Odyssey

Its the year 2047. Earth has plunged into chaos as a bioweapon was released on US soil by North Korea, killing more than half of the citizens. US responded by raining nuclear hell on the east, leaving a fraction of the population in The South of Korea,Japan and China,who are affected by radiation.

India suffered the biggest drought of their history, causing a famine...half a billion people lost their lives. 

Africa United to form The Great Coalition and waged war on the England,France and Portugal claiming their resources and land as revenge for slavery. 

The North pole melted, plunging Canada,Russia and other nations into a waterworld. The worlds richest men became ordinary folk, as the concept of currency evaporated and all properties lost their ownership as it became a free for all. 

Some of these rich men were executed by a group of radicals called "The Legion" ,because they felt that their greed was part of the worlds downfall; they had all the money and resources to make the world a better place but opted not to. Those who weren't captured live in hiding, overcome by fear or guilt.

This was the true Apocalypse, Humanity's self destruction, the end of everything.

An ex Engineer,Alex, from Space X and his wife,Marie, welcome their newborn to the world. Its a sad welcome indeed as everything has descended to its ruin.

He can't bear the thought of his only child living in such a world. So he hatches a plan.

"Babe, what are you doing up so late?" Marie says.

"Hey honey, I'm sorry to wake you." Alex says.

"What's all this now? Are these from your space X days?" Marie says as she notices some building plans, notes and photos on his desk.

"Yes, I've been revisiting the old Space X mission to Mars that was done. Humanity was supposed to move there in 2038 but the mission was scrapped. But I think, maybe a small group can move there, there's enough resources to last decades." Alex frantically says. 

"Okay,I understand what you've said so far but...what are you implying,we move to mars?" Marie asks.

Alex remains Silent as to confirm Marie's assumption.

"Oh no, we just had a kid! We can't do this and besides let's not forget the legion who can do anything they want." Marie says.

"Marie, look at baby Johann, how peaceful he is...and look at how this world is.

I was born in 2020 during the great Corona pandemic and that year was so complicated for me and my parents. I don't want that for my son, looking at how worse off we are now" Alex says with a heavy heart.

"You're right, we're in a sinking ship, we need to get off this rock. I don't want my son to grow up in a world where Humanity has failed itself." Marie replies.

"Seeing as all the food and supplies are already up there all we need is this ship to get us there. I have a contact close to the Space X facility, I'm sure he can help us." Alex says.

Marie and Alex then packed their things and started to make their way to the Facility in the night. By Dawn they managed to link up with a man called Nate, who was also part of Space X. 

"Alex,long time my friend. You must have travelled long come in lets have a meal." He says as he after Alex share a warm hug.

The family rest up in Nate's house,Marie getting acquainted with Nate's wife and having a chat. Nate and Alex discuss the plans.

"Okay, I've seen the plans and the calculations make sense as to how we'll be able to survive on Mars. But we have a problem" Nate says.

"The Legion..." Alex responds.

"Yes, they seized control of space X not too long ago,because Musk was one the first names on their execution list. However, Musk is no where to be seen, I suspect he already came to the same conclusion we did" Nate says.

"He's already on Mars." Alex responds under a sigh.

"Yes, most likely. This makes me wonder, how many people he took with him and what the state of the Mars colony is right now. The silver lining here is that, he didn't leave us empty handed. There's still spacecraft we can use to get to Mars. Only difficult part is getting past The Legion without being caught" Nate says as he looks at a map.

At the crack of Dawn,everyone gets ready to leave, Alex,Marie Nate and his Wife manage to infiltrate the facility posing as Engineers about to do scheduled Maintainance for the ship.

They manage to sneak in and prepare for launch. They send the women and Baby in the common room below where its safe. 

As the Engines started to ignite, The Legion started firing at the ship, the Leader of The legion was promptly alerted and immediately told his men to cease fire. He then sends a transmission to the ship.

"Hello, there. I'm sure you realise you're in a dire position and your escape is dependant on this conversation. You ebter my facility posing as Engineers and somehow managed to get this started. Where are you taking my craft? Who are you conspiring with?" The Leader asks.

After Exchanging looks, Alex says:

"We don't not conspire with anyone and We are Engineers, we worked here for a decade before being unfairly released even before the bioweapon hit... Look, we're not conspiring with anyone. We just want to leave this shit hole, this...planet. We mean you no harm. We just want to travel to Mars, In peace."

The Leader sighs under his breath and says:

"I see, more people affected by the Greed of Musk and his fellow wealthy scum. For many Years, all of these folk have paid for their crimes, Bezos, Gates all gone. Yet this coward remains escaping justice. I'll let you go on one condition.

When you reach Mars, You find Musk, You Kill him and show me his head on a platter." 

"But what we're not even sure if he's on Mars...let alone still Alive!" Nate shouts.

"Oh I assure you, He's definitely Alive, When we seized control of NASA after we heard of his escape, we were able to track his movement and confirm that he's alive.

You can leave, but I want Musk found and Killed. If not, best believe we'll come to Mars and Kill every human we find there" Alex says before turning away.

After exchanging looks of shock, Nate and Alex start the ship and they begin their Voyage to Mars.

"That was a close one, I knew that The Legion would try to stop us but I didn't expect the leader to get involved. Which got me thinking... If The Legion already knew he's alive on Mars and had this spacecraft, why didn't they go and Kill Musk themselves? Alex asks.

" The Leader wouldn't allow it. You see the thing is, Elon Musk...is his father." Nate Says.

"Wait, You mean XÆ-12 is the leader of the created Radical group of all time? I heard memes were made of his name back in 2020" Alex says as he laughs.

