[ WP ] In the middle of a vast desert there is a single , shiny black skyscraper . What is in it and why is it there ?

Naniko slumped back in his chair. Twenty-three months, they had been on this hell-hole planet, searching the endless desert, for something - anything. 
 
 He knew it must be *something* important; a trip like this would cost upwards of a billion credits, and that was n't any small sum for any private organisation to splurge on the whim of a madman. And that *was* the rumour; that the Director, the oldest living human had shown his face for the first time in public just to recall some fantastic tale of ancient civilisations and inter-galactic travel. 
 
 And so here they were, further from home than any other current mission, in a vast and endless desert, searching for any evidence of this tall story that no one *truly* believed could even be true. And then the pit of his stomach dropped out from under him, as he wrenched up in his chair. They had all seen it, as suddenly everyone in the cockpit froze in silent anticipation. 
 
 On the horizon it stood tall and shining, a single black column reaching to the sky, perfect and un-weathered from the unforgiving desert that surrounded it for a billion miles in every direction. Untouched and somewhat foreboding, gradually it rose from the horizon and into full view as they drifted slowly towards it, still in awestruck silence. The old man was *right*. 
 
 Before he knew it, they were suited up and on the ground, mere yards from it's base, gazing up at its seamless, shimmering black beauty against the dark sky. In person, it was a *lot* more intimidating. As they approached, the captain raised her hand and they dropped silently to the floor, weapons raised, ready for anything - they *had* to be. Gradually the captain rose to her feet, the desert wind picking up as a great sandstorm appeared, tearing around a great dune to the west; a wall of sand almost as tall as the monolith they stood before. They would have to move quickly. 
 
 
 
 The captain approached cautiously as, in single file, they finally reached its featureless black surface, her weapon raised. As the barrel of her weapon gets within inches of its surface, she suddenly lowers it, her head falling back in an almost lifeless manner, a short sigh of disbelief sharply exiting her lungs. Naniko, at her rear, reaches out his arm placing his hand lightly upon her shoulder; a gesture of both comfort and fear. 
 
 
 
 Her voice came over their comms weak and timid, something that struck fear deep into them like the sight of a great beast. 
 
 `` He was right...'' 
 
 And as they turned to the monolith itself, the light from the distant sun shone through the dark clouds above for just a moment, illuminating the great wall of the monolith in a shining blackness. And upon its surface, repeated over and over were the same words, in every language they had ever seen - and some they did not recognise. The monolith read; 
 
 `` To the billions who were lost, the suffering wrought, and the destruction of this once fair planet, we pledge our lives; all but those required to continue the species, we remain to face the end of this world with steadfast resolve, in repentance for our sins upon the Universe. May all heed this warning; we are *not* gods, and our fallibility is our downfall when we play with their fire.''
