Thinking about Laika and Ryland Grace, the patron saints of one way trips.
Laika was a stray, picked up off the streets of Moscow for a job she never chose. And Grace had no one, not even a dog, which made him an easy target.
To adapt Laika to the capsule, they kept her in smaller and smaller cages until she got used to confinement. And Grace’s autonomy was worn away over months of gradual decay so he didn’t even notice he was trapped until it was too late.
Ten days before launch, one of the scientists working on the project took Laika home to play with his children. To make her feel loved before she was killed. And ten days before launch, Grace thought he had friends again after so long alone. Until they held him down and forced him to be a tool instead of a person.
Before Laika and Grace were sacrificed, they were systematically dismantled until they laid themselves on the alter and didn’t even think to scream until the knife had already swung.
