An ever present low hum welcomed Reg with a familiarity so loud it was like he had never left. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, slowly making out the ceiling of his living room. It was never truly dark here, it was too dangerous for that.
Instead, the ten thousand square feet of building he called home was the safest place to be for miles. At least, that was the joke that people liked to tell.
He arose from laying down on the couch, feeling heavier than usual. His first step off led him to the middle of the greenhouse. Under the thick glass roof he could barely make out the stars shining above.
The walls of greenery underlit by floor lights offered a small, inaccurate glimpse of what nature was.
He knew better, he couldn't stay here hecouldntstayherehecouldntstayhere, no there were things to do and idle hands made for an inefficient life.
He stepped outside of the greenhouse, got his orders and got to work. His father he couldn't see his face had given him the job to study diligently and so he did. The words on the page filled his mind but the words themselves danced and morphed every time he glanced.
He gave his eyes a break. The monitor next to his desk offered a view of the outside.
Black. Sunless night and stars and pure, absolute black.
A darkness so raw the mind conjured images just to have something in the blanks.
No, he had to focus on his studies his-
The books, the tablets, the pens, the tools all gone. He had fallen through the window into the dark and as he spun to get his bearings, all that there was that surrounded him was the night.
His EVA suit had already began to feel the chill of the sunless sky, but there was a heading for home, and all Reg had to do was follow.
