I had the craziest dream.

Midjourney prompt: Uranus in the window frame of a space station, thin white tracks on its calm cyan surface, NASA image of the day –style raw –v 6.0 –ar 16:9

I woke up as a kid, stuck in a space hotel in synchronous orbit. Outside, I could see a huge, unfamiliar planet, cyan like Uranus, with air currents streaking across its surface. The hotel was huge, with every amenity imaginable. The staff and guests were friendly and helped me get by. But nobody could tell me where we were. Everyone just called it “the hotel.” Asking about the year got me blank stares – they didn’t even know what a “year” was.

Midjourney prompt: astronomical observatory in a space station, cyan light reflected by a gas planet shining into the capsule, low key lighting –style raw –v 6.0 –ar 16:9

Days became weeks, and as I explored, the mystery deepened. I found a small library and an observatory. I taught myself basic math, astronomy, and observation. It took ages, but I found pulsars and variable stars to use as beacons. Finally, I pinpointed our location: 91,000 light-years from the solar system, on the Milky Way’s far side. It was 5 billion years in the future. The sun had gone red giant, swallowing most of the solar system, including Earth.

Midjourney prompt: blueprint map of the milky way, latitude and longitude, lines and marks, sci-fi UI, hologram –style raw –v 6.0 –ar 16:9

With that, I finally understood. Everyone, like me, came from lost civilizations. I could see their true forms, and they were bizarre – if you could even call them “people.” There was a self-tying towel and a plasma ball making dolphin sounds. A mysterious, advanced civilization had preserved our memories, letting us live here in our original forms. The space hotel was actually a museum.

Midjourney prompt: a cubic-shaped space station from a mysterious civilization floating in the space, flawless white smooth surface, built with some unknown transparent material, Uranus as background, sci-fi movie scene –style raw –v 6.0 –ar 16:9 –seed 1394083352

I borrowed the hotel’s biggest cinema and presented my findings. Some were silent, some were fascinated. Most, of course, burst into tears… if that’s what you’d call the strange things these creatures suddenly started doing.