(edit 9/26/20: maybe you'd rather read on tumblr? scroll down to the external link)

Beep.

Beeeeeeeeeep.

Beeeep.

Beep.

Beeeeeeeeeep.

Beeeep.

I blinked my eyes open. I looked around myself, my first thought being, "What in the world is that beeping noise?" To my left a yellow light was blinking, in tune to the beeps, so I assumed it came from there. The light was on a gray panel. Beside the light, the panel had a symbol marking, one triangle pointing up, and one next to it pointing down. Surrounding it-actually, all around the pod- were other panels. Lights of all colors, buttons, switches, levers and dials surrounded me.

I wondered which one to press, then I realize the one next to me had symbols below the triangles. I assumed they were letters in an alphabet. I looked through them until I found one I could read. The fourth line read: Press light to exit pod. "Simple enough" I thought, then realized something.

The window in front of me-for there was a window- was showing space. There was a chance that I could be sucked into the vacuum of the galaxy if the pod wasn't secure. But a gut feeling told me to leave it. Sadly, said gut feeling didn't say if it was safe. Then, I thought of something. I stood up, and walked a few steps to the door. I put an ear against it. I heard the slight hum of machinery, so the pod was most likely connected to a larger ship.

I took a deep breath, and pressed the yellow light.

I smiled, seeing a corridor. I stepped into it. I then realized, "Hey, I don't know where I'm going." This thought was quickly followed by "Hey, I don't know where I am." and then, " Oh jeez, I don't know how I got here." I racked my brain for where I was, but came up with nothing.

At all. I had no memories.

~~~

I started panicking, then stopped. "Get a grip," I told myself. In front of me was a reflective surface. Maybe looking at myself would jog something.

I was about 5 feet tall. I had orange skin, frizzy light orange hair, and dark orange dots on my face- were those freckles? I had two bright purple eyes- no, three. The one above the other two blinked open, still the same shocking shade. I was wearing a yellow jumpsuit. On my left shoulder was a symbol- Although nothing like the one in the pod. It was a mix of circles, squares, and odd shaped lines. The pants part had plenty of pockets- Pockets! I must have put something in a pocket.

But my pockets were empty, besides a piece of metal that was a mix between a key card, and a house key. Suddenly, something came rushing back.

"You got your kaerd?" said the boy.

"My what?" I responded.

" Your kaerd."

"My card?"

"No, your kaerd! K-A-E-R-D. Pronounced like card, but it's kaerd. I made it up."

I snorted. "You realize you're really weird, right?"

The other boy smiled. "I know it's your favorite thing about me!"

The memory ended. But I thought of the boy. He was built like me, probably the same species. But this boy was different. Light brown skin, curly brown hair, no freckles, and his eyes. They were chocolaty brown. When he was angry, his eyes would stare into your soul, making you wish you hadn't enraged him. When he was sad, his eyes seemed so wide, so deep, making you have the need to comfort him. When he was happy, his eyes were so full of joy, you couldn't help but be happy too.

This boy was important, I could tell.

I looked at my kaerd(what else was I supposed to call it?), then at the corridor. Doors to the left had places where I might be able to scan it. If I went right, the kaerd would be meaningless. I turned left- if the kaerd was not to be used, then why would it be in my pocket, above all other things?

I walked down the corridor. The gut feeling had returned, and it told me to go to the end of the hall. After a couple minutes, I found the last door. I held out the kaerd, and a panel next to the door scanned it.

The door opened, revealing the boy with the chocolaty eyes.

~~~

"You!" I say. "You, you're the boy with the chocolaty-brown eyes- Wait, are you a boy? I don't want to misgender you." 

"Yeah, I'm a boy, he/him," The boy says. "How do you know me? I don't know you- wait, do I? I'm sorry, I've been having...memory troubles." He said. 

" I don't. I too, have been having 'memory troubles', if by that you mean no memory at all. He/him pronouns for me too, by the way." 

The boy smiled. "You too, huh? Well, come on in."

He led me into a room that seemed like a kitchen. It was pretty bland and metal, there wasn't much to look at. But there were others in the kitchen, all in jumpsuits like mine(different colors, but still) sitting on the floor, sitting on the countertop, standing around-one person was even sitting in a chair!- all in a loose circle. "Hey guys," the boy said. "This is, uh," He looked at me for guidance. 

"Someone." I finished. "I don't know my name." A blue-haired girl sitting on the countertop smirked. "Heh, me too." A green-skinned girl in the back spoke up. "I don't think any of us know who we are..." 

The chocolaty-brown-eyed looked back at me. "Welcome to the club."

