The Nocterva Project

In Space

A muffled voice stirs me from my sleep. "Balkari?" I whisper, the strange tasting liquid filling my mouth. I feel around until my hand finds the release handle. Giving it a tug, I feel the liquid quickly drain out, and I fall weakly to my knees. "Can you hear me?" Balkari says from the intercom. My voice is little more than a hoarse croak as I say yes. "You've been out for a while. Take a look outside." I walk over to the window, my legs feeling slightly wobbly. I see a desert of red through the dense glass. "I made it!" I say. "You did indeed. I have good news and bad news." Balkari replies. "Ok." I say, slightly nervous. "Have a seat, 14-88." I comply, sitting down in the pilot's seat at the front of the pod. "During that radiation leak, your body was exposed to a high amount of cosmic radiation. Good news is you probably shouldn't have been able to survive that, but you did. Bad news is, the effects of this radiation exposure have not been well documented, or studied. Essentially, we have no idea what it's going to do to you." Balkari says. I shudder and take a deep breath, processing the news. "I don't feel sick, so I guess that's good?" I say. "Probably." Balkari replies. "Why not take a walk? Get your mind off of it." Balkari says. I nod, going over and putting on the spacesuit. Something crosses my mind. "Wait... Didn't you say this was just a simulation? Is that radiation exposure real? Hell, do I even need this thing?" I ask, my tone dripping with suspicion as I stare at myself through the reflection in the helmet's black visor. Balkari inhales sharply, but gives me no reply. I shake my head, pulling on the helmet and twisting it into place, I approach the door, stepping into a stubby hallway. The door closes behind me, and another door ahead of me opens into the vast red desert. I step out of the ship slowly, taking in my surroundings. A subtle wind disturbed the sands in the distance, showering the horizon in an orange mist. "This is real isn't it?" I say as I look out to space, seeing the sun. "I'm on Mars. In space. Not some simulator." I state. "Yes." Balkari sighs. "What do you want from me now?" I say, folding my arms as I look around. "I guess just explore. The suit carries about four days worth of water and it's gonna poke a needle into your arm in a second that will keep you supplied with that meal replacement medicine you tested." I nod, starting my trek across the barren, dry surface. I start roaming up a hill, careful not to slip on the rough craggy rocks. Once I reach the top, I find a beautiful overlook. It was a tragic kind of beauty, like a shattered porcelain doll. "I don't like it here." I say, unsure if Balkari was even still listening. "It's all gloomy and empty." I whisper. I sit down on the hill, my rubbery-booted feet dangling over the edge of a short ledge. I feel a sharp poke in my forearm. "Agh, ow. You weren't kidding." I sigh and rub my arm, wanting to go home. I hear an accompanying sigh come through the intercom. "Can you see what I see?" I ask. "Yeah. There's a camera in your helmet." Balkari says. "How long am I gonna be here?" I ask

Balkari's perspective

My eyes glanced down at 14-88's suit meters. Nominal. I rolled my eyes as I scrolled down the screen. Little green bars showed nothing was amiss, and a red flash caught my eye as I continued to scroll. Quickly I went back up. It was the suit's blood composition monitor, a stark red text on a yellow background. "Foreign DNA contaminant?" I mutter. "Huh?" Comes 14-88's voice through the speaker on my desk. "Shit." I grumble, turning off my microphone. I bury my face in my hands for a second before turning the mic back on. "How do you feel?" I say into the device. "Ok I guess, bored. I'd like to come home." He says. I nod. "Go ahead and re-board the ship." "Gladly." He says, and I look back to the DNA scan, checking the results. I stifle a gasp of shock.

Subject 14-88's perspective

I find my way back to the ship, entering the tiny airlock hall and decompressing before stripping out of my suit and striding into the pilot's seat. I pull off the form-fitting long sleeve that I'd been put into at the beginning of all this, enjoying the coolness of the seat's leather against my skin. Decidedly still overheated, I go ahead and throw the pants off too. "Tell me this thing has an air conditioner." I ask. "It does. I suppose you can head into that back room now, that's where the ventilation's the best. I'll also explain some things that you should know." I feel slightly nervous as I peel myself off the seat and pad over to the backdoor. I step into the dark lit room, seeing the main source of light came from a thin glass screen on one of the desks. I stand next to it, seeing a document on the display. "Alright. There's an...X-ray machine in the corner, go stand in the circle." Balkari says in a nervous tone. My breath puffs out in little clouds in the suddenly frigid room. Apprehension takes me as I creep toward the huge machine, stepping into the circle. A bead of sweat drips from my chin, a sudden noise rings through the ship, and I reel around with a gasp.