Capsule

Chapter 11

Fields. Fields of wheat and tall grass as far as the eye can see. Synth stands alone. The sky is overcast. He can smell the oncoming rain, but not a storm. Soft, cleansing rains that dust the prairie clean of all its impurities. He turns around and sees a leaning silver silo behind him. But Synth decides to walk forward. He chooses to walk into the unknown because he knows there is nothing left in the known world for him. He walks across the dew-covered soil and realizes he is not wearing any shoes. He lets the dirt slip between his toes as the rain falls, a sense of calm washes over him. He takes another step, and he is no longer wearing his jumpsuit and IZed t-shirt but wearing sweatpants and a flannel hoodie. He pushes the hood back and lets his hair soak in the rain. He continues onwards and suddenly finds himself in a thick white mist. He cannot see more than a meter in front of him. He remains calm. He takes a deep breath and lets the cool, moist air into his lungs. His eyes will not help him on this journey, so he closes them. Something... someone... is tapping his chest.

"Hey, hey, Jerome. Wake up, let's do this." The man sitting next to him in the cockpit says.

Synth has no idea where he is or what he's doing, yet somehow he knows that the man sitting beside him is a ceremonial pilot of the Canada-3 and his partner. Without thinking, he turns on the ship-wide P.A. system and says:

"Good morning everyone, welcome aboard the Provincial Evacuation Ship Canada-3. Our job is to ensure that the best people in the universe— Manitobans —have a safe and pleasant journey to Alpha-Centauri. If you would kindly make your way to your designated cryostasis capsules, and we'll be on our way within the next three hours."

"Nice, Jerome." His partner says, turning to face him. "Jerome. Jerome! JEROME! We have a debris field incoming! Hard to starboard!"

Synth's response spills out of his mouth without any conscious thought.

"I can't! The thing's on autopilot!"

His partner unbuckles his seatbelt and rushes toward him.

"We have to get out of he—"

A strut tears into the command center, destroying the console in front of Jerome. He tries to unbuckle his seatbelt before being sucked into space, but he cannot. He feels the air being torn from his lungs as he is pulled into space. His seat detaches, and he is left floating in the void. He feels no pain. His lungs do not scream for air. His body does not implode. He does not freeze to death. He floats naked in the void. He feels nothing, he hears nothing, and he sees nothing. He feels neither alive nor dead. He merely exists. He hears a song. Divine and incomprehensible. He sees a planet with teal and silver rings and a shimmering sky-blue ocean covering its surface. He floats towards it as an overwhelming sense of euphoria and orgasmic energy washes over him. He enters the atmosphere in a burst of fire and glory and hurtles towards the ocean's surface. As his body hits the cool surface, he wakes up with a start. He is in some building, and Yonge is kneeling over him.

"Hey, Hey, Hey," Yonge says, trying to calm him down. "Welcome back to the land of the living. Are you alright?"

Synth tries to get up, but he can't move his right leg or torso. Both hurt badly.

"Where are we?" He asks.

"We're in a city called Yorkton." Yonge answers in a calm, reassuring voice. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"There was a storm. The car got pulled up. We got out. Did I force you into the mud?"

"You saved my life is what you did."

"What's the damage?"

Epsilon begins humming the melody of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and then sings: