Leon Quin
12-02-2017, 08:46 PM
I've had an idea for a story for a while and figured I might as well write it down and flesh it out. The problem is that I've never really written a proper story nor do I read books so I'm not really sure that what I'm writing is decent enough to be read and not some amateuristic jumble of words with an incoherent story lacking a lot of details. So before I continue writing it I figured I might as well post what I have on this forum, see the responses and try to improve.
Cancer, of course it is. It explains the dizziness, feeling weak, lack of appetite, and a constant feeling of nausea . You'd think they'd be able to cure me, it's 2034 for ****s sake, they manage to cure all types of cancer but of course I had to get the rare one, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma the doc says, if it was manageable it'd be difficult to treat but it's spread out too much, I guess I waited too long. I knew something was wrong for a while, just never bothered to do something about it and ignored all the symptoms. I already feared for the worst but having your worries affirmed still hits you like a brick. Clarice, my wife, starts crying next to me as the doctor talks about my options, basically none. I've got 3 months to live at best, the way I'm feeling these days I'd be lucky to last it that long but I honestly hope I won't, my biggest fear, besides leaving my wife and baby daughter, is to die a slow and painful death.
The next day I call to work and tell them I quit, they're probably happy I leave because of all the sick-leaves I've been taken recently. I didn't mention why but I'm sure some of them are probably worried about it. Steven, for example, in the 7 years I've worked at the office I got along with him, never had an argument with him and even though we only saw each-other at work I consider him a good friend. I should probably tell him the truth, I hope he'll show up at my funeral. Clarice stays at home for at least a couple of weeks to let it all sink in, I worry about her more than I worry about myself. I'm going to die, pretty simple but she'll be the one left behind, having to raise a kid on her own. Stacy is only 3 years, how will Clarice ever take care of her while also working a full-time job? This is what keeps me up at night, not my impending death or my degrading health.
A few days go by and I'm surfing the web when I read a trending news article. NASA has a lottery going on to which people who are terminal can sign up to, if you win your body gets shot into space in a space-coffin along with 100 other winners. It's pretty much a test-run for NASA to see if such a service is profitable enough. You'll still need to pay a 100 000$ to be part of it, if you get a spot of course. I've always been a big space-fan, I've watched tons of documentaries, subscribed to all kinds of space-related magazines and read numerous books on the matter, never understood the math behind it all but at least I picked up a few things.
I talked to Clarice about it, told her I want to sign up. I was expecting her to be against it, to claim we (or at least she) need the money but she knows how much I wanted it and agreed on it instantly. I remembered why I married her, how much she cares about me, how much I love her. I felt selfish, I regret mentioning it, she needs the money but I know she won't allow me drop this now, she'll make sure I sign up as she knows how much this means to me. So I did.
As days go past my health starts to fail, I can barely walk for a couple of minutes, I can eat as long as it's mashed but mostly I end up puking it out after a few hours, we're not even 2 months since the diagnosis and I already feel like it could be any day now but the doctors tell me it can get a lot worse. This doesn't reassure me, I don't want to die like that. I've tried staying at home but even with nurses visiting at home to care of me and Clarice giving me all the attention she can it's just not possible so we all agreed on taking me to the hospital. I know this is the last time I see my house even though I don't really want to accept that.
I'm only a few days in hospital when this man visits me, says he's from NASA and gives me the news my name was picked in the lottery. It saddens me, I shouldn't have done it, he tells me I can back out any moment but Clarice won't let me so we sign the necessary documents, even this is getting too hard for me as I lay there with tubes all over to delay the inevitable. We talk for a bit about what will happen now but he mostly just explained how it works. Apparently the rocket isn't strong enough to leave the solar system, instead it goes into an elliptical orbit around the sun and at the lowest point releases the pods which all have a small amount of fuel with ion engines and then all shoot off, gradually at least as ion engines generate very little trust but with enough time you can reach a fast enough speed to get into an escape velocity of the solar system. Sounds neat.
Days go by, it can't be too long now, Clarice visits me every day with Stact and stays with me for hours. I know Stacy won't remember me, I hope Clarice will tell her about me, how I was, what I did and what happened to me.
It's July 15, 2034 and today is the day I die, I feel it, we all do. My parents are with me even though they live 2000 miles away and in their 80's with them my brother, sister, my aunts and uncles. They all came to see me one last time. I feel cold even though I have 3 blankets over me. As I close my eyes I hear them talking with the beeping of machines in the background. The beeping stops as I feel like I'm falling deep.
