We’re delighted to share the winning stories from our third EVE Online fanfiction contest. Having already run an open contest ‘Once Upon a Time in New Eden’ and a horror contest ‘Dead Space?’, this time we chose the topic ‘Wormhole Wanderers’.
If you visit the bounty post, you’ll find other great stories from @funinc and @EveOnlineTutorials, but we’ve selected our top three picks, edited them, and shared them here for your reading pleasure. Just as if there were a wormhole in front of you right now, there’s really only one thing left for you to do: dive in.
First place: Wormhole like a Wound by AlexGoesTheWorld
Our first-place prize goes to the talented @miyoshiakachi (AlexGoesTheWorld). Their story captures horror and helplessness alongside a poetic portrayal of wonder and awe. The wormhole descriptions, which are sometimes anthropomorphic, are beautiful. As we read, we could put ourselves in the shoes of a settler gazing up at the celestial marvel with minds full of conflicting emotions.
AlexGoesTheWorld tries to represent stories that aren’t often portrayed in the EVE universe. They wrote this one while listening to The Heart Asks Pleasure First - the theme of the 1993 film, The Piano. We listened to it while reading the story and highly recommend you do too.
As a note of caution to readers, the story contains themes of loss and trauma.
~ Unknown scientist, discussing the nature of wormholes
The wormhole swirled in the silence of space, emitting no signal but its own presence. Its liquid-like appearance trembled on occasion, its teal aurora slowly flowing around it. The wormhole reflected light from a distant star sitting at the centre of the system it had spawned in, but looking into it felt like looking in another place entirely, a place charged with emotions.
She was transfixed.
She couldn’t look away.
She could only sit in silent contemplation as memories wrestled for primacy.
The sun had been bright there at the centre of the system. Those little planets had hung in a pocket of reality amidst the nothingness. They had orbited the star and the small lives of colonists daring to try to tame the unknown. The planets had been colonised, some more successfully than others. Not long after, space stations were constructed to connect the colonies together. They thrived.
The wormhole was mesmerising - its slow, endless movement; its silence; its light. It was a phenomenon that caught the eye and didn’t let it go.
She had explored the unknown. She had mapped the system’s anomalies as they arose, even diving into new wormholes leading to unknown systems, all in the hunt for knowledge and treasures. But she had always come back, because she had been there to wait for her. Each and every time, she would be leaning on the railing looking down into the main hall, smiling brightly and waiting to throw herself into her arms. The relief of a safe reunion never faded.
She had found love in the unknown.
The stations had been busy with people, coming and going, talking and laughing, working and relaxing. It had been alive, so alive. Until the lights turned red. Until the alarms blared. Until the darkness came. They had all known the risks, the dangers of living there, and yet they all hoped it could work. They had all hoped that they would be left in peace. But that hadn’t happened.
It was as if the wormhole seemed suddenly to hunger. The aurora twisted and flared sharply, the pool swirled as a hand of darkness sunk into it. Hungry, so hungry…
The stations were evacuated, but the same could not be done for the planets. Everyone had known the situation was dire. Some had flaunted the confidence that they could ride the storm again, but everyone knew that this storm was greater than them all. Darkness had taken hold of the system, gripping it, squeezing its life out. She had held her; in that final embrace she held her as tight as she could. She hadn’t known if they could survive. She hadn’t known if she would see her again.
The darkness had enveloped the wormhole, the teal aurora dimmed. The hand of darkness was not satisfied with squeezing the life out of it, it wanted its physicality as well. It wanted everything.
There was fire. There were cries of battle and of pain. They had mounted a desperate resistance, trying all they could to survive, to find a solution, to keep the darkness at bay. But the darkness had been too much, too strong, too hungry for their small lives. Fire had engulfed the system, the fire of destruction and of the all-consuming hunger.
The wormhole squirmed, it seemed to cry in pain as the dark hand squeezed harder. It took away its light and its shape, it crushed it. It tried to stay alive. It really tried. In a silent avalanche, the wormhole curled up, began its one-way collapse, and silently popped from existence. The door to another place, far away in space and time, had closed.
She was left staring at the void where once there had been a wormhole. Now there was only the emptiness of space. As the door to another place in space and time had disappeared, the memories started to recede. The primary star shone on, and they had to slither back in the darkened drawers they had come from, drawers darkened by fire, pain, and loss.
The memories had once again been too much. She sighed, leaning back, tears slowly dripping down her cheeks. Hers had been an open wound that hadn’t healed, one that cried each and every time she faced the prospect of entering a wormhole. It paralyzed her, it gripped her heart in fear that what had happened would happen again.
She believed time healed, but time had passed, and it hadn’t been enough to heal her. With shaky hands, she made the ship move, heading back toward the inner system. Each time she saw a wormhole, she couldn’t but see the darkness, she couldn’t but see her own wound made real.
Second place: The Cosmic Trinity: A Tale of Exploration and Friendship in the Wormhole Abyss by JAKEL33T
Elena had chosen this unconventional life, seeking solitude and the thrill of the unchartered. Wormhole space was a place where the rules of conventional space did not apply, and every venture into the unknown was a gamble. The anomalies here were rich with valuable ores, but the risks were equally high.
As Elena diligently extracted precious resources from the cold, silent rocks within the anomalies, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Wormhole systems were known for their unpredictability, and danger lurked around every cosmic corner. Yet, the miner pressed on, fueled by the promise of fortune and the allure of the undiscovered.
One fateful day, as Elena delved deeper into the heart of the wormhole, she stumbled upon an ancient Sleeper cache hidden amidst the cosmic anomalies. The eerie structures of the Sleepers loomed ominously, their technology beyond the comprehension of ordinary beings.
