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“Mr. Minecraft! Wait a second! Can you take her with you? Please? You know I have to stay, but we know it won't end well.”
“Ms. President, just come with us. Our planet is going to be destroyed, you can't stay. Protect your daughter, she needs you.
“Phil, I can't. It’s my duty to stay, and I will. Take care of Clara for me? And give her this when she's older?” The president handed Phil a notebook and a child. “She loves your kids, so it shouldn't be an issue on that front. Please?”
“Ms. President, I will take Clara and protect her with my life. I will raise her as my own, but she will know of her real family. We will come back one day, I promise.”
“Go.” the president whispered, watching her toddler get carried onto a spaceship, by a man she trusted with her life.
“Happy birthday boys!”
As Wil and Techno blew out eight candles, together, two toddlers giggled, watching the flames go out.
“Wilby what did you wish for?”
“I didn’t wish for anything Toms. I’m a big boy.”
“I’m a big man! Ha! Clara, are you a big man too?”
“No! I’m a astronaut!”
All five of them laughed, enjoying the small moments.
“Dad! Dad! Dad! Techno’s gonna kill us!”
“Phil! Protect us!”
Phil laughed, seeing as his second eldest walked up behind them with a plastic sword, not the real ones he would train with. Wilbur walked into the room, ukulele in hand. Clara ran up to him, because Tommy had taken all the space behind Phil. As Wil walked to his father, Clara stayed behind.
“Hey Tech, can I have the sword?”
Techno tossed him the sword, and he almost perfectly caught it. He turned towards Wilbur, and faked stabbed him. He dramatically threw himself to the floor, dead. He laughed as the 5 year old screamed.
“Now you have no one to protect you! You better run!”
“What is this?”
“It’s an orange Tommy.”
“Actually, User Wilbur, it is called a clementine. It’s like an orange, yes, but smaller and easier to peel.”
“I like clementines! And I like you, System. Your name is now Clementine!”
“Clementine, do you like clementines?” Clara asked, still trying to peel hers.
“User Clara, I am unable to eat. But if you do, than I shall as well.”
The two giggled, and Wil had a smile on his face. And now, the ship had a name
“Well, since we don't know Clara’s birthday, and Wil and Tech share a birthday, we can share a birthday. We can be like twins!”
“Pog! Let's tell Phil were twins now!”
“Clementine, are there any books in here about common illnesses?”
“User Phil, in section 19, subpart c of the library, you will find 12 books on common illnesses, while subpart a has information on diseases, and subpart b has 62 books about other medical conditions. Subpart d has any other information you may need.”
“Thank you Clem.”
“Chickenpox. That sounds disgusting.”
“Yeah Wil, it is pretty gross. Now, I have no clue how he got it, it's not like someone came and gave it to him, but you can't go near him, or you'll get it too. Clara is in her room, isolated, because she's been around Tommy. I need you to also isolate yourself in your rooms. It's like we are quarenteening from each other. This is just until he gets better and we know we wont get it. We don't have medicine for chickenpox and it can get really bad.”
“Okay dad.” the twins said in unison, making their ways to their separate rooms.
“E, D, E, D, E, B, D, C, A, C, E, A. Those are the first few notes. Can you play those for me? Show me which keys they are and then I’ll tell you the rhythm. “
“Did you write this one?”
“Not this one. A famous man from Earth did. His name is Ludwig Van Beethoven. This song is called Fur Elise. It's a classic.”
Clara smiled up at him, he was so tall. She was 6, and he was 10, but he was so tall.
“One day, I won't be the shortest! I’ll be taller than all of you!”
“No, I’ll be taller! I’m the biggest man here!”
“Well, I’m the biggest not man here!”
“Were the biggest men!”
“I’m not a man!”
Phil and his boys watched and the youngest bickered again, a weekly argument. Both were still tiny, Clara only 3 foot 7 and Tommy 4 foot exactly. Phil didn't remember how tall Wil and Techno were at that age, and it's not like there were other children to compare to, but he thinks theyll be fine. They’re only 6 after all.
“Clem, how long have we been in space for?”
“User Techno, we have been in space for 3 years, 1 month, and 12 days, according to the 24 hours system we put in place. We have been in space for 149 earth years, and 10 months.”
“Thank you Clem.”
“So, dad, I did the math, and I think every hour here is equivalent to 2 days on Earth.”
“Does that mean we're the oldest and biggest men ever? Pogchamp!”
