Northern_Lights_2021

19 I sat up from the silky water of the sleeping chamber, rubbing my bloodshot eyes. I coughed loudly before recovering myself. Sitting beside my chamber was a beautiful woman dressed in fine robes with hair white as snow. She watched me sympathetically and reached out to touch my shoulder. “You’re finally awake,” she said softly. Her fingers were cold as ice. I stared at her, unable to find my voice. “My name is Arie. I am your government-issued companion. I am here to take care of all your needs,” she explained and ran her hand over my bare arm. Her eyes glowed with electronic intelligence, yet her face expressed true emotion. I scanned the strange room a few times. It was decorated with images of vivid eyes encrusted in diamonds. Lounging couches made of velvet and gold lining were spread across the room. An entire wall was covered with wine bottles and various crystal boxes labeled with names of different foods. A panel of buttons was spread across another wall with hundreds of labels. Some buttons changed the theme of the room. Others called upon entertainment and other devices for one’s enjoyment. I searched for a door, but I could not find one. “Where am I?” I asked in a gravelly voice. Arie smiled kindly. “You are aboard the Isolator. All of humanity is aboard the ship.” My mind thought back to the day I entered the sleeping chamber. During the war to end all wars, biological warfare ruined entire continents and that was before the nuclear fallout. South America was destroyed and all that remained was a string of a few islands. I believed I could find a better life in space which led me to join the Explorer. How did I end up on the Isolator? I thought to myself. “I was on the Explorer,” I pointed out. “What’s the Isolator?” I glanced around the lavish room once more, believing I’m simply missing the door. There must be a door somewhere. “The Isolator is the remodeled version of the Explorer. It has been two hundred years since the Explorer left Earth.” “Two hundred years?” I exclaimed, staring at Arie in shock. She nodded. “I have been assigned to you by order of the Companion Protection and Care Act. Each human is provided with a companion to aid them during the Isolator’s travel through space. The Isolator’s Companion Julianna Pasara