Capsule

Written by Stibby

Capsule - Prologue

Looking back, I can pinpoint the exact moment my very regular life and future, began to deviate and lead me down this path. That single news broadcast from ages ago was the exact moment everything changed.

"Good evening, we begin this broadcast with some delightful news. After months of negotiations and conferences, the United Felnir Nations has finally been formalized. This is a historic time for everyone around the globe as a new era of peace and cooperation is sure to follow. Along with this union, many new rules and regulations have begun making their rounds to all the participating governments of the UFN. Many are skeptical of these new regulations..."

The television would grow a bit less important as the once silent living space would become crowded with conversation. It was our usual Friday dinner with my father's coworkers from the laboratory. At this point they were more than coworkers though, being practically family as they spent time with us every day.

"Eris, honey, can you grab me another beer, it should be at the bottom left of the refrigerator." Her dad called out.

"Sure thing," she'd reply, stepping over to the fridge and collecting a chilled can of alcohol before placing it on the table in front of her father. He'd swiftly pick it up, opening the can with a satisfying crack and hiss.

"How are classes? Still, straight A's I hope?" Matthew would ask. A biochemist and coworker of her father.

"Good, I'm not sure dad would accept anything apart from A's" She joked, looking over to her father who was busy talking with Matthew's wife, Charlotte.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind it much, although some theories are better left untested." Matthew would reply with a grin, taking a drink from his can.

The four sat in the kitchen with a light overhead. On the table, an assortment of empty plates and Chinese food remnants sat. Most of the kitchen was painted a light blue color which helped lighten the environment, compared with the floor being a dull mixture of white and gray tiles. Glancing towards the living room, the television still displayed the news as text scrolled across the bottom of the screen. It had moved past the weather and was now discussing a hurricane on the other side of the nation.

Turning her attention back to the table, she got up and began to clean up the dinner plates. "Oh, thank you, Eris. You can leave them in the sink, I'll clean them up after we're done." Her father said, motioning to the sink. She'd nod, picking up the plates and used silverware before placing them into the metal sink and dismissing herself to her bedroom.

The bedroom was fairly typical for a 17-year-old. It had a bed and white dresser which held her belongings, along with a wooden desk that held a computer. She had to work 2 part-time jobs to afford it, but it helped immensely when writing papers and doing research. Above the desk was a shelf mounted to the wall, it held many of her science textbooks and science fiction novels from past years of education.

Eris simply took a seat at her desk, booting the computer up as the usual mechanical beep and spinning hard drive got the screen to awaken. After a few minutes of letting the hardware boot up, she began poking around the internet. Soon enough she found herself reading the large document the UFN had released to the public. The document was named the 'International Requirements for United Feldir Nations'. Said document was a large compilation of laws and regulations to which all members of the UFN had to agree to and implement in their countries. However, instead, Eris was drawn particularly to a section outlining scientific practices and expectations.

Capsule - Chapter I

"How could they accept this?" Matthew exclaimed, slamming his fist on the kitchen table.

"These new rules are going to seriously inhibit our work. And not just my job, this will completely handicap any breakthroughs in science!" The frustrated biochemist leaned back in his chair. The same people from Friday night were sitting around the table once more. Although the relaxed atmosphere from that night was long gone. It was not replaced with a tense set of scientists wallowing in their anger and frustration.

"The worst part is, we have no control over it. Damned politicians, always reaching conclusions without a professional's input." This time Charlotte was the one to vent her frustrations, simply leaning forward and placing her elbows on the table. Her palms held her head as she sighed heavily.

"Try to keep it down, Eris is probably sleeping," Alex said as he tried to calm the two down.

"I'm sure it will be fine. There is no way the scientific community can stay silent over this debauchery. It has only been three days since the announcement, they probably still have tons of issues to sort out." He explained.

"But what if it doesn't get fixed, Alex? What if the government permanently holds us back? I can't possibly get anything done with this massive maze of regulations." Matthew sighed, still leaning back in his chair. The room would fall silent for a few minutes until it was broken by Matthew sitting up in his chair. "How about we do something about it then?" His idea was met with odd looks from both he and Charlotte.

"What do you mean? I don't think we can afford to lobby against it if that's what you mean." Alex asked.

"No no, I mean what if we made a promise, a pact even. I'm sure no worthy scientist is happy about this change. What if we banded together to look for a resolution?" Matthew seemed to have a new air of hope in his voice.

"You want us to form a union then?" He asked.

"That's illegal due to the new laws," Charlotte commented.

"What I meant was we all promise each other to find a way out of this mess. I'm sure if we all convince our friends at the lab, we can formulate a plan." Matthew clarified.

"I'm not sure, I don't want to do anything to risk my job, or risk me and my daughter's safety even." Alex turned to look down the hall to his daughter's bedroom door.

