A slender silhouette moved in the deep of the night. Slowly getting up, she sat on the edge of a bed. Gently got up and walked across the room, stopping only to wrap herself in what seemed like a fabric made of moonlight. Finally, the shadow stopped and gracefully sat in front of a desk. A screen lit up, throwing a bright light on her face. Madasa played with her hair at first and then combed it back with her hand, pulling the nightgown tighter around her.

"Hi, darling!" A face appeared on the screen. She was still beautiful, even though she was reaching her late 60s. Her eyes were like two blue gleaming stones, her hair golden like autumn wheat. She was happy, smiling. "Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry! Had I known, I would have waited."

"No, Mum, it's fine. I wasn't asleep anyway." A lie. Madasa conjured a gentle smile to show she was fine. "Lots of things on my mind. I can't wait to see you again."

"Oh, sweetie, I know, my heart is breaking just thinking how long it has been. But, tell me everything! You know how I love stories about your work and the discoveries you make, and all the science!"

"But you always say you hate science," Madasa teased. The chair was uncomfortable, so she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Well, yes, but you make it sound so interesting because you love it."

"Okay well, the calculations have worked out and everything is in place." Madasa got excited, feeling like a little girl, telling her about everything. "The plan I told you about before. It will work. It will be so simple. Like popping a balloon!" She said, putting her chin onto her knees, her hair wildly enveloping her face.

"Boom!" Her mum gesticulated and tried to mimic the sound. Madasa could not help but laugh at how silly she looked.

After a few joyful minutes, the woman stopped laughing and shook her head. "So..." Her mother tried to think and recall their previous conversation. "You said you will need all of this computing power to get the precise numbers and then one of those very big ships. The doughnut ones. What did you call them?"

"It's a dreadnought, Mum." Madasa giggled.

"Oh yes, a dreadnought. Then that amazing one that comes around the solar system every 75 years. What was the name? Oh yes, Halley's Comet." She was so funny when she tried to piece together scientific names and ideas for her plan. Madasa was sure she was doing that on purpose. "To create a gateway in space and time, thanks to the power of maths!"

"Oh, gods, Mum, you are impossible! It's almost nothing like what I said before! I love you, but leave the science to me or something may explode."

"Sure, sure," the woman replied with a half-smile, winking at her. "But you know, darling, I saw it. I saw Halley's comet once. It was so beautiful."

Madasa took a deep breath, feeling heaviness deep down in her chest when she said that.

"I know, Mum. I remember you telling me about it a million times when I was a little girl and didn't want to sleep. I think the first time was when I sneaked out from the apartment to the local observatory. Of course, you followed me. Do you remember how, instead of being mad, we played hide and seek, and then you named all the constellations for me?" A tear gently rolled down her cheek. "I miss you so much."

"I remember, my dearest. You wanted to know all of them, and you asked me about Halley's Comet. It was such a beautiful night. I miss you..." The screen flickered, and the woman disappeared, replaced by a message saying "Simulation interrupted."

The silence that fell after was unbearable, interrupted only by her tears. Thick, heavy, painful tears of a heart torn apart. All of her muscles tensed, paralyzed for a nanosecond. It was painful to breathe.

She could feel her body getting weaker every day, plagued by a genetic disease she couldn't identify or treat. There was no time to develop a cure—no time at all.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Forty years ago, a man, a friend claiming to be her guardian, took her away from home. He promised her an adventure that would bring her closer to the stars because she really wanted to bring a space rock back. The man took her away from her mother and tried to kill her. She was just a child, scared and lonely.

He took her away from Atlantis, and she never could find her way back.

The city was beyond her reach. In fact, it was beyond anyone's reach; it was lost in another time. That's why her plan needs to work, and she will stop at nothing to get back home.

Madasa finally managed to move, stretching her legs and getting up heavily from the chair. The room felt cold and claustrophobic to her now. On the bed, covered by only a thin sheet of material, lay a handsome, muscular body. For a moment, she gazed through the shadows at the man's body—the contours of his chiselled back, his strong arms and neck. For a moment, she felt a tickling sensation, a memory of the night they had together.

He was dead.

Her disease would kill anyone. Anyone she kissed, licked, had sex with. Neuro-paralysis would slowly take over their muscles and nerves until it reached their lungs and heart, almost turning them into living stone.

Her death was much slower. Every day, a neuron, a nerve, a muscle, one at a time. Madasa found ways to slow it down enough to buy her more time, but her mind was becoming foggy, unstable. It was unfair, after all she had been through, to be taken away like that? Without ever having the chance to go back home, to see her mother, to let her know she never stopped trying to find a way.

This night would be a nightmare for her. She wouldn't fall asleep again. She knew it. She had to call the guards to remove the body. They wouldn't question her. None of them had a living personality—just pre-installed software and some sort of situation processing capabilities. But she would feel uncomfortable. How many was it now? She lost count.

A sudden sound coming from the communication panel on the wall distracted her, forcibly demanding attention. Slowly, Madasa reached to the underside of her forearm where a tattoo was. Once she touched it, the system came alive.

"What is it?" A cold and sarcastic tone came out. They didn't deserve anything else.

"Private transmission from command incoming. Do you confirm authorization?"

Moment of hesitation. She turned around from the desk; her body language changed completely. The innocence disappeared. "Confirmed."

It took a moment to get the signal through. She didn't expect to see the caller but faced the darkness as if there was somebody there. He never used the visual feed, only voice. Madasa knew the man was a walking corpse; everything about him creeped her out. When finally the audio came through, she heard his shallow breath, like a man who had death standing above him.

"We need to see you."

"Why?" She hated that. Being locked in a half-dark room with his dimmed neon lights, talking to a shadow.

"Mars has fallen. As planned, but there has been a development."

It was something new for her. Madasa couldn't even start thinking about what to say to him. There never has been any developments.

A holographic display appeared next to her, information and video clips and graphics. With one move of her hand, an image moved around and followed her. Another one, and another. All of them create a holographic column of sequences and scenes.

"We have a suspicion. We may have found the man who stole it from us."

"What is it?"

"It's the reason why we are dying. It is ours! We need it back. Make arrangements with the Central."

Madasa twitched angrily as she flickered through the numerous pictures. She didn't take his demands lightly, and neither did the Central. Suddenly, one of the pictures lit up while others dimmed down. Two men and a woman in a mess hall talking, laughing.

"The old man has it!" The voice screeched, hissed.

She wasn't going to give up her liberty just like that. She did what pleased her, and the dying man was just there to supply her with the workforce. It was her work that made him what he was now. Madasa was ready to argue until she saw another picture. A young woman and the same man she saw earlier, walking down the corridor of a station. Everything changed.

"Fine, I'll handle it," the woman said without hesitation, without arguing.

"You will?" The voice was surprised by the lack of anger and argument. "You will. You have no choice." The air thickened around her like a cage after these words, ready to choke her.

The voice feed disappeared, followed by a momentary sound disturbance, but she kept this one picture floating mid-air, looking at it from many angles.

Her hands wandered down her legs, playing an unknown melody, face half-hidden in the light glow from the virtual picture. Left eye twitching gently.

"Well, well, well... oh darling, why are you so far away from home?"

"Computer, resume simulation," she voiced.

"I miss you... you too, darling," her mother's voice resonated again almost immediately, soothing her nerves but not her mind, which was already making up plans within plans.

"Mum, I just had an idea," Madasa said, turning to the screen with a faint smile, lightening her voice.

"Oh, wonderful! What is it?"

"I think it's time I communed with the gods."