Tikiturbo

"If I never wore my mask, people wouldn't see me as so glad-happy."

A short story told in installments. Sci-fi, planned for no more than 17,000 words. About a boy who journeys into outer space to discover the universe and, ultimately, himself. Enjoy. Chapter 1 Lucas eased the star glider into the docking bay and let out a long, relieved sigh. Another successful flight, he thought. Simulation Complete, flashed the overhead display. Of course, it’d be nice to land one day and not be reminded that it was all an elaborate training program. It sort of kills the feeling of accomplishment when you realize you didn’t actually accomplish anything. He hung up the virtual reality goggles and turned to exit the room. Then again, Solomon would probably kill me if I ever took the real thing out for a spin – if a stray solar flare didn’t torch me first. 184 kilometers from the Sun might sound like a safe distance, but the terrifying speed at which their station had to revolve in order to turn and not burn around the Sun strongly discouraged real space travel. Leaving the station was not the issue; it was docking without crashing into and knocking out of delicate orbit the ExORBE, and thereby depriving the heliosphere of its last three solar researchers, not to mention their star pupil. The irony of perishing by the very thing to which they had dedicated their lives would not be lost on posterity, and Lucas would die a million unironic deaths before becoming the butt of a historical joke. Judging eternal ignominy a steep price for a fun but brief foray into space, Lucas decided to shelve his ambitions and practice on the simulator instead. After all, why would he ever want to leave the ExORBE, or the Experimental Orbiting Research and Broadcasting Emitter as it was professionally known, anyway? Sure, the chores were tedious, all their meals came freeze-dried and in a bag, and sometimes he could swear the Sun’s gravitational pull was stunting his growth, but for the most part, he loved it there. Besides, Lucas thought as he walked towards the airlock. Where else would I get to have such an awesome view? In front of him, so large that the window could barely encompass it all, was the Sun. That was with a capital “S.” Constantly erupting from the fusion of 620 million metric tons of hydrogen every second, its surface glowed with such intensity that even behind a polarized screen you worried you might go blind. At a distance, the Sun looked benign, warm, and comforting. Yet up close, paradoxical as it seemed, the source of all that goodness, warmth, and comfort owed its existence to a series of violent, destructive, nightmarish reactions that culminated an apocalyptic ball of fire. More than paradoxical, it seemed almost unbelievable. For Lucas, however, the unbelievable was an everyday occurrence. And the wonder of it never ceased. I’m pretty sure, he thought, if this screen weren’t polarized, I would sill stare at the Sun. At least if I went blind, it’d be with the most incredible thing in the universe seared into my memory. No, that’s a stupid thought, he told himself. What if something even more incredible came along and I couldn’t see it? Lucas looked at the Sun again. Yeah, right. Like that could ever happen. The alarm signaling the opening of the exterior airlock shocked the boy out of his ramblings and turned his attention to the three figures entering the hatch. Three suits, each with its own perfectly controlled environment that enabled the wearer to survive temporarily in the unforgiving vacuum of space, walked slowly and methodically to the end of the airlock chamber closest to Lucas. He could see them through the transparent interior hatch linking the inner airlock to the main cabin. The one nearest the sidewall punched some numbers into a keypad, and the exterior hatch began to close. While they waited patiently for the airlock to seal and the chamber to pressurize, Lucas looked on them with a proud smile. Inside the three suits were Ray, Jason, and Solomon, adoptive guardians of and idolized heroes to the aspiring solar researcher. A second alarm sounded, this time accompanied by a green light, which signaled that it was safe for the men to remove their gear. The one who had punched in the airlock code released the locks on his helmet and turned in Lucas’s direction. The others did the same, undoing their helmet locks with a pneumatic hiss and joining the first in facing him. Lucas stopped smiling. Even though he could not see their features, he felt as though they were staring at him. A strange sense of foreboding came over him. What? What did they want? Were they angry about something? Oh, no. Maybe they found out about the new ship I’ve been practicing with. Or maybe I made an improper report in my last broadcast. Or maybe, Lucas shuddered, I forgot to replace the water in their humidity tanks and the dry air made their bodies shrivel up... just like a mummy’s. Still staring at Lucas, the figures reached up to take off their helmets. Slowly and deliberately, the three began to lift their visors from their heads, their gaze never once leaving its target. Frozen with fear, Lucas could only bring himself to close his eyes to brace for whatever hideous sight he might see. I can’t look. “Lucas,” came a voice from the intercom. “Look at what you’ve done to us.” Hesitantly, Lucas opened one eye. Then both. Then his mouth. Then he fell over, he had started laughing so hard. “Ha, ha, you guys!” he cried, his eyes full of tears. No, he hadn’t forgotten to change the water. Better yet, he had overfilled them, so much so that the resulting humidity had caused their hair to stand on end to its full length, making them for all the world look like a trio of made scientists. “Oh, so you think this is funny, huh?” roared the voice on the intercom. “Well, just wait till this hatch opens and I’ll show you how funny it is!” Lucas was too busy trying to recover his breath to take note of the threat. By the time the inner airlock had opened, he was too weak to offer any resistance to the old man, who tackled him and promptly delivered a devastating Russian haircut to his head. “No, please, Uncle Solomon! Ha, ha – ow, ow.” “You looked a little hungry, so I thought you could use a knuckle sandwich,” Solomon grinned good-naturedly. “No, please, I don’t want to look like you!” “Really? I thought you liked funny hair, you seem so fond of giving it to other people.” “Ha, ha, no thanks, you can keep it.” Lucas and Solomon sat up together laughing. Contentedly observing the reunion of the two inseparable companions, Ray and Jason exchanged gratified looks before themselves bursting into laughter at the sight of their own ridiculous visages. Though every now and then he had his doubts, it was at moments like this that Lucas considered himself the luckiest orphan in the world.

