Further Adventures in No Man’s Sky

FURTHER ADVENTURES IN NO MAN’S SKY
After my encounter with the mysterious orb, I set off into space and headed for the next planet. I could see it looming ahead, cloud banks drifting lazily over a green landscape, and here and there was the glint of sunlight reflecting off of vast lakes.

My spacecraft descended through the upper atmosphere and a lush landscape came into view. Greenery was everywhere, and a light rain was falling from the sky. Evidently, water was known to flow over this land, for there was a canyon carved into the landscape. I settled the craft down not far from it.

Climbing out of the cockpit, I surveyed my surroundings. Unsurprisingly for such a lush planet, there was life here. I could make out some flying creature soaring through the sky. Huge stones rose up out of the grassy surface, like giant sentinels standing vigil over this world. My destination lay somewhere beyond the hills that faded into the golden distance. I headed off.

The sound of heavy footsteps caught my attention. A huge, lumbering beast rose up out of the canyon. Its leathery skin was coloured blue and brown, and had a scaly appearance. As it walked, its head slowly shook from side to side, and it emitted a low vocalisation that had a melancholy quality to it. Despite its size the creature was peaceful, and it pretty much ignored me as it trudged slowly past. I left it alone and continued on my way.

By now the sun had risen in the sky and the light ran had eased off. The grass was damp and soft underfoot, and the rocks that littered this landscape glistened with the rainwater that would run off them until evaporation had done its job. The hills were closer now, and so too was my destination.

The sound of hooves drew my attention to a creature of some kind heading from the east. Interestingly, this animal not only had hooves but also looked a little bit like a horse. Could this be an example of convergent evolution, of natural selection being constrained in possible designs and so repeating the same solution to problems? The creature caught sight of me, raised itself up on two legs and made a sound like a horse neighing. For just a moment, I felt like I was back home.

There was still some way to go, and I half wished I could have tamed and ridden that horselike animal. But I was not here to domesticate any wildlife, but to find answers regarding the mysterious ‘Artemis’. Pressing on, I eventually arrived at the place where I hoped some answers could be found. At the summit of the hill I found it, an artificial structure comprised of several platforms. Ascending the steps I reached the uppermost platform.

The top platform consisted of golden circles placed on top of one another. As I cautiously approached the uppermost circle, an intricate pattern of lights began to form, seemingly in the air before me. At one point in space, those light seemed to solidify and as I watched in amazement, a robotic-looking being emerged.
“You are not...Alone”, the robot said. “I know you, traveller. I know where you’ve been. I know where you’re going. What if I told you Artemis could be saved? What would you do then, I wonder?’.
I told this mysterious robotic figure that I would gladly help this Artemis if it were in my power to do so. “The blood of Artemis is data, the heart its glitch”, it explained, “I can help you retrieve them. We require a Mind Arc, a receptacle for their soul. Can you do that for me”?
I looked down at my hands. Somehow, via some technological wonder I did not understand, blueprints had appeared there. Blueprints for some gadget called a Mind Arc. It was apparent that I needed to build whatever this Mind Arc was, but I lacked the knowledge to do so myself. I was going to need to hire help...

The adventure continued...
Thanks to Hello Games for the images