Children's Control

19-06-2030

When I wake up, I immediately notice something very strange going on. As all lights all of a sudden go out, and I start floating around. I end up close to the entrance, which slowly moves out. When the lights go back on, I notice the door opening. Eventually, I end up in the other spacecraft, which contains a small group of octopods. When they slowly crawl out, I notice they go right for Alice, who is very close and tries to hold one of them. I quickly try to hold one of them as well, but it immediately bites me and jumps out of my arms.

Alice comes to that octopod and it jumps in her hands. It holds two tentacles on my face. Later, it comes very close to Izzy, and puts all its tentacles around her. I quickly feel some wounds from the octopod scratching my face. Then, Alice forces me to take him into a special bucket, filled with water. I can't find that bucket, and Alice gives me some hints. She doesn't come with me.As soon as I find it, I take it to Alice. But when I touch the octopod, I feel several stingers trying to catch something inside my hand.

I quickly try to take it out, but I feel like there is some tooth inside. The octopod releases the hooks, and I can put it into the bucket. Then, I go to the hydrator with a special bag, to get about ten litres of water. When I put it in the bucket, it seems like the octopod is gone. When I put the water in, it immediately becomes red and turns itself on its beak. I put the lid on and give the bucket to Alice. When I go to my sleeping position quickly after, I notice the bucket next to it.

I try to open it back up, as I hear some unknown noise, but it's designed to only open from inside. The octopod opens the bucket from inside and walks away. I try to follow it, and end up in front of a small table. I quickly see why he doesn't want to stay: Alice gives him a small plant from the alien planet, and he quickly munches it with his beak. He also seems to bob in and out for some reason. He quickly goes away, but I don't know where he ends up. Alice tells me he ended up in a small container somewhere else. Alice takes him into his bucket, but leaves it completely open.

I go back to my sleeping position, but the bucket is completely gone. I try to enter into the laboratory, and quickly notice the bucket. When I have a look inside, I quickly notice a large, white disc inside. When I touch it, I quickly notice it sort-of drifts away, but it doesn't seem like the octopod itself. When I have a closer look with a magnifier, I notice what looks like tiny eggs inside the large disc. Alice tells me these eggs will hatch in three months, and immediately spawn fully mature specimens. However, it seems like the dot inside some eggs doesn't move.

Alice then goes to the table inside the dining room,where the octopod was before, and talks with the other octopods about Earth. For the octopods, the Earth seems like a distant planet, and some of them even retreat back to their own spacecraft. Alice then takes the remaining three octopods and puts them inside a small terrarium. She then puts the terrarium close to the bucket of one octopod. Meanwhile, I hear a large beep, and go back to my sleeping position. Once there, I notice the octopod inside the bucket of water going to the other ones. I also feel the spacecraft accelerating very quickly, and when I have a look on my watch, I see the speed increasing to 2C.

Alice takes me to the front control centre. I have to again look at all screens, in order to check where the FTL track is that leads us all back to the Milky Way. After a lot of searching, I end up with a new, faster route than the route to Chentema Alpha. I see a single FTL track that can lead us directly to the Milky Way in just twelve hours. When I press the Start button, I quickly notice the speed increasing to 30C. So fast, in fact, I can't even blink to see everything around me going past the spacecraft.

Then, Alice takes me into the laboratory and forces me to very carefully remove some dead eggs from the big circle inside the yellow bucket, and try to open them up under a microscope. As I seem to be unable to have a look at them, Alice notices I sometimes make small mistakes, which can make research impossible, and leads to Alice giving me several beatings, or worse. She then forces me back to work without any period to cool down from her torture. Alice eventually takes me to have a look in the egg, and tells me about what I see.

During the last hours of the day, she takes me to the front control panel. I again have to check if the FTL Track is clear of any obstructions, and then press a special button to continue the journey to Earth. Then, I have a good look at the entrance, and ensure it is completely sealed. I then go to my sleeping position, right next to Ellen, to talk to her about the eggs I saw earlier. Alice meanwhile comes right in and forces me to take several alien flowers, and pull out the insides. Alice can thus have a look at how life on Chentema Alpha works. Then, she takes me to my sleeping position, where I quickly fall asleep.