Pain, flashes of light, voices around me. I'd wonder what the hell is going on if I wasn't feeling like I'm dying. I guess they're trying to revive me but why bother? Let me go in peace. I'm feel a sense of relief as I fade away again. I feel at peace, comfortable even but a sharp pain pulls me right back again, dammit, let me die already! Someone opens my eyelids but all I see is white. I hear voices but it sounds distorted, muffled, I can't make anything out of it. What are they doing to me? It doesn't matter, I feel myself fade away again. I give up hope on dying peacefully as I return to consciousness. This time at least I'm not man-handled, I don't hear anyone at first. I'm too weak to open my eyes so I let my fingers to the exploring. My chest, my stomach, it seems I'm wearing shorts. I wasn't wearing shorts earlier.
I suddenly hear voices, it startles me and in shock I open my eyes. My vision is blurry but I can make out the bed I'm in, feels comfortable but from what I can tell it doesn't look l've ever seen, the border protrudes in a wavy fashion, I could swear it moves slowly but my vision is probably playing tricks on me, it feels like I'm spinning and those typical squiggly lines you sometimes see are swarming my eyesight. I look at where the voices from and see 2 figures sitting at a table next to a window. The brightness of outside flares my vision making it even more difficult to focus on them but I realize one of them turns his head towards me and notices I'm awake.
They quickly stop talking and walk towards me. One of them stands at the foot of my bed and starts writing while the other puts his hands on my face and pushes it in both directions to see both sides of my head. He then moves down to my arms, he pulls my left arm from under the covers and checks some tubes that's connected to a machine behind me to the left. I'm starting to see clearly now, better at least, it takes effort to focus on the person closest to me. Most of his face is covered with some kind of surgical mask but of a design I've never seen before. Instead of a strap hanging behind the ears it goes all the way until it gets covered by a hairnet. I see him focusing on my arm, I follow the tube which one end is buried under my skin, the tube falls off the bed only to return next to my face which it's connected to a machine. I have to bend my neck profusely to see the machine.
To my sheer horror it isn't made out of metal with a display to show my vitals. It's some kind of pink organic blob strung into a frame of metal, it beats in synch to my heart...or is it my heart? Parts of it pulse light while other parts have contract and relax. What the **** is this? I'm freaking out, I notice the blob starts beating faster and the guy closest to me grabs my head and puts it towards him. He notices I'm freaking out, “Calm down” he says “How do you feel?” he asks.
Panic consumes me as words are unable to leave my mouth. I try to speak but only a slight stammer can be produced. With my exposed left arm I grab the guy but I'm too weak to hold a meaningful grip and he pushes my arm away. I desperately try to grab him again as if I'm drowning and grasping the land for my dear life but I only manage to grab his surgical mask and pull it down.
It's just some dude with a slight stubble on his cheeks and mouth area. His eyes have a worrying expression like he's not sure what to do in this situation, like he's afraid of me. Why would anyone be afraid of me? I never fought anyone in my life, I rarely raised my voice. Questions start to fill my head starting with “What the **** is going on?”. I'm too focused on this guy's expression to notice the other person injecting me with something, the only give-away is the sharp pin-prick. I feel my mind coming at a rest again and I fade away once more.
As I return from the sedation a person is standing at the foot of my bed. He's dressed differently, like a doctor but different, wearing those surgical masks like the people before. I guess he's been waiting for me to wake up as he walks towards me closer. He sits down on my bed, next to my stomach. I swear the border of the bed adapts to him sitting down. I quickly turn my head towards where the machine was but all I see is a curtain blocking my view from it.
“I'm sure you have questions” he starts talking while staring towards my face with an expression like a detective looking for clues.
“I'm here to give you answers” He continues.
I try to talk but nothing comes out but a light groan, I try to move my arm but it's blocked by the sheet being stretched too tight by him sitting on it.
“Save your strenght, I'll explain to you the situation” he says.
“A few days ago we detected an object in an escape trajectory with our sun. We managed to retrieve it and open it up. There we found the body of an alien. It appeared to have been purposely frozen in an attempt to keep it fresh, attempts at reviving it were taken but pointless as later studies revealed it died from some kind of disease.”
“A new approach was taken, instead of reviving it we sought to duplicate it however while we are good in bio-engineering our own organic structure this alien was new to us. It was too much for us to just simply engineer it so we did the second best option. We started with our own base and mixed it with the alien creating a hybrid of both kinds. We managed to upload a part of the alien's memory but it's unclear what. You are the result.”
“I'm an alien?” I think to myself “This doesn't make any sense, I'm human just like they are!”. I try to express my face in such a way to translate my mind.
I try to talk but besides “...human...” nothing comes out.
