I also included this story on the Realm Runners page as a possible NPC story, but I figured since it is my writing and I have been told to try my hand at Science Fiction I might as well post it here as a full story.
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Have you ever wondered if we were alone in the universe? Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror and wonder if what was there was really the truth? I did, regularly actually. You see, I'm what those other beings like to call a Carbon Bipedal Epidemiological Neanderthal, C.B.E.N. for short. I currently reside in what they call a sterile homeostasis tube, in which they watch me live. No, I'm not in a test tube by any means; I have room to move, quite a bit actually. It’s like my own little studio apartment. I still cook for myself; I clean, and vegetate on the computer or television like I did on Earth... They don't call it Earth either, it's 4.2236.235 Class R planet. Sometimes they even try to get me to "breed" with one of their "female" prototypes they place in my tube every few days. Tempting, but not quite that desperate yet. To tell the truth, I'm actually quite comfortable in my living here, other than it being lonely as hell. I'm sure you're wondering how I know all this, but that is why this is the story of my life.
Two security guards arguing over a muffin, this is how my story begins. The muffin was left on the desk of one whilst the other decided to take an extended smoke break during his rounds. Things quickly became a little physical since neither had brought their lunch that day and neither wanted to give up the muffin. To make a long story short, in a comic childlike tussle the two had completely desecrated the muffin and in the end made nothing more than a mess of the floor, desks, and their uniforms. This of course lead to both grumbling grudgingly back to their desks about the loss of said crumbly muffin. Little did they know, the muffin was not the only thing that crumbled, it was also the pillars that held the two stories below them.
I had just flicked on the television after a long restless 3 hours of unsuccessful sleep and was raiding the fridge for something that wasn't past the expiration date, when I heard it. The sudden interruption of the "News Break", the assumption of a terrorist attack and an image of a destroyed superstore. I chuckled a little as this was the normal time of the late night comedy acts, but as the news report droned on it began to hit me as truth.
"Recent update: No signs of outer impact to the building. Further investigation will tell if the destruction is the result of an explosion. Keep tuned in for more details, we now return you to your normal broadcasting."
The television flickers a few times and then switches to the obnoxious noise of the late night shows. Completely baffled at the audacity of some people I stare blankly at the wall, my thoughts drown out by the drone of the false laughter on television.
To be continued...
