A Dying Android's Final Song

  ~

  “The universe is rich with life,” is what they always say

  And I know better than to wish the universe away

  But what nobody tells you, is that though there may be life

  The universe is seeped in an eternity of strife

  The stars are just a thing to wish on, for the ones at home

  But they are nought but graveyards known to us who choose to roam

  To us who travel deep into the galaxy alone

  The worlds beyond our children’s eyes are better left unknown

  I came upon a planet just as any you can find

  I’d seen the remnants of a thousand battles left behind

  But I’ll admit, as dark a world as this one might have been

  It truly was the most majestic world that I have seen

  The ruins told me of a war fought long before our time

  And how the way it ended must have been a bitter crime

  A single, nuclear attack had wiped the whole world out

  With neither side alive to tell me what it was about

  I wandered through the desert of an ancient battlefield

  And saw decrepit androids near the weapons they would wield

  I had grown to see such things as resources to sell

  But something felt a little odd about this ancient hell

  I’d wandered farther from my ship than I normally would

  And getting lost out there at night would hardly do me good

  But when I turned to walk back to my shelter for the night

  I was suddenly aware of one small eerie light

  I couldn’t help but wonder what the light out there could be

  A lonely light that flickered by itself eternally

  Considering how long the world had been completely dead

  All manner of emotions poured into my sleepy head

  Perhaps it was my curiosity that drew me there

  A sense of higher purpose of which I’m still unaware

  It didn’t matter then, and well, it doesn’t matter now

  Something in the light was calling out to me somehow

  And so I came to stand before the broken down machine

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  Upon its helm a button which was flashing red and green

  Ignoring every instinct and the many years I trained

  I pushed the button of the android broken down and stained

  It wasn’t like the robots of today, I knew that well

  How it was constructed is impossible to tell

  At first I thought it clunky as it’s lights began to glow

  But in its artificial eyes was something that I know

  Exploring strange new worlds was always something I enjoyed

  But suddenly, the robot seemed a little bit annoyed

  “So tell me, ancient android, what has happened to this place”

  I asked of it, with childish glee upon my weary face

  “A human, from another world, I shouldn’t be surprised

  Your species always was much stronger than we realized”

  It almost sounded like the android sighed, but I was shocked

  How could it be I knew its language when the android talked

  “I can’t believe you know of humans, we’ve never been here”

  I Will admit, at that point, I was overcome with fear

  “My people only left our world a century ago

  And all we find are ruined worlds wherever we all go”

  The android’s eyes grew redder, but they calmed back down in time

  I understood its craftsmanship was utterly sublime

  “Of course the universe is filled with only death and pain

  Your ancestors touched every world, and brought them only pain”

  “But I don’t understand how humans could have done all this

  In history class, such a war is not something I’d miss”

  “I shouldn’t be surprised at humans’ short lived memory

  They only ever cared for killing anything they see

  My people were not always androids, but we paid the price

  We lost to humans once, and we refused to give in twice

  We almost finished off your species, many years ago

  If judging by the stars, a million years back or so

  But here you stand before me, as my body rusts away

  Unaware of all your kind accomplished on that day

  The cultures of this galaxy all wiped away at once

  The only ones surviving, sent me back this little dunce”

  I stepped away and thought upon the overwhelming tale

  Had ancient humans really gone so far only to fail

  And how could such a history have disappeared from lore

  I doubt a single person ever heard of it before

  Before I had a chance to ask the android one last thing

  The moment slipped away as I was caught hesitating

  The android’s secrets died along with its old power cell

  And any hope of learning more about it died as well

  I looked for many years upon that ancient world alone

  But I could spend no longer running from the life I’d known

  The world was truly dead, no information had survived

  No books or old computers told of those who once had thrived

  I went back to my life, collecting scraps and things to sell

  But still I longed to know the stories all those scraps could tell

  Until this day, I’ve never told a single soul this fact

  For I could never guess how my whole species would react

  Before I die, I felt at least a single soul should know

  About the words I heard that day, but now I have to go

  I might just join that android out there in the stars somewhere

  So let this knowledge die with me, or use it, if you dare

  ~

  it's crazy and it's silly, and i think it's worth a look!