STRANDED, 3000.

The needle of the clock was ticking to the left faster everyday. There were piles of suitcases by the staircase because the whole school was packing everything they could take into the spaceship. Students had to judge what they wanted to bring since the government didn’t tell them specifically what to pack. They didn’t know the question to this answer as well and the maximum they could put into the spaceship was their 2 suitcases. This was harder than accepting what was happening outside the world. They were owned by what they were owning but didn’t want to give up on it. The 10 spaceships humanity would ride were ready to fly in the school roof under the black veil and the security guard stayed there guarding it for 24 hours. The school didn’t give any more classes nor they expected them to make more spaceships. They were busy checking the robots and the spaceships, if there weren’t any problems and greeting the politicians that came to the school to stay for a couple of days and leave with them. When they met any of the upper class members, they had to bow to them in 90 degrees and say “It is an honor for us to take you to your destination, sir.” But the politicians would just laugh and pass by. The students have achieved what they were required, giving up everything they had. They knew they had lost the true precious things that composed life. However, nobody complained for their family or for their friends. It was strange how they began understanding Mrs. Brigitte just like she had said before. They respected her calling her ‘the mother of everyone’. Mrs. Brigitte was happy and promised they wouldn’t regret the right decision they had made. Jin now understood what she meant and went to the last floor to meet and apologize the bad words he said. He opened the door and she smiled at him sitting on the white chair as if she knew he would come to look for her. “Mrs. Brigitte, I came here to apologize for the irresponsible behavior I showed you the other day.” “It’s okay, I knew you would come. Please have a seat.” Jin took a seat next to her and started talking. “I truly understand all of this. I am ready to sacrifice everything I have to make this happen.” “I am very glad to hear that. I had someone I didn’t want to lose just like you when I was your age, my father. Because I am too old now, I cannot even remember his face clearly but I vividly remember the last words he gifted me before he left.” “What is it that he told you?” “He said to me, everything in this world, anywhere that we can exist were planned to get back to itself in the beginning.” “I apologize for my ignorance, Mrs. Brigitte. I do not understand what it means.” “It’s okay, I didn’t at your age as well. Please go back to your dorm and finish packing your suitcase.” “Yes, ma’am. Have a good night.” Jin got up and opened the door to get out. “Jin, please come back here for a moment. I almost forgot to tell you your team members of the spaceship SS Andromeda.” Jin came back to where he sat. “You and your roommate Regan will be the leader of SS Andromeda. Don’t worry, you don’t have to drive. The spaceship moves automatically. You and Regan’s role is to give that order so that it can take us there. But it will be easier because we will be following SS Valor. You will have to change directions and follow the navigation if an emergency situation occurs but I am in the same spaceship with you so you just have to follow what I say.” “Yes, ma’am. Could you tell me the other members who will be riding with us?” “In each spaceship, 3 students, one politician and one citizen that won the game are planned to get in. You know me, you and Regan are going. A new girl who won the game called Kayelin will be joining. She is my individual psychiatrist and the last student, I forgot. You will find out later. I trust you.” “Yes, ma’am. I will go back to my dorm to tell Regan about it. Have a good night.” On the way of going down the stairs, Jin saw Oliver. “Oliver! Which spaceship are you taking?” “I am taking SS Andromeda.” Other students passed them looking at Jin in strange eyes. “Why are they looking at us in those eyes? Anyways, we are in the same spaceship! How wonderful to be with 2 of my best friends! See you soon!” Jin went back into his dorm to see Regan and tell him about what he had heard. When Jin went into his room, Regan was walking around the empty space slowly to check if he left anything behind. Jin went to him and said, “Hey, we are in the same group for the journey!” “Yep, I heard about it. It is because I know you the best. Who are the others that are going with us?” “You, a new girl I don’t know that is coming from another region, Mrs. Brigitte, me and Oliver said he was on the same team with us. I just met him in the staircase, he told me. That is our group. Oh, Regan, it was announced that you and I were the leader of our spaceship.” “You met Oliver…? Okay, that’s cool. We know our spaceship well enough. Being charge of the spaceship won’t be a problem for us. We will be okay.” Regan said confidently but no one could guarantee if themselves could arrive safe in the new planet they were planning to live in. “Jin, do you know the name of the girl that will be in our spaceship?” “Oh, her? Yes. We should! We are the