Ryan watched the clock on the first cylinder count to zero. He’d long since finished exploring what he could in his new home in only a few hours, so he ended up bored out of his mind as he waited the three weeks it was taking the cylinders to do their work.

He turned on the hologram projector he’d discovered every camera came with and an image of himself before he died appeared. With only a few modifications…

The hologram was of a young man of slightly shorter than average height and somewhat athletic build that wore generic blue jeans and a white t-shirt. He had a head of short brown hair, round brown eyes, a sharp nose that was longer than he’d liked, short chin, wide jaw, and lips larger than he’d liked.

He knew it wasn’t a perfect recreation of himself, there was no way he’d remember all the flaws on his skin, for example, but he’d ignored the temptations to prettify himself. He’d also ignored the idea to make an image that looked nothing like him. He felt he wanted to be honest with the soon to arrive guests if they turned out to be people like him.

The timer reached zero, and the lights to the first cylinder dimmed.

Ryan watched as the hatch opened, wondering which of his theories were true. His best bet was a robot. Whether it’d act like he wanted was the question.

The woman looked exactly like his design. She was naked too, not that he’d expected clothes, and was wet from whatever fluid had just drained from the cylinder before it opened.

Her eyes opened, and she looked around in confusion, “I’m still alive?” She sat up, her brown hair brushing her cheek. She seemed to notice this and touched her face, “When’d my hair get so long?” She touched her throat, “My voice changed? Man, getting electrocuted must’ve done a number on me.”

Ryan didn’t know what to make of her. She seemed like a normal person who had just woken up after surviving an accident. Electrocution?

She finally noticed Ryan’s hologram, “Oh! Hi! You don’t look like a doctor…” Her eyes drifted down, “Wha… why… why do I have tits?” She looked around the room and back to Ryan, “Did you turn me into a chick?”

Ryan needed to think for a second. Number one’s personality was a man’s and… Was this person the same as him? He’d died and come here, so why couldn’t it happen again? He’d come back as a ship and this person had come back and gotten the body he’d made? This was one idea he’d thought most likely, so it didn’t surprise him.

The woman waved her hand in front of the hologram’s face, “Hey, anyone there?” Her face contorted in a show of mild irritation as she grabbed one of her breasts with her right hand before muttering under her breath, “Stop jiggling…”

Ryan moved the hologram to look at the woman and made it talk like he’d practiced, “Oh, sorry. I was thinking about what you just said. You used to be a man and got electrocuted?”

The woman gave the hologram a confused look, “Yeah. I think someone turned the breaker back on when I was checkin’ some wiring,” she looked down again, “and yeah, pretty sure I wasn’t a chick.” She did another quick glance around the room, “So, we’re in some government facility?”

Ryan shook the hologram’s head, “Alien spaceship, I think.”

The woman brightened, “Awesome! Some aliens turned me into a chick in one of their experiments!”

Ryan shook the hologram’s head again, “No aliens here. Ship looks like it got shot up, then abandoned. Well, if the holes and damage everywhere are what I think they are.”

The woman gave Ryan’s hologram a suspicious look, “You sure you’re not an alien. Your voice isn’t comin’ out of your mouth and the way you’re looking at me…”

Ryan sighed, “That’s… it’s a hologram. I’m still not used to using it yet.”

The woman waved her hand through the hologram and brightened again, “Cool.” She looked around the room for a third time before looking down at the cylinder she sat in, “You stuck in one of the other pods?”

Ryan pointed to the big cylinder, “I… don’t know, but my best guess is that I’m in the big one. I hope not, though.”

The woman looked at the cylinder, “Hmm, why not?”

Ryan brought up a new hologram that showed the inside of the large cylinder and revealed what looked like a brain melded with a hunk of metal floating inside some liquid. There was also a cable connecting it to the cylinder.

The woman looked like she wanted to laugh, but her eyes flickered to the hologram of Ryan and she coughed once, “Uhm, cyborg brain in a jar. Nice.”

Ryan removed the hologram, “Not sure if it’s me, but it makes the most sense.”

The woman looked to the other three cylinders, “What about them?”

Ryan put holograms showing the remaining time until the other cylinders opened above each cylinder, “More people like you.”

The woman looked at cylinder two, “Looks like we’ve only got a minute.”

Ryan moved the hologram next to cylinder two, “Yep! So excited to have people to talk to. It’s been three weeks since I woke up and the quiet was getting to me.”

The woman jumped out from her cylinder, “Sounds rough.” She walked to cylinder two and looked down at her chest in irritation as she stopped next to Ryan’s hologram, “Why’d they have to make me a chick? These things are friggin’ annoying. How do women stand them?”

Ryan suddenly felt a surge of guilt, “Uh, that’s my fault. I… designed everyone’s bodies. If I’d known I wasn’t just making cute robots, I might’ve made some dudes too.” 

The woman gave a knowing grin, “I’d have done it too.” She then seemed to think of something, “Hey, why’d you get to do it? Should’ve shared the fun.”

