“Payton, they’re telling us we aren’t going into the tunnels.” Sage interrupted her sister in the locker room. Payton was half-way into her digger pilot suit, which took a significant effort to get that far.
“Are you serious? We only just prepped the tunnels and got the diggers ready for the day.” Payton stopped fastening the components onto the suit.
“The Prime Minister canceled the work for the day, she’s got some announcement. One of the scout ships came into the landing pad hot this morning, it’s probably about that.” Sage knelt and helped Payton to take off the sensory-feedback pilot’s suit.
“If the scout ships have news from Earth, it can’t be good. It’s surprising they waited this long to come after us.” Payton replied. A year and a half on Mars, away from the in-fighting on Earth and the flooding, felt too good. Earth Co was never this hand off with anything the board authorized.
“Maybe it’s not bad. Maybe there’s something else. Maybe the Prime Minister is declaring a holiday.” Sage took off the heavy belt and, with some effort, hung it in the locker.
“We are supposed to finish these tunnels to make more space for the hydroponics. We’re not going to be ready for ventilation and lighting in a month.” Payton was now talking more to herself than her sister.
“They’ll figure out a new schedule. We need to get to the canteen if we’re going to see the announcement.” Sage unhooked the boots and put them in the locker too. Payton took off the jingling trousers and hung them in the locker as well.
Together, they fast walked down the hall and through one of the ‘accidental tunnels’ which had not been in the plans. The canteen was packed by the time they arrived. All of the seats were filled and then people were sitting on the tables or looking for space to stand.
Payton and Sage ended up leaning against the wall near the door. The projectors were already running and the podium with the curtains was projected five times on the tall walls.
“Do you know what this is about?” Payton asked the miner next to her.
“It’s my friend’s birthday, he thinks we’re having a surprise party for him.” The miner whispered loudly.
“I didn’t say that.” His friend objected immediately.
“Is that Tito?” Payton recognized the other shift leader right away. “You’re an idiot Tito.”
“Shut up Payton, at least my diggers are on schedule.”
The Prime Minister stepped up to the podium and cut off anything else Payton wanted to tell Tito about his diggers.
“Thank you all for taking time away from your very important work. I know there are some who cannot get away from time-sensitive work, but I want to thank each of you for the time you spend on this colony. I had a very important announcement that we will get to, but first there is urgent news from our observers of Earth. There has been another megavolcano eruption which has set off earthquakes across the globe.
You all know, Earth’s population after we left was almost twelve million individuals. The quakes were severe enough that we believe only fifty thousand have survived. They are currently being evacuated to the Moon station and Titan station. We expect Moon station to be relocated at great effort to be a sister station to Titan station. If we could all observe a moment of silence to honor the fallen.”
The remaining chatter in the room evaporated. No one had anyone left on Earth, the board of directors had made sure of that. But news of so much death shocked everyone.
“With the removal of the Earth Co board of directors,” The Prime Minister began after several moments of silence. “Our contract to deliver water is now carried wholly by Admiral Cozan and what is left of the military fleet. We do not expect him to accept a reduction in volume delivered. So our filtration and production goals will remain the same with the original announcement in mind.
Our researchers, in collaboration with the teams on the Titan station have restarted Project Exile. As I am sure all of our adults know, this was the plan to travel away from our Sun to another habitable planet in the Milky Way. The fatal error that stopped Project Exile from working has been dealt with in an unexpected way. I feel I need to reassure you, the problem has been dealt with completely and I promise you this is the best choice for those of you who elect to participate in Project Exile.”
Payton pushed past Sage to get to the door and was immediately running. She ran into the walls on four corners where she had trouble making the turn and then skidded into the digger garage. Covered in red dust, she crawled under one of the diggers and wrapped her arms around her legs.
It was two hours later when Sage arrived to find her sister in that same position. Caked with tears and a little snot, Payton had resisted throwing up this time.
“Are you ready to talk about it?” Sage sat next to her twin sister and spoke calmly.
“There’s nothing to talk about. You want to go.” Payton wasn’t trying to sound calm.
“I think we should talk about that. I’m not going to just leave you to go to some other planet.” Sage remembered what the therapist said. She had to remain calm while Payton was in this state.
“But you want to go. It’s an actually habitable planet. You won’t have to live underground or work in the mines. You hate the mines.”
“I do, I hate digging. But I love you more than I hate the job. We need to stick together.” Sage knew she would never leave her sister.
“But you’re barely living like this. You followed me to the mining base on the moon, then those six months on a meteor hauler, and these two years on Mars. You keep following me to these horrible places and you’re dying from it.” Payton rocked herself.
“I’m not dying. We were dying on earth, everyone is dying on earth. That’s why we left earth.” Sage had repeated this dozens of times to herself over the months.
“But you shouldn’t just follow me around. You can’t just give up everything to keep me from falling apart. It’s not fair.” Payton gestured angrily as she said this.
