The Choice
It could easily be said that Andre was a very talented scientist. He was always looking for good alternative fuel sources, and was almost sure of a breakthrough in removing CFC's from the air in an eco-friendly way. He was having trouble testing it, though. He needed an airtight room, which was no problem to get clearance for, but he needed the CFC's to get to a certain concentration as well, no trouble, then he needed to turn on the machine. That was where he had the problem. He was having trouble safely wiring the machine safely to a room where he could test it. He decided to work on a remote control to operate the machine. Then, he said into his tape recorder, "This machine will soon be operational, if my research is correct, I will save the lives of many people." He then said into a different microphone, "We are starting the first test of the air purification unit, all non-essential personnel must leave the area. Check CFC and Ozone levels now, Testing will begin in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go." The unit clicked on and started to function seemingly well. After checking a screen on the nearby panel for any change in the room, he noticed there were changes in the CFC concentration as well as a slight increase in ozone. Andre thought, this is natural, but I must keep watch until the end of the test. It turned out that the device, while having a good trial run increased the ozone to unsafe levels, but his team was onto a major breakthrough. He said, "That was a good starting point, but we need to keep going and looking for that major 'Eureka!' moment. Other than that, we can call it a day for today. Everyone head home for now, but I want you in early tomorrow. Good work."
Gaia had been watching the whole story. This was a man who regularly recycled, used natural fertilizers and pesticides, and even spent a lot of money upgrading his car to a bio-diesel1 engine.
After a quick change of clothes, Andre noticed something odd in his locker. It was a chrome-colored ring with a small gem in the center. In the gem it looked like a metallic shard had been placed inside. Andre decided to put on the ring and then he heard a voice saying, "Go outside to see your destiny, we shall meet soon Planeteer." Planeteer, he thought, I've heard of them, am I going to join their ranks? The day was definitely different than he expected.
He went outside wearing a normal Midwestern outfit, blue jeans and a t-shirt with walking shoes. He looked up and saw an unfamiliar sight. It was a yellow colored airplane that was about to land. When it did, he noticed it said eco-cruiser 1, and it held five passengers. They seemed to be from all over the world, but he was sure that one was also an American. He also thought that one of them was from Africa, one from Asia, and one was either South American or Native American. He had to guess where the other one was from, but if he had to guess, it was Eastern Europe or Western Asia. As he was lost in thought, the pod opened and the eclectic group welcomed him in with some eagerness. Nobody could have told what adventure had awaited them all.
1 Engine that runs on vegetable oil