I look out over the planet. I'm back on the old spaceship, though, now it's been through so much it's more like a flying pile of scrap metal. I chuckle to myself, thinking about how things were so long ago. Well, it's only been 20 years, but it feels like a lifetime ago. We don't really have a complete government yet, but we all do what we can to protect and help each other along, and we all use subsistence farming techniques. I think back to the beginning.
When we first landed, I had just started in the bioplanetary scientific field. I had been so nervous at the induction ceremony! I was so red, I almost matched our second moon. That critical moment... the one the night before my induction. That was the first time I held my wife's hand. I sigh. That was the moment that changed everything in my life. I had finally set myself on the path I had always dreamed of, and I got to help others see the dream too.
I walk around to the different exhibits. This place was a museum, now. It almost surprises me how easy it was to get everyone to go pollution-free, and how far we've progressed. Most of the problem on Earth was that there were too many things we would have had to replace. We couldn't replace them, they were too ingrained into the lives of the general public to change anything. In fact, It's not completely horrible that we have to start over with a new planet; If we hadn't, we might never have been able to stop polluting the universe.
You see, when we were poisoning the planet, we didn't realize that it was also poisoning the solar system. Whenever a heavenly body spins, it sends out a signal; a certain frequency of note that it sings out to the universe, if you will. When you poison the planet, it changes that note, that frequency. It was sending out a poisonous signal to the other planets, causing them to begin getting sick as well. When Earth exploded, it stopped sending out the poisonous signal, and by now the other planets have fully recovered.
"Provost Kalem?" I hear a familiar voice say. I turn around to see Brie, walking towards me, two kids trailing next to her.
"Brie? is that you?" I ask, grinning from ear to ear. I walk to her, and we hug. I don't get to see her much anymore, seeing as she's the president of the luxury section of industry. We already have skyscrapers, and Brie and Benz owned one for their business; they were the co-CEO's of the only major gym/spa organization.
"How've you been? It's been, what, five years? I remember the last time I saw you, Leyna was only one." Brie smiled, pulling away from the hug. Her daughter, the one holding her hand, walked up to me. She had her hair mostly down, but had a small braid going down the side of her face. She wore a pink shirt, with a blue tutu on it, and the word fabulous written in cursive green above it. I knelt down so we could be eye to eye.
"I'm five, now!" She said, holding up a hand, fingers splayed way out. I smiled, and chuckled again.
"Well then, Leyna, haven't we grown?" I say, then ruffle her dirty blonde hair. She giggles. I stand back up, and look at her older brother. "And your son... Laance, I believe? I say, holding out my hand for him to shake it. He looked at me with his deep blue eyes, so dark they rivaled an abyss. His hair matched, and he slumped a bit. He was thirteen, I think. He wore dark clothes, with black hair and orange earbuds. He's not smiling, and reminds me almost exactly of myself at sixteen. He shakes my hand
"And how old are you, Laance?" I ask, still smiling. "Thirteen?" I ask, curious, pulling my hand away and putting my hands in my pocket. He laughed, and continued smiling when he said:
"Fifteen. But, hey, normally people tell me my eyes make me look older. I'm really interested in your job, what exactly do you do?" He asked.
"Laance! We were talking, and catching up! Don't make him talk about his work, he's trying to relax." Brie scolded, touching his shoulder. I laughed now, and smiled at Brie.
"Actually, I'm here at work; I have to check the pollution emission of the ship, since the older models may begin to pollute as they get older." I say, turning to her son. "You're almost the age I was when I began my career as a bioplanetary officer. If you want, and your mom's okay with it, I can show you what I do." His face lit up, brighter than the sun, and he looked to his mom excitedly with hope.
Brie sighed. "All right, but only if Kalem is okay with it... but first, I have to ask, real quick, how's the school? Laance was hoping to go there someday, since he IS almost that age. Only a few more years, you know?" She said, giving her son a longing look. He turned red, and pulled on is hood, turning his music up.
"School is doing quite well, actually. In fact, Why don't I call you later? I might be able to get you a deal on costs." I say, trying to find a good transition into taking Laance with me. He was obviously enthralled with the technology I work with, and I was eager to show him my job and figure out how much potential he really had in taking my place someday... if he wanted the job.