“I know it puzzles you, the thing is because you're basically a human like us you also instinctively perceive us as normal, as human, but parts of you are alien. Your memory, whatever stuck, is from your alien home-world and we wish to learn more about it, all in good time, of course. Your existence means a lot to us. You are proof we are not alone”
Cancer, of course it is. It explains the dizziness, feeling weak, lack of appetite, and a constant feeling of nausea . You'd think they'd be able to cure me, it's 2034 for ****s sake, they manage to cure all types of cancer but of course I had to get the rare one, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma the doc says, if it was manageable it'd be difficult to treat but it's spread out too much, I guess I waited too long. I knew something was wrong for a while, just never bothered to do something about it and ignored all the symptoms. I already feared for the worst but having your worries affirmed still hits you like a brick. Clarice, my wife, starts crying next to me as the doctor talks about my options, basically none. I've got 3 months to live at best, the way I'm feeling these days I'd be lucky to last it that long but I honestly hope I won't, my biggest fear, besides leaving my wife and baby daughter, is to die a slow and painful death.
The next day I call to work and tell them I quit, they're probably happy I leave because of all the sick-leaves I've been taken recently. I didn't mention why but I'm sure some of them are probably worried about it. Steven, for example, in the 7 years I've worked at the office I got along with him, never had an argument with him and even though we only saw each-other at work I consider him a good friend. I should probably tell him the truth, I hope he'll show up at my funeral. Clarice stays at home for at least a couple of weeks to let it all sink in, I worry about her more than I worry about myself. I'm going to die, pretty simple but she'll be the one left behind, having to raise a kid on her own. Stacy is only 3 years, how will Clarice ever take care of her while also working a full-time job? This is what keeps me up at night, not my impending death or my degrading health.
A few days go by and I'm surfing the web when I read a trending news article. NASA has a lottery going on to which people who are terminal can sign up to, if you win your body gets shot into space in a space-coffin along with 100 other winners. It's pretty much a test-run for NASA to see if such a service is profitable enough. You'll still need to pay a 100 000$ to be part of it, if you get a spot of course. I've always been a big space-fan, I've watched tons of documentaries, subscribed to all kinds of space-related magazines and read numerous books on the matter, never understood the math behind it all but at least I picked up a few things.
I talked to Clarice about it, told her I want to sign up. I was expecting her to be against it, to claim we (or at least she) need the money but she knows how much I wanted it and agreed on it instantly. I remembered why I married her, how much she cares about me, how much I love her. I felt selfish, I regret mentioning it, she needs the money but I know she won't allow me drop this now, she'll make sure I sign up as she knows how much this means to me. So I did.
As days go past my health starts to fail, I can barely walk for a couple of minutes, I can eat as long as it's mashed but mostly I end up puking it out after a few hours, we're not even 2 months since the diagnosis and I already feel like it could be any day now but the doctors tell me it can get a lot worse. This doesn't reassure me, I don't want to die like that. I've tried staying at home but even with nurses visiting at home to care of me and Clarice giving me all the attention she can it's just not possible so we all agreed on taking me to the hospital. I know this is the last time I see my house even though I don't really want to accept that.
I'm only a few days in hospital when this man visits me, says he's from NASA and gives me the news my name was picked in the lottery. It saddens me, I shouldn't have done it, he tells me I can back out any moment but Clarice won't let me so we sign the necessary documents, even this is getting too hard for me as I lay there with tubes all over to delay the inevitable. We talk for a bit about what will happen now but he mostly just explained how it works. Apparently the rocket isn't strong enough to leave the solar system, instead it goes into an elliptical orbit around the sun and at the lowest point releases the pods which all have a small amount of fuel with ion engines and then all shoot off, gradually at least as ion engines generate very little trust but with enough time you can reach a fast enough speed to get into an escape velocity of the solar system. Sounds neat.
Days go by, it can't be too long now, Clarice visits me every day with Stact and stays with me for hours. I know Stacy won't remember me, I hope Clarice will tell her about me, how I was, what I did and what happened to me.
It's July 15, 2034 and today is the day I die, I feel it, we all do. My parents are with me even though they live 2000 miles away and in their 80's with them my brother, sister, my aunts and uncles. They all came to see me one last time. I feel cold even though I have 3 blankets over me. As I close my eyes I hear them talking with the beeping of machines in the background. The beeping stops as I feel like I'm falling deep.