Ryan remembered how he felt desperate to get people to help him, “Because I needed to. I woke up on a broken ship with no way to fix anything. There are four cylinders, so I made all four at once.”

The woman shrugged and looked at the clock as it reached zero, “Yeah, makes sense.”

The timer for cylinder two ended, and the lights dimmed before opening the hatch.

The first woman whistled as he looked at the new woman, “Nice. Would much rather look at women than be one, though.”

The woman in the pod’s eyes fluttered open.

She looked disoriented for a moment before noticing Ryan’s hologram and the first woman, “Where am I? Who are you?” She focused on the first woman, “Why are you naked?” She looked down at herself, “Why am I naked and wet?”

The first woman grinned, “We’re on an alien spaceship!” She then pointed to herself, “Name’s Anton, this is…” She turned to Ryan’s hologram, “Oh yeah, we never said our names.”

Ryan groaned. Right… names. He had gotten so lost in the moment he’d forgotten to ask.

Before Ryan could tell them his name, the woman sat up, covering her breasts with her right arm, and looked at the two standing next to her, “Aliens?” She looked around the room and looked skeptical, “Alright, who set this up, and did you have to undress me? Really?”

Anton waved her hand through Ryan’s hologram, “It’s a hologram! See! Aliens!”

The woman seemed impressed, then her face went from confusion to alarm, “Come on guys, give me my clothes back.”

Ryan made his hologram smile, “Um, your clothes are across the hall, and no, there aren’t aliens on the spaceship. Sorry, Anton.”

The woman slumped a little and put her hand on her forehead, “But… a spaceship? How? Why?”

Ryan felt an idea form in his head, “Can I ask you a question?”

The woman looked up, “Go ahead.”

“What’s the last thing you remember before waking up here?”

Anton seemed interested, “I got electrocuted,” she turned to Ryan’s hologram again, “Uh…”

“Ryan.”

Anton nodded, “Right, Ryan. Gonna forget.”

Ryan chuckled, “Bad with names too?”

Anton nodded again.

The woman sat up straight, “I… I remember helping my friend build his home observatory. He was working above me and… I heard him swear and yell at me to move out of the way? Something hit my head?” She grabbed her head and shook it, “I… can’t remember.”

Anton grinned, “Oh!” He turned to Ryan’s hologram, “I think I get it. How’d you die… uh… Ryan?”

Anton’s excited reaction bugged Ryan, but he ignored it, “I got killed by a truck.”

The woman sank at Ryan’s response, “It can’t be… How could I have… This has to be a prank.” She looked around, “Cid! Morgan! You’re taking this too far!”

Anton looked around to see if anyone would come out.

Ryan wished there was more he could do, “Look, I get it, but it’s the truth because, well… hmm… maybe looking at your reflection will help.”

The woman seemed like she wasn’t listening and continued looking around the room, but after a moment she climbed out of the cylinder on the opposite side Anton and Ryan stood.

She showed no noticeable reaction as she peered at the distorted reflection of her face on the polished metal shell of her cylinder, “I thought my voice was different.” She looked at Ryan’s hologram before looking back down, “I really died? But this doesn’t look like heaven to me, and why do I look so different?”

Ryan’s hologram gestured to the cylinders, “I think these cylinders revived you guys different bodies. I don’t know how, but that’s the only thing that I can think of.”

The woman leaned against her cylinder and looked to the floor, “I still don’t want to think I died,” she looked at Anton and Ryan, “but even if I…” she looked at Anton and Ryan, “we died? Well... at least I have another chance.” She seemed to relax a little and extended her hand to Anton, though Ryan could tell she was shaking, “My name is Rebecca Lindhurst, but you can call me Becky.”

Anton nodded his approval and shook her hand, “Nice ta meet’cha! Sucks that we died, but at least you didn’t get your sex changed!”

Becky momentarily seemed uncertain about Anton’s declaration and quickly turned to Ryan’s hologram, “Ryan, was it?”

“Yep. Nice to meet you, Becky.”

Becky reached at the hologram and waved her hand through it, “This hologram is amazing.” She turned to the nearest door, “But why are you here as a hologram and not yourself?”

Anton chuckled and walked to the large cylinder and slapped the side a few times, “He’s right here! Stuck as a brain in a jar!”

Becky turned to the hologram of Ryan, “Really? I want to think Anton is joking, but I’m not sure what to believe now.”

Ryan showed Becky the hologram of the object in question, “Not one hundred percent it’s me, but I have found nowhere else where I could be.”

Becky studied the hologram, “Why are you like that and not like us?”

Ryan turned off the hologram of ‘himself,’ “I think it’s because my body IS the ship. All I can think when I look at that is that the meat is me and the metal allows me to connect to the ship.”

Becky turned back to the large cylinder, “So, you’re the ship?”

“Yep.”

Becky smiled, “I’m kinda jealous.”

Anton smacked the large cylinder again, “Me too. Let’s switch. You don’t mind being a chick, right? I don’t mind being a brain in a jar if I get to control a ship.”

