Alone Together, Out There

Kian

Humanity's Stargazer
A loud hiss and clank echoed throughout the long halls of The Core. From the viewports aimed down towards the poisonous planet, The Ring could be seen descending towards the surface. The massive structure seemingly slowly entered the atmosphere, igniting as it slowly began to disappear into the hazy world. Final farewells were being spoken as stasis pods were occupied and launched. They would disappear, following the so-called final hope of humanity as the now desolate blip of the survey ship returned into the hangar bay of The Core. The bodies were to be given the best rights possible as they ejected into orbit around Kepler, humanity's new home.

A loud hum reverberated in the hearts of many as the engine prepared to propel the ship into the great unknown.
 
Kyo stared blankly out at the bridge's viewport at the numerous stasis pods being launched down to the surface and into orbit around the planet. He was sat on the pilot's chair, slouching, hair still messed up from earlier. He had never felt such despair when the survey crew had perished. His fellow biologist and fiancée had been a part of the doomed squad, breaking his fantasies of a lovely future. He had wanted to be alone earlier, pushing anyone who tried to comfort him, but now, all that was left was just an empty void. He couldn't bear the thought of watching her go.
 
David took a sip of his coffee, then set it down. He was in the reactor room, making sure there weren't any errors. He skimmed through the code of the nuclear reactor. It was mostly maintained by the AI, but despite his skill with computers, he never trusted one. After all, it was supposed to be managing the stasis pods, making sure everyone woke up when the time came. Look how that turned out.

As he finished up checking the code, David thought about the people who went down to the planet. He couldn't believe someone would willingly put themselves back in one of those, when only a couple hundred of the 2000 or so people on the core actually woke up from stasis. Those who survived had lost those they had loved, and cared about.

Except for David, of course.

He hadn't lost anything, simply because he had nothing to begin with. He left with the core, which was 'Mankind's last hope' simply because it was his only hope. Sure wasn't turning out to be much now. Most of the crew was dead, a good chunk had left to go down to that miserable hell hole they called a planet, and the rest were here. Now they really were mankind's last hope.
 
'It's all just reruns.'
This thought went through Dmitry's head as he gazed blankly at the television screen. Old Earth as he knew it had so much definable culture from the music to the architecture to the technology itself. It was such a wonder of human accomplishment and yet it resembled all of human error and mistakes, as this Earth had been beaten to the ground. One thing that was for certain about Old Earth and its culture, though: there's nothing to watch besides reruns of stuff you've already watched. He stared into the unimpressive pristine image of the Entertainment Center television.

He caught the vague glimpse of his reflection hidden among the images in the screen. He brought his hand to his jawline. He had forgotten to shave again. It had practically turned to a beard by now. Good lord, his hair was a mess, too. This lanky man in the reflection felt about as disheveled as he looked. It had been a long night. He spent so much time at the lab that he was practically combusting metals in his sleep. Maybe that wasn't the best idea, though. He'd burned enough holes in his lab coat.

He should probably clean himself up, if not to look at least a little bit professional. He had time, right? He checked his wristwatch... Never mind, he had to make his way to the Infirmary, it seems the hospital had been running low on painkillers. This was no surprise to him, he'd caught younger crew members snatching drugs from the infirmary on a couple of occasions. He sighed wearily. Kids will do anything for that high in any scenario.

Getting up from the bench he was at, he adjusted his blazer and walked briskly in the direction of the Infirmary. How tiresome it was. It seemed like being in stasis would have been a better option if Keplar-452b was essentially a mirage. Was it really worth all of the stress? Perhaps it was. Keplar-452b may not have been what it promised, but habitability may still be possible in any of the other surrounding planets in the galaxy. Humankind better not screw it up this time.
 
Last edited:
Kyo sighed to himself, sipping a drink he had gotten from... somewhere; his memory failed him quite a lot when he was so out of it, one last time before resigning, he heaved a shaky breath, tiring of the endless stream of tears that would surely return. But then again, what was there to even do on the ship? Internet archives of videos and articles just spoke the politics and issues of the now certainly destroyed Earth. Was his fiancée the one he had worked for all his life? There has to be a reason behind it all, a truth in the stars. Perhaps they could stop by Earth; see how she's doing and maybe even siphon a bit of Jupiter to take along for the ride... It has been nearly two millennia.
He sat up slowly before rising from the chair and shuffling out of the bridge and through the hallways towards the laboratory with an aching back. Served him right for slouching over the desk each night, researching into the... well... theories compiled from Old Earth, admittedly, they certainly had quite the imaginative minds. His parents... friends, co-workers, siblings, they were just distant fragments of memories. The mere concept of them pained him to no end; somewhere along the way, his mind had simply wiped them from his memory, it was too painful. How was he the psychologist when he couldn't even control himself?
Nothing seemed to make sense to him anymore.
In his mourning and moping trail of thoughts, he failed to notice the chemist approaching quickly and continued to shuffle forward towards the elder with his head hung low.
 
