Smoke in the Sky // Linkin Park

Good intentions and bad plans

Inspired by fine, Leave out all the Rest and all the lovely people on twitter, especially this tweet:

Huge thanks to @beatlesally for the cover and some ideas! You are the best!

I apoligize for any mistakes that I've made and hope you enjoy reading!

"Everything is gonna be fine!", Chester assured his friend that he felt was about to jump up from the seat as soon as soon as he'd shared his ideas with his five friends and colleagues. It certainly wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting from the man that usually made a point in keeping his critique as formal as possible and it stung to see him frown upon the project he'd put so much effort into. Still, he tried to weaken his words as he looked at Mike. "We don't have to do it."

"There's no way this is even possible", the dark-haired man considered, rather saying his thoughts out loud than talking to the group sitting around the table in the only room on the ship that wasn't meant for work or sleep but solely as a place for them to hang out together. "No fucking way."

"It's not impossible, you know." Even though he knew Mike didn't mean it that way, Chester still felt the sour aftertaste the words left behind as he leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms and glancing at Brad in hope for help. After all, this hadn't been his project alone.

"Chester's right." Right from when the idea had first crossed his mind, he'd known that Mike would be the hardest one to convince. Dave and Joe seemed intrigued by it and even though Rob was his reserved self, not letting them see behind his mask before he was a hundred percent certain of his opinion, he at least wouldn't dismiss Chester's thoughts as crazy. "With all that I know, it should be possible for us to find a way to make it happen."

"What you two are proposing", as if his aversion hadn't been apparent enough already, Mike stood up, placing his hands on the table and leaning forward, almost like a teacher chiding his disobedient students, "could be the end of the world as we know it."

"Says the captain of the spaceship that's travelling to our new homeworld." It was neither the place of the time for it, but Dave couldn't help but try to lighten the mood a bit. After three months stuck in a small pot floating through the emptiness of space, fights were bound to happen even with them not wanting to make their time onboard even less enjoyable. "Let Brad and Chester at least present their entire idea before you say no to it", he opted to ignore the annoyed glance Mike was shooting at him.

"Fine", the captain of the ship mumbled and sat back down, signaling the two scientists with a wave of his hand to go on with their presentation.

"Thank you, Dave." Chester quickly nodded at him before sorting the sentences in his mind once more, knowing that this might be their only chance to convince Mike. And even though he didn't like it, if the captain of their troupe was against it, the project wasn't going to happen. And not only because he needed some of Mike's expertise for it. "Right now, we have an estimated 11.3 billion people living on earth, a number that is not going to chance significantly within the next years. Even with the high mortality rate now that the war is raging again, it's unlikely the population will drop below 10 billion anytime soon."

"That is however", Brad chimed in, slowly stroking his beard before looking Mike straight in the eye to maximize the impact of his words, regardless of them being old news, "until the ecosystem collapses, and we'll face the downfall of humankind. Considering the path earth is currently headed on, with the government sharing their plans of further adding aerosols to the Atmosphere in the hope to reverse some of the damage already done, this day will come sooner than later. And we simply do not have the resources to get everyone to Ross 128 b in time. Billions will perish, but Bennington and I might have found a way to prevent it."

"Not by creating Frankenstein's monster." Even with the knowledge that pouting was childish and didn't have a place aboard the ship, let alone during a conference that might decide the fate of their loved ones and everyone else they'd left behind, Mike still had a hard time keeping his criticism somewhat professional. Not that he didn't acknowledge the work Chester and Brad had put into developing their idea into something that could become reality in the not so distant future, but his guts told him to better not further explore the possibilities it held.

"We weren't planning on stitching bodies together, Shinoda!", was it now the programmers turn to lose his temper and slam his hands against the table, the bright flames wrapped around his wrist a stark contrast to the white and grey that made up most of the ship and grew a little less colorful with every passing day. "Look, Delson and I, we have the knowledge and the means to enhance the abilities of human beings, allowing them to gain full control over their surroundings. That way we could clean up the planet and give us all a fresh start. But we need your help to link the pieces together."

"We know it sounds disconcerting at first, but this isn't something we thought up while being bored in space!" Brad started a final attempt to persuade their friend, already knowing it would be in vain. Mike had made up his mind the second Chester had first taken the word cyborg into his mouth and frankly, he couldn't blame him. "We are aware of the uncertainties that come with it but for all we know, the worst thing that could happen is nothing at all."

"The last time someone said that they decided to put a shitload of chemicals into the Atmosphere and look what happened!" They all knew the speech Mike was referring to, having heard and seen it countless times from when they were little children, too young to yet understand the full extent of it and the consequences that followed, to the day they kissed their loved ones goodbye and stepped aboard the ship taking them into the unknown. "Look where that took us!"

"Fine!" With one final disappointed look at the captain, Chester stormed off, leaving his five friends and an uncomfortable silence behind, each of them trying to figure out what to say without possibly making the situation worse.

"I'll go find him", Brad sighed after a long moment, taking his datapad with him and waving in the direction of the engine room, the place they knew Chester usually went to when he needed a moment for himself to recollect his thoughts.

"I didn't mean to be that harsh, you know." Knowing Chester for years and having worked with him on countless projects, Mike was used to them pointing out flaws in each other's thought process. After all, this was the way science worked and so far, it had always been their way to success, earning them a spot amongst the top scientists in America. This time however, things were a little different, he thought to himself as he rubbed his eyes in frustration before turning to the rest of the crew. "But this is a disaster bound to happen."