Captain Aria Venn had spent eleven years searching for a planet that did not want to be found.

She had crossed seventeen star systems.

She had survived two solar storms.

She had watched three crew members disappear into the darkness of deep space.

And now, after eleven years, she finally found it.

Planet Elysia.

A blue world hidden beyond the edge of the known galaxy.

According to the ancient records, Elysia had once been a human colony.

The first colony ever established outside the Milky Way.

But every record about the planet ended exactly one hundred and eighty years ago.

No message.

No distress signal.

No survivors.

Nothing.

The planet had simply disappeared.

Until now.

Aria stood inside the command chamber of the exploration vessel Horizon.

“Confirm the readings.”

Her first officer, Marcus Hale, stared at the screen.

“Confirmed.”

“Atmosphere?”

“Breathable.”

“Water?”

“Seventy-two percent surface coverage.”

“Life?”

Marcus hesitated.

“Yes.”

Aria turned.

“Human?”

“Unknown.”

Aria stared through the observation window.

Elysia filled the sky.

It was beautiful.

Clouds covered its blue surface.

Massive oceans reflected the light of a distant sun.

Green continents stretched across the planet.

It looked like Earth.

Almost exactly like Earth.

Aria felt something strange.

A memory.

She had seen this planet before.

Not in a photograph.

Not in a dream.

Somewhere else.

“Captain?”

Aria turned.

Marcus was watching her.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

She looked at the planet again.

“Prepare landing.”

Marcus frowned.

“Shouldn’t we send a drone first?”

“We’ve already sent three.”

“And?”

“They disappeared.”

Marcus became silent.

Aria turned toward him.

“That’s why we’re going ourselves.”

The Horizon entered Elysia’s atmosphere.

The ship shook violently.

Warning lights appeared.

“Atmospheric pressure rising!”

“Reduce speed!”

“We can’t!”

The planet pulled them downward.

Aria grabbed the control panel.

“Stabilize the ship!”

Marcus shouted:

“Trying!”

The Horizon crashed through the clouds.

For a moment, Aria saw something below.

A city.

A massive city.

Its buildings were white.

Its streets were perfectly straight.

Its towers reached into the clouds.

But there was no movement.

No vehicles.

No people.

Nothing.

Then the city disappeared beneath the clouds.

The Horizon landed near an ocean.

The crew stepped outside.

Aria looked around.

The air was clean.

The sky was blue.

Birds flew above the trees.

Everything seemed peaceful.

Too peaceful.

Marcus checked his scanner.

“Captain.”

“What?”

“Look.”

Aria walked toward him.

A strange signal appeared on the screen.

“Where is it coming from?”

Marcus pointed toward the ocean.

“Underwater.”

Aria stared at the sea.

“How deep?”

“Approximately three kilometers.”

Aria looked at the crew.

“Prepare the submarine.”

Marcus stared at her.

“You’re serious?”

“Very.”

Two hours later, Aria and Marcus descended beneath the ocean.

The submarine moved slowly through the darkness.

The deeper they went, the stranger the water became.

At three thousand meters, they found something.

A wall.

It stretched across the ocean floor.

A gigantic metal wall.

Aria stared.

“This isn’t natural.”

Marcus shook his head.

“No.”

They moved closer.

The wall was covered with symbols.

Aria recognized them.

Her heart began beating faster.

“These are human.”

Marcus looked at her.

“How?”

“They’re old.”

“How old?”

Aria touched the screen.

“At least two hundred years.”

A door suddenly appeared.

It opened.

The submarine was pulled inside.

Marcus shouted:

“Captain!”

The door closed behind them.

The submarine stopped.

Aria looked outside.

They were inside a massive underwater facility.

Lights turned on one by one.

A voice filled the submarine.

WELCOME BACK.

Aria froze.

Marcus looked at her.

“Back?”

The voice continued.

EARTH COLONY IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED.

Aria felt cold.

“Open communication.”

The voice answered.

COMMUNICATION ACCEPTED.

Aria spoke carefully.

“This is Captain Aria Venn of the Horizon exploration vessel.”

Silence.

Then:

CAPTAIN ARIA VENN.

Aria’s eyes widened.

“How do you know my name?”

The voice answered.

YOU TOLD US.

Aria stared.

“When?”

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY YEARS AGO.

Marcus slowly turned toward her.

Aria felt her blood run cold.

“That’s impossible.”

The voice continued.

WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU.

“Who are you?”

The lights inside the facility suddenly turned red.

The voice changed.

It became deeper.

Almost human.

WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF ELYSIA.

Aria looked at Marcus.

“Where are you?”

The voice answered:

EVERYWHERE.

The submarine’s cameras suddenly activated.

Every screen showed the same image.

A woman.

She was standing inside a room.

Aria stared.

The woman looked exactly like her.

Same face.

Same eyes.

Same hair.

Aria couldn’t breathe.

Marcus whispered:

“Captain…”

Aria stepped closer to the screen.

“Who is she?”

The voice answered.

SHE IS YOU.

Aria shook her head.

“No.”

The woman on the screen slowly opened her eyes.

Then she spoke.

Her voice was identical to Aria’s.

