105,104 AD

Earth-Like Planet

After a quick few days of travel from their reference, Rosco and Alexandra were able to arrive at the planet from which Rosco’s delivery was requested. Upon arrival, Alexandra promptly sent a direct ping to the old man:

“I have brought you Rosco Vern. How should I hand him over to you?”

There was no response. Alexandra attempted once more to get into contact with the man.

“This is Alexandra Durham. I have Rosco Vern here with me, please instruct me on how to deliver him to you.”

The silence continued. Alexandra thought for a moment about giving up. “The man was already pretty old when I was last here, and from the local reference point ten years have passed since then. Chances are pretty high we didn’t make it in time.”

Alexandra walked away from the console, more than slightly disappointed. However, just moments later a communication would indeed be received:

“Hello, Alexandra I can hear you. Please, bring Rosco down to the planet. I’ll send you the coordinates.”

Alexandra turned around at lightning speed and ran back towards the console. “Understood, hold on, we’re going to go down there as fast as we can!”

“He’s still here!” Alexandra shouted at Rosco jubilantly.

“That’s good, let’s go down and meet him, then.” Rosco said back to Alexandra, feeling slightly less nervous to meet the man hearing his voice directly.

The planet grew larger as they neared it, a swirling orb of green and blue set against the endless black backdrop of space. Rosco could see vast oceans and sprawling landmasses, covered in lush vegetation. From this distance, the planet appeared untouched, a tranquil paradise, and for a moment, he allowed himself to imagine that maybe, just maybe, this world held the peace he had long sought but never found.

"We’re entering the atmosphere." Alexandra said, her voice breaking the silence that had settled between them.

They disembarked from Alexandra’s vessel and looked around the landscape. The panorama in which they found themselves was breathtaking. Fields of green littered seemingly infinitely expansive hills. They could see mountains in the distance, covered in luscious vegetation. Rosco turned around to see a small waterfall cascading down into a tranquil river. Whatever this place was, it seemed to be a paradise.

“Where are we supposed to go now?” Rosco asked Alexandra expectantly.

“I’m not sure. This is the location he sent me." Alexandra replied.

After a few more moments of absorbing their new scenery, a ping would come in once more, “I can see you now, look up the hill to your right. You’ll see a small cabin. Climb the hill and come in.”, the man instructed them.

“Alright, looks like he’s in a cabin just up there.” Alexandra filled Rosco in.

The two made their way through the grassy fields and up the hill. They found the cabin which the man had just told them about. It was quaint and appeared to be built from wood.

“Incredible. This house seems to be constructed from flora biomass…” Alexandra remarked.

Rosco couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s called wood, it's made from trees.” He informed her.

The two knocked on the cabin’s door.

“Come on in.” A voice replied from within.

Alexandra and Rosco entered the small dwelling and came face to face with the old man. The man appeared much older than either of them had imagined. He was bedridden and was joined in the cabin by a variety of men, women, and children of different ages.

“I was starting to think you weren’t going to make it.” The old man laughed.

“I brought you Rosco Vern, just as promised. Now, can I ask you for those Earth memories we talked about?” Alexandra asked the old man.

“Ah yes, the Earth memories. Here you are.” The man extended his hand and Alexandra drew near. He held out to her a small hardware device which she quickly accepted.

“Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this is going to help me.” She tells the man with gratitude.

“No, no. You don’t know how much you’ve helped me. You’ve brought me Rosco Vern.”

Rosco looked at the old man with a confused expression and asked. “I’m sorry, why is it exactly that you’ve gone to all this trouble to bring me here?”

The old man looked at Rosco and smiled warmly. “Well that’s easy Rosco, it’s because that’s what friends do for eachother.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you mean.”, Rosco told the man.

“You still don’t recognize me? I guess that would make sense, I have changed just a bit.” The man laughed to himself once again.

“Rosco, it’s me,” he began, “Amadeus.”

Rosco looked into the old man’s eyes and after a few moments he was able to see it; this was indeed Amadeus. Rosco’s heart nearly stopped, he began to collapse from the shock but was able to catch himself halfway. He pulled himself up to his feet and looked into the man’s eyes in a state of total bewilderment.

“Amadeus? Is that really you?” Rosco said as tears began to well up in his eyes.

“Yes, Rosco. We made a promise to be there for eachother, did you forget?”

Rosco wasn’t able to contain himself anymore; he broke down and began to cry.

