It is a masterpiece. That was the first thought that flooded into his mind upon seeing the spaceship that drifted aimlessly amongst the stars, the light of the closest sun reflecting off from the blue-grey, metallic hull, revealing the millions and millions of alien characters carved into the otherwise smooth surface. Each and every character seemed to be incredibly complex, a symbol in its own right, probably representing a whole word, or even an entire sentence, maybe a whole paragraph. It was certainly possible, given their complexity, and the fact that they literally never repeated themselves, at least it seemed so. Even more impressive was, however, the shape of the hull as it incorporated seemingly impossible curves at impossible angles, yet closer analysis revealed that every piece of the spaceship was constructed and painted in a way that it became one gigantic optical illusion. Slight changes in the metallic hull's colour gave the impression of curves where there were none, quick changes of colour seemingly melted two support beams under each other into one physically impossible cross and carefully constructed arches drew the eyes towards themselves, placing the focus of the eyes in places where they would get tangled up in the masterfully crafted symbols.
Not once in his entire lifetime has he seen something similar, even though he witnessed the ruined temples and places of worship that were maintained by other civilisations, even though he has been travelling for millions of years. He has seen stars going nova and become black holes, he has seen nebulas give birth to solar systems, he has seen the cities of advanced civilizations, he has seen the very fabric of space torn by weapons beyond his comprehension, but this one spaceship was undoubtedly the most beautiful of them. It was simply… divine. Yes, that was the word his mind was searching for. Divine. The only word that could possibly describe this object that simply captivates his senses.
His thoughts were interrupted as his computer gave the result of the analysis he requested, and his eyes widened at the numbers. This tiny spaceship, barely larger than a few thousand cubic kilometres had such a thick hull that his scanners, which were able to instantly pick up targets from light-minutes away, were unable to get a reading on the inside of it. What's more, the mass measurement sensor returned an error instead of a value, regardless of the fact that he had used it for measuring the mass of stars and black holes. Even more disturbing was the fact that the material of the spaceship's hull did not match any combination or permutation of the known elements, and it was simply too smooth to be even machine-made. Each and every molecule was placed on a perfect plane, precisely aligned, and according to the results, they did not emit any kind of energy. They just simply stood there, unmoving as if that was the natural order of the universe.
Now he was even more captivated by this strange, seemingly impossible physical construct. He wanted to study it, to take it apart, to understand what made it so divine, so he calibrated his ship's sensors to find an entrance into the ship that he could use. However, the moment the sensors started their sweep again, they immediately gave him an error, asking for manual compensation, and as he looked at the divine ship, his mind was frozen with fear. The divine ship started moving.
Armour plates changed their position, visible support beams disappeared into the hull, arches unfolded into straight lines, straight lines curved into circles, symbols formed and dissolved as the form of the divine ship changed from that of an optical illusion to a terrifying battleship. Valves opened in places previously covered by armour and introduced black into the ship's colours as they formed intricate shapes which glowed with black light. New, complicated shapes emerged in the hull of the ship, designed to deflected projectiles incoming from all angles and protect the systems of the battleship from sensors. Finally, layers upon layers of energy shields and energy fields wrapped themselves around the battleship, completing the transformation.
Even in this form, the spaceship was as beautiful as a goddess. Even though the symbols were gone from its surface, the divine ship still captivated his attention. He accepted that. After all, if he had to die eventually, an end at the hands of a divine, impossible being seemed like a good way to go.
