Lunar Mythology: Laura on the Moon

The moon was a dead planet, but the temple was still active. The air was heavy with humidity, and there was an overwhelming scent of wet earth and moss. It smelled like the forest after a rainstorm. It was a nice change from the stale air inside my suit.

"Laura," came the voice in my earpiece, "are you sure this is the spot?" I had expected to find some kind of temple, or at least something that looked like it had been made by somebody. I hadn't expected to find something that didn't look like it had been made by anybody. There were no corners, no right angles, nothing at all that suggested human hands. The surface was smooth and curved, with muted colors that seemed to shift and move as I looked at them. It reminded me of an ethereal sensation one could experience while ascending great heights on a Ferris wheel or roller coaster, causing your brain to feel peace amidst the disarray of signals originating from your eyes and inner ear. It was similar to the sensation induced by drugs, minus any ill side-effects.

I reached out to touch the surface, but before I could, my glove bumped into something solid beneath it, knocking loose what looked like a small rock that rolled across the floor until it hit one of the walls.

"What's wrong, Laura? You found it, right?" Mr. Smith sounded impatient. He rarely displayed impatience unless he was aware of information that I wasn't privy to. This meant that he was most likely trying to get me to expedite the process so he wouldn't have to reveal the purpose of our mission. Despite finding his impatience warranted yet irritating, I replied "yes" and began surveying the surface, attempting to gain access without damaging the potentially fragile exterior which, upon further inspection, appeared to consist of a thick, flexible resin or glass-like material.

As I continued walking along the surface, Mr. Smith remarked, "That's odd." This prompted me to halt my steps, considering that if Mr. Smith found something peculiar, then the situation was likely far more unusual than I had initially perceived. Furthermore, since Mr. Smith funded my interstellar journey equipped with only basic gear and a meager supply of plutonium-238 - just enough to sustain my life in space - I began to question whether he truly intended to compensate me for this venture.

If this temple truly harbored valuable items, as Mr. Smith seemed to believe, then gaining access to it would not only interest us, but also potentially attract others who sought its riches, too. It made me wonder about the thieves from Earth who stole a variety of seemingly inconsequential items, such as guns, money, food, medicine, vehicles, houses, phones, and countless other possessions that would have little value on another planet. Did they have any connection to this mysterious place? If so, what was their motive?

It became clear to me that those involved in the robberies may not have had a well-thought-out plan for long-term survival; instead, they appeared to act on immediate needs, causing destruction in their wake. This raised the intriguing possibility that the creators of this temple were not human, and perhaps they no longer existed, having gone extinct in the passage of time. Nevertheless, there was always the chance that the beings responsible for constructing the temple could still be present within, covertly observing our activities.

With these thoughts swirling in my head, I finally managed to access the temple's interior. Now it was time to unravel the secrets hidden inside and possibly even encounter the enigmatic beings responsible for its existence.