Becky smiled for the first time, “What’s it like, Ryan? Being a ship?”

Ryan was going to reply, but noticed the timer nearing zero for cylinder three, “I’ll tell you after the other two wake up.”

He made his hologram reappear next to the cylinder in question.

Anton rushed to stand next to the cylinder, “Is she hot too?”

Becky face-palmed and groaned, “Men…” She then jerked her head back up as she covered her pubic area with her hands, “Ryan, you said you made us clothes?”

“Yeah. Oh, right! I’ll pressurize the hallway so you can get them, but I suck at designing clothes so don’t expect much.”

Becky looked at the two doors in the room.

Ryan pointed to a door, “It’s the closest one to you.”

Anton looked to the door, “You haven’t pressurized the hall yet?”

Becky looked to Ryan, curious of his answer too.

“Let’s just say this ship needs some work.”

Becky didn’t show how she felt but walked to the door Ryan had pointed to.

Anton walked to the door too and put her hand on it, “Mind if I look around while you deal with the next person?”

Ryan was okay with that, “Sure. Not that you can go far. There're some doors blocking both ends of the hallway.”

Anton shrugged, “‘S fine.”

Becky turned to the other door, “What’s that one go to?”

Cylinder three powered down and the hatch opened so Ryan didn’t answer as all eyes turned to look.

Anton ran back to the cylinder and took a quick look at number three, “Nice! blondes are the best!” He then ran back to the door to the hallway and hopped impatiently in front of it, a bemused Becky stepping to the side.

Number three woke up and groaned but kept her eyes closed, “My alarm didn’t go off? Uhh. Wait, today is Saturday. Back to sleep.”

She then rolled onto her side and tucked her arms under her head.

Becky smiled and shook her head as she watched, “Must not be a morning person.”

Anton continued to hop from foot to foot in front of the door, “Come on… come on…”

Number three groaned and seemed to reach for something before mumbling, “Pillow fall off the bed again?”

The hallway pressurized to what Ryan felt would be good enough and opened the door, “Don’t take too long. We don’t have many resources to waste.”

Anton ran out of the room, “Time to look at your insides, Ryan!”

Becky shook her head again and snickered, but as she looked at the hallway she grew serious again, “This place is a mess.” She turned to the door on the opposite side, “Right! Need to hurry.”

Ryan opened the door and Becky crossed the hall and walked inside. She paused just long enough to look at Anton, who seemed serious now as he looked at a hole in the ceiling, before turning back to the room and looked around, “What’s this room?”

The room was rectangular and roughly three times larger than the room with the cylinders. The two longer walls, to the left and right of the door, had shelves and cupboards along their length. Most of the shelves looked barren and, considering the mess on the floor, it looked like that’s where most of the contents were now. He couldn’t open the cupboards, so didn’t know what was inside.

To the left of the door lay the star of the room. A large machine. The base of the machine lay flush with the floor at the moment, but it could raise, lower, and tilt as needed. The wall above the platform had several arms attached to it that would come out when active, and retracted when not, like they were now.

Ryan made a second hologram of himself, “I call it the fabrication room.” He had the hologram point to the machine, “I haven’t used it much because everything in the database is too corrupted, but I figured out how to make some stuff.” He pointed to a pile of black clothes near the machine, “Like those clothes piled in front of it.”

Becky looked at the clothes and then grabbed the item of clothing on top, “It made these?”

“I had to design them from scratch. I don’t know how to make thread, so I experimented a little and… this thing is amazing. It let me design from the atomic level. I was never good at chemistry, but I don’t have to sleep and I had three weeks... I could have gone with metal threads, but we’re low on metals so I didn’t want to use them on clothes.”

Becky looked back to the clothes, “Which ones are mine and why black?”

Ryan made a hologram showing a tubelike object made of dozens of dots arranged in a hexagonal pattern, “I tried using the materials I had the most of, and this was the best thing I came up with. I don’t want to remember how many combinations I tried.”
Becky studied the hologram, “It looks familiar. What element is it?”

It had been a while since Ryan had studied anything about the elements, “It’s number six. That was…”

Becky nodded in recognition, “Carbon. That would make sense. It is one of the most amazing elements, after all. I’m guessing it’s also why all our clothes are black, too.”

Carbon sounded like the right answer, “Sounds right.”

Becky studied the shirt she’d picked up, “Looks like you did wonderful. I can’t even see the weave of the fabric and I don’t see any seams.” She looked at the shoulders, “Oh, you put some gold threads in?”

Ryan had printed each person’s set of clothes with a different color, “Yours are the gold ones because they match your eyes. Anton’s are the copper ones to match her hair, number three is bronze to match her skin, and number four is silver because it was the closest match to her hair.”

Becky fished the gold clothes from the pile, “Not my colors, but I’ll take them.”

Ryan never expected he would get the colors right, “Yeah, but it’s all I know how to do.”

Becky shrugged and began putting on her underwear, “We can work on it.”

Ryan focused his attention elsewhere and found Anton looking through a small hole in the floor near the far end of the hall.

