Chapter 12

Conor sat down on the bed of his hotel room. The people at NASA had told him his house was not in very good shape, so he would be placed at a hotel first so that they could clean up his house first.

Conor wasn't about his house at all. If anything, it was the thing he was least worried about. He was thinking a lot about what was happening, the world, the climate, the people that are struggling to survive. He found out from several reports that almost a million people died of hunger and starvation every single day. It was disturbing to know that fact.

All the same, he also felt sad, as if he had really failed his mission. He was the only savior for billions of people but all their hopes are crumbling right before their eyes, just how the Earth itself is crumbling and falling apart.

A week passed, and Conor finally got to go home again. Home, sweet home. Everything was still the same. The couch, tv, kitchen, bedroom, everything. Conor enjoyed it very much.

It was a beautiful morning when Conor was making breakfast the next day. As he was devouring the oatmeal, he got a call from an unknown caller. Even if it said unknown, he knew who it was and he wasn't delighted about it. Finishing his breakfast as fast as possible, he got ready and went bolting through the door and into his car.

After an hour of driving later, he was at Washington, in front of NASA headquarters. He walked to the concierge, where Ms. Everett told him to proceed to the conference room. Conor did so gladly without any issue.

Once in the conference room, he saw Mr. Atlas and the other three sitting there. Conor said hello, and sat down at the table.

'Sorry, Conor. We had to call you. We are out of brainpower, and so we thought you might help.' Mr. Atlas started speaking.

'Okay, what can I help you with?' Conor asked.

'Since Operation Reality Hole was a flop, we have to found out how to survive on Earth. We had thought hard about it, and we did come up with some solutions but Mr. Atlas didn't approve of them. So, we thought, maybe you could add in more ideas, or convince Mr. Atlas here to accept our ideas.' Mr. Brad explained lengthily. Conor squinted his eyes.

'What are the ideas that you guys have?' Conor enquired.

'We listed multiple and chose the two best solutions. The first one is re-launching Project Orion from the old times. I believe project files and data can still be found in the backup servers.' Mr. Fry explained. Conor was stunned.

'Hold on a minute, you want to do Project Orion? Where will you make the spaceship go?' Conor asked.

'Our closest chance is the Trappist-1 planetary system.' Mrs. Fox answered briefly. Conor gazed at Mr. Atlas with a look of disbelief.

'You do know what it will take to launch Project Orion, right? It's a nuclear propulsion ship guys, it'll destroy the whole Earth upon launching!' Conor exclaimed.

'We know about that Conor. It's practically a gamble. If we can launch, we leave Earth permanently. All humanity will go to another solar system. No one will be on Earth.' Mr. Fry said.

'Okay, here are your facts. Trappist is 40 light-years away, and even if we manage ten percent speed of light, it'll take four hundred years to reach the system. How can you guarantee that we can survive in the spaceship for that long? If we die in space, basically humans will be extinct.' Conor explained. Mr. Atlas looked relieved. 'Besides, there's no guarantee that the Trappist system can actually hold life. NASA never did extensive research in those planets.' Conor continued.

'Okay, Project Orion is a no-go then. Our second solution is mass murder to bring the population to a sustainable number.' Mrs. Fox said. Conor was bewildered. Mr. Atlas shot him a knowing look.

'Sir, what kind of people are you hiring to work for you?' Conor asked Mr. Atlas. Mr. Atlas gave a look that seemed like he was regretting something.

'Don't you guys have any heart? You want to kill people so that others can survive?' Conor asked.

'That's the only option we have. We must sacrifice for the future.' Mrs. Fox said.

'Oh, would you kill yourself for the future generation? Would you sacrifice your own life?' Conor asked. The three looked stunned and were speechless. 'That's right, you won't.' Conor said.

'But Conor, if we don't do this, there's no hope for mankind!' Mr. Brad exclaimed.

'There's got to be another way. We just have to think more.' Mr. Atlas butted in.

'We have brainstormed all we could, and this is all we came up-' Mr. Brad was cut off. Conor had banged his hand on the table.

'FRICK YOUR MINDS, AND GO HOME!' Conor shouted. He was trembling in anger even though he knew he shouldn't be. He was losing his temper for no reason. He gazed at Mr. Atlas and saw his face. Conor stood up and left the room, downstairs through the elevator, into the parking lot, and finally hitting the road towards home.