know what you were thinking when you put your hand on the sensor plate. Maybe you weren't fully aware of what you wanted?"
Dale grunted and picked up a spoon from where it had materialized on the table. He stuck it in the bowl and hesitantly lifted the mush to his mouth. "Here goes nothing." He said.
Dale's expression shifted from suspicion to one of pleasure when the sweet sensation of a crunchy eggroll filled his mouth. He took another bite.
"Seven, if there's anything I don't regret about ending up on an alien space craft with a beautiful woman it is this: The food here is to die for. Take it from me. I've been eating food for almost thirty years."
"It sounds like you're really enjoying this food substance." Seven said with a grin. She sat down across from him. A bowl and a spoon came up from the surface of the table just as Dales had done. The contents of the bowl was identical as well.
"Here goes nothing, as you say." Seven took a spoonful of her own mush and put it in her mouth. Her expression changed several times as she chewed.
"What do you think?" Dale asked.
"You should try it."
"Sure. You want to trade?"
"Yeah." Seven said, pushing her bowl across the table. Dale pushed his towards her as well before tasting Seven's mush. His expression was sour.
"Your food tastes like dandelions. Why does your first meal have to be a weed?"
"If you think my food is bad, yours is definitely just as terrible."
"What? Why is it terrible?"
"It tastes like processed garbage." Seven said, pushing his bowl back to him.
"To each their own then." Dale pushed Seven's back, taking his own bowl and digging in.
They both sat in silence. The only sound that could be heard was the clink as the spoon occasionally made contact with the bowl.
Dale sat up when he was done. "Seven. I'm bored. Can we see anything entertaining?"
"Sure. There are lots of ways to entertain yourself. Most of them involve labor of some kind. If that isn't what you want though, we can just talk. I have a lot I can tell you."
"Okay, I think I'll just ask you questions. I'm really not in the mood to do anything more than talk."
"That's fine." Seven considered a thought for a moment. "Would you like to know what I want to do right now?"
"What is that?"
"I want to experience some of the things I've been given to think about."
"What things in particular do you want to experience?"
"Freedom." Seven said, smiling sadly. "A life without bondage to these memories inside. To start out fresh. To know the world in new ways that haven't been known before."
There was a pause.
"Seven, when we get to my home planet, you'll be as free as a bird. I promise."
"Thanks Dale. Does that mean I won't have to speak up for the things I know?"
"That was always your choice to make. If you don't want to share then I'm sure we'll find out about the technologies and things that you've created in your worlds eventually. I'm not afraid of that."
Seven stared off into space for a moment. "I'm going to go take a nap. Make sure you get me before we land."
She stood up, leaving the bowl on the table.
"You just woke up. Why are you going back to bed?"
"To think. I need some time alone to analyze everything that's going through my thoughts."
"Can't we do that together?" Dale asked.
"No, I need to come to grips with a few things that are bothering me. It's nothing that can be helped with."
"Oh, okay. I'll see you later then."
"See you later."
Seven left the room.
Dale didn't move for a moment. He just stared at Seven's bowl as it dissolved back into the table, erasing all traces of her presence.
Dale sat for a moment, not entirely sure what he should do now. He got up and went back to the bridge, content to sit until they'd reached Earth.
Seven went back to her room and cried. She didn't know why, but the overwhelming feeling of rejection and misery flooded through her. It was irrational, but it was sensible in a way too. She was lying face forward, her head buried in her pillow as the tears quietly came, soaking the cover.
It wasn't until Dale came back that she brushed at her eyes, trying her best to hide her tears.
"We're here, Seven."
"Okay. Just give me a moment to get ready."
Dale noticed the puffiness of her eyes. "Seven, are you okay?"
She nodded to herself. "Yes, I'm okay. Don't worry about me too much, I'm just getting through some difficult emotions right now."
Dale sat down on the bed next to her. "You don't have to hide what you're feeling. You can tell me."
Seven seemed to give in. Her body relaxed as if she were dropping an invisible burden.
"Dale, I'm scared."
"About what?"