As I went to go and sit on the floor, I noticed something. "Hey, what's that on the back of your jumpsuit?" I asked a purple-haired girl. "Uh... I dunno?" 

The blue-haired girl(who was sitting next to her) looked and gasped. "I think it's a last name! Mystiko?"

"That would make sense, if these are our jumpsuits. Maybe all of ours have our last names!" The chocolaty-brown-eyed boy said. I saw grins break out on the faces of the people around me. People started looking on the backs of the people next to them, and last names flew through the air.

I looked on the back of the chocolaty-brown-eyed boy. "Pah-LaMerh" I said. 

"Pah-LaMerh," he said, rolling it around his tongue. "I like it!" I smiled. He was sorta cute when he was excited. "Now turn around Orange Boy, I want to know your last name!" I turned around, and sucked in my breath. The closest clue to who I was, besides the kaerd(if you even counted that) was about to be said aloud.

"Yorke," The plump lady with the elongated chin said. "That is your last name, is it not?"

"Yes ma'am," I replied. "Well then, this suit is yours. It's your standard uniform, and you only get one, so don't lose it. Now, just head to the right, and you'll find the ship." "Thank you ma'am!" I called, then ran down the boarding platform. When I reached the ship, I smiled.

A friendly face greeted me. "Hey Orange Boy! Hello? Orange Boy?"

The boy next to me waved his 6-fingered hand in front of my face. "Yeah?" I said. 

"You blanked out after I said 'Yorke', you alright?"

I decided to keep my memory to myself. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, it was nothing."

"Are you sure, Yorke- Oh jeez, calling you Yorke is really weird." I shrugged. "Well, it's the closest thing to a first name we have."

 He smiled. "I'm sticking with Orange Boy." 

"What- No! You're not calling me Orange Boy!"

"Ye-" He was interrupted by a boy at the kitchen window. "Will the both of you stop your flirting, and get over here! You all need to see this..."

We rushed over to the window. I gasped. But before I could say anything, the green-skinned girl beat me to it. "That's a planet down there!" Below us was a planet. Not a moon, or an asteroid, but a whole planet, possibly with conscious life! As I looked in awe at the huge celestial body, I could only whisper. "This ship is stealing a planet."

~~~

Pah-LaMerh spoke up. "We've got to stop them. You can't steal planets, I think that's illegal."

"If someone is stealing planets--mind you, on the same ship we're on-- they may be the ones with our memories!" The blue-haired girl(who's jumpsuit identified her as Picanou) said. 

"But how would we get to them? And where would they be?" I mused. 

The Mystiko girl blinked. "There's a map to the whole ship. Right here. In clear directions." We all turned to look at her, and there was, in fact, a map in her hands. 

"When did you get that?" Picanou said. "You were sitting on it." 

"Oh."

"Alright, now that we have a map, how do we free the planet?" I asked.

Mystiko spoke up once again. "We can make it to the bridge, it's not too far. They might have controls there, and even if we can't free the ship, it's a better place to be than the kitchen." 

Another person spoke up. "But what if there are more people? We should stay here so that they know how to find us."

"There are no others. Trust me. We should head to the bridge." Pah-LaMerh responded. The way he said it seemed to satisfy the person, so with Mystiko leading, we made our way to the bridge.

On our way, I whispered to Pah-LaMerh, "How'd you know that there were no more people?" "Gut feeling." He said. I thought about that. If we were the same species, did we have good instincts? Or was it something else?

"So, what's the plan?" Pah-LaMerh asked me. "I'm not sure. Try to free the planet I guess. Then try to find our memories." 

Pah-LaMerh smiled. "That's a pretty good plan, Orange Boy." I scowled. 

"I told you not to call me Orange Boy!" He frowned in mock-sadness. "But it's a good nickname!"

I gave him a "look". It did not work on him. "I'm sticking with Orange Boy, no matter what you say." I sighed, then stopped. We had reached the bridge.

We all filed in, as the door was open. I looked around. Much like my space pod, it was full of buttons, levers, dials, and blinking lights, except it was all on one panel that went across a good portion of the room. Above the panel were windows, all looking into the vast reaches of space. I made my way to the front of the group.

"Alright everyone," I said. "Look for something that will detach the planet. Don't press or use it, just find it, and let the rest of us know." A chorus of agreement rang out, and the various people spread out among the panel.

After about five minutes of searching, a girl with three legs and short hair called out(I believed her last name to be Braun). "I think I found something!" 

I rushed over. In front of her was a large mauve button, but it was marked with strange symbols. "Well, mauve means it's important, but it might be self-destruct for all we know..." I said. "Nope. It's a planet drop button." said a voice over my shoulder- Mystiko. "Wait, how do you know?" 

"It clearly says, planet drop button. Literally." I stared at her. 

"I guess I'm multilingual?" She said, shrugging.

I called out to the group. "Ok, I think we found the planet drop. All in favor of dropping the planet here?" Most hands went up. 

"Alright, Well, Braun can press it, as she found it. I mean, if you want to." Braun looked a bit nervous, but went up to the button. With a deep breath, she pushed it.

And confetti came out of the ceiling.