"Mooooom! I wanna go see the space pictures! The pink, purple, and blue, glowing ones!" Leyna whined, tugging on her mom's arm.
"The pictures of gas clouds?" Her mom asked.
"Yeah! Those ones! They're my favorite!" She said, skipping and jumping in circles around us. Her mom sighed.
"Yeah, sure." She turned to me smiling sympathetically. "Sorry, we'll have to catch up later." She turned to Laance. "Be good, okay? Do everything Kalem tells you, got it? I'm serious, I'd hate to have to ground you again." She said seriously.
"Oh, he'll be fine. I'll see you later. Come on, Laance, this way." I said, beckoning for him to follow me. He grinned, and took his hood off and earbuds out. He said bye to his mom, and followed me. I heard Brie telling Leyna to calm down and wait for her, as they walked in the opposite direction. Laance was smiling so big, I chuckled to myself. He acts like I probably would have if I was his age in this time period. As soon as his mom is out of earshot, I speak.
"So... What is it about my job you think you'll like?" I ask, already starting with the interview. Haha! He doesn't even know I'm interviewing him, but I know I'm going to have to find basically an apprentice soon. He's the best one suited for the job, as far as I've seen, which is saying something. He's fifteen, so he's a sophomore. He would probably start working for me his Junior year, or when he turned sixteen; of course, this is if he WANTS the job.
"I don't know, I almost feel like..." He started. I looked at his face. It was scrunched up in thought. I looked at his eyes, and I recognized them. They were the same ones that looked me in the eyes every morning when I wake up and look in the mirror. I can tell...
"I just feel... called to it, I guess. But I'm not sure what to do about it!" Laance said sadly, looking at the ground.
...He's...
"And I want to make sure that everyone stays safe, and healthy; INCLUDING the planet!" Lance confidently stated, raising his head up in determination.
...Perfect! I finish my thought, and stare at him in amazement. It's just what I answered when Karina asked me, almost word for word! We've stopped walking. He looks at me, and sees my face, but takes it in the wrong way.
"I guess it's just stupid..." He said, starting to walk away. I caught his wrist, making him startle. He blinks, and looks from my hand to my face.
"No, actually, it's not. Stupid I mean." I sigh, and let go of his wrist. I run my fingers through my hair. "Kid, how would you like to be my apprentice?" I asked. Laance froze. He slowly pulled his hand away, open mouthed. He grinned.
"You MEAN it?!" HE exclaimed. It was so obvious he wanted to start straight away, but I knew it would all work out better if he waited 'til he was sixteen. He wasn't quite ready for that much responsibility-- Yet. He stood up straighter, and his face turned solemn, and serious as he waited for my answer in return.
"Yea. I need an apprentice soon, and you're the best candidate that I've found, plus, I already know your mom, so..." I say, kind of shrugging it off, my hands still deep in the pockets of my lab coat. "If you really want to, sure, it's fine. I'm for real. You'll have to wait 'til your sixteen, first, though. If you accept now, I won't even look for anyone else 'just in case,' that would be stupid." I say, running my fingers through my hair again. "If you decline, I'll definitely leave the option open to you, but I'll have to keep looking for another apprentice." I say, doing my best to make it sound cool, kind of trying to communicate 'no pressure' with my body language. I could tell he was really nervous, so I took his hand. He looked back up at me.
"Hey, don't stress about it. You've got the whole summer to decide, and I won't even look for another apprentice for two weeks. It's good. Think about it, decide how much you care, how much it really means to you." I say, shaking his hand. He nods; I think he's still a bit shocked.
"C'mon, kid," I wave at him to follow me. "Let's get your mom." I smile, waiting for him to catch up with me. When he does, we make small talk on our way to the engine room replica, where Brie texted Laance she and Leyna were. We stepped into the engine room, which was really only called so for old time's sake. This thing didn't really use an engine, it didn't give off pollution; the connotative definition of an engine has changed to a negative one, since people believe all engines give off pollution. We try not to use it much anymore, but sometimes it's necessary.