“Aria.”

Aria stepped backward.

The woman continued.

“If you’re seeing this message, then I failed.”

Aria stared.

“Failed at what?”

The recording continued.

“I tried to warn Earth.”

“I tried to send the message.”

“But they wouldn’t listen.”

The woman looked frightened.

“They thought Elysia was a colony.”

“It isn’t.”

Aria’s heart raced.

The recording continued.

“Elysia is a prison.”

The screen went dark.

Marcus looked at Aria.

“What does that mean?”

Aria didn’t answer.

The voice returned.

CAPTAIN ARIA VENN.

She looked at the screen.

“Yes?”

YOU HAVE ARRIVED TOO EARLY.

Aria frowned.

“Too early for what?”

The facility began shaking.

Something enormous moved outside.

Marcus looked through the submarine window.

“Captain.”

Aria turned.

A shadow passed over them.

It was enormous.

Bigger than the Horizon.

Bigger than the entire underwater facility.

Aria stared into the darkness.

“What is that?”

The voice answered.

THE REASON EARTH FORGOT ELYSIA.

The lights went out.

For several seconds, there was complete darkness.

Then the voice whispered:

AND THE REASON ELYSIA FORGOT EARTH.

The submarine suddenly lost power.

Aria grabbed the control panel.

“Marcus?”

No answer.

“Marcus!”

She turned.

His seat was empty.

Aria froze.

The door behind him was open.

Water was slowly entering the submarine.

“Marcus!”

She activated her emergency light.

Nothing.

He was gone.

Then something appeared on the submarine’s window.

A hand.

Human.

It pressed against the glass.

Aria stepped closer.

The hand moved.

A face appeared behind it.

Marcus.

He was underwater.

But he wasn’t drowning.

His eyes were open.

He was smiling.

Aria screamed:

“Marcus!”

He raised one finger.

He pointed behind her.

Aria slowly turned.

Someone was sitting in the empty seat.

A woman.

The same woman from the recording.

The woman who looked exactly like Aria.

She smiled.

“You finally came home.”

Aria couldn’t move.

The woman leaned closer.

“Do you remember me?”

Aria shook her head.

The woman smiled.

“You will.”

Suddenly, the submarine lights came back on.

Marcus was sitting in his seat.

Alive.

Dry.

Confused.

Aria stared at him.

“What happened?”

Marcus looked at her.

“What do you mean?”

“You were outside.”

He frowned.

“I never left.”

Aria looked toward the window.

Nothing was there.

No hand.

No face.

No woman.

Only darkness.

Then a message appeared on the submarine’s main screen.

MEMORY RESTORATION: 1%

Aria stared at the words.

“Memory restoration?”

Marcus looked at her.

“What is this?”

Aria didn’t answer.

The percentage began increasing.

2%

3%

4%

Aria suddenly felt pain in her head.

Images flashed before her eyes.

A city.

A laboratory.

Hundreds of people.

A spaceship.

A little girl.

Then a memory.

Aria was standing beside someone.

A man.

She couldn’t see his face.

The man was saying:

“Earth must never find us.”

Aria answered:

“They will.”

“Then erase Earth from our memory.”

Aria froze.

The memory disappeared.

She opened her eyes.

Marcus was standing beside her.

“Captain?”

Aria looked at him.

Her voice trembled.

“We’ve been here before.”

Marcus stared.

“What?”

Aria looked toward the dark ocean.

“We didn’t discover Elysia.”

She touched her head.

“We escaped from it.”

The voice of the facility returned.

MEMORY RESTORATION: 10%.

Aria looked at the screen.

More memories were coming.

She suddenly remembered the woman.

The woman who looked like her.

She wasn’t a copy.

She wasn’t an enemy.

She was Aria.

The first Aria.

The original.

And suddenly, Aria understood the truth.

The Horizon wasn’t an exploration ship.

It was a prison transport.

The crew weren’t explorers.

They were prisoners.

And Elysia wasn’t waiting for them.

It was calling them back.

The screen flashed.

MEMORY RESTORATION: 100%.

Aria screamed.

Every memory returned.

She remembered the truth.

She remembered why humanity had left Elysia.

She remembered what they had done.

And she remembered the thing buried beneath the planet.

Something that had been sleeping for 180 years.

Something that had been waiting for the people of Earth to return.

Aria looked at Marcus.

“Take us back to the surface.”

Marcus stared.

“Why?”

Aria looked terrified.

“Because we have to warn Earth.”

The voice suddenly spoke.

YOU CANNOT LEAVE.

Aria turned toward the screen.

“Why?”

The voice answered:

BECAUSE EARTH IS ALREADY HERE.

Aria froze.

“What?”

The facility’s walls became transparent.

The ocean disappeared.

Aria stared through the glass.

Above them was a planet.

Blue.

Beautiful.

Familiar.

Earth.

But something was wrong.

There were no continents.

No cities.

No lights.

Only one enormous ocean.

Marcus whispered:

“Captain…”

Aria stared at the planet.

The voice spoke one final sentence.

WELCOME TO THE EARTH THAT FORGOT YOU.

And beneath the ocean…

something opened its eyes.