I allow my awareness to expand. Distant stars smear into infinite streaks. Steady hum fills my empty quarters, transferred from the hull and into me. The constant sensation blends my days into an amalgamation of tedium, endless and, simultaneously, passing in an instant. Though the latter is only apparent after. Now, steeped in complete darkness, I am stuck waiting for eternity to end.

  Time to arrival? Two days, seventeen hours, twelve minutes, and five seconds. A digital sigh moves my body to perform the expression. Ship time? Zero two forty-one.

  I rise in one fluid motion and open the slim door, sterile white light pouring in. As I exit my quarters, the door soundlessly closes behind me. Aimless steps carry me to nowhere in particular. The deserted corridors are as monotonous as everything else about the trip, always one and the same.

  A junction is reached. There does not appear to be a correct choice. If I stay here, I will be trapped. If I continue straight, I will arrive at a dead end. If I go left, I will have a direct confrontation. And if I go right... I will have to do what I must.

  Steps carry me forward, they themselves carrying a hint of unease. Each one catching up to an ambling figure. Merely a meter away, the specialist becomes aware of my presence. He flinches and whips around, staring up at me. And then, merely a second later, he presses his back against the wall to make more room for me to go past. As I do, I give him a brief nod in acknowledgment. He returns it. Hmm, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.

  I continue on my nightly stroll. Step after step. The routine meant to distinguish smears instead. I am standing in front of the door of my quarters. Didn’t even realize when it happened. A digital breath fills my being with the equivalent of anticipation. A digital exhale resolves the feeling, bringing me back the closest to neutral I can get.

  The door slides open. Darkness spills out. I step in. Light cuts off behind me. One fluid motion seats me on the bare floor. I shrink my awareness until it sees nothing but what is within. The outside world is gone. Still, only darkness remains.

  I allow my awareness to expand. Distant stars cover the welcoming void with thin rends. The ship’s drive whispers words unknown, moving through a rend in reality itself, forcing incomprehensible meaning into my mind. Yesterday is today. Today is yesterday. Both are the same. Does it matter which self I am? Both will always be the same. Together with the darkness, I am waiting for an eternal end.

  Time to arrival? One day, sixteen hours, fifty-five minutes, and eleven seconds. Fingers clench and relax. Ship time? Zero two twenty-four.

  I rise in one fluid motion and open the slim door, harsh white light flooding in. As I exit my quarters, the sound of the door closing behind me grates on my mind. Pointless steps tug me along the numbing corridors.

  A junction is reached. Once again, the universe plays a cruel joke.

  I stop before the distracted ensign can crash into me. She realizes I am there, head slowly turning and staring up. I give her a nod. She mumbles an apology, a greeting, another apology because the greeting was deemed unbefitting, and finally, a greeting that is. When I give her one more nod, we both go on our ways. That wasn’t so bad, either. She’s a funny one.

  My walk continues. Plodding step after plodding step. The routine stretches each corridor I am traversing longer and longer. But, same as ever, the door to my quarters is somehow here without my knowledge. Entirely motionless, I do not go inside just yet, stuck in a moment of transition.

  The door slides open. Darkness claws at me. I step in. Light is chased away. One fluid motion seats me on the bare floor. I shrink my awareness until it sees nothing but what is within. What even is there?

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  I allow my awareness to expand. Distant stars are a vile blight upon the pure black canvas. Fine vibrations taunt me with their secrets, secrets I will not uncover. Every day is the same, forever and forever. I am less than I was before, just as I will be less tomorrow, never to be reduced below.

  Time to arrival? Seventeen hours, seven minutes, and twenty-two seconds. A single extended finger slides along the smooth surface of the floor, producing a weak scuffing sound. Ship time? Zero two thirty-six.

  I rise in one fluid motion and open the slim door, burning white light screaming in. As I exit my quarters, the door slams shut behind me, ringing through the maze of corridors. Futile steps drag me ever forward.

  A junction is reached. Would you look at that. It’s the same ensign from the previous night.

  Her eyes wander over to me. I give her a nod and add a friendly wave. She uses her more befitting greeting from the get-go. I don’t really care how she greets me but it’s understandable.

  And on we go. Step, after step, after step. The walls pressing on me from all sides don’t move. Feet hit the same spot again and again. And yet, the door to my quarters is where it should be, when it should be. My hand opens it manually, only a brief touch upon cold metal.

  The door slides open. Darkness latches on, like constricting tendrils wrapping around an easy meal. I step in. No light pierces to be lost. One fluid motion seats me on the bare floor. I shrink my awareness until it sees nothing but what is within. There is nothing within to see.

  I allow my awareness to expand. Distant stars twinkle and shine. Muted hum permeates my surroundings. One more day has passed. One more day has come. And one more day is awaiting.

  I rise in one fluid motion and open the slim door, soft white light flashes in the silhouettes of rushing people. As I exit the quarters, the door closes behind me.

  Purposeful steps guide me, flowing through the mass of bodies, taking care not to bump into anyone.

  Passive sensor data is streaming in. Within expectation. My shoulders project the digital sigh I made and, in turn, make it that much real, its mere realization to the tangible accomplishing its designated function. I am back to neutral, close enough to the baseline.

  Hmm? I offer my input after the latest readings. My input is not so well received. I stop moving, flow splitting in two around me. ...How unpleasant it is, doing what I must. I offer my orders instead. My orders are received as well as I expected. I continue on. Flow slows and partially reverses, turning into organized chaos, readying for another eventuality.

  Eager steps pull me forward. To a bay that might have had a lot more people in it. It’s better like this, calmer, always preferable. Anticipation building up with each moment I spend in needed inaction. The ship drifting closer and closer.

  I fan my fingers and curl them one by one so they form into fists. My neck moves side to side. Head rotates. My legs engage, making a small hop. Feet land without making a sound. Shoulders roll, right then left. Arms extend and fall back down to my sides. As I finish centering myself, so does the full diagnostic. Same as the last, the one before it, and all the rest.

  I climb into the pod and seal myself in. The ceaseless vibration stops. Time stops too. Or nearly enough to be true. Each second sluggish to turn over. Each second inconsequential. But soon, each second will count more than any other that’s gone.

  It’s time.

  Without anything sensed, my capsule has left the ship, a tiny speck with a blinding background. The ship continues to drift away, until it too will become a tiny speck, totally invisible to the weaker passive sensors I am now connected to. We both drift along an unseen flow.

  Sensations move from my unfeeling body, suspended into nothingness, to the pod enveloping it. Radiation hits the surface. It comes out from the other side and continues as it should have, were there nothing in its way.

  The unseen flow turns into a current, and I am caught in it, so close to my target. So, so close. I brush against atmosphere, preparing for a gentle entry. Anticipation threatens to overflow. A digital exhale gives it the outlet it craves. So close. To... What am I doing here? Did I not learn already? Nothing will ever—

  Breach? Structural alert. From where? How?

  Motion arrests. The pod breaks up into uniform segments and falls away around me, revealing beyond emptiness, suspended in a space the shape of me.

  A floating rectangle filled with text appears in my mind, quickly overlaid by others like it, transparent yet not, the meaning within etched into my thoughts instantly, effortlessly, and irresistibly.

  [System Integration commencing...]

  [System Exception: No local entities detected.]

  [System Exception: Unauthorized foreign entities detected (1).]

  [Resolving Exceptions...]

  [System Integration complete.]