Ryan next focused back to the cylinder room and wondered how long number three would take to get up.

Not quite a minute later the blonde woman sat up in her cylinder, “Hmm, can’t go back to...” She grabbed her throat, “Why is my voice…” She looked down at her body, “I became a woman?” 

Ryan felt bad he’d gotten another man put in a woman’s body, “Um, sorry. That’s my fault.”

The woman’s head jerked up and towards Ryan’s hologram, her long wet blonde hair whipping around and slapping her in the face, “Did you do this!?”

She pulled some hair from her mouth and looked at it.

Ryan made his hologram mimic what he’d do if he was embarrassed, “Yeah, I sorta made some bodies and didn’t realize these cylinders would put actual people in them.”

The woman looked around the room, “Made some bodies?”

Ryan’s hologram nodded, “Yep. Four of you.”

Number Three looked around again, “...and may I ask what you have done with my body?”

Ryan turned his hologram’s face away from the woman, “Well, if you’re like the other two… You, um… died… and… ah, somehow your mind or whatever got put in that body.”

Number Three crossed her arms and looked down as she thought, “I don’t recall dying. This means I must have expired during my sleep. My heart was not in the best condition, so I do not find this news surprising.” She then looked at the ceiling, “However, this situation is rather unexpected.”

Ryan wondered why no one seemed too shaken up about having died. Anton seemed thrilled, Becky seemed like she was the most affected but still seemed in control of her emotions, and number three seemed like she’d been expecting to die and already made her peace.

Ryan turned the hologram back to Number Three, “Name’s Ryan, by the way. Ryan Campbell”

Number three looked at Ryan’s hologram, “Oh, yes. Introductions. Let me get out first.” She got out of the cylinder as if she was an older person before her face lit up in a smile and jumped out. She looked around suddenly and seemed embarrassed by the other changes to her body, “Hmm… these new sensations will take some getting used to.” She straightened up as she noticed Ryan’s hologram watching her and cleared her throat, “Mr. Campbell, I am Evan Quinn,” she reached out her hand to Ryan for a handshake, “and I’m very curious as to why and how I’ve come to…” she gestured to her body and the room, “be here and like this after my supposed death.”

Ryan didn’t reach the hologram’s hand out to shake Evan’s hand, “Um, I can’t shake your hand. It’s a hologram.”

Evan leaned forward, but didn’t wave her hand through the hologram, “Hmm, I can’t tell just by looking. Am I to assume the hologram is insubstantial?”

Ryan nodded, “Yep, can’t touch it.” He pointed to the large cylinder, “As for where I really am, I’m actually in…”

Anton rushed into the room, “Is Blondie awake yet?” She then skidded to a halt when she saw Evan standing by Ryan’s hologram, “Wow, she’s tall!”

Evan looked at Anton and studied her for a moment before speaking, “Ah, a noisy one. May I ask why you are naked?”

Anton looked at her naked body before turning to look back at the hallway, “Oh, Red is still grabbing the clothes.”

Ryan checked on Becky, “Becky’s almost done getting dressed, so she should be here with the clothes soon. Or, you know, you could get them yourself.”

Anton waved her hand in dismissal, “Nah, I’m fine waiting.”

Evan looked where Anton had, “Perhaps I will. This body is distracting.”

Anton looked at her body again, then Evan’s, “Ryan made us these awesome bodies, seems like a waste to cover them.” 

Evan sighed, “I agree these bodies are exquisite, but I would like to keep a modicum of modesty.” She then looked like she realized something and turned to Ryan’s hologram, “You made our bodies, Mr. Campbell?”

Ryan noticed the timer on Number Four was nearing zero, “Yeah, but I’ll have to explain later because our last friend is about to wake up.”

Anton looked at the fourth cylinder and jogged over to it, “Let’s see what Ryan made this time.”

Evan followed Anton, “I take it there are five of us? Miss...”

Anton glanced back to Evan, “Yep. Me, you, Red, Ryan, and the girl in here.” She seemed to remember something, “Oh yeah, I’m Anton.”

Evan nodded, “I see.” She turned to Ryan, “I am not surprised a young man such as yourself would make his own harem. However, if it means I get to experience youth again, I cannot say I object to being part of this arrangement.”

Ryan focused back on Becky, who finished dressing and was now digging through the pile of clothes, “I should have told you sooner, but Number Three is up now and Number Four’s cylinder is about to open.”

Becky jumped and let out a cute gasp, “Oh!” She grabbed the pile of clothes in one motion, “Better hurry then!”

Becky ran from the fabrication room, a few clothes falling to the floor. She then dropped the pile in the cylinder room, just to the side of the door, before running back and collecting what she dropped.

Once Becky entered the cylinder room with the last of the clothing, Ryan closed the doors to both rooms. He then vented the air from the hallway.

Becky grabbed the clothes with the markings showing they were Number Four’s and walked over to join Anton and Evan.

Evan turned to Becky as she stopped next to her, “Greetings, Miss…”

Becky turned to Evan and held out her hand, “Rebecca Lindhurst, but call me Becky.”