Lily spun around the armory completing her inspection to "The Pride" by Five Finger Death Punch. Lily did a general function check of most of the weapons and gear picking only a few items at random to inspect completely. It seemed like just yesterday that she had inspected all the armor and weapons before leaving Earth. Once she finished her general function checks she picked up the items she had marked for detailed inspection and carried them over to her work bench. One by one she wint through the items taking them apart, reassembling, and testing them. The combination of music and work made it easy for Lily to enjoy her work and forget about all the rest of the ship and it's problems.
 
By the time his cup was empty, David had finished checking the reactor's code, and finding no errors, decided to see what the rest of the crew was doing. He turned off the monitor and left the room, heading into the main hallway. The whole crew seemed desperate, tired, as though all the energy and life had been sucked out of them. It nearly had been, earlier. He wondered what they thought. Maybe they did have hope for the ship, hope that there was some sort of Earth like planet out there. He certainly did. After all, if you don't have hope, what do you have? He went through a door, to one of the many tram stations located throughout the ship. He waited for it, musing over what might happen to them. Maybe there really was someone out there. Maybe, no matter where you went, you could always know that your never alone. Some of the crew had made fun of him for believing in the 'little green men', and he honestly didn't mind. Really, he was just hoping that the core wasn't the only island of life in the universe. The tram arrived, and after a couple crew members got off, he got on. The doors slid shut, and the tram began it's trip towards the entertainment center. Maybe someone he knew was there. Despite his quirks and quiet nature, David had made quite a few friends on-board the ship. The tram stopped, doors slid open, and he walked out, heading back into the main hallway.
 
With such a hurried stride, the tall chemist nearly failed to notice his younger, Asian lab co-worker ahead in his path. He was a young one, though not much younger than Dmitry himself was. It seemed his face was more flawless and unblemished than Dmitry's own face was, which had shown considerable age over years of stress and unrest. He self-consciously brushed his hand through his hair in a hopeless effort to straighten it up a little. He made a mental note to spend some time cleaning himself up at the end of this workday. Sure, right now, hygiene was the least of the Core's worries, but it helped to at least be presentable had there been other life forms out there, if they just so happened to be sticklers for human hygiene.

He slowed down his steps, noticing the biologist seemed rather dejected. As he passed him, he gave him an amiable nudge on the shoulder with his fist. "Ease up, bud," he said to Kyo calmingly. "We needn't lose hope yet."
 
Kyo mumbled quiet thanks, pausing for a moment. He turned around, jogging back towards Dmitry and catching up rather quickly, and walking beside him. "Hey, Dmitry, anything new around the ship?" While he was struggling to stay optimistic, it would help to actually talk with someone instead of bottling it all up. Moments after his question, the intercom resounded throughout the ship, booming with echoes. It always annoyed him how the designers of the ship failed to remember that an intercom in every room would echo throughout the empty halls, even if the "sound-proof" doors were closed. The AI's soft voice blew out the multitude of speakers in the ceilings:
"The Core will be departing the [Kepler] system in T-minus 2 hours. Target, the [Sol] system. Beacon scanning will commence once The Core has stabilized in the [Sol] system."
He grumbled to himself, almost inaudibly, "Asshats on Earth shooting us the opposite way..."
 
Maintaining his swift pace, Dmitry turned his eyes towards Kyo. "You don't want to get me started," he joked in a spent, vaguely foreign voice. Dmitry kept tabs on all of the occurrences and events upon the ship; there wasn't much you could keep from him. He brought his eyes back forward as he recollected the affairs since discovering Kepler. "I hear word that a select few of the crew members have begun mobilizing in case there are 'others' out in this galaxy." Much activity had been brewing at the armory with some of the crew being particularly unwilling to negotiate with life forms besides themselves. Dmitry smiled tiredly, "I can't get behind the craze, myself," he admitted. "If there were even other beings out there, they would be just as cautious of us as we would be of them. Gunning them down would only cause problems for us." He raised his hand to his chin and stroked it, in deep thought. "Some of the engineers just finished installing heat scanners onto the ship that can search out any unfamiliar life forms in vicinity to the ship." He shrugged. "Though that would only help if these hypothetical life forms were warm-blooded... or even blooded in general." He returned his gaze back to Kyo. "Do you figure they sent us to Kepler on purpose?" He hypothesized. "I mean, was 452b really what the goal in mind was? Maybe we're supposed to be looking for something else."
 