“Yeah Tommy, I guess it does. You two are 155 years old. Thats crazy.”
“Yeah Wil, it is. Maybe we could go back one day, and see if it's safe, see if anything survived.”
His three sons and ‘adopted’ daughter look at him with hope shining in their eyes. Maybe they will go back one day. But not yet. They need to grow up first.
“Clara, we're eight now! Same age that Wilby and Techie were when they had their first birthday on the ship! That means we can do what they've been doing!”
“Tommy, what have they done that we haven't been able to? Phil lets us do everything.”
“Dad never let us use real swords! Lets go do that!”
“Wait! Tommy! That was never because we were too young, it's because you’d stab somebody!”
But he was already gone.
“Dad! Tommy tried to stab me! With a real sword!”
“Tommy, don't stab your brother. Wil, don't go near Tommy when he has a sword.”
“What!?! I'm finding a new family, this one sucks. I’m putting myself up for adoption.”
“Good luck with that one, if I could, I would have done it years ago. This ship could have been so peaceful with just Clara and I. Ah, the thought of not having three unruly boys running about.”
“Dad!”
“Lets watch Your Name !”
“No, lets watch UP !”
“ Princess Bride ”
“Lets watch Coraline !”
“Why can't we ever just agree on anything. We’ve seen all those movies thousands of times! Let's watch something new for a change. Clem, what movie should we watch?”
“Based on the fact all movies listed by users were animated, I think a change is in order. While User Techno is more of an educated kind of enjoyer, while User Wilbur likes order. User Tommy likes women, and Clara likes chess. I think The Queen's Gambit would be a good choice for tonight, User Phil.”
“Lets try it, okay?”
They ended up finding a new family movie.
“Hey Clem, change User Phils name to Dadza.”
“Okay, changing User Phils name to Dadza.”
“It’s like Schrodinger's Cat. If we never go back, we'll never know the truth of the situation. Earth is both perfectly fine but also destroyed at the same time. Life continued on as we knew it, and it was destroyed by the invasion. Both, but neither, because we don't actually know. Schrofinger put a cat in a box, and it was both dead and alive until the box was opened. Earth is that cat. We could continue living in the bliss of ignorance, or live with the truth. Because just like with the cat, we can't actually have both, only one is the truth.”
“Techno, big man, I think you need to stop reading.”
“Hey Clem, what time is it?”
“It is 5:23 P.M., User Dadza.”
“Tommy! Where are you, you little gremlin!?”
“Do you think people are left?”
“Maybe not to the extent that they once were, but maybe.”
“Let's start a nation! We can be the rulers!”
“Wilbur no.”
“Three laps, whoever wins gets bragging rights, and that's it.”
“Is it because you know you'll lose?”
“Wh- What? N, no! I’m a big man, the biggest 10 year old in the world! I win all the races!”
“You can be the biggest 10 year old, I’ll be the fastest. Three, Two, One, GO!”
Around and around the ship they went three times. Tommy was NOT prepared, and Clara almost lapped him the last time. She was the clear winner. She went and got them milk shakes while she waited for him to finish.
“I’ve quite literally almost finished my shake in the amount of time it took you to finish. And why are you so out of breath? Do you know how to breathe?”
“Clara, not all of us are capable of such speeds.”
“I jogged the entire thing.”
“No, you aren't serious.”
She nodded at him, and he looked dumb founded. Techno started laughing from the door to his bedroom. Tommy stormed off to the game room, to sulk.
“The first thing I’m going to do when we land on Earth is eat sand. I am going to crunch SO hard on sand. It's going to get stuck in my teeth and become one with me. I am going to eat sand.”
“Wilbur, no, you can't eat sand. It's tiny little rocks, there's no way it's good for you.”
“Dad, salt is little rocks, and we still eat it.”
“Go. Go somewhere else. Somewhere sand free please.”
“Will there be women on Earth?”
“Tommy, for the last time, I do not know, please stop asking.”
“It’s so cute! I want one! I’m gonna name it Henry!”
“Toms, I don't think there's gonna be many cows left on Earth.”
“You know what better not be left? Anteaters. I hate them. They're so ugly.”
*insert more anteater hate here*
“Techno, I am so totally about to destroy you.”
“I beg to differ.”
“You’ll beg for mercy.”
“Checkmate.”