Anton started a ten second countdown.

Evan glanced at Anton, then turned back and took Becky’s hand and shook it, “Nice to meet you, Becky. My name is Evan Quinn.”

Anton’s countdown and the timer both reached zero.

Everyone looked at the cylinder as its lights dimmed and the door raised.

Inside lay Ryan’s Snow Princess, just the way he made her.

Anton whistled, “Ryan, you went fancy with this one.”

Becky leaned forward to get a better look, “She’s pretty.”

Evan studied her for a moment, then turned to the pile of clothes, “I will let you three handle the new arrival. I am going to make myself more presentable.”

Evan walked away.

Snow Princess’ eyes shot open and immediately looked around, “Koko, doko?”

Snow Princess sat up then clutched her head, her long wet ice blue hair sticking to her naked body.

“How are you feeling?” Ryan felt something off with her compared to the other three when they woke.

Snow Princess looked around frantically, “Aya doko itta no?” She noticed the others standing around her, “Uchi no ko doko?”

Anton’s eyes widened, “Is she speaking Japanese?”

The woman jumped out of the cylinder and grabbed Becky’s shoulders, her hands shaking, “Koko doko?”

Becky shook her head, “I’m sorry, I don’t know Japanese.”

Snow Princess looked at Becky’s clothes, “American? Are… are you an American?”

Ryan was glad she spoke English, though she still had a somewhat thick accent.

Becky nodded, “Yes.”

Snow Princess looked around the room, “Where… where is here? Have you seen my daughter? She is Japanese. She is five years old.”

Becky lowered her head, “I’m sorry. Your daughter isn’t here.”

Snow Princess grabbed her head, “I…”

Becky looked unsure what to do, so Ryan felt he should help, “What is the last thing you remember?”

Snow Princess shook her head and pulled on her hair as she looked at the floor, “I was driving home with Aya and my husband from vacation in the mountains. It was snowing and… my husband tried to stop… the car fell…”

Snow Princess fell to her knees and sobbed.

Anton looked to the side, then walked away, a pained look on his face, “I probably better stay outta this.”

Becky looked around, unsure what to do, but after a moment she held out the clothes she was holding to Snow Princess, “Here, you should put some clothes on and we can tell you what happened.” 

Ryan debated with himself if he should tell the woman that she didn’t survive the car accident now or wait until she had calmed down, but decided it best to get it over with, “I don’t know what happened to your family, but… can you look at your reflection on the cylinder?”

Becky looked at Ryan’s hologram, “Are you sure about this?”

Ryan wasn’t sure, “I think so.”

Snow Princess rocked back and forth but didn’t react.

Becky put her hand on her shoulder, “I am sorry, but Ryan is right. You need to see.”

Snow Princess looked at Becky, then got out of the cylinder and looked at her warped reflection. At first she seemed puzzled, then her eyes widened, and she grabbed her face.

Snow Princess stared at her face, “Yurei ni natta?! Mou, shinyatta?” She slowly turned to Becky, “Aya… is Aya… is Aya…”

Becky shook her head, “Aya is not here. Maybe she is still alive with your husband?”

Ryan wasn’t sure it would help but, “You died, but we… saved you, I guess. You got a new body and maybe… well maybe someday you can see Aya again.”

Snow Princess felt her face, then the rest of her body, “I… I do not want! Give me back my body!”

Ryan had hoped Snow Princess would be like the other three and not have died tragically, but she hadn’t and he felt heartbroken after hearing her, “I’m sorry, I can’t return you to your body. The woman with you, Becky, she is the same as you. She died and woke up here in a new body too. We all did.”

Becky smiled, and it looked like she wanted to put her free hand on Snow Princess’ shoulder, but she put her hand back to her side, “Ryan is right. We’re all in the same situation.” She turned to the two sorting through the clothes by the door, “I don’t know about the others, but I will do everything I can to help you see your family again. I want to see my family too. I can only imagine what they are going through right now...”

Becky lowered her gaze and clenched her fist.

Snow Princess looked up at Becky, “If… if Aya is… too… can you bring her?”

Ryan wasn’t sure if he could, “I don’t know, but I’ll try. If we’re lucky, she survived and your husband is taking care of her.”

Snow Princess gave Ryan a weak smile, “Thank you.”

Becky took a deep breath then, held out Snow Princess’ clothes again, “Here, put these on while Ryan checks.”

Snow Princess looked at the clothes and for the first time and noticed her nakedness, though she didn’t seem embarrassed. 

She took the clothes, “Thank you, miss…”

Becky relaxed a little, “Rebecca Lindhurst, but you can call me Becky.”

Snow Princess nodded, “Miss Becky, pleased to meet you. I am Mayu Iwata.”

Mayu leaned against the cylinder and looked at her clothes.

Becky smiled, “Pleased to meet you, Mayu.” She turned to Evan and Anton, “I’ll let you get dressed, but if you want to talk some more, I’m here.”