Routine was a powerful thing where humans were concerned, and it would take quite the cataclysm to greatly change the morning routine of Donovan Schulz. As on any other morning, he was engaged in one of the Core's exercise areas practicing a familiar kata against an equally familiar sand punching bag. Of course, the day had brought great changes aboard the Core, changes too great to leave his personal ministrations completely unaffected. The exercise was one of coordination rather than one of stamina or cardio, but Donovan found his motions more in time with the music he played for ambiance than usual. He had forgotten the name, but it was an orchestral piece rife with heavy, dramatic notes, and he often found himself punctuating said notes with an over-dramatic straight or an out-of-place high knee.
It was just as well, he reasoned, for Donovan's mind was nowhere near so at peace as his body. He needed his routine at times like this more than ever, in this instance to drive the crew aboard the Ring from his mind. His job required a certain simplicity of living, and he owed those that remained under his care his best, unmarred by regrets for his lost charges. If he were a more poetically inclined man, he might try drawing some parallels between the sand bag he assaulted and the thoughts with which he grappled. Poetic he was not, however, and he instead chose to believe that hitting something was just a good way to vent his frustrations. That seemed the most logical conclusion, given how much better he was feeling after only ten minutes of the practice. Donovan believed himself an optimist first and a realist second, and his comprehension of the days to come, both the real and the optimal, was that they would certainly be interesting. Step one must still be maintaining his own health, of course, and he redoubled his efforts against the bag, his focus recovered.
 
The AI's voice brought Lily out of her focused and happy state back to reality. Lily switched off the radio and returned the items she had been working on to their places in the armory. After checking that all the equipment was locked up and secure Lily closed the armoire door and headed for the mess. Opting out of using the tram and wanting to get a better feel for the ship Lily made her way through the ship's corridors and stairways stopping every now and then to venture down a random corridor until she eventually made it to the mess. Grabbing a sandwich and some water Lily found a table next to a viewport and started to enjoy her meal. As she ate she contemplated what she should do with her life now and how she could be a useful part of the ship.
 
Kyo thought for a moment, possibly?...
"I don't know, I would have thought that they would've sent us off towards the last ship... Not the other way around. Maybe the onboard navigation messed up."
He pondered for a moment. I really should find a method of detecting cold-blooded... Seemingly randomly, he glanced at his portable scanner before tucking it back into its pocket.
"I guess we probably might need those scanners, I mean.. we are going into unknown territory."
 
The Cook

It doesn't make sense. Why would others decide to return to stasis? We've already slept for some 1850 years! And who the heck commandeered the mission team and let them die? And you still want to descend to that planet and join them? Look, pal, we can't be passive and unconscious and let time dictate our destiny. We must seize fate with our own power! It's better to face the unknown with open eyes than to succumb to this planet's deathly embrace who've already taken some of our comrades. No, no, I'm not saying it's hopeless. That's why we're lowering The Ring in the first place. In seven hundred years, the planet will be terraformed, and the embryos will awaken. That's the plan. That's the goal. We can't bring The Ring with us as we... as we keep awake and look around, y'know? Only gonna slow us down. We've made giant steps in improving space travel. Shouldn't that instill courage and hope that we can actually travel to more places and sooner?

Gah. I'm not getting through to you, aren't I? Not me, not King David, not even Doctor Satou can get through to you, no? Yes, yes, I know it's better if there's someone there after 700 years to ensure systems are functional and the embryos hatch without problem... but... okay, fine. If I can't change your mind, can you at least go into stasis now and descend along with The Ring? I know some of the others are gonna linger a bit in their pods before rejoining The Ring. But I'd feel it's safer to land with the payload to avoid any mishaps like what happened with the survey mission. Okay, Travis? What the fricasse, man, this is goodbye, isn't it? Probably 0.00001% we'll meet again...


Kole stood outside the corridor leading to the bridge. On the wall consoles, vital signs and monitors of each crew member descending with The Ring cycled through on display. He would watch every single one's status until they all wink out of consciousness.
 
Back
Top