Leyna sits on her mom's shoulders, waving to us from across the room. Aww, she's so cute! I wave back to her, thinking about how I'll have little ones at home soon; Karina's going to have twins, one boy and one girl. We walk over to them, and we all meet in the middle.
"So, I was wondering if you would let your son be my apprentice. If he wants to, that is." I ask her. She responds the way I know she will.
"I don't really care what he does," She states, matter of factly, "I just want him to do a job that makes him happy, and I want him to work hard at it!" She says, with a bit of the sass that I know from back in the day. I chuckle to myself, an she smiles at her son. "You can be whatever you want, okay D?" She said to Laance.
"Mooooom! I don't like it when you call me that in front of people! Especially in front of my potential future boss!" Laance groaned. He turned to me. "Sorry. My user on the prophynet is Darklynx, and mom found it the other day; insisting on using the first letter as my nickname." He said, looking embarrassed. "And, after hearing what my mom has to say..." He grins a toothy grin, reminding me of Sans, reminding me of Leon, my late adopted father.
"I'll be glad to be your apprentice! I just have to wait 'til I'm sixteen, right?" He said, eagerly. I laughed again. I was doing a lot of that, I suppose. Whatever; I was happy!
"Sure, kid. Sure." I said, smiling at him. I turned to his mom. "And Brie? Thanks for supporting him like my parents never would." my smile turns sad.
"No problem." Brie said, sympathetically. She looked at her watch. "Crud! I have to go." She said, picking Leyna up, and grabbing Laance's hand. He rolled his eyes, but let her continue holding his hand. He's such a good kid. "I'll see you later!" Brie called, looking back at me. I waved at them, still smiling.
~~~~~~~
>20 years later<
(Laance's POV)
"We come here today to bury and send on his way our dear friend, and leader." The priest started. I knew him. Better than anyone other than his wife, and maybe his kids. He was like an uncle to me, and I guess he was my godfather too. His wife, Professor Karina, had left us a while ago. She was doing an experiment to try and help the planet's core become even stronger than it was, but something went wrong. Neither the planet or the core took any damage, but Karina was lost. She realized something was wrong last minute, and had jumped into the way of the beam. Instead of strengthening her, like it would have, it drained the life out of her in one small beam.
I remember Dean Kalem, how he ran to her, cradled her head in his arms, but then let go after crying a single tear. She didn't believe in long goodbyes, and he was going to respect that, even to her death. I think about how now, all the responsibility they have will completely fall on me, and a bit on my new apprentice. I'm thirty five, with a wife and two highschoolers to take care of. This is a lot of responsibility for me to take on, but I'll do it. I would do anything for Kalem.
I turn my thoughts back to the preacher. He's saying something, but I don't hear him. My wife elbows me in the ribs, and I realize I'm supposed to give a speech. I get onstage, not knowing what to do. I guess this makes me everyone's leader now. I step up to the podium, and just say my thoughts out loud.
"Sad. Upsetting. I'm hurting right now, probably a lot like most of you. But I know Kalem wouldn't want me or anyone else to grieve his death much, because he would rather that we focus on the planet, the people, and get on with our lives. He would want us to think about him, and remember all he's done for us. Remember what happened to Earth, and remember how we can't let that happen to Genesis. He would want us to remember why we named it Genesis; Remember that it's name represents new beginnings. But most of all, he would want us to remember to be ourselves, and not give up. Because that was the reason for him living; he didn't give up.
"And now you might say 'well he's dead, so what's the point in trying?' Well, I'll tell you the point. The point is if we give up, we're throwing dirt in his face, spitting on his grave. Whatever you do, don't give up, do your best to keep yourself, others, and the planet healthy, and achieve your dreams."
I finish my speech, and without waiting to be dismissed, I go back to my seat. Apparently, I was the last to give my eulogy, so the preacher thanked us for coming and we were dismissed.
But before we leave, I go over to Kalem's body, and look at him one last time, and say;
"I understand how different it is now. How it used to be. I researched it when you weren't looking, and I understand. Without the Earth... you were nothing. Really, all of you were nothing. You all felt helpless, but you were the only one who didn't put on the mask.
"Without the planet... all is lost."