Chapter 1:

Alabaster Ship

Alabaster Ship


2 hours

That is the amount of sleep I received last night. It is hard to sleep when the fate of the world is on your shoulders and you can feel countless eyes following your every move. However, today is different, as the distress alarm is the culprit for my lack of sleep. Rubbing my eyes I quickly get out of my bed, the blaring alarms in my room forcing me to do so quicker than usual. The bright white lights stay on all the time, my sleep suffers from it, but it is a necessary precaution, I must be alert at all times. After so many years of similar circumstances I am used to it. The white tablets on my bedside table glisten, calling my name, however I do not have time for them right now, and without water they are impossible to swallow so I place them in my pocket and will take them later, I have to rush out.

"Good Morning Alabaster, please make your way to the kitchen"

That was Eva, she is the AI who accompanies my crew and I on our travels. She is in control of the ship, however it has to be monitored constantly to make sure everything is in check, that is why I am here. Having so many lives in my hands is a heavy burden, but that is what I have been training all these years for. I cannot deny I have doubted myself, nevertheless, there is no turning back. Humanity is depending on me to show this solution is safe and a viable option for the future, there is no other choice, I cannot fail now. We have to show the world that anybody can live on Mars in order to begin the great migration, with less than 10 years of sustainability left on Earth after so many conflicts, humanity is really cutting it close.

Quickly making my way down the white hallway I walk into the kitchen and immediately scrunch my nose up, a disgusting yet familiar stench of rancid eggs mixed with fecal matter hangs in the air, and the perpetrator is not hard to discover. Rachel is passed out on the floor again, a sea of cans surrounding her limp body. It pains me every time, but it seems to be an almost weekly occurrence, despite my best efforts. Rachel is a struggling addict, not just alcohol but other substances too. Be it tobacco to heroine she seems to have tried it all, scouring the darkest corners to get her fix. Her family are the founders of the United Nations' space program. They tried their best to help her recover from her addiction, yet all their struggles seemed in vain as she only spiraled deeper and deeper. She volunteered on this mission in hopes of finally becoming clean and hopefully bringing some pride back to her family. In spite of that, for some twisted reason, our ship was filled with alcohol. I have tried to hide them to the best of my abilities, however she always manages to find them and I feel like there is nothing I can do anymore. Taking care of her afterwards can be a bit tedious, but it is my duty as captain, and Eva is very helpful. Thankfully her room is close by, but I do hope these rattling cans do not wake up the rest of the crew members. I lay her down on her colorless bed and clean her up a little, hopefully she wakes up soon. Eva should alert me when she wakes up, in the meanwhile I shall go have breakfast.

"Inspection required immediately"

Speak of the devil, that means no breakfast today but it has to be done. I have to check every morning and night that the flight is still on course. Making my way to the cockpit I pass Naoko's room, she refuses to come out so she is the passenger I see less of, I should check on her after my daily duties. Nevertheless, I have more important duties currently.

Panic takes over my body as I enter the bleached cockpit and see Azi hunched over the main control unit, asleep. I briskly, yet gently, set him down on the floor, afraid he might have messed up our flight trajectory somehow after sleeping on the unit. Thankfully nothing has changed and we are still on course, however I have no clue what Azi is doing here, he is the last person on the ship I would desire here. Azi is, to put it in pleasant terms, not the most intelligent person. He was specifically chosen for this mission because of it. The United Nations wanted to send a strong message that everyone can go on this journey so they put Azi on board. I heard his family rejoiced having such a heavy burden be released off their shoulders. However, that also means he is my responsibility now and I have to watch over him all the time to make sure he does not mess anything up. It is hard to communicate with him, even with universal translators. He enjoys wandering around the ship and usually falls asleep wherever he pleases, but it is best not to move him once he does as it really disorients him and causes a lot of trouble once he wakes up, I do not desire to repeat my first experience moving him. I cannot help but feel way over my head when I am forced to deal with people like him, especially while I am constantly being monitored and my failure would easily be exposed, but humanity's future depends on it so I can not fail now.

After many hours of daily check-ins and other exhausting miscellaneous activities, everything is taken care of and I can visit Naoko. Naoko is rare to see due to her being a shut-in. It is unusual to see her outside her bedroom and she rarely answers the door but I try my best every day to try and bring her out of her shell. It has been a long process, getting her to acknowledge me took over a month and much longer for her to eventually answer some of my inquiries. However, I believe due to her loneliness, once she opened up everything came gushing out. She was in an extremely controlled environment at a young age, as her parents are some of the most important individuals in Japan. This environment was only natural as they feared what may happen to their young daughter, as she could easily be taken advantage of. She was rarely allowed to interact with other people, only doing so with her immediate family and subordinates, and even interactions with them were rare. She took classes, but all of them were virtual so that she could only hear, never seeing or speaking to her professors. This lack of human interaction meant once she was finally set free into the world she was extremely educated, yet had none of the necessary social skills to survive, making her retreat to what was known and comfortable for her, her own room. Disgracing her family she was forced onboard in order to cover her family's shame so no one would know the disgrace that the only daughter of the great Rento family was a shut in.

