Prelude

Dr. Sinclair spent more than 100,000 light years and was the first ever faster than light space flight through the confines of the galaxies to fulfill the purposes of Niloid Corporation and its project "Revitalia", which has as main objective to support the missing piece to achieve human immortality. In the year 3148 it was discovered that Leonor was the first human to reach 204 years of life, so by 3152, researchers from Niloid Corporations submitted her to an experiment that sought to prove once and for all whether Leonor Sinclair really was " immortal". Leonor would travel approximately 50,000 light years to the distant Niloid exoplanet (property of the Niloid family) and then return to Earth on a comeback trip that would extend another 50,000 light years. When Leonor landed in Niloide, she found herself in front of a complex scientific research center that housed a community of settlers who had lived over that exoplanet for more than 100 years, their appearance was slightly different from that of the earthlings, but they were certainly human. The Niloidans scientists were in charge of backing up all their genetic code in the Niloidans instalations. As instructed, Leonor was responsible for monitoring all phases of the experiment for more than 50 niloidan years (73 terrestrial years), she constantly informed the leaders of Niloid Corporation about the findings found by a high-end device that sent instant messages to the past. After 100,074 Earth years elapsed in total, Leonor's immortality was more than proven, but this one found a totally different land than the one she'd known for more than two centuries.

Year 103,226 BC

The spacecraft landed stealthily on what would have to be the coasts adjacent to Cape Town, South Africa. Leonor left the ship, but not before feeling a tense sensation of nerves for what could be behind that thick metal door that separated her from the box that had been her voluntary prison for more than a hundred thousand years and that world that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even remember. Leonor closed her eyes and took a moment to open the door, but finally slid her right hand into the crimson red button that functions as the portal switch and then she prepared herself to squeeze it with all her might. With her eyes still closed, a tiny threshold of light filtered through her eyelids and dazzled them, that little flash of sunlight coming through the crack of the door, which was slowly extending, continued to intensify in the seconds after until giving way to a light so imposing that it managed to burn her eyes without even having opened them. Leonor daredn't to open her eyes, not even for a single second, she didn't want to see what could hold the path that was opening right in front of her, even though she had mentalized herself so many times for that moment that she had been waiting for so long time, that cold shrapnel that represented her pressing insecurities and fears was still freezing her to the very marrow. After a few minutes of having opened the door completely, Leonor decided that she should arm herself with courage, so she exhorted herself to finally open her eyes, which were already tearing. She opens them completely to finally end her intrigue, but the powerful light of dawn blinded and dimmed so much her eyesight that she could not even visualize the panorama of the landscape that was just opening. After a few seconds, Leonor fell on the cold hard ground of the ship. It took Leonor some 50 minutes to regain consciousness. She got up stunned by the blow on her head, then she touched her temple with her fingers and then she felt with some disgust the drops of bloodshed. The light continued to dim his eyesight, but after taking a breath, she decided to leave the ship. As she looked towards the horizon with half-opened eyes, she contemplated with vivid curiosity three long phallic extensions that hovered a few meters away. It was the so typical palm trees that abound in all coast, but they were a bit red. Leonor certainly had forgotten how they looked like. Her mind was struggling internally, Leonor wasn't even able to discern if what she saw and heard was familiar to her or not, even if all of that was real. A slight sensation of deja vu mixed with an accentuated skepticism overwhelmed her completely. Maybe her mind was being too slow in processing the reality that was presented to her and her skewed memory could no longer recognize the terrestrial patterns. The truth is that nothing was like a hundred thousand years ago. The white sand that once covered the entire coast became as black as volcanic earth. The singing of the birds couldn't be heard, not even in the distance. And the breeze of the peninsula had vanished forever, leaving only a suffocating heat that reigned throughout the length of the cape. It is worth noting that the air stank like hell and the water looked as silver as the moon at its zenith. Leonor informed NILO-4959 about the decadent landscape she had found on earth. "The conditions of the earth don't seem fit for life. Go through the entire coast and take samples of soil, water and air to corroborate if there is any chance of generating any kind of life on this planet, then make sure to carry out the pertinent protocols of life check," She ordered it. The android quickly left the spacecraft and began taking samples of the soil. "The soil is composed mostly of volcanic stone. After comparing the more than 100,000 patterns found in the universal database of Niloid's Geology Department, it was shown that this magma sample is a derivative of the one that Gustav Niloid's team got at the Yellowstone super-volcano for the year 2024" The android said with a robotic voice. -Why is it a sample of Yellowstone thousands of kilometers away from its place of origin? -Leonor thought intrigued. "I understand, now show me the results thrown by the investigations in the water of this coast" The robot collected 1 liter of water and analyzed the sample, which yielded discouraging and strange results. "It has been proven that the liquid collected in the adjacencies is composed of 61% mercury and 39% H20" -Why would there be mercury in the water of this planet? -Leonor asked herself. "I got it, now break down the results thrown in the verification of all the chemical elements that make up the air of this planet" The robot took the air samples and made the pertinent inquiries. "The air is composed of 83% of Sulfur, 8% of Hydrogen, 3% of Oxygen and 6% of elements not identified by the Niloid's Department of Chemistry" -An eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano has definitely occurred -She thought. "Understood NILO, now takes a tour of the entire length of this coast in search of forms of life on Earth" NILO-4959 took 2 hours and 03 minutes to do the life checks around the entire length of the coast. Then he returned to the meeting point and informed Leonor of the following: "After analyzing more than 238,094 patterns found along the entire length of the coast, the results have shown that 2 of them are life forms. In a basin submerged to 534mts under the surface of the water, it has been found an extremely volatile life form and of weak nature. They're visible reptilian archetype, but they reproduce more frequently and their production rate is too prolific, the female produces more than 5,409,327 eggs per reproductive season, but around 73.98% of them die at 9.8 seconds after birth due to the precarious living conditions. This is a sample of water collected from the basin " NILO gives Leonor a small test glass in which she could visualize a tiny life form, Leonor felt a little blow in her heart when she witnessed how millions of them died in front of her eyes as if they were simple bacteria. "The other way of life is much more stable, but they are also living beings that barely subsist in the precarious living conditions of this planet. It's 40 minutes of travel starting from here, I found them on a mountain in the northwest of the coast " "Take me to them," Leonor replied with a pragmatic tone. When they reach the mountain, Leonor saw emaciated figures resembling reptiles, they had tiny tails and little-developed fangs, they were living in small houses made from palm trees and other materials that were obtained in the area. Apparently, they all were a sort of humanoid form of civilized reptiles. "NILO, documents all the activities carried out by these reptilians since this minute" After documenting everything in great detail, Leonor sent a message to the past with all the findings encountered on what is the Earth 100,000 years later, this to make sure that in another timeline human life thrives. Upon returning to the spacecraft, Leonor is intercepted by a translucent sphere of orange light that communicated in her mind the following words: "Your raison d'etre has already been fulfilled. Immortality granted to fulfill higher ends has been stripped of your anima. You have 81 years left to finish your new cycle of mundane existence" The words puzzled Leonor, but in a certain part, they comforted her. Back then she had realized that immortality was an extremely hard burden to bear. Leonor walked into the ship and then she set out to sail to Niloide to spend what would be her last years of life in the human colonies of that exoplanet. Source (image) Link to the 24 Hour short story contest for May 22 sponsored by @mctiller.