Date: ???????? ??: ????????

The floor was cold. He was laid on his side, his left hand was numb beneath him. He tried to open his eyes but the blinding white light sealed them back shut. He must’ve fallen off his chair last night, he thought. But that can’t be possible. For one, his apartment was dull, and dark. And second, the floor was cheap carpet. This seemed like metal.

He shifted his hand from underneath him. He shuddered and his skin turned peppered with goosebumps. He made an attempt to lift himself but his palms slipped on the smooth brushed metal. He didn’t panic or worry though, he was calm, and he simply pondered. He relaxed on the floor and tried to open his eyes again. The air was silent, all but a gentle hum. It was soft; clean; refined. The silence was broken by a tone followed by a female voice, that seemed to speak from all directions. “Under undisclosed orders, the habitat is set to undock from the mother ship in T-60 seconds” followed by another beep. “What?” he attempted to say through his stuck lips, but he was interrupted by another message. “As this is an emergency maneuver, it is advised to crawl beneath the desk and strap into the harness to avoid a fatality or severe trauma.” The voice was monotone, had no emotion.

The floor was still cold, and he was on his side again. This time, his head throbbed. He could smell a musk and he felt a strange tingle at his face. He opened his eyes and when the tingle seemed to move, he jerked his head, which provoked a squeal followed by a tiny creature darting towards his left. His eyes followed it, trying to observe it, but before he could make anything out, it jumped out of the open hatch. Sunlight leaked through the hatch. The creature was unlike anything he had seen before. It had soft furry skin, long limbs and a short neck with a long reptilian tail and what seemed like three eyes. He was perplexed, but the situation was perplexing.

He slowly made it to his feet, his legs heavy and his head ready to blow into chunks of skull and brain. He made his way to the hatch and pushed it open. His gaze was met with endless canopy and a distant horizon. He was on a cliff. He opened the door further then landed a step outside and was immediately hit by a gentle breeze. The ground was damp but firm. He peered around the side of the pod and then realized, he wasn’t on a cliff, he was on a steep hill. The only way in any direction was down and down fast. He treaded to the side of the pod where there was a small patch of flat land, his feet slipping as he landed his heavy steps. He kept his balance and when he made it, he looked around, his eyes darting from tree to tree. To his left was an endless forest, with creatures that he could only hope to survive among, more hills and more forest. Ahead of him was a long, uneven coast, speckled with bushes and trees here and there and to its right was an unending, blue ocean. The trees were strange, foreign, like that creature he encountered earlier. His breath grew unsteady at the mere scale of the lands before him.

He turned to face the pod and leaned to the side to inspect it. It was mostly round with a flat bottom and a dome-like roof. It was also on an incline and its weight was the only thing stopping it from rolling down what seemed like a minute long fall. He didn’t want to worry though, so he turned back around, took a step back and sat down, hands to his side, back to the soft metal hull. The grass embraced his palms and the damp ground cooled him; the breeze ruffled his unkept hair. He stayed there a while, he didn’t ponder, nor did he worry. He knew he had to survive and it was the first time he ever really wanted to, because now, he had answers to find. He had something to work towards. He had to get those answers and he wouldn’t let anything take that away from him. His sense of curiosity was never easily shaken and this was no exception.

He turned the handle of the hatch, it was smooth and clicked, which nudged the heavy metal open with the sound of gas rushing out. He walked inside and closed the hatch behind him. The pod was gray all around, top to bottom, with white lights lighting it. He finally got a chance to look around. There was a table to his left, a glass cabinet ahead of him and bedding to his right. It was no suite but it was a definite upgrade from the soggy apartment he slept inside before. He walked right to the cabinet and looked inside. The shelves were empty which left him to check the drawers. One was empty and the other had a set of books. This immediately sparked his curiosity. He might finally get some answers. But on reading the spines, he was disappointed.

“EPO-23: MANUAL”,
“EPO-23: MAINTAINANCE AND REPAIR”,
“EPO-23: EXPANSION AND HABITAT”

He grabbed the manual and set the other two books back into the drawer. He sat on the bedding, and ruffled the pages of the book. It was crisp, new and left him with the smell of ink, paper and adhesives. He glanced through the index and opened the first chapter. “Life Support Systems”

The EPO-23 is equipped with a ventilation system that maintains an ideal oxygen level while scrubbing the air for microbes and particulates.

“That must be the hum” he commented and moved on.

The EPO-23 maintains an airlock when all hatches are closed, ensuring complete protection from external pressure and atmosphere changes as well as preventing any containment breaches to the outside.

He read through a few more points throwing in a “neat” and an “interesting” here and there, but eventually his eyes drooped and he grew sleepy. So, he set the book on the floor and felt the bedding as he climbed onto it. It was white, with a bump for his head. It was small but comfortable. He slept easy. For now, there was no point in worrying.