breathable here.

The air was not only breathable but surprisingly pleasant, imbued with scents reminiscent of Earth lavender. A wave of nostalgia seized our explorers as they removed their helmets.
- The air is indeed very pleasant”, Katya said, “like a floral fragrance, although I don’t see any flowers.”
- Yes, actually what you’re smelling is produced by certain plants over there, Inès pointed to small shrubs. “We modified some of their genes to get this result without overly altering them.
- Fascinating”, Georges said. “How do you manage food and water?”
- For food, we discovered mushrooms and algae near the water source that provide all the nutrients we need, Inès continued.
- There is a water source? Katya asked.
- Yes, well it’s not exactly like Earth water, but we succeeded in making it potable.

The group emerged into a vast spectacular clearing. Fluorescent vegetation carpeted the ground with a soft glow, while countless phosphorescent crystal stalactites on the ceiling cast a fairy-like light. Nearby was a lake, the water source mentioned by Inès. There were no houses, just a few fences marking personal spaces. The installations were minimalist but pragmatic and efficient. Yet nothing seemed lacking.

Our four newcomers, awestruck by the beauty of the place, then met the other members of the community 3 survivors, surprised to see new faces. Among the survivors there was only one other man, seven women, a girl about Mei’s age, and a five-year-old boy holding his mother’s hand. They all approached the visitors.
Soraya spoke:
- The family, these Terrans are from a community like ours. They’re here for a short time before leaving, as I understand it.

The natives spoke in unison:
- Welcome!
All wore smiles, both the newcomers and hosts. They settled in a circle.
- I find this too impressive, not only how you’ve managed to survive by adapting to this environment but also the harmony in which you seem to live, Katya said.
- The beginnings were stressful, but we quickly realized that to survive, we had to show solidarity and sharing. Any flaws in group life can’t last long here. Luckily we’re not many, Soraya said.
- And that we have good people, added Inès with a smile.

Everyone smiled at Inès’s remark. Meanwhile, the two adolescent girls didn’t break eye contact. But shyly, they said nothing.
- So there was never any conflict? Katya asked.

The hosts all looked at each other to see who would recount their only incident.
Soraya then said:
- Honestly, yes, at the very beginning. There was another man who, after some time, tried to dominate the group, particularly the women. But Fred stepped in to defend us.
- And did you kill him? Katya asked, concerned.
- No, Soraya replied. “The man left the cave in anger. But fate had other plans. That very day a meteor shower hit the planet. We found him a few kilometers away, crushed by one of those celestial stones.
- Karma, Inès added.
- As they say, space is a hostile environment to humans, Soraya said. “People don’t realize how lucky they are to be on Earth. On a universal scale, we’re all insignificant.

A heavy silence of contemplation set in, each measuring the fragility of their existence in the vast hostility of space.
Georges eventually broke the contemplative moment:
- Haven’t you tried to reach Community 4? They must have made a stop at some point, no?
- They didn’t venture this far”, Inès replied, “so we don’t know if they passed. But to be honest, it doesn’t matter because we’re well here. We adapted and we live happily.”
- But what do you do during the day? Katya asked.
- The first difficult years, we did what was necessary to meet our vital needs”, Soraya explained while thinking long term with recycling systems. “We didn’t want to repeat what happened on Earth. At the same time, we also worked on having a life like on Earth, with leisure.”
- Intelligent leisure considering the resources available. So no stupid vehicle races, for example, Fred said proudly.
- But don’t you want to see other people? Katya asked.
- Without being fatalistic, it’s something we can’t control”, Inès replied. “So why dream of others? Here, people are all good at heart.”

At that moment, Inès finished her sentence and Xiao received a message from the commander telling them to return to the ship. Xiao prepared to apologize to their hosts. Soraya added:
- Also, during the exploration, we once stumbled upon a humanoid that community 1 had left. It serves as a relay for all communications with Earth, and the last message received doesn’t make going to Proxima Centauri B sound appealing.

- Oh? How so? asked Katya.
- Community 1 did reach Centauri B, but reality turned out very different from the golden promises Ubiright sold us before leaving Earth.

- It doesn’t have the expected ressources? Georges asked.

Next: Jin meets Professor Andrea Olsson, who reveals a disturbing new discovery.
Subscribe for the next episode, thank you and have a great day.