Below is the transcript for a report of a dream Dee had last night:
Observer 1: "Okay, it's recording. Go ahead."
Dee: "So, you remember how a long time back, I dreamed about a space pilot?"
Observer 1: "Hmm... Yeah, I think so. Was it another one like that?"
Dee: "I think it was the same person."
Observer 1: "Really."
Observer 2: "You're sure?"
Dee: "Well... the ship had the same HUD as before. And it was a really similar dream, just different contents."
Observer 1: "Hmm. Okay, let's stick with that assumption for now. What happened?"
Dee: "I was with a ... co-pilot? I think? On a planet we had stopped on to take a break and stretch our legs. It was lifeless, just an ordinary rock. I think some pirates jumped into low orbit and started attacking."
Observer 2: "Right away, with no warning?"
Dee: "Yeah."
Observer 2: "Hmm. Maybe bounty hunters more than pirates."
Dee: "Well, maybe. Anyway. We managed to launch the ship and fight off one of the attackers, but we had to jump away. I picked a random system to jump to, we didn't have time to be picky. Afterward, we found another world to land on, this time so we could do repairs. By pure luck, the world we found was full of plant life! A huge rain forest.
"When we landed, we found some ruins. Big stone buildings with glyphs carved into them. Every inch of the buildings was covered in small glyphs, about the size of a fingernail."
Observer 1: "Completely covered? That must have taken ages to carve."
Dee: "I remember being in awe. Not just at the buildings, but the forest, too. I'd never seen a planet so full of life before."
Observer 1: "What were the buildings like?"
Dee: "The ones that stick out to me most were pyramids. But there were some crumbled arches and pillars, too. A lot of smaller buildings, houses I guess."
Observer 2: "Makes sense. Several ancient Terran civilizations built giant pyramids independently. It's a strong shape."
Observer 1: "More importantly, this is the second dream you've had involving someone visiting more than one world. Is it possible for a Shard to encompass multiple systems?"
Observer 2: "It's possible, I suppose. It's not like we know of any hard limits. Was there anything else, dear?"
Dee: "Not really. I remember exploring the ruins for some time and examining the glyphs. I actually remember what a few of them look like. I could draw them if you want."
Observer 2: "That'd be a huge help, thank you."
Observer 1: "I'll send a request to the Cendarii Library and see if they've come across any worlds like this." Dee previously reported a dream involving a space-traveling person in a large, metallic ship capable of jumping quickly between star systems. The ship didn’t seem able to make huge treks at once like Cendarii ships could, but could make shorter jumps much faster. If this dream she had last night does involve the same person, it’s an interesting precedent. Revisiting the same Shard at a different time could give us some interesting new information.
The possibility of a Shard being able to cover such a huge amount of space is pretty alarming, though. In addition to what seems to be people being able to live out normal, daily lives. I wonder what sort of cataclysmic event could cause such a Shard to appear… A super nova or gamma ray burst, perhaps.
In neither dream was Dee able to describe where this person had come from, though, and having never seen a world so full of life as this one implies that maybe they had been living on a ship for their entire life. Or maybe their homeworld was as ruined as the current home of the Cendarii.
Addendum: Several hours after submitting the request to the Cendarii Library, I got a reply. Honestly, I’m surprised at how efficiently they were able to search that entire library. They must have an excellent organization system.
In any case, they informed me that there was no such world on their record. But reassured me that just because they don’t know about it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. As a species, they’ve “only” been exploring space for a couple thousand years, and much of that time was spent less scientifically and more limping along in search of a home.
They stressed that the galaxy is huge, and they’ve only explored a tiny section of it.
They were, however, thankful for the information and will let me know if they ever stumble across it in my lifetime. (I don’t have my hopes up.)