“Where else am I going to go? I had to get off earth and there’s not a huge demand for mediocre violin players so it made sense to follow my sister with a useful skillset and mooch off her.” Sage put a hand on Payton’s shoulder and got a glare in return.
“We never should have left your violin at the moon base.” Payton declared glumly.
“Let’s not change the topic. It sounds like you think I should go with Project Exile.” Sage gently smiled at her sister’s scowl.
“You should. It is the best thing for you. Even if I can’t go too.” Payton’s tears started up again.
“Why can’t you go too? The tunneling work here is getting scaled back since there won’t be so many people.” Sage asked the question that she truly wanted to ask.
“Do you remember grandpa with the hibernation madness? He was only forty when he went on the test flight. One flight and he got advanced Alzheimer's. We never got to really meet him and none of the test crews were spared. Alzheimer's, dementia, late stage Parkinson's disease. They all got severe neurological disorders right away. And not just the crews! All the passengers got the same. Some were so severe, they didn’t survive the flight.”
“I remember. And I would never risk getting hibernation madness or you getting it either.” Sage promised solemnly.
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“And they say they cured it?” Payton stopped rocking and wiped her nose on her sleeve.
“No. They didn’t say they could cure it. They said they worked out how to avoid getting it altogether. They said there was a discovery in a side project at the Titan station that works. It prevented all cases of hibernation madness in a flight to Pluto. They successfully placed observation satellites in orbit around Pluto and returned the entire crew. Forty people, zero cases of hibernation madness.”
“Liars.”
“The crew are giving testimonials. They say the process is weird, but it works. It keeps the brain active during hibernation and prevents the madness. They say the longest someone has been under hibernation is five years.” Sage explained.
“Five years? Grandpa was only gone a week.” Payton stopped hugging her legs so tightly.
“Five years. It’s a miracle. We might just survive until earth is ready for life again.” Now Sage had some tears in her eyes.
“And this planet, is it safe?” Payton asked.
“It’s called New Corsica. It’s one of three planets they thought could support human life. They sent the explorer drones in the early attempts to relocate humanity. They stopped broadcasting a hundred years ago, but they reported plant life, breathable atmosphere, and clean water. It is a very safe planet.” Everyone had been absolutely silent during the report. After the news from earth, this was not just unexpected news. It had been news no one dared hope for.
“But the method is weird? Weird how?” Payton asked suspiciously. But at least she wasn’t shutting down anymore.
“It’s a computer program. They hook passengers and crew into the program to keep the brain active and producing all of its needed chemicals. We won’t observe time moving normally, but it won’t move normally anyway as we’re traveling near the speed of light. The program was originally for..entertainment…but it keeps the brain active and healthy.” Sage knew her sister wouldn’t be suspicious of this part.
“We’re going to play a video game for twenty years! This is so cool!” Max cheered to his brother while they waited in line. “I’m going to be a wizard and turn people into frogs and throw fireballs!”
“Max, cool it. We don’t get to pick what we’re going to be in the game. That’s why we’re taking this aptitude test. The game has to work specifically to keep us sane. We’ll play this game however the scientists say will keep us alive. And it’s not just playing around, you’ll still get school and you better study hard.” Steve grabbed his brother by the upper arm to keep him from flailing into the next person in line.
“I’ll study to be a WIZARD!” Max cheered and threw his free arm in the air. “What do you think you’ll be? You’ll be a ranger I bet. Quiet and deadly, like you were in the security force before.”
“You shut up about that.” Steve tried to quiet Max again. “We don’t talk about before, remember? Ever. We don’t ever talk about our lives before we came to Mars.”
Then Steve leaned in close and whispered to Max.
“We don’t talk about me being in Earth Co Security and we definitely don’t talk about Mom and Dad. Ever. You have to remember.”
“I know. Do you think Mom and Dad got evacuated in time?” Max went surprisingly still. Steve swallowed his first response that he hoped not.
“I don’t know. Mom and Dad are survivors. They will definitely do whatever they think will keep them alive. We’ll find out when the transports reach Titan. We’ll all get on the exile ships together. The survivors from Earth will get to Titan soon and then we’ll know about Mom and Dad.” Steve didn’t like to think about his parents. They hadn’t exactly given Steve any options other than to flee earth with Max to keep them both from starving.
“Maybe we’ll all be on the same ship. Maybe things are different after the quakes?” Max spoke hopefully.
“Things are different, but Mom and Dad are not going to be different.” Steve didn’t know how to protect Max from them. He felt like a horrible son talking about his parents like that, but it was just a knee jerk reaction by now. He had gone to an entire other planet and his parents were still making his life difficult.
“Maybe they’re different. It’s been three years.” This sad talk was drawing more attention than Max’s flailing. Steve couldn’t bring himself to correct Max. It had been six years since he had seen what his parents were capable of doing.
“Maybe. We’ll have to look for them once we’re on the ship. Does one of your streamers play this Andalusian Dream?” Steve tried to change the subject.
