March 12, 2047
12:19 PM

Another rainy day.

Sitting in that nearly empty office, I had already spent 4 hours, 41 minutes, and 35 seconds (and counting) gazing out the window at the raging storm outside. The rain had been much worse lately and people, as in scientists, had concluded that the day had finally come 5 weeks ago.

The end of days. The end of the world. Armageddon. The apocalypse. And whatever other words are used to describe that the world is ending.

Global warming, they had said, had caused it. Oceans levels had been rising and acidifying and droughts and heatwaves had been longer and more persistent. Honestly, it was evident. I wasn’t fond of humankind, despite being apart of it, and this was one of the reasons: climate change. The government had been panicking and was pressuring NASA to complete the Taurus Program for the past 5 years. That just meant more work for me and every other afflicted soul that worked at a NASA location.

It was even worse for those of us who worked at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia because we were one of the closest accommodations to the NASA Headquarters (and the state capital) in Washington, DC. They wanted us to have a rocket (more like the ISS) or “space conveyor” that carried a shit ton of people (a whole population, about 2 billion people, to be exact) built by a certain time with all the precautions checked, so nothing went wrong and we didn’t end up risking 2 billion people’s lives.

Taurus, however, was being held in Houston, Texas, which is also where the rocket was going to be launched, so in an attempt not to miss our flight, we were leaving Virginia today. Anybody, who was everybody in the Americas, was moving to Texas to at least get a chance on getting on a rocket that was heading off to Venus, but remember, we were only saving a wee amount of the population. But that’ll be a bit of a problem since they have these high tech scanners to see if you’re valid or not, such as the ones who were not diseased and those who were professionals (with a small amount of any other epidemic). Luckily, Frederick (that’s my brother) and I were able to keep ourselves healthy for an entirety of our lives. I’m just worried about my friend. He has never been the… “healthiest” of people.

Sigh. Once we’re out of here, no more rainy weather. Just hot weather and acid clouds from here on out. This also meant a 3-hour plane ride to get to Texas. God, planes. Those things were the bane of my existence. Or anything with heights in general. It was ironic, being the avionics engineer of the NASA facility. That never meant I had to actually test the rockets or anything that flies. I was only there to make stuff that flies.

March 12, 2047
2:51 PM
We arrived at the Norfolk International Airport and were sitting in the lounging area for a few hours until the airplane arrived. I assure you this, my knucklehead of a brother spent about twenty dollars in food and ate all of it while I only had a simple salad that I brought from home. There was no chance I was going to spend all my money and we weren’t even in Texas yet. Then there was the constant reminder that I was going on a plane that will fly 38,000 feet above the surface. However, since I was lost in thought, I had barely noticed Frederick trying to tell me that it was time to go. Wish me luck, guys.

March 13, 2047
8:40 PM
After spending at least 2 hours exploring Houston and spending another 3 hours training for the launch tomorrow, I was tired. Not even tired, I was beyond tired. I was exasperated. Now I don’t even know why I had a gym membership. I have astronaut training instead.

March 14, 2047
9:15 AM
Today’s the day. We left this disgusting planet once and for all and migrated to another one just to spoil it as well. I had been sitting in the Astronaut Training Facility for about three hours, doing what you do in a training facility. You know? Training. I had stared at all of the other tired spirits in this room (most of them being NASA employees) and they looked just as ready to get off this planet like me. I had had about 3 cups of coffee as the administrators gave a much too long lecture about the prospects of humanity and “this was the moment we had all been waiting for” and blah blah blah yada yada. Frederick and I couldn’t help but snicker the whole time as the speech came to the end. Afterward, they had us scanned for any illnesses and the most surprising thing had happened.

Frederick. I remember the large, irritating beep paired with the resplendent, crimson flashing lights. He had looked at me with disbelief and daunting hopelessness in his eyes. I had stared back in awe and doubt, knowing there was some kind of mistake.

Maybe the machine was faulty.

Maybe he had moved too fast.

Maybe he was standing in the wrong position.

Maybe… Maybe…

He was whisked away from me as I tried to reach for his outstretched hand, wanting to save him. Take him and run like escaped convicts. I can still recall his words, I’ll be okay. He wanted me to believe that, but how could I? He was going to be abandoned here! Two burly guards pulled him away from me and my face was still in shock, tears running from my distressed eyes.

Maybe…
Just maybe…
I could have been able to save him.