captain of SS Andromeda! Her name was Kylin? Kilin? Wait, it was something like that. Mrs. Brigitte said she was her individual psychiatrist. I guess she would be pretty smart then.” “Kayelin? Are you talking about Kayelin?” “Yes! Kayelin! How did you know?” “Kayelin… She knows you…” “She knows me? How? Oh, Mrs. Brigitte would have talked about us. How did you know her name? Is she a familiar person to you?” “Yes, she was a friend of me…”, he murmured. Regan almost said to Newton that he was the one that introduced her but he couldn’t. He would have to find out ways to balance his 6 different personalities soon. “You’re lucky to have an intelligent friend. You should introduce her to me!” “Sure. Go to sleep. It’s getting late. I still have to finish packing.” “Okay, make sure to turn off the light before you get to bed.” Jin went to bed but that night, Regan was still awake making sure he didn’t leave anything behind. Today was the 14th of April, 2 days before they moved away. Regan opened the windows and breathed in the air. For the first time he thought he might miss the yellow dust that was coming into his room. He wondered if Kepler-186f could ever be better than earth. ‘Could there ever be a better place to live than here? Wouldn’t people end up destroying everything and making it the same as now? Where is Kayelin and other citizens that were chosen right now? Are they locked somewhere inside our school?’ he had so many questions he couldn’t answer but the 2 trucks that were coming inside the school main gate at 15 o’clock solved one of them. Regan thought more politicians came to join the journey but it wasn’t the old men that were getting off the car. It looked like they were mostly young girls because of the long hair. The girls were refusing to get off the car but Mrs. Brigitte pulled their arms, slapped them and dragged them inside the school building. Regan quickly ran to the stairs to see who they exactly were. He ran and he finally reached the first floor. He silently sneaked behind the staircase wall. There were 10 girls lined up in a row. There was Kayelin! She was wearing a white doctor gown. She still looked beautiful as the past with the white skin as snow, cherry-red lips and eyes that had the whole universe inside. Regan wanted to shout that he was here but he couldn’t. He just stood there secretly what they were doing. Now, Mr. Brigitte was giving out a paper to each of the girls. It was probably the paper with the assigned spaceship. Kayelin was given the paper as well. She looked at it for a while, looked surprised, relieved and surprised at the same time. She wiped her eyes with her white sleeves. Regan silently smiled as well with tears. Now, she would know that all her friends were alive, waiting to leave with her. At the same time he was worried how Kayelin would get hurt of Jin not remembering her. He thought it was better to tell her that Jin had dissociative identity disorder. However, the 10 girls were taken to somewhere else and Regan chased them slowly. It seemed that they were going to the empty library to sleep that was on the same floor with his dorm. He returned to his dorm to find her when Mr and Mrs. Brigitte went to sleep. 30 minutes later, it became quite and Regan judged only the girls would have been left and he sneaked into the library. He was right. 10 girls were sleeping on the floor and there wasn’t any teachers looking after them. There were cameras filming everything inside the school but now he was sure no one looked at it. He crawled on his knees being careful he wouldn’t step on their hair looking for Kayelin. Kayelin was luckily sleeping on the last of the row so it was easy for Regan to wake her up. He whispered “Kayelin, it’s me. Regan.” in her ears. Kayelin opened her eyes immediately. “Let’s talk outside for a while. I have something really important to tell you.” “Okay, thanks for coming.” They grabbed their hands and went out of the library silently and Regan took her to his dorm next door. “Let’s talk in my dorm for a few minutes. It is safe here. I’ll take you back.” Kayelin nodded and they went into the room. Kayelin saw Jin sleeping on the bed and ran to him but Regan stopped her. “Why?” Regan had to tell her that he had dissociative identity disorder but his mouth didn’t open. Instead, he said the wrong thing. “He is the leader of our spaceship tomorrow. He needs to charge his energy. Let’s not wake him up.” “Okay, I understand. I missed him so much.” Kayelin said looking at Jin who was sleeping just as he did before in the hospital. “Kayelin, Jin might not remember you as the same person.” “What? What do you mean?” Regan sighed looking at the boy sleeping. “I was thinking of telling you the truth but my mouth is telling not to. But I believe everything will be fine. You will understand someday. You even studied psychology, so even more. Jin had a bad accident and that is all I should tell you.” Kayelin looked so shocked and Regan took her hand carried her to the library again. He said, “Don’t you worry. Thank you for surviving the game and welcome to our school. I missed you my friend.” Kayelin lied down on the same spot again and Regan sang a song until she fell asleep. It was the song his mother last sang to him in the voice call message.