“Gargamile plays as a warlock mostly. Panderstand plays as different kinds of monks. Are you going to watch a livestream with me? Gargamile is a fifth generation streamer, he’s really good.” Max rubbed his eyes and smiled a little.
“I hope I don’t get a warlock, so maybe we’ll have to find someone else to watch. Have they added any new classes since I stopped playing?” Steve was in the habit of entertaining his brother to help him behave better.
“Loads of classes. There’s weremen, footmen, shamans, seers, and jesters. They nerfed necromancers and vampires since we’ve been on Mars, but they’ve added revenants as player characters. They added this huntsman class too. There’s so many choices, but you have to get the right gear to be really powerful. There’s a ton of NPC’s that will make things and enchant things..” Max started another excited monologue, but the line started moving and it looked like they would be able to go into the console booths to fill out this questionnaire or whatever it was. It was a little vague in the announcements what was needed to play Andalusian Dream.
It had been hard enough to get in line to sign up for Project Exile and there were so many rumors flying around, it was hard to know what was really going on. But this was a chance to really start over where Earth Co wasn’t digging their fingers into everything. Even after the latest disaster, an Earth Co Admiral had sent a blanket directive that they were now under his jurisdiction and conscription to keep his fleet staffed would begin within a month. It seemed like Earth Co couldn’t be content with ruining a planet, they’d do their best to ruin the rest of humanity too.
Each console was set up in an alcove by itself. The light virtual reality set up had a sensory feedback seat with analog inputs in the armrests and the full-face visor that connected with the neural chip everyone had implanted at ten years old. The seat was still warm from the last person who had used it.
“Welcome to Project Exile’s introductory course and questionnaire. We hope to clear up any misinformation and answer any questions you have. I am Megan, your Advanced AI assistant, and I will help walk you through your first steps into the Andalusian Dream. Have you played Andalusian Dream before?” A young woman in hospital scrubs appeared in front of Steve and the poorly lit cave was replaced with tiled walls and light that didn’t seem to come from anywhere in particular.
“I have played Andalusian Dream before, it has been more than five years though.” Steve answered and took a deep, relaxing breath. Being hooked into the console had a relaxing effect that ‘experts’ warned may be addictive and the developers claimed was completely coincidental in their design.
“Excellent. We can skip most of the introductory material and catch you up on the latest changes and content. Version 12.7 came with a notable increase in difficulty that was challenging to even professional players. For Project Exile, we use a custom version 12.8B that will allow different opportunities for people who don’t traditionally play role playing games. Where most games focus mainly on a player’s class and combat, version 12.8B has an increased emphasis on the player's profession and added structure for players under the age of 18.” Megan tapped items on her clipboard as she spoke.
“Could you tell me about the structure for players under 18? I have custody of my little brother who is twelve.” Steve interrupted and Megan nodded.
“Am I safe to assume you want to be assigned to the same ship as your brother? Each ship will serve as a contained world in Andalusian Dream and won’t be able to contact players in the other ships.”
“Yes!” Steve answered immediately and hoped Max didn’t try to get on a different ship so he could skip going to school.
“Players under the age of 18 are required to attend four hours of school daily before they are allowed to leave the city area except when the city is in an emergency state. During the mandatory training period, under age players will attend school and training for their assigned class. Under age players who disrupt daily life, the economy of an Andalusian city-state, or regularly endangers other players may be required to stay within thirty yards of their caregiver. Upon turning 18, players will be required to pick a profession. Other restrictions may be put into place by city authorities. Does this answer your question?”
“Yes, proceed.” Steve had a lot of other questions, mostly for Max, but nothing this AI could answer.
“The journey to New Corsica will last approximately eighty years as measured in earth time. Your perceived passage of time will be approximately fifteen to twenty years in the game. Most of the time gameplay will be taken up by the player’s profession, we recommend your profession reflect your profession in real life. On record, you have worked most recently for Blue Company Diggers on Mars which would correlate to a Miner in the game. You also previously worked for Earth Co Security Forces during -INFORMATION REDACTED- which would correlate to a Soldier in the game. Which profession would you prefer?”
“Megan, what happens upon the death of a player?” Steve asked. If there was a chance he could avoid going underground ever again, he would take it. But he couldn’t leave Max alone for hours at a time if he died and had to wait to respawn.
“The normal pain response upon death has been turned off. Normal respawn rate is set to ten minutes in the nearest safe town or designated respawn point. This can be reduced or increased with certain achievements, infamy, blessings, and rare ceremonies. Does this answer your question?”
“Yes, I pick soldier as a profession.” Ten minutes. Max wouldn’t even realize he was gone.
“You should be aware, some professions can function entirely with a safe town’s protection. Soldiers cannot. With this warning in mind, are you sure of your choice?”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful. Let’s begin your aptitude test to see which of the six starting classes fit you best.” Megan flicked her hand across her clipboard and the convoluted personality test began.