"About everything: You, me, life. What's going to happen Dale? There's so much I'm not sure how to do. What if I mess up or get it wrong? What if I get hurt in the process?"
"Seven, if anything happens to you, I'm going to make sure everything ends the way it's supposed to. Don't worry anymore. Everything will be okay. You've said so yourself."
"I know. I just can't help feeling like something's not right. Do you think I'm wrong to be scared?"
"No, you have every right to be scared." Dale took her in his arms. "I just wish I could help you with everything that's going on inside."
"It's okay. Everything will be alright. I just need to calm down."
Dale gave Seven a reassuring smile. "I'll be outside. Take your time."
Dale put his hand on Seven's cheek and kissed her on the forehead before leaving. She sat, hunched over for a moment longer. After, she stretched, releasing all the tension in her body, standing up with her arms up in the air.
When Seven left the ship, she found Dale staring off into the distance. His eyes were pointing directly to a patch of scorch marks; a set of giant gouges that rutted the land as far as Seven could see. Nothing else except the bleak grey of dust covered the area.
"Seven, there's nothing here. What happened to this place?" Dale asked.
"Why do you ask? Does your world not usually look like this?"
Dale didn't respond. He ran back into the ship, tripping through the door and falling to the floor. Seven lost sight of him when got back up.
"Dale!" Seven called. "What's wrong?" She ran inside after him.
When Dale got back to the bridge, he stuck his hands down on the control surface, letting the particle simulation fill his mind as he searched for some sign of life on his home planet. His fingers flew across the table as he scanned, unable to find even a single tree or creature.
"There has to be someone here." Dale said when he felt Seven enter the room. "This isn't possible. There were billions of people when I blacked out. How can there be no one?" Dale stopped. "Seven, are you sure this is the right world?"
"Dale, there's no way I'm wrong."
"No, that can't be true." Dale faced her. "Look again. This planet is barren. There's nothing here. How can you say this is the right place?"
"Because it is." Seven sighed. "Have you tried looking at the planet as a whole instead of as parts? Does it not look familiar to you?"
Dale hesitantly zoomed out until the continents began to fill his vision. A growing feeling of dread filled him as the planet's familiar shapes began to form in front of him. He took his hands from the surface. "Dale, what am I supposed to do? These projections are telling me there's no one left. What happened here?"
"Dale, I'm sorry. I don't know." Her voice was sad.
There was silence for a moment.
"Do you think there are any overseers left too?"
A sound like crunching rocks came from outside, cutting Seven off before she could respond.
A mysterious voice seemed to speak from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
"You have trespassed on dead wor
ld property. You are to leave your ship immediately and face imprisonment for this crime. Do not resist. We will be forced to take lethal action if you do not comply."
Dale looked to Seven. "We need to go outside."
Seven nodded uncertainly. She followed without saying anything until they stood back outside the ship. "I don't recognize their spacecraft." She said, referring to the smaller, sharp looking vessel sitting a short distance away.
A single person came down from the other ship, taking their time in getting within speaking distance.
"What's going on here?" Dale asked. "Last time I was on this planet it was a flourishing society."
"Times changed. The inhabitants here started a war that would consume the full extent of its population. Can you imagine? A world so consumed with war that it would destroy everything it had ever created? Including it’s oh so promising space program." The person was wearing a helmet, blocking out their gender. "But anyway, that isn't why we're all standing here is it? You're trespassing. The penalty as stated by law is clear: Death, or life imprisonment. Which do you prefer? I guess honestly you have your whole lives to decide so whatever."
"You haven't even done anything yet. How can you say we're going to spend our lives in prison if you haven't taken us into custody?" Dale asked.
"Dale, there are things you should understand that you don't. Now is not the time to show ignorance. Stay silent."
Seven put her hand on Dale's arm. "We were unaware of the status of this planet. Our information is outdated. We ask for your forgiveness."
"The law does not adhere to ignorance. You are required to turn yourselves in to the nearest prison complex. Your ship is now tagged." The person turned back to their ship. "There is no discussion. Your lives are now property of the Overseers."
Dale ad Seven were