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

From the early morning even before the official school alarm rang, the school principal was running in the corridor shouting everyone to wake up. “Get up. The time is ticking. The later you wake up, the more you’ll regret later on. Wake up.” Regan only slept for an hour. It was only 5 o’clock. He woke up Jin and they got dressed up and grabbed their suitcases. They have never seen Mr. Brigitte shouting this loud with a stick in his hand. He seemed to be scared of something and the students could just know what it was. It was the big day. “All the students head to the rooftop. One by one! Move in a row. Move fast, we don’t have a lot of time!!” Regan went to the bathroom to wash his face so that he could wake up properly. Jin looked around the room lastly and realized he forgot to put the red metal compass into his bag. He quickly grabbed it from the drawer and Regan came out of the bathroom. “Are you ready?” One strength and one reason Jin decided to take this risk were because of Regan. They were going to discuss together to make every decision. Jin made a smile against his will. “My sister used to tell me that we should try to pretend we are fine in situations we are not. I am not but I will say I am.” Then they went out of the room forever and ran to the staircase to go up the staircase just as they were ordered. Everyone was climbing the stairs in arrangement holding 2 suitcases. Jin and Regan joined in the line climbed up the stairs. As soon as they were out on the rooftop, Jin went to where Kayelin and Mrs. Brigitte was standing, in front of their spaceship. “Good morning, Mrs. Brigitte”, he said to her. Kayelin looked at Jin with eyes full of wonder while the president was saying something to him. Then Jin came over to her, “Wow… You are really beautiful. Hello, Kayelin. I have heard about you. I am Newton, the captain of the SS Andromeda.” and he pulled out his hand to have a handshake. “You don’t know me?”, she asked him giving her shaking hand to him. Jin grabbed her hand. “How could I? I never saw you anywhere but my dream. It’s okay, I will get to know you.” They looked at each other and had a slow long handshake until Mrs. Brigitte ordered Jin and Kayelin to get in first. At this time, all the 9 spaceships had all the people planned and were falling into space one by one. Mrs. Brigitte called Regan desperately. “Regan, Paul is missing. We have to go but where is he? Have you seen him?” “Paul was on our team? Jin said… Oh… Mrs. Brigitte, I thought it was strange when Jin told me Oliver was going with us. It was Paul.” “Regan, you know Jin has DID. One of his personalities sees Paul as Oliver. We need Paul for Jin to function properly. Where is Paul?” “I think I saw him running to the opposite side when we were climbing up… I thought he was going to the bathroom.” “Paul, is there space in the spaceship for one more woman?” “Why? No, there aren’t enough seat belts, life belts.” “Paul went to take his mother, the cleaning lady. He will come with his mother for sure. But no space means she will be left here alone. Paul is coming with us. Let’s wait for him 20 more minutes. Tell them we will departure 20 minutes late. I have to tell my husband.” “Yes, ma’am.” Regan went inside to the spaceship to tell Kayelin and Jin and saw them kissing.