Citizen Sleeper January #3: Nia & Femi // Hexport
Written for the Citizen Sleeper Prompt January challenge.
Prompt: Nia & Femi // Hexport
Prompt list by @fmab
Spoilers for the endgame of Citizen Sleeper 2
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The protective layers of the space suit settle over my own synthetic skin. It feels like I feel. The synthetic nylon mesh the suit is made of is similar to the composition of my own body. Sometimes when I am in these, it feels less like a suit and more like slipping into a second body. Skin over skin. The helmet hisses as it adjusts pressure, the tiny window all I have left of the outside world. Until the Comms flicker to life.
“You have three cycles. Four, if you don’t mind a little radiation. Not that big a deal for the Sleeper, for the other two…” Serafin doesn’t finish the sentence. “Just hurry up.”
I look at Nia and Femi, both getting into their suits as well. They haven’t exchanged a single word yet, silently slipping into the layers of protection. Nia helps Femi with a connector at the back of his head, connecting the helmet and the suit itself. I can hear the hiss, and see the miniature display in the helmet light up.
“You sure you want to do this?” My voice crackles through the Comms. A small playback of my own voice echoes through the helmet to make sure the message was delivered properly.
“This was our home too, Sleeper.” Femi’s voice comes through the static, emotionless. “However short. We owe Hexport.”
Nia just nods. I look at her for a few seconds more, expecting something, but no words come. I take a deep breath to steady myself, a habit that makes me feel incredibly human for a moment, and open the lock.
The station, or what is left of it, is a mess. Debris is everywhere, making progress difficult. Metal construction flies around in all shapes and sizes, from large chunks one has to avoid to miniature specks of dust like razor wire, threatening to slice the suit. Cables, still half-connected to generators deep inside the bowels of the station, spark with electricity, jumping arcs of white and gold contrasting against the dark nothing.
But there is more than lifeless debris here. I see a child's drawing floating in view of my visor, depicting two spaceships mid-battle. A calendar shows plans for meetings with friends, parties, a job interview. A plush black cat is stuck behind a railing, which is half-collapsed and now loosely hanging from one bolt. It is missing one leg. I take it with me.
We find the drone mind. We slowly piece together the story of Hexside, it being nothing more than the newest victim of a war that is slowly expanding and consuming. The child’s drawing floats past my view again. I feel like I need to puke. The radiation is getting to me. I call to return to the rig.
“Not yet,” Nia’s voice cuts me off before I can finish my sentence. She presses herself off a piece of debris, floating deeper into the bowels of the station.
“Nia!” Femi screams into the receiver, but we get no answer. First comes static, then a low tone, signalling the disconnect of her Comms. We follow her, trying to save her from her own reckless abandon. She jumps from one piece to the next, navigating fluently, but without aim. Blindly searching for the needle in the haystack. Then, after a good quarter cycle, she stops. Femi reaches her first.
“What has gotten into you? Are you insane?” He grabs her by the shoulders and turns her around to face him. His voice dies the moment he does. As I come up, I see her holding a framed picture.
It’s an old picture. The glass is cracked. The plastic is heavily bleached by age and constant radiation. It depicts Nia and Femi, younger, maybe 5 years or so. Femi has his arm around her. Behind them stands a man, one hand on each of their heads. He doesn’t smile as wide as Nia, but he has kind eyes.
“Found it,” Nia says after linking back in.
And I learn that, even through the ethereal static of the Comms, tears and sobs still sound the same.
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(an: This one was quite fun! I like being able to try out different styles within the challenge. Let's me train things I usually wouldn't do.)