Scenarios

Immortals

Humanity is extinct. Zombies roam the earth, but they've lost all sense of their sentience. It's been hundreds of years since the zombies took over. As far as I know, I'm the last sapient living thing on the planet. I don't even get the company of a dog, or a zombie companion, or invading aliens like in the movies or books. I'm alone... In the early years of the end, I spent my time surviving with different groups of people. They never lasted, though. I thought the worst part of existing was watching everyone I love grow old and die without me. I was wrong. It's worse when they don't even get to live to be old. Sure, now everyone I know and love is still wandering the planet with me. They're just rotting away, and would do anything to eat my brains. After a while of watching all my friends die, I started staying alone. It's better this way. I stand atop one of the tallest buildings left standing. Barely. I visit here a lot. I feel Death looming over me, waiting for me to jump. He does every time I come up here. He knows me. But he'll be disappointed, just like every other time. I could've offed myself long ago. Truth is, I'm afraid. It's hard to give up after living so long. Wind pulls at me as I teeter between the edge of my endless life and the unknown. Death calls my name; But not in the taunting, bad way one would expect. "Come, Jamie. It's been so long. You're all that's left. Let go. Come with me," He says. He holds out his hand. My breath catches. A particularly strong gust blows at me. I step back from the edge to avoid falling. I look up into his eyes. Despite just being empty sockets in his skull, they're still soft, and concerned. "I.. I can't," I say with a shudder. "You can. You're strong. You're stronger than anyone else. You lasted this long. Now you just have to let go," He whispers. I reach out my hand towards him. I grab onto a nearby flagpole and hang one foot off the edge. My free foot is pulled by the wind. My hand is mere centimeters from his. Another shudder rocks me. I close my eyes, hold my breath... and let go. I fall, but I don't. My hand is clasped in Death's. I look down, and see my lifeless body plummeting to the ground below. But my mind is up here, floating, hand in hand with Death. I look up at him and he smiles. He pulls me close and envelops me in a hug. I hold him tight. I'd forgotten what it felt like to hug someone. Tears stream down my face as I realize I'm free. "You did good, Jamie," He says. I look up and he smiles. We pull apart and begin to rise into the sky.
-*-*-*-*-
The year's 2917. Humanity has mastered the stars. We're the head of a galaxy wide empire. War has been eradicated, and peace prevails. Humans are technologically superior to all other species in our galaxy, but we protect and care for everyone. However, we're all still sapient, and we all still lust for the unknown. I'm a part of a massive group of people who are departing the Milky Way to settle in the nearest galaxy, Andromeda. I am one of 5 other known immortals on this ship who will be staying awake across dark space. The rest will be going into cryosleep, because the trip is expected to take over 600 years. We have 3 ships that are departing together and will stay very close throughout the journey. The ship I'm overseeing is called the Matriarch. The other two are the Prophet and the Headhunter. My ship has 20 different species riding on it. I can't remember the names of all of them. Plenty of humans, obviously. Some are non-humans from ancient Earth. I think there's a couple thousand satyrs and dwarves. I know there's more, but I can't remember all the names right now. There's some aliens too. Species not of Earth. Vishkar, Opientrics, Reptoids, Decagorgons and more. The passenger loading process is complete, and everyone is frozen already. Now it's just up to the AI to launch the ship and we'll be off. Me and the other immortals are staying awake in case of emergency. The AIs should handle just about everything, but if there's any technical difficulties that require a human input, that's what we're here for. I never would've signed up for this if I was gonna have to stay awake completely alone; but whoever set this up knew that it wasn't a job for one person, and hired 18 immortals to divide between the three ships. I'm currently on the bridge with the other immortals. We're all silent. This is a big thing, it's exciting. I think we're all in our own heads at the moment. A pink AI appears on a terminal in front of us. I think her name is Izzy. "Good evening, immortals. Are you all ready for take off?" She asks in a cheerful manner. "As ready as we'll ever be," I say. She smiles brightly. "Good! Cause, here we go." The ship shakes, but we can't feel it from in here. It starts pulling away from port. We're off. We all take a seat as the ship begins speeding up, going faster and faster. "We're approaching the edge of the galaxy," Says Izzy. "Aha! Here's the last star before dark space." She points. It's not just any star. It's actually the Vishkar home system. Countless ships dot the system. So many that they almost block out the whole star from here. This is a big event. Many people from all over the galaxy came to this star system to see us off. Despite the countless ships in sight, they all feel so small compared to the massive size of the Matriarch. The ships have to be big enough to house and support all the beings aboard. Finally, we exit the far end of the star's gravity well. "Congratulations! We are officially outside of the Milky Way," Says Izzy excitedly. Another AI appears next to Izzy. It's the captain. He's blue. We all stand to attention. "At ease, Immortals." He says. "Captain Jeremiah." Izzy says. "I'm just up here giving the immortals some company." The captain smiles. "Of course. How are you all?" He asks us. "All is well, Captain," Says one of the others. I can't remember her name. "Good to hear," He says. "Final systems checks complete. FTL drives powering up," Izzy reports. "Good. Here goes nothing," Jeremiah says. "Into the unknown!" The FTL drives activate and we shoot off into dark space. I can't help but smile. Into the unknown indeed.