AN: This chapter was incredibly hard to write because no one knows anything about the Traveler. So...here you go. My interpretation. 

Everything was pitch black.

The air was extremely clean and easy to breathe in. The cool temperature in the room kept the tile cold. Alaura pushed herself up off of the floor and tried to gain her bearings. Her ears rang, causing her to cringe until it died down. She reached around, lightly tapping the floor until she came in contact with someone's hand.

Malachi jerked his hand away and motioned towards the item in Alaura's pocket. "It's glowing. Use that as light." He smirked a bit before commenting, "Oh, and next time, I'll be happy to hold your hand if you get scared."

Alaura rolled her eyes and pushed him away from her. "Shut up and see if Tanis is okay." She took the robotic piece out of her pocket and held it up. It illuminated the area around them with the same white light that washed over them earlier. She scrambled up and her blue eyes drifted around the lit area.

Malachi assisted Tanis in getting off of the floor. Tanis coughed for a second and wiped his mouth. They followed behind Alaura, teeter tottering their weight between each other. Tanis moved away from Malachi, determined to move on his own. He didn't need a crutch. He was strong enough. Alaura walked forward towards one of the main consoles in the room, where a small opening glowed. She glanced between the two boys and set the piece in the opening.

The piece fit in perfectly and it triggered something within the whole place. The lights came on and shined on everything in the room. The white walls and tile reflected against each other, composing an almost blinding room. The three people took their time to get their eyes adjusted before looking around.

Nothing much was placed in The Traveler. The walls glowed blue within the cracks and small humming noises echoed through the place. The room itself was small compared to the giant orb, but that only meant more could be explored. The place was pristine, empty, and for the most part, cold. The only heat in the room was radiating off of the trio.

Three little bots came in from another room; the only exit closed behind them. They were the size of two fists combined, which made them small, but adorable to look at. Each one had a different color, blue, black, and white, and a single eye in the middle. The eye itself was big and a glassy blue, while a light shined to reflect where it was looking. They blinked, glanced around, and examined us for a second. "Hello," they all simultaneously called out.

Tanis cocked his head slightly and reached out to them with his hand. The robot he almost touched backed away and he set his hand back at his side. Tanis eyed them in curiosity and questioned, "What are you?"

The black-shelled ghost spoke up in a low British accent, "Mere prototypes. The Traveler calls us Ghosts."

"We're like your personal hackers and supercomputers," the white one replied simply. Its voice was deep and soothing to hear.

Malachi's eyebrows furrowed and he shifted his weight onto his other foot. This whole situation smelled fishy to him, but he couldn't comprehend why. Nothing was ever simple in this world, and nothing was definitely pure. This creature, this so called Traveler, had an agenda. "Wait, our personal ones?"

The black ghost answered him, "We are assigned to each of you. I am assigned to this young lady here."

Malachi instantly scoffed at its words, "Nothing ladylike about her." He side-glanced at Alaura to make sure she heard him. He refrained from smiling when he saw it only made her angry.

Alaura scowled at him. She moved on and her eyes flickered over to the black shelled ghost. She motioned to Malachi with her hand, "I really feel bad for the one that's teamed up with this jackass."

The small blue ghost projected words into the air, but didn't speak, "I am."

"Why does that one not talk?" Tanis asked. These ghosts were all different, so it was interesting to him to find out how they'd affect the team. Team? Tanis questioned himself in his mind. He shook the thought away. He was getting too far ahead of himself. A team actually has missions. They are merely nothing but three people caught up in the same problem.

"She was the first ghost to be made. The Traveler was still experimenting at this point, so it missed the ability to speak. I was created next," the black ghost responded. His accent echoed through the small room.

"He is such an intelligent ghost. Lacks character though. Hence why The Traveler saved the best for last. Me." The white ghost turned to Tanis and continued speaking, "You, sir, get the best ghost out of the bunch."

Tanis bunched his hands together and almost jumped up and down in excitement. This would be his first companion ever. Someone to talk to. Someone to confide in. Someone to share experiences with. Someone who might actually give a damn about him. "Do we get to name you?"

The three ghosts looked at each other and bobbed up and down in agreement. The blue one projected, "Sure."

Tanis was the first to speak up, "Dinklebot. His voice reminds me of one of my favorite actors, Peter Dinklage." He put on a sly grin and watched the white ghost next to him. It spun its shell and glanced around every once in a while at the new people.

"Jarvis," Alaura smiled at the small dark-shelled ghost. When the other two boys looked at her in a weird way, she rolled her eyes. "You guys understand modern references, but not this one? For shame."

Malachi thought about his choice for a name. Something cute. Something meaningful. He quickly responded, "Macey."

Alaura turned to him. That name was too random to have no meaning. This went deeper than that. She genuinely responded to him for once, "That's a pretty name."

"Yeah. Why that name?" Tanis joined in. He was always prone to curiosity, so the sudden meaningful name sparked it in his mind. He eyed Malachi and noticed how little movement he was doing.

Malachi seemed distant as he looked in the other direction. One of his hands was curled up into a fist so tight that his skin turned white. "It belonged to someone I knew."

