Random stories

The time had finally come. For aeons past, my people had been sealed away on our world. A repeating element in all of our mythologies was that the gods punished us for our sins and barred us from heaven.

Modern science however has concluded that it was the work of visitors from the stars. Remnants of alien technology litter our home and allowed us great advancements. Finally, our scientific community announced that they are confident they can dispell the energy barrier that keeps us trapped here. We long for the stars.

A ceremony is being held in our capital. A grand stage had been erected around the Energy Dispersal Beam, which resembled some kind of giant telescope. I never cared much for telescopes, they didn't see far past the barrier. The stars were far more beautiful with the naked eye. And tonight, they were beautiful indeed.

The 8 Great Queens were even in attendance, a rare honour for them to ever congregate at once. It was truly a momentous occasion for everyone.

The gathered crowds waited in silence while the final calibrations were made. Few dared to even move. Many never thought this day would come, that the stars would forever be forbidden from us.

Confidence was high though. No one would risk the wrath of all the Queens if this would possibly fail.

After what felt like eternity, the scientists finished muttering and tinkering. They all looked to the queens in unison. Their only reply was the slightest of nods from each regal face.

Buttons were pushed, levers pulled. The machine began wirring and whizzing. A bright light gathered inside, before firing into the sky and striking the barrier.

Mere minutes passed before an opening appeared in the sky. A tear in the heavens.

The entire crowd cheered. The scientists shook hands and congratulated each other. The Queens all smiled, however small that was.

The celebrations were cut short when every possible communications device powered on at once.

Nothing happened at first, screens produced static, speakers had only garbled audio. But it soon all became a single unified voice.

"Stop!" it cried out. The voice was mechanical, like an AI impression of speech. "Cease your activities!"

The entire crowd looked to the Queens, who simply shook their heads. They were old and stubborn, not even such a bizarre event would ruin their moment of triumph.

Mutterings grew among the crowd. People were pushing and shoving. The atmosphere was becoming unruly. The voice spoke again.

"Too late. Far too late. Our protection programs failed. We're truly sorry."

Finally, the beam stopped firing. The barrier slowly broke apart. We could see the stars so clearly now.

And they began to move.

---

Submitted by VexedForest on Tue, Jan 24, 2023 to /r/WritingPrompts/

The prompt

Thousands of years ago, the planet was surrounded by an impenetrable energy shield by unknown aliens. Now, after entering the space age, scientists are close to being able to break it. Little do they know that what they thought was an act of malice was an actually an act of protection.