Level 4 Compromises

The year 2034. An amazing year for the world. Time and time again, we've been knocked down by one, just one pesky little thing. Evil to its core, it has no emotions, no fears. It only wants to kill and spread. And in this age, a vaccine has been made for smallpox. While it had been encased in freezers at various locations around the world, never to be released in public, accidents happen, even if they happened to be deadly, life-altering accidents. No one suffers from the virus any longer. Except, that is, one Philip Carson. Philip works at a small hardware store in Detroit, Michigan. As with most people, Philip never got the dream he wanted. His wish: to go into space, forged from his childhood days in front of the television, watching documentaries and learning everything there was to know about space. It was a nearly impossible one, as funding for just one man's dream is completely ridiculous. He had smallpox, and knew about it. He was kept in a maximum bio-containment center called the Slammer. He would be probed day and night, looking for symptoms and reactions. Of course, despite a vaccine in effect, smallpox could spread like wildfire across America. And unlike the flu, it had a higher mortality rate. Strapped to a chair in a large rubber room, Philip detached himself from all emotion, quietly staring at the floor, inconsolably sad. The people in space suits continued their work, but one day, an offer was made. A general from USAMRIID, a branch of the U.S military dedicated to virus containment and vaccination, met with an official from NASA. General Bryan Darling had met with Dr. Miles Price over doing a quick sweep of NASA facilities, especially the spaceships. After all, who would ever know when you brought something back until it was too late. Price had been on plenty of expeditions into "the final frontier", and was most likely in the last years of his life. Although funding for NASA had gone down the drain, some were still dedicated enough to it that NASA had almost made a full comeback in terms of service. The conversation had gone from containment to small talk rather quickly, as it was pretty easy to make an appointment.

"What's it like in space, eh?" Darling started. "Cold, I imagine." Price smirked.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"We've got a guy that'd love to go; shame that he's full of pox." Price lit up.

"Ya know, we could make a lot of money off of this. If he's the last person infected by smallpox, wouldn't we love to send it out with a bang? Send him into space, an official end to the smallpox virus." It wasn't a brilliant idea. In fact, it was the stupidest idea known to man. But it was fun to think about. It would take a long time before anyone had seriously considered it. Finally, in March of 2044, Carson was finally given the opportunity he had wanted. He had been given medication to suppress the virus, but chose not to cure it upon hearing about the event. Philip was too overjoyed to feel any real pain. His body was sore, and his insides had begun to bleed. The medication had stopped the virus from advancing, but it was temporary. On launch day, a team of 20 scientists and Philip boarded the Cleaner, an extremely large shuttle, named for its mission: giving the end of smallpox an official date. Smallpox would no longer be kept in freezers for experimentation. Despite heated debates with the CDC, who wanted to keep it, it was finally decided that the virus was too deadly to be kept around. Crowds cheered the launch, as the shuttle rocketed into space, far from the Earth. One of the scientists turned to Philip, who was encased in a blue space suit. He motioned toward a large titanium door. He opened it, revealing a large, with one round window, so he could enjoy the his last days in the comfort of space, just like he'd always wanted. Televisions everywhere showed the event caught on camera, as the last smallpox holder was launched into space, cheers resounding from the shuttle, even though he'd never hear them. For once in his life, Philip was happy. He smiled. This was all he'd ever wanted. His friends, his boss. None of them meant anything. Because now, he was the one in charge. For days on end, he traveled, being supplied only water and broth through the tubes in his suit. Space was much larger than he'd ever realized, but he loved it. On April 2nd, his attention was brought to a large object, which was green, blue, and spherical. At first, Philip thought he'd be landing back on Earth, which he knew would bring about only disappointment in his peers. But there was something off about this Earth. There didn't seem to be any satellites. The moon was ever-present, but there were no other objects in orbit. The sky also looked much clearer, and there was almost no pollution, unlike his home planet. This is where Philip began to panic. Something, whatever it was, wasn't right. He still didn't know. Then it hit him. The continents. Sure, changes take place, but over millions of years, not a few decades. He had a minor in geography, but he couldn't recognize any countries. There were three possibilities: nuclear war, which was impossible because the features were too clean to have had any sort of war on them. Then there was the possibility that he simply couldn't recognize anything. But none of those seemed to make any sense. Was he dead? No, no, he was very much alive. So then, what was it? Only one possibility left, but it was impossible! Was he...approaching another planet? No planets that he had heard of were known to have life. Then..what was this? It was the beginning of something bad. Something very, very bad.