The pounding fists of the void had moved without ripples in their wake.
His heat lingered on the deck for just a few days… and he was gone.
0°
The cruel cold of the void rushed down upon us, giving us barely any time to prepare. But we were able to endure, temporarily.
That wouldn't do.
-35°
It's funny to me how naive we were, how arrogant we had become. Despite everything suggesting otherwise we always assumed everything would work out, why wouldn't it? Of course it was hopeless, and we understood that too late.
We spat the Universe in the face by not giving up earlier.
-70°
The others began moving beneath deck. Cowering from the void and its ice-cold breath. And reluctantly, I cowered with them. As much as I like to deny it, I too fear the uncontained void above.
As if a hole in the ground would somehow save us in the end.
-105°
The engine generates its own heat down here, but it's not enough. Not for me, not for us. It's just… not him.
What I would do to feel his warmth again… this place is no substitute. It's counterfeit, a pathetic imitation.
-140°
We can't even steer, not without a wheel. We were never given enough time to build one, so we're left adrift towards whatever lies upon the horizon. But we can't see from down here.
I'm tired of this fucking hole…
-175°
A slow realization slowly dawned on all of us.
We'll never be able to go back to that life. Not after everything we've been through. The void is something we are forced to deal with. We are not the first, but we are the last.
We are here now, and we're taking whatever actions we can. Our ship is in ruins, but we can fix it. We are still warm inside, and we will never forget the fire that we once felt. His warmth that will always burn within us.
The light that we will take with us.
-210°
Our wounded cried out. We rushed to help them, only to find that their minds had been shattered like ours. We knew how they felt.
They died. They died on that day. I cannot feel their warmth.
I cannot feel anything…
Our minds were a haze of chaos. Our bodies were failing us, slowly but surely. We can feel the void eating away at our very core. It took everything we had to drag ourselves out of that hole, and now…
No… no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…
We left in a panic and in the process allowed the void to enter… we can't go back.
-245°
I can feel it… the cold is rising, crawling up my legs. The light from our ship is beginning to fade into the distance, lost to the dark.
As I stare into the abyss, something changes…
Cold. It was cold. Then, hot.
Then, cold again.
A moment of comprehension. A surge of relief rushed through me. This is good. This is right. The universe is a place of peace. Of harmony.
Our bodies will rest in a bed of eons-old ice. The void is infinite, and it has brought peace to us all.
And so we spent our final hours… together.
The light was eternal, and it always shone through. Our unity was stronger than death, greater than grief. It could never be broken.
There was no feeling so pure.
Our last glimmer of life.
One long… beautiful… last…
-273°.
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