“How could I forget Amadeus? I’m so sorry.”

“Now Rosco, why should you be sorry?”

“I’m sorry I couldn't come find you, and now all these years have passed for you.”

“Rosco, I think you’ve got it mixed up. I didn’t just appear here in this spot as a wrinkly old man, I lived my life to its fullest and have no regrets. I really, really lived, Rosco.”

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“I wanted to find you sooner, but I was lost and then captured, and then..”

Amadeus cut off Rosco. “I know Rosco. You’ve had it rough. I’m just glad we could meet here one last time.”

Rosco tried to object. “It doesn’t have to be the last, Amadeus. I can live here with you now and..”

Amadeus stopped the frantic Rosco once more.

“I’ve had my cycle, and now you have yours.”

Rosco pleaded with Amadeus in tears. “Amadeus, please, I’ve been so lonely. I don’t know if I can continue forward anymore.”

“You should know better than anyone Rosco, you don’t have any choice. All you can do is walk forward. You can walk forward in a line or you can jump forward on a fast enough ship, but in the end it's all the same thing, isn’t it? Believe me, when we first got separated, I tried jumping around for a time. I thought if I ran fast enough, just maybe I could escape the pain. At some point though, I got tired of running. I decided to slow down and take in the scenery. In doing so, I found happiness. I found love, I found fulfillment, and in the end I came to understand that you can’t fight against the current.”

“I don’t understand, we were on that escape pod together, how did you and I end up in such different times?”

“Does it matter, Rosco? There was a reason for it. I found out what that reason was for me, but I can’t figure it out for you. Now you have to live your life, now you have to go through your cycle and figure out the answer to that question for yourself.”

“Amadeus, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I get more and more lost everyday.”

“It’s alright Rosco, that’s all part of it. Life is scary. It’s unpredictable and sometimes very cruel.” Amadeus says as his voice slowly weakens. He coughs into a handkerchief before continuing, “I’m telling you all of this because I know you can do it, Rosco. Your cycle is going to be a great one.” Amadeus’ breath became coarse as he continued to exert himself by speaking.

“Back in those Front Runner days, I remember always feeling like I was in your shadow, like I needed you to tell me that everything was going to be alright. When you would explain things to me, when you would walk me through your logic, I would be put at ease. I knew that if Rosco had a plan, somehow we would be okay.”

“It’s still going to be okay, Amadeus.” Rosco interjected.

Amadeus found the strength to smile once more. “Rosco, I know that. I’m telling you this because you need to hear it.”

Amadeus looked away from Rosco and towards the men, women, and children in attendance. They stood with teary eyes, watching Amadeus’ meet with his old friend in silence. They knew the meaning it had to him. He smiled at them softly, as though to wipe away their tears.

They all knew what Rosco did not. Amadeus’ time was coming to its close.

“I’ve walked as far as I can, Rosco.” Amadeus' voice weakened.

“Can I pass it on to you now?”

Rosco looked into Amadeus’ tired eyes and finally understood.

This was the end.

There would be no thinking nor solving, there would be no running nor escaping.

“Amadeus, I…I’m going to miss you so much.” Rosco said as tears quietly rolled down his cheeks.

Amadeus looked up towards the ceiling and inhaled deeply.

“You’ve got no time for that, Rosco.”

He focused deeply as he exhaled.

“You’ve got work to do.”

Amadeus concentrated heavily once more and took a prolonged breath. He looked towards his family and then back to Rosco, still holding in his breath. He closed his now exhausted eyes and exhaled slowly. His chest dampened as the breath left him. Rosco looked expectantly at Amadeus, hoping that he would see his chest raise just one more time.

He waited expectantly for a few moments before truly coming to understand.

Amadeus was dead.

Rosco stared at his friend’s still form, the final breath gone from his chest, and felt a wave of grief wash over him, as if time itself had suddenly stilled. His heart ached with the weight of everything Amadeus had meant to him—everything they had survived together, only to arrive at this moment where Rosco stood alone.

He lowered his head and hid his face in his hands. The tears came, quietly at first, and then more freely. He had been holding onto so much—fear, guilt, regret—and now it all broke through, as though the dam inside him had finally burst. The sobs echoed softly in the small cabin.

Alexandra stood at a distance, her expression unreadable, yet there was a sympathy in her silence. She had known loss too. She had witnessed more than enough endings in her long, fragmented life to understand that grief sometimes needed to be left undisturbed. The family of Amadeus stood beside her, their eyes filled with quiet sorrow, but none of them moved. They understood that this moment was necessary. It felt almost predestined—an ending that had been written long before either of them could realize it.