Ryan noticed Mayu was shaking and felt he should leave her alone, so he thought it a good time to check on the others and also see if he could use a cylinder to bring Mayu’s daughter here.

Ryan closed the hatch to cylinder one and spoke to Evan and Anton as they seemed to struggle with the clothes, “Oh, Anton. Your clothes have copper threads in them. Evan, yours are bronze.”

Evan looked up and nodded, “That is helpful to know.” 

Evan went back to looking through the pile.

Anton groaned, “That’s practically the same color…”

Ryan had wished he’d had more colors to work with, “Yeah, but I had a hard enough time just doing that.”

Ryan turned his attention back to cylinder one and tried opening the character creator again to find Anton’s image still there. Ryan hoped he didn’t need it anymore, but he didn’t want Mayu’s daughter to end up looking like Anton and tried to delete it.

Nothing happened.

No matter what he did, Anton’s image wouldn’t go away. 

Could it be that the cylinders only worked on the woman they’d grown?

Mayu was only half dressed when Ryan delivered the news, “I’m sorry, Mayu, but I don’t think I can bring anyone else here. The cylinders won’t let me.”

Mayu stopped dressing and looked at Ryan’s hologram, “Thank you. Maybe it is better I don’t know. I can think Ayu is still alive with my husband. I remember him reaching Aya before I...”

Mayu’s gaze became distant and her posture relaxed.

Becky seemed torn about what to say, “Your husband was alive, so I think that means Aya is too.”

Mayu’s trembling worsened, and she lowered until she squatted next to the cylinder, “Yes, but children need their mother.”

Becky looked like she was struggling to keep smiling, “Which is why we will get you back to your family as fast as we can.” She turned to Ryan’s hologram, “Ryan, where are we, anyway?”

Ryan brought up a sphere showing what he saw outside. He’d have liked to have a 3D image, but he couldn’t tell how far away anything was, “I… don’t know. Just that we’re on a busted spaceship somewhere.”

Some of Becky’s sadness melted away at the sight of the image, “Is this…”

Ryan knew exactly what Becky wanted to say, “Stars and galaxies?”

Becky seemed eager to study the image, but glanced at Mayu and took a deep breath, “So we’re not on or near Earth?”

Ryan shook his hologram’s head, “I don’t know. The sensors barely work.”

Becky turned back to Mayu, “We can worry about it later. I want to spend time with Mayu until she calms down a little.”

Ryan understood. He’d wanted to tell them what he knew about their situation after they all got out of the cylinders, but he agreed with Becky that they should wait.

Mayu stood back up, still shaking, and looked at Becky, then Ryan’s hologram, “I… I am fine. I want to see my family, but I do not want to be a… a...”

Becky seemed to know what Mayu wanted to say, “Burden?”

Mayu nodded.

Becky put her hand on Mayu’s shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze, “Okay, but if you need some alone time, we’ll understand. If you need someone to talk to, I’ll be here.”

Mayu smiled and nodded, “Thank you, Ms. Becky.”

Ryan felt the same way Becky did, “I’m here too, Mayu. I can hear you anywhere on the ship so just call for me.”

Mayu nodded again, then bowed, “I look forward to working with you.”

Ryan noticed she was still shaking, but it wasn’t as bad now, “I look forward to working with you too.”

Becky turned to the side as she noticed Anton and Evan approach, “Good to see you with some clothes on.” She walked towards them, “Let’s let Mayu finish getting dressed.”

Evan nodded and stepped to the side to let Becky pass, then followed her back to the door.

Anton waved at Mayu, “Feeling better?”

Mayu looked at Anton as she picked up the clothes where she had dropped them and gave a quick nod, “Yes, thank you.”

Anton looked relieved, “Great! I’ll let you get back to puttin’ your clothes on.”

Mayu smiled politely, then started putting the rest of her clothes on. Which she did quickly. 

The others noticed Mayu walking towards them and they met in the center of the room.

Ryan felt nervous, but excited, “I guess it’s time for me to explain what I know, about where we are, and what we need to do.”

Evan nodded but stayed quiet.

Becky turned to Ryan’s hologram, “I’m ready.”

Mayu still seemed confused and glanced around the room.

Anton’s eyes grew wide in anticipation, “Yeah, I’ve been waiting for this!”

Ryan remembered not everyone knew who each other was, “Well, maybe we should start with introductions? Like name, job, where you’re from.”

Anton stepped forward as soon as Ryan finished speaking, “I’ll go first! Um… Name’s Anton Richards, but I’m thinking of changing it since I’m a different me now. I’m from North Carolina and got my engineering degree there. Let’s see… I like sci-fi, especially Star Trek and Stargate, so this is like a dream come true.”

Anton seemed to want to speak more, but Becky stepped forward, “My name is Rebecca Lindhurst, but I like to go by Becky. I moved around a lot as a child, so I guess I’m not from anywhere. I have a doctorate in astrophysics, which is both my job and my hobby. I also love reading scientific literature, writing, and black holes.” 