"Yes, but I could Imagine why he started all this, seeing the wealth he could inherit being misused. He could kill every other billionaire in cold blood but..not his father, that's why he kept him alive this long. And we just gave him the chance to execute his version of justice without getting his hands soiled. Its sad really" Nate says.

"Yeah it is" Alex responds

Some red lights start to flash on the computer screens indicating a fault.

"There's an issue, During our little exchange earlier, our exygen supply was damaged and some of our food supplies too. I don't think we'll last the 8month trip to Mars we'll starve or lose oxygen around 6 months down the line.

What do we do?" Nate says.

Alex then looks at the portrait of his family and says,

"Stasis.

Looking at the amount of supplies we have, we could last the trip if one of us is put in stasis, if I go into stasis."

"Are you crazy? No way I can't manage the ship without you" Nate says 

"You can actually, we had the same training and I did and have more field experience than I do, you can do this." Alex says.

"But you do know that if you go into stasis, it will be at least 20 years until we can wake you up again" Nate says, trying to convince him.

"I know but...its the only way. I made up my mind. Deep down, you know its our best chance for everyone's Survival. I've gone to see my wife and child."Alex retorts. 

Alex then walks slowly to the common area where he finds his wife holding his child and Nates wife talking to her.

"Hey,Charlene. Can I have a minute alone with Marie" Alex says.

"Yeah sure, lemme go see Nate" Charlene says as she leaves.

"Is everything okay? Marie asks.

" Well,so far yeah everything is okay, You and little Adam will make it to Mars" He says with distress.

"What do you mean " You"? Marie asks in concern.

Alex then explains the situation to Marie who is upset and saddened by it

"Why would you make such a decision without me?! What about our son?!!! Why couldn't Nate do it? He doesn't have any kids!" She says in rage. 

"Nate is the best equipt person to run the ship and get you to Mars Safely.

Plus he has another mission only he can complete. There's no other way baby I'm sorry" Alex says.

Marie then breaks down in tears and says "So Adam will grow up without his father? I'm sorry, I need a moment to process all of this." 

Alex then sighs and kisses his baby on the forehead before leaving.

He then enters the stasis room and starts to cry heavily. 

He sees a Camera in the room and picks it up and has the idea to record a short video journal for his son before he gets into stasis the next day.

"Hey Adam, Its me...Your Dad. I'm sure one day you'll ask about me and where I am and why I did all this. I hope this will answer this." 

For the next couple of hours, he recorded everything he could. Every Dad Joke, every life lesson, story about himself and Childhood, how he met his wife for his son to learn what he could about him in short time.

He started to have fun, Joking around.

Midway he invited Marie to join him after explaining his idea.

They both had a lovely night. Spending time together as they held their baby in their arms.

"Look Adam, this is Baby you" they'd say from time to time.

Every minute they spent was a recollection of the 20 years they could have spent together, it wasn't a lot of time but it helped them cope.

"So, this is the last video I'm making for you.

I really look forward to meeting you soon. Please be kind to your mother and everyone else. Don't do drugs or anything bad. I hope you'll maybe find good friends. There's so much I want to say but... I'll leave that for your mother.

I love you son." Alex says before turning the video camera off.

The Next day Everyone gathered in the Stasis room to give their final goodbyes to Alex.

Alex then enters stasis in peace.

Roughly 8 months later and they arrive on Mars. They find a very small Colony of people, remnants of the Mars Mission form 2029.

They settled in well and were welcomed properly.

Nate found The Location of an Old Elon Musk, suffering from heart failure and eternal heartbreak from his son turning on him.

"Hello Sir, Do you know why I'm here?"

Nate says.

"Seeing as you have a weapon, I assume my son has sent you to kill me"

Musk says.

"I'm sorry. Its the only way to keep everyone here safe." Nate says as he aimed his weapon at an old Musk, shaking.

"He was right... About us, the wealthy. So much of the world's problems would have been solved if we just shared a little. My exile here has been filled with regret. Before you kill me, can you send a message to my son? Musk asks.

" Sure" Nate says.

Back on Earth, The Leader of The Legion received this last message from his father, an apology and tale of regret, how he wished to do things differently.

Upon ending the video, He cries not because he saw the dead body but because he realised hat his father has finally accepted him and understood why he formed the Legion and did all that he did. 

He then used the resources of The Legion to fix the earth, by first forming a treaty with The Great Coalition.

20 years later, Alex starts to open his eyes and he finds people around him. An Aged Nate with Charlene and 2 daughters, and young man.

"Dad? He says "Its me...Adam"

Alex then Hugs Adam in Joy. Where's Marie

Alex then Pauses and Says, she's not here see the moment, but you'll see her soon.

In the next couple weeks, Alex learned how to walk again and was finally able to leave the hospital.

Adam took him for a short tour and told him that he'll see Marie at the end of it.

Alex was glad to see that The Mars Colony grew to be peaceful and adaptable, the 2nd and 3rd Generation humans were able to evolve to breathe Mars' air and got accustomed to the gravity. The earth was stable again and with more time, there would be peace and harmony.

At the end of the tour, Adam takes Alex to a Cemetery and says, 

"I'm sorry Dad, I couldn't tell you when you woke up. I didn't want to break your heart."

Alex then starts to cry realising he won't see his wife again while being a bit happy knowing she lived in peace and raised their child well.

"She did leave you something though" Alex says before handing him a Harddrive.

That night as Alex went back to his room to watch the starry sky, he then puts the Harddrive into a computer and plays the first out of many videos.

"Hey babe, its me your wife. I remembered you did this for Adam before stasis so I thought I'd do the same, to fill you in on the last 20 years you missed..."

Alex then started to cry as he smiled happily as he saw his wife again.

He then started to watch those videos as he lived the remainder of his life peacefully.

THE END.