Finally, Rosco rose from his seat, wiping his face with the back of his hand. His tears had subsided, but the grief remained, like a scar on his heart. Without a word, he walked past them all and out the door of the small cabin, the cool air of the evening meeting his face.

Alexandra, sensing his need for solitude, hesitated for a long moment before following him outside.

She found him sitting on the edge of the hill, staring out over the landscape, his back hunched slightly as if the weight of everything was still pressing down on him. The sun was dipping low in the sky, casting long shadows over the green fields and distant mountains, but the world felt unbearably still.

Alexandra sat beside him, the soft crunch of grass under her weight the only sound she made. She didn’t speak, and neither did Rosco. She could see the pain carved into his face. He had lost so much, been torn apart by time itself. However, there was something else in his expression—something new.

They sat in silence as the colors of the sky deepened, turning from gold to pink, then to a shade of violet as the sun sank further toward the horizon.

Indifferent to Rosco’s grief, time continued to push forward.

At last, Rosco turned to her, his voice soft but steady. "I’m going to do it."

Alexandra raised an eyebrow, slightly perplexed. "Do what?"

"I’m going to live my cycle." He said, his voice slightly stronger now.

"I’m going to live it fully and without fear."

There was a calmness in his words, a palpable certainty.

Alexandra looked at him thoughtfully. "And how do you intend to do that?"

Rosco turned his gaze back to the horizon. "I’ll need a vessel capable of cloaking."

Alexandra paused, processing his request. "I can get you one." She replied after a moment. "But where exactly are you planning on going?"

"I’m going back out there. I want to see it all. The whole galaxy. There’s so much out there…

I want to see if there’s something—anything out there that can unite us."

"Unite humanity?" Alexandra asked, her skepticism apparent. "That’s... quite an ambition."

Rosco nodded, his eyes fixed on the distant hills. "I know. But right now, humanity is like a broken vase. All the pieces are scattered, shattered across time and space. But someone has to try... to start picking up those pieces."

Alexandra thought about his words for a moment, the metaphor lingering in her mind. "A broken vase..." She murmured, more to herself than to him. "I guess you’re right. We are all fragments, aren’t we? Scattered across the stars… I’ve spent so much of my life chasing those pieces, trying to understand what we’ve become."

"Then maybe you can help me." Rosco suggested quietly.

Alexandra shook her head, a rueful smile touching her lips. "Rosco, I’ve lived across thousands of years watching, cataloging... trying to make sense of it all. I sympathize with you, truly. But the most I can offer you is a vessel. After that... it’s on you."

Rosco didn’t push. He knew she wasn’t the kind to take on a cause that didn’t resonate with her directly. And that was fine. She had already done enough just by being here. He nodded slowly, understanding. "That’s more than enough, Alexandra."

Together, they turned their attention back to the horizon. The sun had almost fully set now, the last sliver of light slipping beneath the edge of the world. The sky was painted in deep purples and indigo, the stars slowly emerging one by one.

Rosco stared at the fading light, feeling the weight of the moment press against him. He thought about all he had seen—the worlds, the people, the conflicts, and the losses. For so long, he had been haunted by the idea that the Front Runner Initiative had been a failure. He had told himself that everything had gone wrong, that their dream of colonizing the stars had crumbled into dust.

But now, sitting here, watching the stars emerge from the darkness, he realized something.

The Initiative hadn’t failed.

He was still here. He had survived. He had endured the chaos, the loss, the loneliness. And he was still able to run.

It had all led him to this moment—to the moment where he could finally see his path clearly. All the pain, all the confusion, all the fear... it wasn’t for nothing. It had forged him into someone new, someone who could move forward with purpose.

Time, afterall was unstoppable. It moved with relentless force, carrying everything and everyone forward. He couldn’t fight it, couldn’t stop it. But he didn’t have to be its prisoner anymore.

He could walk forward, or he could jump forward, but in the end, it was all the same. The only thing that mattered was what he chose to do with the time he had.

Rosco stood up slowly, the decision already made. He looked down at Alexandra, who was watching him with quiet curiosity. She called out to him as he began to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

Rosco paused, turning back to her with a newfound confidence—a quiet certainty that had eluded him for so long. His voice was steady, unshaken.

"I’ve got work to do."

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