Becky stepped back and Evan stepped forward, “Evan Quinn. I’m from California, but was in Montana where I taught science at a community college.”

Evan stepped back.

Anton raised her hand, “Professor, what are your hobbies?”

Evan looked at Anton and thought for a moment, “I like to read scientific literature much like Ms. Lindhurst and go hiking or camping, though I suppose I was getting too old for it.”

Becky nodded in approval when she heard Evan enjoyed hiking, “I wish I had more time for that, but I live too far away from the mountains.”

Evan nodded, “Which is much the reason I moved to Montana.”

Anton raised her hand again, “Professor, how old are you?”

Evan smiled, “Well, Ms. Richards, that is something you will have to keep wondering about.”

Anton grinned, “I’m guessing over seventy.”

Evan ignored Anton and turned to Mayu, “I believe your name was… Mayu?”

Mayu still seemed distracted, but she had listened to all the introductions, “Oh, yes, Ms… eto… Mr.?” She looked from Evan to Anton, then back to Evan, “Mr. Kawin.”

Evan chuckled, “Ms. should be fine. I’m not one to ignore my new sex and what it entails.” 

Mayu nodded, “Ms. Kawin… Kuwinn… Queen…”

Anton looked amused, but thankfully held back on any comments.

Evan smiled, “Evan is fine if that is easier to pronounce.”

Mayu looked embarrassed, “Thank you, Ms. Eban.”

A barely audible snicker came from Anton.

Becky rolled her eyes at Anton, then turned back to Mayu, “Don’t worry about it.”

Mayu bowed slightly, “Forgive me, it has been a long time since I spoke English.”

Evan shook his head, “I understand. I think I would fare worse if I attempted Japanese.”

Mayu gave Evan a thankful smile, “Yes, maybe we can teach each other.” She looked at Becky, Anton, and Ryan’s hologram, “I will start again. I am Mayu Iwata. I am from Kyoto, Japan. I studied in California for my pre-medical in biology.”

Ryan barely heard Evan say, “California, you poor soul.”

Mayu thought for a moment, “Next year I am… I was finishing my degree in shounikagaku… eto… eto… Ah! Pediatrics.” She paused, “Oh, hobbies. I enjoy playing with my daughter Aya and our cat.”

Mayu bowed.

Becky smiled, “Nice to meet you, Mayu. I look forward to working with you.”

Anton gave Mayu a thumbs up, “Yep! Look forward to workin’ with ya!”

Evan nodded to Mayu, “Pediatrics? A respectable career.” Under her breath, “She might be able to handle the noisy one.”

Mayu bowed again, “Thank you for being kind.”

Ryan realized it was his turn next. He wished he had gone first as he had to go after a science professor, astrophysicist, and a pediatrician.

Anton turned to the large cylinder, “Ryan, it’s your turn!”

Mayu looked from the large cylinder to his hologram, which Ryan had forgotten about, and looked confused.

Ryan realized Mayu was the only one who didn’t know about the hologram, “Oh, sorry, Mayu, that isn’t really me standing there. I’m… kinda stuck in the big cylinder Anton yelled at.”

Mayu seemed confused.

Ryan moved the hologram to stand in front of his cylinder.

Mayu jumped at the sudden movement, “It is a light trick?”

Anton waved her hand through the hologram, “It’s a hologram!”

Mayu seemed to understand, “I see.”

Ryan began animating his hologram again, “Still getting used to using it… Anyway! I’m Ryan Campbell. I’m from Colorado. Didn’t go to college and was working at a ski resort for the winter. My hobbies are skiing, gaming, and the internet.” He laughed awkwardly, “Nothing special.”

Anton nodded in approval, “College sucks, man. Nothin’ wrong with gettin’ a job that’s good enough to let ya do the real important stuff like relaxin’.”

Becky shook her head at Anton’s remarks and snorted before turning back to Ryan, “College isn’t for everyone.”

Evan nodded at Becky’s comment, “I agree with Becky. I’ve seen too many students who waste their time getting a degree they never use.”

Ryan felt relieved he’d gotten an understanding group. He’d worried he might get someone foulmouthed or perverted, “Thanks.” He had the hologram look at everyone, “Well… now that we know each other a little, I should tell you what I know.” He made a diagram of the ship he’d made appear, “This is the ship we’re on, well, at least what I can see.”

Everyone stepped forward and studied the hologram, and Ryan explained what he had found out about the ship by showing what he assumed the ship looked like from the outside based on what he’d seen, “The ship is oval shaped, and yes, there is a chunk missing on one end.” 

Anton pointed to the missing area, “You don’t know what’s here?”

Ryan shook his hologram’s head, “Nope.”

Anton seemed interested, “Is it missing or you can’t see it, but it’s there?”

Ryan didn’t have the answer, “We’ll find out if we can get a space suit or fix our way there.”

Anton went back to studying the hologram. 

Ryan waited to see if the others wanted to say anything, but it seemed they wanted to let him go on.

