Moving through folded space is incredibly disorienting as Kaelon had only just discovered. He felt his body spasm as gravitational forces pulled at him from all directions. Thankfully, his spacesuit was designed to withstand such forces although the electrical discharges that licked at it couldn’t be good for it. Several components on his suit had already exploded in a burst of sparks that sent him tumbling away from the spatial crack.

The stars looked like they were spinning in chaotic disarray, but no – it was Kaelon, careening off. He had to close his eyes although that did little to stop the overlapping warning messages that popped up before him. Whether his eyes were open or closed, the holopanels would always be there unless dismissed.

Resisting the urge to vomit, Kaelon tried to swipe away some of the holopanels, but it was hard to control his arms, and he only managed to dismiss half of them.

<>

So, this is how I die?

<>

Kaelon didn’t know what to say not that he had anyone to say anything to. He inhaled deeply, resenting the air he now breathed. Keeping his eyes closed so that he wasn’t overwhelmed by the spinning visuals, he just focused on breathing. He felt a new appreciation for whoever had designed the suit. They were clearly a genius—infuriating, but a genius.

Another warning panel popped up forcing him to gesture awkwardly to clear some more away some to make it readable.

[Sensor readings indicate a strong gravimetric pull is in effect]

Uh oh . . .

Not daring to open his eyes, he huffed in frustration.

“Scan surroundings.”

An affirmative chime sounded.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

[No data is currently available]

Kaelon scrunched up his eyes even more – he was going to have to open them for this to work.

“Scan surroundings!” he shouted, opening his eyes and regretting it.

It felt like it took forever for the chime to sound.

He quickly shut his eyes as tightly as he could, the spin was too much and a headache was creeping in.

[Processing photogrammetry data . . .]

Kaelon started to hyperventilate—it helped. At least he hoped it did. Whether it was a trick of the mind or not, he didn’t care.

A holopanel popped up showing an image that both amazed and confused: a planet of blue and green with white clouds.

How?

[Activating Regulator Directive Omega 4 . . . transmitting data . . . Warning! Connection to the Binary Institute has been severed. Searching . . . Unable to connect! Searching . . .]

The panels kept on popping up and closing in succession.

“What?”

Kaelon had never heard of any “directives” before. He had no idea what it was on about. Despite that, he was beginning to suspect his implant was broken. His palms began to get clammy, and his heart thudded in his chest.

I have a bad feeling about this . . .

<>

[Activating Explorer Protocol Alpha . . . Temporarily granting explorer privileges . . . Interfacing with spacesuit model X119-403-7 B . . .]

Kaelon felt a sudden drag on his body. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer spinning. Instead, he appeared to be heading towards the planet.

It really is a planet!

“Paradise,” he whispered.

As the planet began to appear larger, he soon realised that he was moving faster. It was hard to judge by sight, but he didn’t need to. A holopanel provided an estimate of his current velocity and it was rapidly increasing so much so that he couldn’t read it. While he’d always wanted to go to a planet, he didn’t expect that’d he’d end up crashing into one.

I’ll survive right?

He gulped. “Calculate my chances of surviving the impact.”

A chime sounded.

[Estimated chance of survival without injury is 73% . . .]

“And the spacesuit?”

Another chime sounded.

[Estimate chance of retaining functionality of spacesuit model X119-403-7 B is 1% . . . Failure to return a Class 3 asset is a felony under Regulation 34 Section A . . . If a Class 3 asset is destroyed due to unforeseeable circumstances, compensation must be paid to the Binary Institute to prevent termination of citizenship]

“Great,” Kaelon remarked sarcastically.

Just as he was starting to feel a little more confident about his odds, his vision was obscured by flashes of fire. He wasn’t sure what was happening.

“I’m on fire!” he screamed.

[Warning! Impact in t-minus 10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . .]