Planet B

Planet B - Prologue

Newton's First Law:

An object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force.

________

"There is no Planet B."

Actually, there is.

They don't call it Planet B, though. They call it X-32 when they talk like scientists, and Pax when they talk like normal humans. But the public likes naming things in spite of the officials, hence: Planet B.

A miracle, isn't it.

Most people didn't believe it, which you really can't blame them for. We lost hope for any renewal ages ago. Earth was completely and utterly fucked, and we're cool with it as long as we're dead by then. So when NASA decided to bust open the door with Pax, we all laughed at them. NASA is legitimate but our chance at revival is most definitely not.

A new planet? That just so happened to show up? Nice try.

But a correct try, since as time went on, people became more and more curious. A hoax turned into an opportunity, and an opportunity turned into a prize.

Pictures and news stories and columns starting showing up, and the public was a little more convinced every day. Scientists from all over the world, one by one, began to talk about this new Planet B. By the end of Christmas, we were all wrapped around this idea of a brand new, genuinely inhabitable planet.

And then the government released the long-awaited announcement.

Exam 2632. The Armageddon Experiment.

Foreboding, I know. But even the government liked a good shock factor every now and then.

To make the president's speech simple:

Exam 2632—The AE—is a year-long test for every person on the planet who's 12 and older. You get two chips in your neck: One tracks your speech and the other tracks your movement. From January 1st, 2399 to December 31st, 2399, every single thing you say or do is recorded and analyzed. It's a camera in your body for 365 days.

The point? See if you're a decent enough person to not ruin our next planet.

Now, I'm all for a good science experiment. I love science class. I never get better sleep than those one and half hours. But I sure as hell don't like being the guinea pig in said experiment.

Nonetheless, for once in all of history, the people didn't complain. Most people, at least. Everyone here is desperate to get a new life away from the dying place that is Earth. So they got in their lines, readied their lives, and took the chance. Be on their best behavior as long as they could, and they would have a one-way ticket to Pax.

Sounds awesome, right? The great makeover of humanity, waiting to happen, and you could be the next brush used for it.

There's a downside, though.

Think of your daily life. Think of what you do in a day. How saintly is your day to day routine?

Exactly my point. Even Peace Corps members need to sin a little. We all do, it's the basis of our everyday lives. We're not all Jesus or something.