This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Ambitious-Basil-5518 on 2024-11-01 14:46:39+00:00.
I’d like to thank u/KyleKKent for the wonderful galaxy which he envisioned and shared. This story takes place in that world and I hope I do it justice. All credit for the creation of that world goes to the original author; My only hope is that he approves of this little work of mine.
Anyway hope you enjoy the story.
Xavier had endured a long journey through the vastness of space. The weightlessness he experienced was both a relief and a torment. It was a relief because his bones no longer felt compressed, and even the pain in his shoulder was subsiding. For the first time in his life, he felt like a child again. The sensation of weightlessness allowed him to play in ways he never had as a kid, igniting a spark deep within him—something he thought he had lost long ago. It brought him a pure, unfiltered joy for life. He was here, present in the moment. Yes, he was older, and yes, he bore the scars of a lifetime marked by poverty and neglect, but could those wounds be healed in the galaxy? How many of those rumors were true? He couldn’t wait to find out.
The trip had its challenges, especially when it came to using the bathroom and staying clean—tasks that proved to be quite a hassle. Additionally, there were doctors on board who wanted to examine him, interested in studying how an ordinary citizen reacted to the journey. Unlike many others he had encountered, he did not have family aboard the Dauntless; it seemed that those with family made up the majority of the passengers.
There was also an actual crew on the ship, with everyone assigned specific roles. He found himself limited to helping in the mess hall or performing janitorial duties. While the work was frustrating, he didn’t mind it much. He was simply waiting—waiting for the moment they would emerge from Cruel Space so he could finally begin his life anew. He looked forward to a healing coma, hoping, against hope, that it wasn’t just a lie.
At that moment, he was cleaning one of the recreational rooms. He used a plunger in one hand to steady himself while gently wiping down the equipment with a microfiber cloth. It had taken him some time, but he had figured out an effective system for carrying his cleaning supplies. He repurposed spare strips of cloth from worn-out rags and Velcro from ripped clothing to create a small carrying bag for all the tools he needed.
Although the cleaning crew was provided with a standard carrying case, it had its drawbacks. You had to remove each item one at a time, use it, and then put it back. Additionally, you had to be careful to prevent your tools or cleaning chemicals from floating away. He solved this problem by attaching Velcro and cloth to each item he used. Instead of a case, he secured everything to his legs with strips of cloth he had made. This way, he could quickly grab whatever he needed and easily let it go when he wasn’t using it; the items were held in place by the cloth strips attached to a uniquely colored belt made from those same scraps.
He used two plungers to anchor himself to the floor, wall, or ceiling while also propelling himself across the rooms he was assigned to clean.
It wasn’t a perfect system; he had to be careful to ensure that the various items he was using didn’t become tangled. However, the speed and control he had with the plungers more than compensated for that minor inconvenience. He found it amusing that his fellow janitorial staff initially mocked his invention, yet they all ended up creating something similar within a week. It just goes to show that while a fancy engineer might design something elaborate when you want something to work well, you turn to someone who understands the practicalities.
He was in the middle of cleaning one of the Zero-G treadmills when another man floated up and began helping him from the other side. They worked in teams, after all, which made the tedium of the task a bit more bearable. He simply nodded at the man and said, “I’ve already taken care of the upper controls and the arm handles. All that’s left is the base and the tread portion.”
“Good, this is the last one. I have to say, whoever thought of these belts was a genius,” the man replied as he started to work.
“Well, thank you,” he said with a grin.
“Wait. You designed these?”
“More like I made one for myself, and everyone started copying me after teasing me about how ridiculous I looked.” He paused for a moment. “My name’s Xavier.”
“I’m Mike,” the man smiled back at him. “So, who are you coming out into the galaxy to see?”
“No one,” Xavier sighed. “I’m one of the lucky lottery winners.”
“Ouch, aren’t there like five of you?”
“Ten. I met them all in sickbay. We may have won the lottery, but we still have to pay for our trip by letting the doctors poke and prod us. They’re studying the effects of the trip on non-trained personnel or something like that.”