Tanis noticed the tension in the room building up. Malachi needed a conversation change because this subject meant a little too much to him. He took it to heart. "How did we find this piece if The Traveler was never here before?" Tanis asked curiously. Someone in history must have noticed The Traveler as it passed by. It's really hard to miss.

Macey projected into the air, "It was here way before humans had a grasp on what was out in space."

"Mars used to be full of life. The Traveler settled there for a bit many, many years ago," Jarvis bobbed up and down in excitement. The Traveler told them much about that time, and electricity ran through his circuits just thinking about it.

"That's where a war with the Darkness took place. It destroyed all of the resources and sucked the life out of the planet," Dinklebot explained rather quickly. "The Traveler passed Earth on its way to push the Darkness away to protect humanity. During that fight, it dropped many pieces of itself across the galaxy. You just happened to find one."

Alaura scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion and questioned slowly, "Wait...The Darkness?"

"There are different theories on the darkness that we three," Dinklebot referred to the other two ghosts with a side glance, "have come up with. The Traveler won't tell us anything about it. It could be an object to balance the universe. The Yin to the Traveler's Yang. It could be just what the armies of aliens use to travel through the galaxy safely. At this point, we know nothing about it. All we know is that it has to be destroyed. The Traveler hasn't divulged any more information than that."

Alaura, Malachi, and Tanis sat in silence. They attempted to soak all of the information in, but one question kept popping up in their minds. What in the world have we gotten ourselves into?

Malachi crossed his arms and perked an eyebrow. He scoffed, "Wait. Hold on. You expect us to believe this bull shit?"

Alaura glared at him and retorted without missing a beat, "You're sitting in a giant orb from space. What more do you need to believe it?"

"Darkness...aliens...this all sounds bad to me. We're not exactly in a position to doubt this. We haven't seen anything yet." Tanis felt a bit shaky and tried to calm himself down. He took his medicine before leaving the car, but it didn't settle in his stomach, causing him to worry. He couldn't tell if it was just the situation at hand, or his sickness.

Macey moved on from the subject and projected, "Have you experienced any new powers?"

All three of them answered simultaneously, "Yes."

"The Traveler radiates light that powers many things. The light flows through each and every one of us in this very room." Jarvis replied. He glanced at all three of them and blinked before his shell swirled around his eye in a full circle. "There are certain people who can use this power to their benefit. You are a part of that group: the Guardians of the light. Your enhanced abilities stem from the Traveler."

Malachi gestured to Alaura with a nod, "So why couldn't Power Fists over here hurt me when she punched me?"

"You can't use your powers against each other. The light can't be used against itself," Jarvis answered simply. He thought that would have been clear enough, but apparently they didn't understand.

"We can't fight each other. That's either a great thing or a curse," Tanis put his head in his shaky hands and took a deep breath. His chest constricted and he suddenly felt weak.

Dinklebot rolled his eye and responded, "To be able to harness the power of The Traveler is an amazing achievement. You should be proud of that."

"You three are the ones who are going to determine the future of humanity." Jarvis bobbed up and down after saying that. He never thought this day would ever come. He thought he'd be a prototype forever. Now, he had a guardian to watch over. He finally felt useful.

Alaura laughed at that statement, "What are we? The Guardians of the Galaxy?"

Dinklebot made a humming noise until he came to a conclusion. "In a way. I wouldn't say you guys are that great yet."

"So what is The Traveler, anyway?" Tanis questioned after raising his head a bit. He was dying to know, and maybe the answer would take his mind off of his sick feeling.

Jarvis glanced at the other two ghosts. None of them spoke up first, so he took the initiative to, no matter how vague, "There are different theories."

Dinklebot joined him and responded, "It depends on your perspective."

Tanis quickly asked, "Is it a god?"

"It has to be a sentient machine," Alaura butted in.

Malachi scoffed at their absurdity. "It's clearly an empty shell guys. This thing is just waiting for someone to take control. I wouldn't be surprised if the government built this on their space missions."

Alaura turned to him with an Are-You-Serious look plastered to her face. "Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"

"That's better than thinking it has its own thinking process!" Malachi exclaimed. The audacity of these people to think it's a god or some sentient robot. He thought to himself.

The three ghosts didn't say anything. They hung in the air and stared at their guardians, full of wonder and hope. The guardians all had different thinking processes, which made the outcome of their ownership quite interesting. Jarvis and Dinklebot examined their owners, while Macey seemed distant.

Macey tilted a bit and looked around. Her blue shell swished around her glassy eye quickly and she turned to the others. She projected into the air, "The Traveler says something is wrong..."

"How bad can it really be?" Tanis shrugged. With everything that's happening in the world, famine, illness, war, chaos, uprisings, shootings, he wasn't surprised that something was wrong.

Jarvis listened to an incoming transmission from The Traveler. He peered around in alarm and nearly shouted, "No, we aren't equipped for that kind o-"

A white light washed over them once more, and suddenly they were beamed to another place. Their eyes widened at the sight before them. Distraught and worry covered their expressions.

Jarvis finished sadly, "...trip..."

Tanis' voice caught in his throat. All that he could push out was, "...Oh."