Eden.

Darkness

I stand in my room shocked at the pitch blackness that consumes my vision. Then I hear one of my neighbors call.

"Anyone not asleep?" 

"I'm not" I call. I see a circle of light emerge from the darkness, and shine on my face. It makes me squint "Could you point that at the ground?" I ask as he moves the light to my feet.

"What's your name?" He asks.

"Greg, and yours?" 

"Todd"

"So, where did you get the flashlight?"

"I'll show you" Todd says as he leads me to my bed "I found this one night when my bed cracked." He said as he took off the cap of one of the bed posts. "Here you go, now we have to get to the activity floor and see what's wrong" 

I take the flashlight from the post and follow him. Although usually very dark at night the ship usually had the lights dimmed for the security officers to see. This is the first time I have ever seen the ship with no lights.

I point the flashlight at the ground to make sure I won't trip. The hallway I have walked thousands of times now makes me nervous. As we start to approach the activity floor I can hear voices. When we get to the activity floor I see how different the place is without power. The hologram projectors that tell the time and date are now just a box on the floor, shining in the light of my flashlight. Without the immense brightness of their bulbs, the sun lamps that usually shine on the plants now looks like a stick with a head. The cafeteria menu is blank with a black screen.

I turn around and see a security officer. "Hello" I utter with a nervous tone.

"I see they aren't all asleep, where'd you get the flashlight?"

"Oh the..."

"Bed post, under the cap of the top right post" Todd proclaims, cutting me off. 

"Okay then..." The security officer states in a confused tone as I step in front of Todd.

"Officer do you have any clue what is going on?"

"No, I was just patrolling the area when I heard a click and then it went dark"

"The power went out,  however the odd thing is when the power goes out, the backup battery should turn on. Anyway is there any emergency protocol?"

"Yes, we must wake all passengers and assemble on the activity floor. You two go wake the residents on your floor…quickly!" 

As Todd and I race to our floor, I remember how the doors opened before the ship shut off. They can be manually opened, and the ship basic safety had nothing about it. When we reach our floor we wake up a few passengers and tell them where the flashlights are, and to tell other passengers to go to the activity floor. Once everyone is awake we retreat to the activity floor. 

In the activity floor I see every passenger flooding into the room all coming from different passageways. Circles of light dance around as the people walk to their destination. With all the flashlights everyone's face is now visible and the activity floor is dimly lit. I look to the front of the room and see the captain.

"Attention all passengers. Please remain calm, gravity won't wear off for 24 hours, and the plants will continue to produce oxygen. We do not yet know why the ships back up power is not working, but we will should have the power back on in 24 hours. Please stay in this room, and stay with your family. Would the head of computer room 2 please come talk to me. We will fix the problem."

Although I want to trust the captain, I doubt the problem will be fixed. The ship was running at full capacity, just a few seconds before the power went out, and without the computers we won't be able to find any system errors. 

I sift through the crowd trying to get to the edge of the room, but it seems at though the people will never stop coming. I decide to sit on the hologram projector, and just watch people go by. I realize I haven't got any sleep and I just spent the past two hours watching people, and spent an hour getting people to this floor. I can't get comfortable, so I decide to head for my bedroom. 

I sneak past everyone until I reach the staircase that leads to my floor. I look around and make sure no one sees me. I quietly walk down the stairs and find my room. I look to turn the lights off, when I realize they already are. I crawl into my bed and set my flashlight on the floor. I fall asleep instantly.