134340 |JJK FF|

Chapter 4

"Here is your breakfast, ma'am," Juju stated monotonously, "Shall I signal for your vehicle? I see you're quite late, would you like me to signal it to alter itself to transport you aerially?" She plopped the platter on the table.

"That would be nice, Juju," Yumi grumbled, her mouth already full of the lab-made meat.

She was late, really late. She blinked around the dining hall with her still sore eyes. She really should have just gone to sleep instead of revising her notes all night. Now she felt like dropping her head on her plate and use the meat as her really cut-up pillow. I wonder if I snore loud.

She jerked her head back upright before it fell right back into her chest. Perhaps a meaty pillow is not that bad of an idea.

Yumi lowered her head to the tabletop, desperately wanting to close her eyes and sleep when Juju's robotic voice banged her eardrums, "Ma'am, please don't fall back asleep. You will be really late if you choose this moment to take a nap."

"Right," She felt her mouth fill with food as Juju fed her.

Sorry, did I say 'feed me'? My bad. I meant, Juju gathered a spoonful of still-hot soup and stuffed it into my mouth. I choked.

"I apologize, ma'am, this was the only way I could think of to wake you up," Juju apologized, as Yumi quickly gulped down water.

Right.

"'Tis fine, Juju," She meant it, she felt more awake now, anyway. Perhaps choking on soup was a good thing after all. She glanced at her wristband, eyes widening as they read the time. Oh no.

Five minutes later, she hastily left the house, tongue still burning but eyes much more alert than before. She jumped inside her vehicle, slamming the door shut as she felt the vehicle's wings open from the top as it floated upward, "Good morning, ma'am. I request the passenger to buckle u-"

"Please move faster. I must reach the South Korean Aerospace Institution by 10 AM."

Yumi felt her carriage fly faster, so much faster, that she was forced back to her seat by the inertia. She conjured up her comb, trying to force the tangled mess that she was supposed to call her hair into a ponytail.

This was what she had to do each and every day, as Captain was adamant that they had a lot of study and practice to do until they were safe to step into the spaceship.

This is the plan. Half of the team was to try and reach Pluto. If they succeeded, they could use the Plutoian signal stations and send a message to Earth to signal their arrival. If they failed... well, hopefully, death wasn't all that painful.

If the other half of the team got the signal, they'd know that it was safe and round up the leftover Earthians and travel all the way to Pluto, hence abandoning Earth to go with Pluto.

Yumi felt like she could spend an entire hour listing the cons of this 'Plan'.

First, she wasn't sure if she should feel proud that she was chosen to join in traveling to Pluto or if she should feel insulted that Captain Kim thought she was unimportant enough to join this epic death quest that was laid out for her.

Next was the doubt that the Plutoians would even so much as let them breathe in Pluto's atmosphere.

The carriage halted swiftly, "You have arrived at your destination now, ma'am,"

Yumi blinked as the carriage disappeared into the blazing sky after getting out. She wiped at her forehead, furrowing her eyebrows at the sweat already forming under the burning Sun as she swiftly passed through the automatic gates.

"Today," Captain Kim's shout nearly busted her ears, "We will practice moving in the anti-gravity medium," The entire room groaned at this statement.

"Everyone here has traveled the Solar System like, five times! We know how exactly we should float in space!" Groaned a man of about Yumi's age, who she knew to be called Park Jimin.

"Be that as it may!" Kim crushed her eardrums again, "Most here have never traveled out of the Solar System. And reaching Pluto might actually take at least five Earthian years! Although time in space is not the same, it will still feel like one heck of a long journey!"

After another week of training, Yumi felt like an alien on her own Planet. Darkness circled her eyes as she yet again passed through the automatic gates, flicking the beads of sweat off her forehead.

"The news has been getting around. You know, it has people questioning their options. Abandon their home, or perish with it. No other countries' space organizations thought of living on Pluto, which only increased the opinion against this mission. You know how people feel about Plutoians. Most have just decided to protest against us as they accept their cease of existence,"

Another week passed as the Earth to Pluto team prepared themselves for this long journey. Then another. It was after almost two months that Kim declared them fit for reaching Pluto.

Yumi was sure her backside was now permanently deformed after all the hours she was forced to sit through the endless lectures, from the physics related to space to the psychology of Plutoians.

She felt like all her knowledge of space she learned through the twenty-five years of her life was crammed into her now sponge-like brain into these two months.

Still, she was finally ready. She was ready to finally see what has become of Pluto. She got so emotional that she gave her Juju a very blanket hug, that she understandingly reciprocated. This could be the last time they would see each other. She bid every single electricity tower she met (Which was a lot.) goodbye. She greeted a street seller who very confusedly returned the greeting, its poor robotic head not being used to being greeted by the very busy and ignorant humans.

The day finally came when she was putting on her suit, her heart palpitating in anticipation. She felt a rush of guilt as she looked around her planet for the last time before she pulled on the heavy helmet. The helmet immediately blocked out the shouts of every individual out there. Yumi knew that not all shouts were cheers.

Yumi turned her head to gaze at Captain Kim's grim face. Meeting her eyes, he nodded at her, thumb facing the sky as he wished her good luck. Hara was biting her lip in slight fright as they boarded the spacecraft. The countdown began.

Ten...

Nine...

Yumi turned to look at her team.

Eight...

Seven...

Kim Namjoon was carefully monitoring the bots that were responsible for conducting the spaceship.

Six...

Five...

Park Jimin was checking the rations they had put together for nutrition.

Four...

Three...

Lee Hara was testing the workout appliances they were supposed to use to keep themselves in shape.

Two...

Han Yumi carefully positioned a neatly wrapped package in the chambers. This package containing the token for peace was the only way they could calm the Plutoians.

One...

The spaceship took off in great heated glory. Yumi gazed out of the spaceship to take what was supposed to be her last glance at Earth.

Dear Mother Earth, 

This is the last look I'm afraid we will share . Goodbye.