"I can see why you'd be worried, but I need you in on this. You're the chief at the lab, I need your assistance if we are to ever get serious with this plan." Matthew pleaded. Alex would stare at the table for a moment, glancing back to Eris' bedroom before sighing.

"Fine, but if we get caught, I'm telling them it was your idea."

"So you'll just throw me under the bus as if our 12 years together meant nothing. Ouch." Matthew mused, chuckling a bit.

He would crack a smile as well, shaking his head as he got up from his chair "Guess we better get to work. Those details won't iron themselves out." Alex stretched with a newfound motivation.

* * *

Eris was seated at her computer once more, a set of headphones covering her ears. As usual, she was looking through the internet for this time of night when she heard the front door open. She looked over to the minidisc player, stopping the disk as she listened. It seemed to be the usual Matthew, Charlotte, and her father. But this time she heard 2 new voices. As her curiosity peaked, the girl lifted the headphones off her ears and set them aside. She'd move to open her door slightly, able to hear the voices very clearly now.

"Are you sure we can do this without being caught?" She heard from one of the strangers.

"Relax, I wouldn't have invited you here if I thought it would endanger you two." She heard her father say, attempting to quell the nerves of this person. It was clear now the two must be from work.

She figured it was best not to pry and simply returned to her desk. Slipped the headphones over her ears, and set the device to spin the minidisc again. Her eyes would gloss over as she looked back to the computer screen. Since the UFN had formed, it had mostly been good news, however, it wasn't hard to find news reports of strikes, lawsuits, and pleas from citizens. Eris herself was a bit skeptical of how well it was going, as she had gone back a few days ago and read through the entire 'International Requirements...' document. Surely such limited laws would cause a much bigger pushback from governments and businesses.

Her mind would wander a bit as she thought of her career after finishing primary school. She was sure to begin studying at a specialized school, but what happened after that? Would the UFN still reign supreme and limit her potential then too? She often thought these things when left blankly staring at the bright computer screen.

A few hours would pass before Eris got up from her desk and stretched. She had been writing a paper for history for the past couple of hours and was feeling a bit hungry. She moved for the door, stepping out into the hallway. What she found in the kitchen was something completely different than food. Her father, Matthew, and Charlotte were sitting, reading over what looked to be stacks of papers. The two guests from before were nowhere to be seen. As she entered the kitchen, her father turned to her with a tired expression.

"What have you been up to?" He asked although it seemed less out of curiosity and more to just greet her.

"Writing a history paper for class. What about you three?" She responded with another question.

Her father would turn back to the table before seeming to straighten up a bit. He'd look the other two in the eyes as they seemed to have only now realized she was in the room.

"Oh this, with all the new regulations, we've been having to work overtime to get our department caught up." He said, smiling softly.

"Do you have any plans for dinner?" She asked, hoping he would.

The man would blink, realizing he hadn't checked the clock as he turned to face the clock on the stove. He seemed to stare at it for a moment before turning back to Eris.

"Seems I lost track of time." He buried his hand into his left pocket to dig out his wallet. "How about you run down and grab a couple of pizzas. Just get a cheese and then pick whatever else you want on the other." He'd pull out a few plastic knatches, handing them to Eris.

"Are you sure you want me to pick the second one? Last time I picked you complained that mushrooms don't belong on pizzas." She frowned, a bit teasingly.

"Riiiight. How about you just get a pepperoni then." He'd chuckle a bit before shoo-ing her along. She'd grab a coat, depositing the currency into her pocket as Eris opened the door.

"I'll be back in a bit, make sure to have the table cleared when I get back. Wouldn't want any pizza grease on your important government papers." She teased again before closing the door behind her.

Eris and her father lived in an apartment complex, as did most people on the planet. Its population had grown exponentially in the last 50 years, so most suburbs had slowly turned to multi-story apartment complexes. The increase in population also meant more power was needed. As such the government-subsidized nuclear power and its subsequent research.

Eris reached the bottom floor as she walked out onto the sidewalk. The towering buildings around her were not new, as she never got to live any differently. Her father always complained about not being able to see the sun and sky as easily. He'd grown up on a farm and missed the days of a quiet night coupled with the songs of frogs and crickets. Sadly Eris never got to experience that as most farms merged into large hydroponic complexes.

She now began to cross over a bridge, a major water tributary rushing below her. She stopped to look over the edge at the swirling liquid. It looked pure black, with a soft glow from the moon above. The water wasn't dirty, but the lack of lights along the riverbed made it look murky and alien. Eris stepped away from the bridge's edge and continued.

She'd eventually pass by the entrance to the fusion power plant. It was situated near the river for cooling, but that was more so for the days of fission power. The constant hum of electricity had always been the same. It always amazed her how humans could go from learning how to start fires to harnessing the power of the sun within such a short timespan. Relatively speaking at least.