I would say lock it: one of the great things about a story is the potential for various interpretations and messages people can draw from them. If someone were to add more and more information to the canon, it would ruin the point of interpretation, since the new canon could nullify the ideas with a word. Keeping the story the way it is now seems best to me.

I can't believe the contest is finally over. Echoing what everyone has said, congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to the judges who have been working on this for so long.

I'd say three also. It's a good, even (actually odd) number that allows for a fair amount of fan input without overwhelming canon with ideas from anyone. It'll force voters to be more selective and hopefully narrow down the range of entries that make it.

Thank you for reposting and judging my entry, Fisher. Also, I corrected the mistake you found, and changed it from saying "children" to "Matoran."

I changed "children" to "Matoran." Thank you for reading my entry.

Nah, I think just Life is fine.

Haha, sorry. I didn't know what to call it, so I just put that.

Name: Life Theme: Fish Word Count: 487

Life Swimming at the front of the school, the Makuta Fish spotted an irritating light enter the murky water with a splash. Instinctively, the predator lunged at it, sinking its teeth deep into its victim. The Makuta Fish quickly swallowed its unresisting prey and, with a prickling sensation in its mouth, turned back to the school of other Makuta Fish to search for something more satisfying. Suddenly, the Makuta Fish felt itself jerked to one side by a pain in its mouth. Enraged by this unwelcome feeling, the Makuta Fish pulled with all its strength in the opposite direction, but against its will it was pulled by an even stronger force back and upwards. As it was forced away from its normal course, it caught a glimpse of its school swimming off with a new leader in search of something to kill. The Makuta Fish stopped struggling and let itself be pulled up ignominiously by the throbbing pain in its jaw. As it broke the surface of the water, the throbbing increased and noises alien to the Makuta Fish assaulted it unceasingly. In addition to this, the Makuta Fish could no longer see except in indistinct outlines framed by a penetrating light. Two of the outlines stood out. Both towered above their surroundings, and one of them appeared to be coming closer to the Makuta Fish. Only moments after it had registered all this, the Makuta Fish felt the pain in its mouth spike unbearably to inexplicably disappear, replaced by a still painful but considerably more tolerable form of agony. Then it was dropped on a hard, rough surface, breaking its fall with its head. It was almost as if the Makuta Fish were the plaything of a sadistic god whose sole enjoyment was inflicting suffering. Desperate, miserable, and unable to think of anything except escape, the Makuta Fish thrashed around helplessly in a futile attempt to swim where there was no water present. In between the sounds of its body slapping against the hard barrier keeping it from the water, the Makuta Fish could hear strange noises coming from the two tall silhouettes. Without warning, the Makuta Fish was once again lifted up against its will, this time by its tail. By now, the Makuta Fish had had more than enough and decided to ignore its battered condition to make one last mad bid at freedom, but it was not necessary. Before it could fight back, the Makuta Fish felt itself falling through the air again, this time end over end. With a soft thud and a brief moment of sightlessness, the Makuta Fish was returned to its quiet, foggy environment. Cautiously, the Makuta Fish slowly swam forward. The Makuta Fish stopped in shock: already its wounds had been reduced to a lingering feeling. It glanced around at its surroundings. There was not a creature in sight. The Makuta Fish felt hungry, but it did not mind.

I remember Lariska was also a part of the "Suicide Squad," or "The Sinister Seven" since they could hardly be called Magnificent.

It also could have been due to being drained of light himself. Having experienced the same things the Shadow Matoran had probably made him more sympathetic to their plight. The fact that they were fellow Av-Matoran likely only increased his fervor to save them.

Muffin button: Three people left on the planet know what that is, and I'm not one of them! Ironically, I quickly realized the buying TLG was an April Fools', but then I decided to look for more jokes and completely fell for this. Well played.

This correction came from The First Speaker and has been fixed. It now reads "That's right," I whispered, instead of "That's right, I whispered.