“Anyway, there are five decks with the one we’re on in the middle,” he highlighted the middle deck briefly when he mentioned where they were. He then highlighted the top and bottom decks, “The top and bottom decks both hav a single oval room with a machine in the center. Both rooms have heavy damage too,” he highlighted a large breech on the bottom, “which lets me see there is something outside the room before it goes to space. The breach also cuts through part of the machine and into the decks above.”

Ryan highlighted the next deck up, “The next deck contains a single hallway that runs along its center and has what I assume to be an airlock at the rear. I think the rooms on either side are fuel tanks or something similar, though they seem empty thanks to some hull breaches.”

Ryan highlighted the middle deck again, “The deck we’re on is the biggest.” He highlighted a corridor, “The corridor runs along the hull and ends at doors that led to the mystery area on either side of the deck.” 

He highlighted some rooms that lay below the area he couldn’t see, “Below the mystery area are three rooms.” He highlighted the left most room, “The one on the left is storage.” He highlighted the room to the right, “This one has a machine that doesn’t work, but it looks like a small reactor.” He highlighted the center room, “The camera doesn’t work in this room, but my best guess is another fabrication room.” 

Below these three rooms was a hallway, but he didn’t think he needed to highlight it, so moved on. 

Ryan highlighted eight small rooms across the hall, “Across this hallway are eight rooms that I think are living quarters, if the beds mean anything. All but the far left one seem in good shape, so I imagine once we fix the breeches in that hallway we can move into them right away.”

This got some positive comments from the group.

He highlighted the next set of rooms, “Below the bedrooms are where we are now, along with the med bay to the far left, a cafeteria to the right, and a small storage room filled with containers.” 

Mayu perked up at the mention of the med bay.

He highlighted the rooms across the hallway, “Across from us is the fabrication room. On both sides of the fabrication room there are two more storage rooms that are for materials for the fabricator. This setup is what makes me think the center room next to the mystery area has another fabricator.” 

Ryan skipped another hallway below the fabricator room. 

Ryan highlighted the largest room on the deck, “This is the reactor room. There is a breach to the right of the room and part of the reactor has taken some damage, but the reactor has eight cores and three of them still work, so lucky us.”

Evan spoke up, “What kind of reactor is it?”

Ryan thought he knew, “I think it’s fusion since it runs on hydrogen.”

Evan smiled, “Ah. I would love to see how it operates.”

Anton seemed disappointed, “Aww, I was hoping for antimatter.”

Becky and Evan turned to Anton at the same time.

Evan shook her head, “I would hope not.”

Becky nodded at Evan’s comment, “Yeah, I don’t think I would want to be on a ship filled with antimatter. Unless you want the risk of it exploding?”

Anton shrugged, “Yeah, I guess so.”

The three turned back to the hologram.

Ryan saw they finished talking so highlighted the last deck, “Last deck!” He highlighted two large rooms at the rear, “These two rooms are fuel tanks. The one on the right is empty, but the one on the left still has some hydrogen in it.”

He highlighted the other two rooms on the deck, “The room closest to the rear has a breach and I can’t see inside so I don’t know what it’s for. The forward most room seems mostly intact, but even though I can see what’s in it, I’m not sure what it’s for either. It’s mostly tools and countertops with machines built into them that I don’t know how to use.”

Becky was the first to turn away from the hologram, “How much of the ship can we go to?”

Ryan highlighted the corridor he’d pressurized before, and the rooms along it, “These rooms, the hallway outside, and the room with the 3D printer are the safest. If we can find a spacesuit in the fabrication room or make one, I don’t think it’ll be hard to make the other areas safe.”

Anton raised his hand, “I can do the welding and cutting! Get me a spacesuit and I’ll get this place fixed up real quick!” 

Evan stepped back, “I will study the technology. It is not my expertise exactly, but depending on Ms. Richard’s skills as an engineer, I might be able to help study the technology.”

Becky sighed, “I’m not sure what I can help with until we can see outside, but I’m willing to help with anything.” 

Ryan thought of something, “You can help experiment with the tools scattered on the floor of the fabrication room and med bay.”

Mayu perked up again at the mention of the med bay, “Mr. Ryan, you said the medical room is next to this one?”

Ryan pointed with his hologram to the second door in the room, “Yep, just through that door. It’s got an air leak, but not a bad one, so it should be an easy fix.”

Mayu seemed eager for the first time, “I want to see what is there.”

Ryan felt himself feeling hope for the first time since he came here, “Should we get to work?”

Anton nodded enthusiastically, “Sure thing, boss!”

Evan nodded, “I think fixing a derelict spaceship will be an interesting endeavor.”

Mayu hadn’t taken her eyes away from the door to the med bay, but then looked to the door to the hallway, “I will help with fixing until the medical room is safe.”

Becky seemed enthusiastic despite her lack of expertise in repairs, “I’m not good with things like this, but I’ve helped friends build things before so I can help with easier things.”

Ryan wasn’t sure if they could fix the ship, but they were going to try. No, they were going to succeed and make it back to Earth, even if they had to fly across the universe.