Generation

Failsafe Mode [FIRST DRAFT]

Genie and Millon sat in silence in the mess hall. Millon had synthesised them each a plate of spaghetti - it smelled delicious - however neither of them touched their food.

Genie twirled spaghetti around her fork, but dropped it onto the plate and sighed. "I'm so tired."

Millon nodded. Dark rings circled under his eyes; he looked wrecked.

"Maybe you should get some sleep," Genie said, voice low and soft.

He shook his head. "I need to fix this."

"We can't do anything about Ric-"

"Dude. I was talking about the ship." He stumbled out of the chair. "I'll be in the bridge."

Genie was at a loss for words. She didn't blame him for his prickly attitude. If he needed space, she would give it to him. She scooped up the plates of spaghetti, and took them to the kitchen, where she cling-sealed them and shoved them in the fridge. Maybe they would feel like eating later. Maybe.

The second she walked into her bunk room, she collapsed onto the mattress. The light burned even through her closed lids. The ship's circadian cycle hadn't switched to night yet - this day felt so, so long. She got up and pulled the manual dimmer and collapsed onto the bed again. She scrambled under the covers - ah, shit. She forgot to take off her shoes.

She lay on the bed, shoes and all, and stared around the room, barely just visible in the dark. As much as the room was filled with mementos that made her happy - a Nirvana poster (a rare relic from Original Earth), the figurines she painted in her spare time, a rack of her favourite clothes - the room somehow felt like a stranger's. Her body somehow felt like a stranger's.

Genie wasn't sure how long she tried to sleep for; the clock was attached the ship's main systems and that was all broken now. She tried for a little longer, but soon gave up. She should see if Millon was doing OK, anyway.

Genie entered the bridge.

Millon, bent over the console, looked back sharply at the sound of her footsteps, shoulders tense; it was a moment before he relaxed them.

She dragged another chair next to the console. It squeaked. "Any luck?"

He shook his head. "I've tried everything. Even in failsafe mode, all these motherfucking numbers don't make sense, nothing is re-directing to the right place..." He stared blankly at the screen. "I don't even know where we are anyway."

He pushed his chair away from the console. Paced up and down the bridge. "There has to be an answer. There had to be..." Away from the console, the light showed the creases in his shirt.

Genie glance at the console. At Millon. At the console. She sucked in a breath, and still staring at the console, said: "I think I know where we are."

Millon stared. "You what?"

"I know where we are."

"I got that bit. How do you know that? And where?"

Closing her eyes, Genie sighed. "We warped to the edge of the universe."

"Excuse me?" The chair squaked as Millon sat in it. "We what?"

"Warped to the end of the universe."

He snorted. "I got that. What the fuck. Did you warp us there?"

"I just..." Genie opened here eyes, but couldn't bear to make eye contact.

"Did you warp us there?"

"Yes."

Millon seemed frozen in position, leaning forward in his chair, elbows digging into his knees, hands clasped together in front of his mouth. The room was silent; the word "Yes" was like a brick dropped.

"Bullshit," he said finally. He shot out of his chair. "Bullshit! Do you have any idea how selfish that was?"

"I know! I was--"

He slapped his hand over her mouth. "No. Don't you even dare try to justify yourself. Sure, maybe you didn't mean for it to happen like this. Maybe you were trying to do the right thing or whatever the fuck that means. I don't care. You could have told us where we were straight up and we could have worked it out from there, but no, "Let's go on a spacewalk and get Rick killed!" He is out there-" He pointed at the door out of the bridge. "-and we are never going to see him again. Because you couldn't let some dumb fucking idea die."

Genie ripped his hand away. "Dude!"

"Dude what?"

Her lip trembled. "None of this was supposed to happen!"

Millon leaned closer. So close that his breath tickled her fringe against her forehead. "I got that." Millon stormed to the door. He slammed the "open" button several times, even though he knew it only needed once to open.

He squealed.

"Love you too," Ricardo said. He slid past Millon through the open door into the bridge. He had shed the spacesuit in favour of his normal jeans and jacket. In one hand he carried a plate with a piece of half-eaten chocolate cake, in the other he held a fork. Millon and Genie stared open-mouthed.

"What?" Ricardo said. He nibbled at his cake. "You guys are weird." Neither of them replied, and he laughed. "Seriously, who died?"