Nyx (Complete✅)

Chapter 15

       

   Beth sighed with contentment when she finished the last of her assignments for the day. After the strange headache episode she'd had earlier, she expected to be fatigued and for her working pace to slow down. On the contrary, she worked more than twice as fast, aceing every assignment. She'd had a ton of work for the day, but was surprisingly done before the dinner bell rang.

   On her way out, Beth was stopped by the head of the exploration division. "Hey Beth, how is your work going?" she asked.

   "Actually, I just finished," Beth replied.

   "Wow! Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day."

   "Thanks, Miss Woods. I hope you do too." Beth replied.

   After Beth left, Miss Woods continued working. She thought over all of the work that she had given Beth, it was quite a lot. How had she finished it all? She must have missed or forgotten something.

   Miss Woods went to her desk, where everyone's work was logged. She began checking the logs. When she got to Beth's file, she read over once, and then a second time. "Beth really did do all of her work! Wow! She may outrank me someday." Woods thought to herself.

   Beth made her way to her room. It was still a little over an hour until dinner, so she decided that she would read a few chapters of the book that she had started the other day. It had turned out to be a pretty good one.

   About halfway through a chapter, she remembered that she was gonna go see a doctor after she had finished work. The more she thought about it, the less she wanted to go. They would probably run a bunch of tests then she would have to wait for the results to come back, the whole time worried sick about what they would say while imagining the worst possible outcomes. Then, after all of that, they would tell her it was just dehydration.

   She slowly talked herself out of going and continued reading her book.

   The dinner bell pulled Beth back into reality. She turned her holo-desk off and got up. Closing her eyes she stretched her arms above her head and yawned. After that, she walked over to the mirror to check herself before dinner. She looked into the mirror. Her hair needed a little brushing, but other than that, she looked fine.

   She grabbed a comb and went back to the mirror to fix her hair. She gasped with shock at her reflection and dropped her comb. Her eyes were red, not the red your eyes get from crying, staying up too late, or staring at screens. The actual iris of her eyes was a deep, crimson red. She closed her eyes in disbelief. Her forehead began to prickle with a strange, tickling sensation. She quickly opened her eyes. They were back to normal. She was flooded with relief and her mind began to make up excuses that it was just a trick of the light or an optical illusion.

   "I'm just tired." She thought as she combed her long, blond hair.

   At dinner, Beth found a seat next to Liam.

   "Hey, Beth," Liam said in a cheerful voice. "I didn't see you leave work."

   "I finished early," Beth replied.

   "You know Beth, you're really smart. Never underestimate yourself. You could be head of the whole PPW someday." Liam said.

   "Well, I don't know about that." Replied Beth.

   "Really, I'm not kidding. You have potential." Stated Liam.

   "Thanks, but I could never amount to your genius." Beth said, playfully punching Liam on the shoulder."

   They continued chatting until their bowls were empty.

   "Well, I've gotta go." Said Liam. "I have several hours of work left."

   "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then." Beth replied.

   "See ya," Liam said.
_____

   "Are there any possibilities that the transmission was false?" Asked Captain West. He was having a meeting with the heads of all of the departments to discuss recent events and the future of the human race.

   "No, all of our monitors show that the Earth is definitely destroyed." Replied head specialist Gloria Navarro.

   "What's the definite percentage?" the captain asked.

   "100%," Gloria said.

   "So, this is it. We are what remains of the human race." Stated the captain. "What is the probability of our survival?"

   "It depends on how well we thrive on the planet." Said Norman Rees, lead scientist.

   "We could pull everyone out of stasis and get them working in the different divisions now instead of starting when we get to Nyx." Suggested Jenna Chapman, head of the PPW.

   "Let's do it. I want everything done that we can do to increase our chances." Captain West said. "Good idea, Miss Chapman."

   "Thank you, captain." She replied.

   "Let's start opening the stasis chambers tomorrow. We'll inform them of the tragedy and give them some time to grieve. After they've had their time and their heads are a little clearer, we'll inform them of the more serious issues at hand and why they were awakened early." Said the captain.

   The meeting went on for a couple hours longer. Several ideas were suggested. Some were shot down, while some were embraced, but in the end, everyone felt a little better about things. With a plan, they had something to hold on to, something to hope for.