Torus: Chapter 1

At 6:00 am, when almost everyone was asleep, a little bungalow at the end of the street had its lights on as usual. Inside was a mother walking around preparing her child’s breakfast for later while getting ready. Today was another day at work and she couldn’t wait for break time. The astronomer has her usual job to monitor the planets and if the space around them was clear. When everything was ready, she walked out into the chilly morning air and watched the great ball of fire push out of the horizon, making the lush grass sparkle like emeralds. She entered her blue Smart car, turned on the engine, and drove down the neighbourhood.

She parked her car at her usual spot and entered the big glass door.

“Bon matin, Susan” the receptionist，Rose LeBlanc, greeted.

Susan smiled at her then walked to her office. 
After boosting her computer and settling in, she did a brief check of the planets. All clear. She was grabbing for her morning coffee when 2 beeps sounded. She saw it before she clicked on the pop-up and she instantly felt cold. For a split second, she froze staring at the screen, but at nothing in particular. A shiver shot up her spine as she finally accepted what she was looking at.

Impossible! she thought. 
After a few minutes, she finally led her boss the screen.

“Steve. Steve!”, she had said. “You better take a look at this…”

Her boss, Steve Williams (Junior Executive Manager of S.P.A.C.E.) didn’t need an explanation; he felt something amiss. Usually, he would tell her to wait (he was a very busy man) but something in her voice said: “ This is different. It can’t wait.” 

Susan Li motioned at the monitor. At first, Williams was confused at what he was looking at. He too shivered as it began to sink in. Cursing under his breath, he looked at Susan in shock.

“How much time?”

Susan instantly took over her computer and started clicking frantically.

“According to this, it seems that we’ll have about 10 years, maybe less…”

Steve knew he needed to remain calm but his blood boiled and his stomach felt queasy. He knew what orders to give, but he was uncertain. “Someone call the president!” he yelled at the gathered crowd.

“Tell no one else. We don’t want them to worry. We all must remain calm and …”

No one was listening. They all took action, his orders were clear. Non, non, non! Williams thought. S’il te plait, non! 

He refreshed the screen, but it showed the same result. Worse, the percentage was 98%.

“Email everyone. Some people might not know yet,” he barked at Susan. “We’ll need as much help as possible…”



Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5