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April 3, 2527. Each pod can hold about 2,500 people, and with three tether
systems running concurrently, that means around 2.16 million people can be
evacuated every day. On the north side of the planet, only around 147
million people ultimately needed to evacuate. The rest had died, transferred
their consciousnesses to other worlds, or refused to leave. A lot of the
people who had originally settled in the surviving domes saw no reason to
go, and no one spent much effort trying to convince them otherwise. The
future is wildly uncertain at this point. Science suggests that the poles
will remain safe indefinitely, but that’s assuming nothing more changes
about Proxima Centauri, and that anyone truly understands what’s happening.
This has never occurred before. If Earth were this hostile, nothing would
have likely evolved on it, let alone a species as intelligent as humans. The
safe bet is to leave, but many don’t see it that way.
It’s been 69 days now. Breanna, Cash, Notus, and Calypso are still here,
along with a handful of Tangent workers who are just finishing up. They have
made one final announcement in case anyone wants to change their mind, but
it’s time to leave now. People have had multiple chances to get on board, so
this is it. They need to pack up and head off to the southern pole to do it
all again. It is reportedly going to take a lot longer, as more of them want
to leave, but the four of them have completed their responsibilities. They
weren’t even expected to stay for the whole two-month stint, but they did,
because they wanted to help. They have not been shown a whole lot of
gratitude for their efforts by the evacuating Domanians, but that’s not why
they did it, and it was a rewarding experience anyway. The Bungulans
initially left two pods down here as staging pods. Each one is several
stories tall, so filing everyone in was a lot faster when they were already
in place. One of those staging pods has finally gone back up, completely
empty, which means it can do it a lot faster. This last one is for the last
remaining workers. They all climb the steps, along with Heracles.
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait!” Someone says. He’s jogging through the
holo-stanchions, and jumping on stage. It’s none other than Sorel Arts.
“Hey,” Breanna says after he climbs into the pod. “You’re coming with us?”
“Yeah, everyone who’s ever gonna say yes to the upload has already done so.
I see no point in wasting my time here. The southerners need my help now.”
“Good on ya,” Cash says. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Likewise,” Sorel replies as the doors are closing.
One of the Bungulan workers comes over as the pod is closing and being moved
out to the tether. “Listen, we were hoping to do an express trip. Can you
all handle that? The pod isn’t equipped with inertial dampeners. We had to
manufacture too many of them on our way here. It was simpler to basically
just make a tin can tied to a string.”
“How many Gs are we talking’ here?” Breanna presses.
The Bungulan reaches over and waves a sliding door open. “A hundred and
twenty. Because we have to break through the atmosphere first, so it will
take nearly fifteen minutes total.” She steps to the side, revealing what’s
in the other room. It’s a giant tank of some kind of fluid. Breanna is
guessing perfluorocarbon.
“We’re trained for that,” Cash says, pointing to herself and Breanna.
“They’re not,” she explains, indicating Notus and Calypso.
“No, it’s all right. We can handle it,” Calypso insists.
“You don’t understand,” Breanna says. “If you accelerated at these speeds
without that tank, it would kill you. No matter what, unless you’re maybe a
couple of certain someones, there would be nothing you could do to survive.”
She gestures towards the tankroom. “This allows us to do it without feeling
the full effects of such extreme acceleration, but you’re submerged in a
special water that you breathe through your skin as it also fills
your lungs. Everyone panics the first time. Even I did, and that was a
controlled pull, at a lower acceleration than this.” She faces the Bungulan.
“I’m sorry, I won’t allow it. You’ve been at this for seven months. You can
wait sixteen more hours.”
“No.” Notus steps forward. “We have been through this much. We did things we
never thought we would. None of those things was our choice, but this is.
Let us do it. We promise, we’ll make it through. Even if it traumatizes us,
it’s a story that we can tell our grandkids one day.”
“Our grandkids?” Calypso echoes.
“Our...respective...collective...grandkids.” Nice save.
“I assure you, it’s quite safe,” the Bungulan promises. “You won’t be able
to talk, but it comes with an AI coach. Even the veterans will hear it guide
us through the experience. The voice has been clinically tested, and proven
to be fairly universally calming and helpful without sounding robotic or
irritating.”
Breanna sighs and looks at her friends. They all seem amenable to the idea,
and he’s right that it’s safe. The concern is not that something will go
wrong, but that they won’t like, and won’t be able to tell anyone to stop.
“Well, because of the atmosphere, I suppose we have to start off rather
slowly anyway, so that will give us some time for human coaching, right?”
“Right,” the Bungulan agrees.
“Okay, fine,” Breanna concedes. “I’ve never actually done it in the field,
so you’ll have to walk us through it. Explain like we’re five.”
“We can do that.”
Everybody climbs into the tank, and dips into the water. At first it feels
like nothing, and then they move. They can feel the resistance of the thick
fluid surrounding them, but still, the suit itself is fully sealed. Once
everyone is in, the pod begins to move, but at very low speeds. The Bungulan
instructs them on what to do. The suit, being as versatile as it is, is
designed with the ability to accommodate this very thing. Valves open to let
the fluid in. It’s the weirdest part. Humans evolved without the ability to
breathe underwater. They are hardwired to not even try. It takes a great
deal of will to force one’s self to overcome that impulse. Yet everyone
does. While they’re still moving at fairly low speeds—though already
accelerating—the group reports being prepared for this. Notus retains the
wherewithal to send a message to Heracles, who is still in the main area of
the pod, telling him that they’ll see each other on the other side. The pod
moves faster and faster. Then it goes faster, faster, faster, and faster.
The AI voice responds to their reactions, and alters its guidance
accordingly. It’s rough and frightening, but they all get through it.
Minutes later, they’re on the platform. Breanna may never see Proxima Doma
again. She’s not sure yet if she wants to head for the southern pole, or
take a shuttle somewhere else. She doesn’t have to decide right away.
Delegator Chariot greets them when they arrive. “Welcome to The Tangent. The
Captain would like to meet you.”