Intrigued by the mysterious artefacts, Elena cautiously approached the cache. Unbeknownst to her, a cloaked ship was observing her every move. The watcher, a fellow capsuleer named Dominic, marvelled at the audacity of the lone miner in her modest vessel.
As Elena unwittingly triggered the dormant Sleeper defences, the space around her erupted in chaos. Dominic decloaked his Stratios, swiftly intervening to aid the miner in distress. Together, they faced the relentless onslaught of Sleeper drones, their ships dancing through the chaotic battlefield.
After the last Sleeper drone fell, Elena and Dominic floated amidst the remnants of the battle, their ships battered but victorious. A newfound camaraderie emerged in the depths of the wormhole, proving that even in the isolation of space, connections could be forged.
Over the following weeks, Elena and Dominic continued their exploration of the wormhole. Together, they navigated the treacherous cosmic anomalies, discovering hidden pockets of riches and facing challenges that deepened their bond. The once-solitary miner found solace in the company of her newfound friend, and Dominic, an explorer at heart, cherished the shared thrill of discovery.
One day, as they ventured into a particularly unstable region of the wormhole, they stumbled upon a mysterious stargate-like structure. It pulsated with an otherworldly energy, beckoning them to unravel its secrets. Intrigued and fueled by their insatiable curiosity, Elena and Dominic decided to activate the enigmatic gateway.
To their amazement, the stargate transported them to an uncharted region of space unlike anything they had ever seen. The cosmic landscape was a mesmerising tapestry of colours, celestial phenomena, and unknown structures. It was as if they had stepped into an entirely different dimension.
As they marvelled at their surroundings, a distant signal caught their attention. It was a distress call from an unknown ship stranded on the fringes of this unexplored realm. Without hesitation, Elena and Dominic set a course toward the signal, ready to lend their assistance.
Upon reaching the distressed ship, they discovered a fellow miner named Alex stranded in this uncharted space. His mining barge had suffered a catastrophic malfunction, leaving him stranded far from known wormhole connections. Grateful for the unexpected rescue, Alex shared tales of his own adventures and the mysteries of the region they had entered.
As they delved deeper into the mysteries of this unexplored dimension, the bond between the miners strengthened. They faced challenges that tested their resolve, but their shared experiences fueled a sense of camaraderie that transcended the vastness of space. In the face of the unknown, they found not only wealth and discovery but also enduring friendship.
And so, in the quiet depths of cosmic mystery, the three ventured into the unexplored expanses of space, bound by the shared thrill of exploration, the allure of the undiscovered, and the uncharted possibilities that lay ahead.
Third place: Whispers of the Anoikis by Cpt Armarlio
In third place, we have another story of intrepid adventure. @Armarlio’s story alludes to unheeded warnings and the dangers of the blind pursuit of technological advancement. It’s full of great touches, like the vibrant depictions of wormholes or that the protagonist’s ship is named Hálios Gérôn, which is Greek for ‘The Old Man of the Sea’. Enjoy.
In the cold expanse of New Eden, where the vastness of space hid untold mysteries, a seasoned capsuleer named Cpt Armarlio navigated his ship - a sleek and formidable Proteus named the Hálios Gérôn. After years of experience in the treacherous realms of New Eden, he had become an expert in the art of exploration and the dangers of wormhole space.
One fateful day, while scanning for valuable cosmic signatures, Armarlio’s probes revealed an anomaly unlike any he had encountered before. The readings were erratic, and his sensors struggled to provide coherent data. A distortion field shimmered on his display, indicating a newly opened wormhole. Intrigued by the enigma before him, he decided to venture into this uncharted territory. As the Hálios Gérôn traversed the wormhole, the fabric of space seemed to warp and twist around the hull, casting an eerie glow across the ship. On the other side, he found himself in a region of space unlike anything known in New Eden, Pochven, or Anoikis.
The celestial bodies in this unexplored domain were bathed in hues of pulsating energy, and the stars themselves danced in a cosmic ballet. It was a breathtaking sight, but the beauty masked an underlying tension in the air. Armarlio sensed a palpable energy, like whispers echoing through the void. Determined to uncover the mysteries of this peculiar wormhole, Armarlio engaged his ship’s cloaking device and began to drift silently through the abyss. As he navigated through the strange space, he stumbled upon a colossal structure unlike anything he had ever seen—a massive, ancient construct of unknown origin and design.
Drawn to the structure, Armarlio cautiously approached. As he glided closer, intricate patterns of light danced across its surface, revealing an ancient script that neither he nor the ship’s computers could decipher. The whispers grew louder, almost like a distant conversation in a language he couldn’t comprehend.
This ancient race had harnessed the power of wormholes to traverse vast distances and explore the farthest reaches of the cosmos. However, their insatiable curiosity led them to experiment with forces beyond their control, resulting in the collapse of their civilization. The few survivors dispersed into the unknown corners of the universe, leaving behind remnants of their once-mighty technology.
Armarlio had stumbled upon the remnants of an advanced and long-lost civilization, preserved in the folds of the wormhole network. The structure he encountered was a beacon, reaching out to any who dared to breach the veil between worlds. With newfound knowledge and a sense of reverence for the ancient race, Armarlio decided to document his discovery and share it with the community though the Arataka Research Consortium’s public news channel The Discourse. As he made his way back through the wormhole, the whispers of the Anoikis followed him, carrying the echoes of a civilization long gone.
Word of Cpt Armarlio’s discovery spread across New Eden, sparking a new era of exploration and intrigue. Wormhole space became a focal point for daring pilots seeking to unravel the secrets hidden within the fabric of the universe. And so, the whispers of the Anoikis continued to beckon to those who dared to venture beyond the known boundaries of space, offering glimpses into the mysteries of an ancient and enigmatic civilization.
Image credit: authors and Razorien on Flickr