I greatly enjoy my time with Naoko, compared to Azi and Rachel she is much quieter and easy to handle, and it is always lovely to spend time with her, it is much more peaceful and she reminds me of my daughter. I quickly go to the kitchen to grab dinner for both her and myself. I lightly tap on her door but hear no response. This is not completely odd as she usually assumes it is one of the other passengers on the ship, however I like to knock just to let her know I am coming in. The loving dark shadow engulfs me as I enter her room, she must be sleeping, but I like it here, it feels like a place they can't reach, the only dark place on this dazzling ship. I can finally breathe. Leaning against the wall I reach into my pocket, that's right, I have not taken my pills. But I'm too tired, so I guess I'll take them after a nap.

BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM

My eyes shoot open, the emergency alarm is on, Eva is screaming at me?!

BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM

Ugh, my head, How long was I asleep? Did I take my pills? Where am I? WHAT IS HAPPENING?! I HAVE TO GET UP

BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM

Placing my hand on the floor to push myself up I feel a sticky feeling, holding on to my hand, begging me to stay put and not let go of the floor. I quickly get it unstuck as the rest of my senses begin to wake up. I still can't see anything but the first thing I notice is the nauseating, rancid smell, which can only mean one thing, can't it, b-but it can't be, I have to get out of here I'm about to throw up.

BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLA

Ugh, it's not better out here and my headache is only getting stronger. I have to get to the control room as soon as possible. Leaning up against the white wall, I make my way down the corridor, the banging in my head only getting more and more extreme, almost as if its warning me to turn around and run in the other direction, but I can't, I can't fail, not when I'm this close, not with this many people watching. I enter the control room and it's in complete disarray, Azi must have not been happy with the alarm and caused this mess. Fuck, I must have been out for hours because he is back on the floor again, but I can deal with him later, right now I just have to turn the alarm off.

BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM

I-I finally reach the control panel, b-but it can't be, n-no I-Its impossible, w-why does it say the oxygen supplies are empty, we still have a couple of weeks before we reach Mars! T-This can't be happening, o-or, w-wait a minute, w-was it supposed to happen? Y-Yes, it was wasn't it? Oh fuck. My shaking hand makes its way towards my face, how could I have forgotten, h-how could I have forgotten everything. It's not just my hand that's shaking, I-I'm shaking. Leaning against the crimson smeared wall I sit down, trying to compose myself as I stare at my white clothes dyed red, m-my hands are dyed too, b-but it can't be, c-can it? R-Rachel, Azi, Naoko! A-all d-dead DEAD! W-well I-I guess it was for the best wasn't it? I-I mean h-humanity didn't need them, did it? H-Humanity didn't want us! THAT'S WHY WE ARE ON THIS GODDAMN SHIP ISN'T IT EVA!

I can't hold it in any longer as piping hot acid runs up my throat as I vomit all over myself and the floor. N-No, t-they didn't deserve to die, w-what have I done. Yet another wave of acid covers the floor in front of me as a horrific, shit smeared smell covers the cockpit, the same one that was in Naoko's room, the same one which fills the kitchen, and the same one which must be filling Rachel's room as well. F-Fuck m-me, t-that's right, it's not the first time this shit's happened, I even got a fucking medals for it didn't I?! O-ohhh f-fuck, J-Jenny, S-Sarah I-I'm sorry, W-Why did I do this? W-why did I ever think it was alright to do this?! Why am I like this? WHY DIDN'T I TRY TO SAVE THEM?! WASN'T I TRAINED FOR THIS? WHY DID THEY DIE? WHY EVA WHY WHY WHY WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHYWHY WHYWHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY EVA PLEASE ANSWER ME I BEG OF YOU WHY ARE WE HERE!

W-Was I even trained for t-this? O-or was that just another delusion? I-Is all of this another delusion? Looking over at Azi, sprawled on the floor, swimming in his own fluids and innards I know for a fact it's real. It would be disrespectful to him, n-no, to all of them if I didn't acknowledge what I did. B-But we were gonna die anyway right? we were gonna fucking die anyway right?! I-I DID THE RIGHT THING RIGHT? R-RIGHT?! THIS IS WHAT YOU FUCKING WANTED RIGHT EVA?! PLEASE FUCKING TELL ME I DID, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEIBEGYOUPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEFUCKMEIBEGYOUPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEITWASMEANTTOFUCKINGHAPPENWASNTITPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEWHYWHYWHYPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEIBEGYOUPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEWHYWHYWHYPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEFUCKMEIMSORRYPLEASEPLEASEPLEASENOTLIKETHISPLEASEPLEASPLEASEPLEASERACHELPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEAZIPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASENAOKOPLEASEPLEASEPLEIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLE

But no one could answer Alabaster's prayers, Eva had been shut off long ago, and as the ship continued tumbling deeper into space he suffered alone. Covering and tearing his face with his scarlet dyed hands and pulling out his white hair, adding to the crimson sea drowning him. With no one to view his tears, unable to come to terms with his own reality, and as the oxygen depleted, the solitary soldier suffocated slowly, the worst of deaths.

Alabaster Ship


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