The Struggle

Aurora wrote for days on end, only stopping to use the facilities and to eat sparingly. She wrote about all of her adventures with Jim and how she had felt more alive than ever before when she was with him. She wrote of the tragic moment when she found out that he had sentenced her to death upon this ship. Aurora yearned for that moment yet again: she would rather be angry with Jim alive than…than this.

She wrote of how she felt now.

Hopeless.

Alone.

Just as it had done in her youth, writing seemed to keep the darkness at bay. But how long could it last?

The thought struck her. Could she survive from writing alone?

Aurora put her tablet down. In all her life, what she learned from observing the world was that people – truly happy people – had others in their life that they could rely on. How was she to survive life alone?

"I need to get out of here," Aurora said aloud.

She shot up out of her chair and headed up to the bar. Arthur the android could talk some sense into her.

As she approached the bar, she remembered that Arthur had shut down during the accident. His body was bent over in an odd manner, almost as if he was dead and all that remained was his mangled corpse.

Jim would have known how to fix him.

Aurora took a look at the android, trying to remember through past conversations with Jim about how it functioned. She gave him a once-over, attempting to limit how much permanent damage she was doing to the robot.

Her efforts were to no avail. She could not fix him.

The one companion who could hold a civilized conversation with her was broken and she had no way of bringing him back.

Aurora fell to the ground, but tears never came. She had cried so much for Jim that she had nothing left.

She sat there on the ground in a catatonic state for some time. The reality of her predicament entirely overcame her.

Aurora Lane was alone and sentenced to die without any human contact.

This was hell. Oh, how she wished the pod had malfunctioned when Jim tried to wake her. How she wished it would have kept her asleep or even killed her then and there.

I'm stronger than this, she thought. It's better to have loved Jim and lost him than never have known him at all…

She thought it. But did she believe it?

Aurora headed back to her room, ready for sleep to take her. That's all she could do. That's all she'll ever be able to do.