~~~

I looked up, in shock. Mystiko was stammering. "B-But it said p-planet drop? Why didn't it release the planet?" for the planet was still attached to the ship. A deep voice answered her. 

"Because, my dear, I switched the buttons." A man walked in. He had deep skin like rich coffee, two kind eyes, and was about eight feet tall. He smiled at us. "I'm very sorry you had to go through that." I looked up in awe. 

"Go through what?" I asked. "What do you mean?" 

"Well," he answered, "How about I give you your memories back first." He clicked a button, and everything came back.

Two weeks ago

My boyfriend, Keaiden, ran up to me. "I can't believe it! WE'RE GOING ON A SPACESHIP!" I laughed. 

"Calm down Star! Anyways, we're technically on a spaceship right now." His chocolaty-brown eyes looked into mine. 

"Well, yeah, but I mean, something that isn't this one! We're going to intern with Intergalactic Transports! The number one commercial planet transport company! Not only that, but we get to do it together." 

 I smiled. "Yeah, that will be nice."

One week ago

I went up to the reception at the space-dock. "Hello, my name is Everett. I'm looking for the I.T. ship?" 

"Yorke," The plump lady with the elongated chin said. "That is your last name, is it not?" 

"Yes ma'am," I replied. "Well then, this suit is yours. It's your standard uniform, and you only get one, so don't lose it. Now, just head to the right, and you'll find the ship." 

"Thank you ma'am!" I called, then ran down the boarding platform.

When I reached the ship, I smiled. A friendly face greeted me. "Hey Orange Boy! How was the trip over here?" I went up and gave my boyfriend a peck on the check. "Pretty good. Are you ready for our three months of internship?" 

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Keaiden responded.

5 days ago

"Keaiden!" I called out. He came over. "Yes?" 

"I, uh, can't get into our shared room." He chuckled. 

 "Ev, you got your kaerd?" said the boy. 

"My what?" I responded.

"Your kaerd."

"My card?"

"No, your kaerd! K-A-E-R-D. Pronounced like card, but it's kaerd. I made it up."

I snorted. "You realize you're really weird, right?"

The other boy smiled. "I know it's your favorite thing about me!"

"Anyways, what do I need my 'kaerd' for?" I asked. 

"Well, there's a reason it sounds like card. It's your key to getting inside places." 

I blushed. "Oh."

Yesterday

Mr. Mustapha gathered us. "Hello interns! I'm really proud of the work that you all have been doing, but tomorrow you will have a test. It will include a memory wipe, that I assure you is temporary. If you choose not to, you will stay in your position, but if you accept, good things will come to you! You will need to sign these forms as well, to prove you did this of your own free will." 

I whispered to Keaiden. "Are you going to take it?" 

"Probably," he said. "It sounds like the best option." 

"Well, then I'll do it too."

Now

The man- Mr. Mustapha, I guessed- started talking again. "You see, this was your test. Although you thought that we were stealing a planet, you did the right thing. You tried to stop us. You worked together with no flaws. And in case you were wondering, the planet below hired us to move them to a new system." 

Picanou spoke up. "What does this mean for us now? What is the 'good thing' that happens to us?"

 Mr. Mustapha smiled. "You will all get to work here now, if you choose." Our small group gasped. Now that we had our memories back, we knew that Intergalactic Transports was one of the best companies in the galaxy. Getting to work there was no easy feat, and we were being offered positions! I looked over at Keaiden, and he nodded. "I'll take the position!" I said.

~~~

"And that, kids, is how me and Papa came to run the largest company in the galaxy."

Word count: A bit over 2.6k 

I want to make this clear: THIS IS A MIRACLE! Most of the short stories I write only get to 500 words, so about 2.6k is a big deal for me, and it will not be normal.

Also, here's the prompt I used:

Anyways, thank you for reading! Please give me feedback, it helps me improve my writing.(and please make sure your criticism is constructive so I can learn better!) And, if you enjoyed this story, please vote! 

Have a great day/night everyone!

-Pencil