Dying of the Light

As the red sun begins its inevitable descent into oblivion, the last outpost on Altair-IV stands empty, an abandoned relic of a forgotten era. Once a bustling hub for interstellar traders and explorers, the station has been left to rot under the dimming sky, its corridors hollowed by silence. The inhabitants have long since departed, fleeing the impending nova, leaving behind only shadows and dust.

Among the derelict machinery and rusting structures, echoes of past lives linger—personal effects strewn in quarters, data logs left half-open, and messages etched onto walls in desperate scrawls. There are whispers of ghosts, rumors of an AI that never fully powered down, waiting, watching, recording the gradual fading of the light. Even now, the sensors twitch in silent vigil, tracking the sun’s last breaths, as if clinging to duty in a place where time itself is unraveling.

In the distance, the dying sun casts its final rays over the outpost, bathing the wasteland in hues of ash and ember. There is no one left to bear witness, yet the station endures, defiant against the approaching dark. But in a universe governed by entropy, even metal and stone will surrender. Soon, all that will remain is the memory of those who dared to claim a foothold at the edge of eternity.