“Well, I’m coming out here for my sister. She made the crew on the Dauntless as a scientist. That little bribe from the Speaker of the Council was no joke,” he said, shaking his head.
“Yeah, if it wasn’t for that bribe and the fact that some renowned scientist wanted to conduct this study, there wouldn’t have been a lottery for me. I’m too old and broken to go through any training. For me, it was just watching everything unfold and hoping against hope that the trip would get cheap enough for me to afford it before I die.”
“You don’t look broken. Old, yes, but not broken.”
Xavier ran a hand over his bald head, emphasizing the few strands of hair left on top, a result of male pattern baldness. He drew the man’s attention to the grey hair and continued, “Man, I’ve been through the wringer in life. I had a titanium knee installed when I was 17, suffered seven major concussions by the time I turned 27, and been in so many fights that my teeth have deteriorated from all the damage. I’m lucky to have any teeth left at this point. Then there was the time I broke my shoulder in a bicycling accident—and I didn’t have insurance at the time. I had to go to work anyway, just to keep a roof over my head. My whole life has been spent far below the poverty line; I might as well have been homeless. Yet somehow, I’ve managed to avoid living on the streets.” He sighed.
As he spoke the sheer regret he had for his life passed through him. They might have been in zero G but it came through in his body language. Mike’s eyes couldn’t help but look at him differently. He saw it. It was the same any time he spoke about his past. The other man just thought for a moment, “Damned man I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be. Please don’t be. I don’t want sympathy. Besides, all that pain was part of the reason I was able to make it into the lottery for this trip. They wanted to see how someone with below-average health fared on the trip. And I’m supposed to get a healing coma out of this. God, I hope that rumor is true.”
“How old are you anyway? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Nah I don’t mind. I brought all this up anyway. I’m forty-five.”
“Shit, I thought you were at least sixty.”
“I feel like I’m eighty.”
“Well, I can confirm the healing coma is true. My sister had one after an accident in the lab. She is five years older than me, but she looks like she is just coming out of her teens. That was quite a shock for my family in one of her letters home.”
“Never got one of those letters; only the huge rumor mill and leaks.” He shrugs, “Anything else you can tell me?” He continues to wipe down the tread. It was a long and tedious task in this gravity.
“Sure, you wash, I’ll dry on that tread I just finished up over here.” He nods to Mike and starts working. Mike moves over to start drying and begins talking as they now work together, “Well apparently this axiom space magic is easy to use but hard to master. In the letter home, my sister said it was all about will intent and knowledge.”
“Damned, I can’t tell you how excited I am to get out there into the Galaxy. I mean, this is like every dream I ever had coming to life.”
“Any plans once we get out?”
“Honestly, Healing Coma, then some martial arts training or retraining rather. After that, I don’t know. Hell, I don’t know how I’m gonna pay for it honestly. Might try to pay for it with my hobbies back from Earth. I mean there should be a market for that somewhere.” He shrugs.
“What hobbies would those be?”
“Woodworking and blacksmithing. Old fashioned hand tools each.”
Mike looks him over for a few moments, “You certainly do not look like a typical blacksmith.”
“What? You don’t need a lot of muscle to bang hot iron. The heat does most of the work for you. You do need a lot of stamina though.”
“I guess you’re right about that. Me? I’m going to sign up with the Undaunted. I tried but didn’t make the cut for the first ship.”
“Well then best of luck to you. Never been a soldier, though I like to think I have a warrior’s heart.”
Mike chuckles a moment at that, “With what you’ve been through, even as little as you told me, I can see that.” Mike pauses a moment, “Me and a couple of friends are getting together tonight. A little celebration for our last day in zero grav. Join us?”
“Sure, why not? It’s been a while since I’ve been invited to anything. Can’t be a hermit all my life.”
In the morning, he felt like hell. His head was throbbing with a hangover, and he groaned at the sound of the alarm clock reminding him he had another shift to get…
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gh73vx/grasping_for_eternity_an_out_of_cruel_space_fan/