Thankfully she reached the pizza restaurant and found it still open. Stepping inside she placed her order, handing the cashier the plastic knatches from her pocket. Eris stood idly by the door, watching the small restaurant at work. The white and red tiling along the walls adorned with a few lines of neon lights was pretty usual. She didn't much like the neon lights, but quite enjoyed how hectic, yet efficient the workers were. It wasn't long before she collected her two large pizzas and began her walk back home.

* * *

"Why did you lie to her?" Matthew asked, looking into Alex's eyes.

"I don't want to get her wrapped up in this. What we are doing is pretty dangerous. " He explained.

"When do you plan on telling her then?" He retorted.

"Not until I know it's safe" Alex responded.

The two would sit in silence for a bit. The table was still a mess of papers, mostly to do with the financials of their pooled expenses. They had invited two workers from a shipyard that one of their coworkers knew. This idea of forming a group had grown past just securing their future. They had found so many others not happy with the legality of their work. So many others put their faith into the three who sat at this very kitchen table.

"I think we may be able to pull this off. Although once we start, there is no going back." Alex said, looking up from his paper to the other two.

"I know. This is the only way I can see us being truly free to work as we please." Charlotte chimed in.

The three would nod in agreement. Alex looked across to the kitchen clock again, getting up from his seat to collect the stacks of papers on the table.

"Eris will be back soon, let's clean up a bit. We've still got work to do, but we can take a break for dinner." He said as the trio began cleaning up the table. Just in time as Eris walked through the door with the pizzas in hand. His daughter set the boxes down on the table.

"I have some change for you, dad." She said as she held out her hand, a few plastic bills in her hand.

"You can keep it, want to sit with us and eat?" He asked, pushing her hand away.

"I think I'll just eat in my room. The paper is due tomorrow and I'm almost finished." Eris said, moving to grab a plate from the cupboard.

"That's fine, just make sure to clean up after you're done." He said, following her to grab plates for himself and the other two. Eris would simply take two slices and retreat to her bedroom. He'd watch for a moment as she shut the door behind her. Looking back to the table, Alex took a piece of pizza from the box and silently ate. When should he tell her? When they were done? No, that'd be too late. Surely he will find the right time. For now, he thought, it was best to keep her out of it.

"What should we call the project?" Matthew interjected, tearing Alex away from his thoughts.

"What?" He said.

"Like a name, we haven't come up with one. We just keep calling it 'The Project'"

"Maybe an acronym? Something that explains our purpose without sounding too long." Charlotte proposed.

"That seems a little cliche don't you think?" Matthew joked.

"How about 'Erissian Freedom'?" Alex would say with a firm undertone.

The two would look at him for a moment before small smiles formed on their faces.

"I think that'd work great," Matthew said with a nod.

Alex returned the smile, looking back to his food as he ate with a bit more enthusiasm. That name felt fitting, as it would surely allow his daughter to develop and grow without the risk of legal action. Not only her daughter but her generation as well. He was sure they'd do great things and was excited to be along for this new era of discovery.

* * *

Alex watched his leg tap on the floor. He sat in an office chair, his attention being pulled back to the visitors. Across the desk from him sat two men, one with a suit and tie, the other looked more blue-collar. His office was everything but large or neat. The desk in front of him held his computer as well as a microscope. To his right was another table which was covered with books filled with microscope slides. His office was also his lab, so it was never tidy.

"Mr. Ekoradi, Let me just run over your request one more time." Said the man in the suit. "You want us to begin construction on a large, Meteor-class freighter, but instead of cargo holds, to be filled with hydroponics farms and labs."

Alex looked the man in the eyes before nodding. "Yes, I have a downpayment. I understand it's an odd request, but once it's finished I promise to not ask you for anything else."

"Where d'ya plan on gett'n the machinery and specialized equipment for the ship?" Said the blue-collar worker as he chimed in.

"I've got another source for that equipment. All I need you to do is build the ship and install the equipment I send you." He continued. "I'd also like for you to not speak of this to anyone else. Keep the construction crew in the dark. On the surface, this shouldn't be odd, but if anyone were to dig below the topsoil, it would look very... fishy." Alex finished, leaning back in his chair.

"As long as you have the proper licenses and certifications for its construction, we will keep our mouths shut and noses to ourselves." The businessman said, placing a file on the desk. "Inside is the paperwork. I'll need you to read it over and sign it before we can begin. It's quite lengthy so just send it via a courier once you've finalized it."

And with that, the two would take their leave, closing the office door behind them. Alex cupped his temples as a long sigh escaped his mouth. There was surely no turning back now. Once this ship was finished they could leave this wretched planet for good. Although that was just the first problem, he was certain there would be many more after they left the reaches of the UFN.