PHOBOS

1. The Circadian Code

○------The Circadian Code---○

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Start:

Here lies a copy of the only account left from the ruins of human existence. You are not expected to believe it or be able to picture a future like the one described. But you are being encouraged to imagine yourself as one of the sole survivors of an upcoming great catastrophic global event. I've lived through it many times over, so believe me, the world as you presently encounter it outside these pages is as unbelievable and foreign to me as the account of the worlds that follow. My only option now is retelling my history, hoping one of you will be able to rise above the ruins and save us all, even if this account, to those reading now, will seem as a mere story.

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End.

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▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪The Circadian Clock ▪▪▪▪▪▪▪

Hale-bopp was passing above earth. Ordnajela had seen it before, all those years ago. But not from this distance. Not that bright.

"I am not afraid."

" -Then why are we here," Ymmas knew but asked anyway.

The answer came delayed. The distant flash on the sky was more interesting. He thought about all those past times he had seen Haley's comet, this time it seemed to him it had come early.

"...Same reason you and everyone else is..."

" Seems we all got some things to run away from then...Ordn.." her voice was comforting to him.

"- I am not running away... Just resting for a while Ymmas." Ordnajela sounded indifferent.

The bubbly but reserved voice Ymmas used when talking to him reminded him of his childhood. He thought about how there is certain genuine warmth that some living things have and give off to others, it fulfils an instinctual need for protection.

"umhhmm. Time stops for no one. Not even us. You should know that better than anyone." Ymmas was optimistic but not delusional.

A half smile was the only response.

For a while there was silence. The vastness of space was behind them and only a faint hum coming from the vibrations of the craft as it entered low atmospheric orbit was audible. Spacecrafts are commonly called "Crafts". Space is an everyday part of modern life and it's use in words such as "Space craft" would, in the modern era anyway, be redundant. The crafts were so common that at any given time you could see one landing or taking off just by looking up. Their bright propoltion engines left behind a faint trail as energy was combusted and earth's magnetic fields were penetrated. Humans compared it to a sky full of fireflies.

"I smell something in the air." The deep rasp voice interrupted the quietness. That was Benji's cue that something was not right. He said it almost instinctively half asleep even.

"I dont like the smell of this.." He repeated it more alert this time..opening just one eye.

They looked around and back at Benji, they didnt see anything. Benji was always next to Ordnajela. Always silent and unnoticeable, that's why when he spoke everyone payed attention. They did not smell it, but they felt it..an uneasiness in the air, one that was hard to ignore. But the intro to NeoEarth was starting, it meant they were close to arriving, and that they could concentrate on that for now. They were about to listen to 'Old Man Cyborg' tell the new humans, traveling onboard the 'GenerationX°' Craft, a romanticized version of reality.
The old borg had always looked strange to Ymmas; tall, almost too tall, it's skin pale and fragile. Always dressed in army green formal pants, wearing black and white sneakers and grey long sleeve shirt, with sparkly tiffany blue wide round sunglasses. Which he always put on after his speech was over. He "welcomed any questions" he would say at the end, and if you asked he would respond. All without ever removing his sunglasses. Benji swore that before the speech, the old borg would whisper to itself that 'he loved the smell of humans'. No one else could hear him say it but they did notice a few times, including now, how his mouth moved right before taking his sunglasses off and starting his speech. The old man's monotone militant voice echoed as he spoke.