Pain, flashes of light, voices around me. I'd wonder what the hell is going on if I wasn't feeling like I'm dying. I guess they're trying to revive me but why bother? Let me go in peace. I'm feel a sense of relief as I fade away again. I feel at peace, comfortable even but a sharp pain pulls me right back again, dammit, let me die already! Someone opens my eyelids but all I see is white. I hear voices but it sounds distorted, muffled, I can't make anything out of it. What are they doing to me? It doesn't matter, I feel myself fade away again. I give up hope on dying peacefully as I return to consciousness. This time at least I'm not man-handled, I don't hear anyone at first. I'm too weak to open my eyes so I let my fingers to the exploring. My chest, my stomach, it seems I'm wearing shorts. I wasn't wearing shorts earlier.
I suddenly hear voices, it startles me and in shock I open my eyes. My vision is blurry but I can make out the bed I'm in, feels comfortable but from what I can tell it doesn't look l've ever seen, the border protrudes in a wavy fashion, I could swear it moves slowly but my vision is probably playing tricks on me, it feels like I'm spinning and those typical squiggly lines you sometimes see are swarming my eyesight. I look at where the voices from and see 2 figures sitting at a table next to a window. The brightness of outside flares my vision making it even more difficult to focus on them but I realize one of them turns his head towards me and notices I'm awake.
They quickly stop talking and walk towards me. One of them stands at the foot of my bed and starts writing while the other puts his hands on my face and pushes it in both directions to see both sides of my head. He then moves down to my arms, he pulls my left arm from under the covers and checks some tubes that's connected to a machine behind me to the left. I'm starting to see clearly now, better at least, it takes effort to focus on the person closest to me. Most of his face is covered with some kind of surgical mask but of a design I've never seen before. Instead of a strap hanging behind the ears it goes all the way until it gets covered by a hairnet. I see him focusing on my arm, I follow the tube which one end is buried under my skin, the tube falls off the bed only to return next to my face which it's connected to a machine. I have to bend my neck profusely to see the machine.
To my sheer horror it isn't made out of metal with a display to show my vitals. It's some kind of pink organic blob strung into a frame of metal, it beats in synch to my heart...or is it my heart? Parts of it pulse light while other parts have contract and relax. What the **** is this? I'm freaking out, I notice the blob starts beating faster and the guy closest to me grabs my head and puts it towards him. He notices I'm freaking out, “Calm down” he says “How do you feel?” he asks.
Panic consumes me as words are unable to leave my mouth. I try to speak but only a slight stammer can be produced. With my exposed left arm I grab the guy but I'm too weak to hold a meaningful grip and he pushes my arm away. I desperately try to grab him again as if I'm drowning and grasping the land for my dear life but I only manage to grab his surgical mask and pull it down.
It's just some dude with a slight stubble on his cheeks and mouth area. His eyes have a worrying expression like he's not sure what to do in this situation, like he's afraid of me. Why would anyone be afraid of me? I never fought anyone in my life, I rarely raised my voice. Questions start to fill my head starting with “What the **** is going on?”. I'm too focused on this guy's expression to notice the other person injecting me with something, the only give-away is the sharp pin-prick. I feel my mind coming at a rest again and I fade away once more.
As I return from the sedation a person is standing at the foot of my bed. He's dressed differently, like a doctor but different, wearing those surgical masks like the people before. I guess he's been waiting for me to wake up as he walks towards me closer. He sits down on my bed, next to my stomach. I swear the border of the bed adapts to him sitting down. I quickly turn my head towards where the machine was but all I see is a curtain blocking my view from it.
“I'm sure you have questions” he starts talking while staring towards my face with an expression like a detective looking for clues.
“I'm here to give you answers” He continues.
I try to talk but nothing comes out but a light groan, I try to move my arm but it's blocked by the sheet being stretched too tight by him sitting on it.
“Save your strenght, I'll explain to you the situation” he says.
“A few days ago we detected an object in an escape trajectory with our sun. We managed to retrieve it and open it up. There we found the body of an alien. It appeared to have been purposely frozen in an attempt to keep it fresh, attempts at reviving it were taken but pointless as later studies revealed it died from some kind of disease.”
“A new approach was taken, instead of reviving it we sought to duplicate it however while we are good in bio-engineering our own organic structure this alien was new to us. It was too much for us to just simply engineer it so we did the second best option. We started with our own base and mixed it with the alien creating a hybrid of both kinds. We managed to upload a part of the alien's memory but it's unclear what. You are the result.”
“I'm an alien?” I think to myself “This doesn't make any sense, I'm human just like they are!”. I try to express my face in such a way to translate my mind.
I try to talk but besides “...human...” nothing comes out.
“I know it puzzles you, the thing is because you're basically a human like us you also instinctively perceive us as normal, as human, but parts of you are alien. Your memory, whatever stuck, is from your alien home-world and we wish to learn more about it, all in good time, of course. Your existence means a lot to us. You are proof we are not alone”