Atlas Abandoned

Atlas' Dream - The Future (3 years, 2 months since the crash)

Snap!

The chiropractor performed an adjustment on Atlas' knee. He swung his leg back and forth, nodding.

Snap!

The chiropractor did another adjustment to Atlas' back. He felt much better now. Atlas thanked the doctor and left. He hopped on the transport shuttle that was waiting for him and took it down the long network of hallways back home. He watched the hypnotizing lights on the ceiling of The Phoenix's hallways as he was ferried. Atlas turned from the ceiling to the windows next to him, affording him a beautiful view of the Earth below.

He rubbed his eyes. What was that?

It looked like small explosions peppering a small part of the surface of the planet. It didn't make sense to him yet. Atlas looked back at the ceiling until he was dropped off at his front door.

When he came inside, Atlas' father turned off the wall-screen from the kitchen and told everyone to get together for a family picture. Atlas' whole family was gathered in their home on The Phoenix. It was the one Atlas grew up in. It felt pleasantly familiar, but they weren't kids anymore. They were all 30 years older. Atlas, Pallas, and Demeter all had their own families with them and their parents were white-haired and wrinkled, but happy. Everyone got in close as a camera hovered into place. Pallas said something dirty. Everyone laughed as the camera's shutter clicked a few times.

The children ran off to play and Atlas sat down with his siblings and parents on the couches in the living room. There was no particular reason they sat down together or conversation going on at first, but they were all content just sitting in silence, enjoying each other's company. This was the most perfect feeling Atlas could ever recall. He was warm- their synthetic fireplace was stoked and going strong. He was wearing a sweater his mother knitted for him. Pallas had a matching one. He was happy- as Atlas looked around the living room he could see in everyone's eyes that their smiles were genuine. There was no bickering, no drama and no fighting. Atlas took a big swig of his eggnog, inhaled a deep breath of the artificially smokey wood being used in the fireplace, and stared at the miniature crackling inferno as the warmth tingled throughout his body.

Suddenly, Atlas found himself going on about the new job he'd gotten aboard The Tesla teaching engineering students. Before teaching, Atlas had become an engineer, like his dad. He struck it rich with a breakthrough design for a cost-effective space elevator system that allowed scientists to travel to the surface to conduct their research. Demeter was one of the flagship scientists that helped test his elevator and as a result she also found a wealth of success not only in her field of climatology, which she entered following her mother's footsteps, but other atmospheric sciences ranging from meteorology to planetary physics.

Demeter was wearing a beautiful green dress. She was talking about some grant she'd been awarded, looking over her shoulder at her husband who was playing with all of the kids. She kept talking about green this and green that. All Atlas could think of was the green Risen fireworks. The green energy clouds they formed. The green flames of the butane-fueled fires on Planet Demeter. His sister was talking about her research, though. Green green green.

Pallas made fun of Demeter and her obsession with the word "green," yet found a way to weave it into a story he started telling about one of the many adventures he'd once been on. The kids migrated into the living room while Pallas went on. They always loved Pallas' stories- partially because he was such a good story-teller and partially because he embellished the truth so much when he told them that every story was full of danger and excitement.

Something on the wall caught Atlas' attention. It was a medal. Pallas' medal. 'That's right,' Atlas thought to himself. Pallas was a retired, respected Sergeant of The Mammoths. Atlas stood up. His son had climbed onto his shoulders while he sat on the couch so he grabbed the boy's legs and gave him a ride over to the wall. He looked up lovingly at his son and asked him if he knew what it was.