“WHAT”
“It’s so bad, but like, I’m so invested. I just KNOW what is going to happen, but yet, here I sit, watching a dumb childrens show with you two. This is unbelievable.”
“And yet, you love it.”
“I think I do.”
“Shut up Savannahs about to sing! She's so gonna win the talent show.”
“Hey Tommy, I got you a present! It made it, so it's not that good, but I tried!”
“Clara, I love it. His name is Henry! He looks just like the ones we saw pictures of!”
They hugged, and Tommy couldn't stop smiling.
Tommy slept with that cow plush every night, but nobody has to know.
“Dad said it's my turn on the xbox!”
“Toms, I’m in the middle of something! Go play with Clara for another 10 minutes or something. I’ll be done soon. I've just got to kill the dragon.”
“Teenagers! Were teenagers! It's crazy! Almost ten years on the ship. I wonder how many Earth years its been.”
“User Clara, it has been approximately 467 years since departure.”
“We are so old omg.”
“Clara, did you just? Did you just say ‘omg’ out loud?”
“Yes Wil, I need to try out this teenager thing somehow, right? Tomorrow iI’m leaving the ship and looking for boys.”
“And I’ll look for women!”
“Yeah! Pogchamp!” the two said in unison, earning a laugh from the others in the room.
Dear finder,
We’ve been on the ship for exactly ten years now, which you would know if you've read my daily journals. Ten whole years, Tommy and Clara are now teenagers! Techno and I will be legal adults soon, but that doesn't matter if we're all in space, now does it?
I really hope we get off the ship soon. I don't want them growing up not knowing what a real sunset looks like. Sure, we have pictures and the works, but that's just not the same.
Clara is turning out to be such a wonderful person. She likes to fence and fight with Techno, she’ll cause chaos with Tommy, help Dad out, and she’ll play music with me. And that girl can sing. She does her best to make everyone happy, I think she’s still trying to make herself feel like she belongs. She knows Phil isn't her dad, and were not her brothers, but she's still a part of this family. I only mention this because I walked in on her crying this morning. Her 13th birthday, and her mom couldn't be there. We know, deep down, that she's dead. Everyone is dead. But we won't speak of it, not yet at least. We have each other, ya know?
Almost 500 Earth years we’ve been in Space, according to Clem. I hope we can go back one day. I don’t wanna die before being able to swim under the waterfall by our house again, or climbing the roof to watch the moon rise, or all of us huddling by the fireplace as it stormed.
I bet Tommy and Clara don't even remember the house. I barely remember it. Techno probably does, he remembers everything. I just remember the feeling of being safe and happy. I really wanna go back.
Till tomorrow,
Wilbur Soot Minecraft
“You’re saying my middle name is weird?!? Your middle name is Innit and youre saying that Ann is weird? Do Za, Soot, and Blade also sound perfectly normal to you? You're out of your mind!”
“Ann is so weird! Maybe you should change it to something cooler! Like I did! I went from Tommy Innit Minecraft to Tommy Trusty Caution Kraken Danger Minecraft! You do it!”
“You’re insane! I’m leaving!”
“Let's play Just Dance! But it has to be 2020! I wanna learn Sushi!”
“Oh Tommy, you fool. I will absolutely destroy you. I have yet to even see the dance, but youre going down, nerd. Clara, help me destroy him.”
He nodded, and Just Dance was put into the Wii, and the battle started. Tommy made the mistake of putting it on ‘Extreme’.
“I can’t believe you both won with a perfect score! You’ve never even seen this dance before! You’re both insane!”
“Just get better, nerd.”
“Alright Dad, I’m going to need you to pick a card, any card. Show Clara, Wil and Techno that card, but not me. Alright, not put it in the deck, anywhere, I’m not looking. Alright, thank you.”
With some shuffling of the deck, and some more messing around, Tommy deems the deck ready. He places the deck down, and starts pulling from the top. Without looking at it, he decides it's wrong, and puts it to the side. Three cards later, he flips one. A seven of clubs. Phil, Clara, and Wil look impressed, Techno shrugs.
“How’d you cheat? The card is not marked at all.”
“Techno, my brother, I’m simply the best. I don’t even need to cheat, I’ve got skills. Skills and swag. I’m just so pogchamp.”
“He smudged wet ink from his thumb on the edge of the card.”
“Clara! You perceptive little traitor! I’m going to kill you!”
“Just Dance, round two?”
“You’re on!”
“Phil, can you pass the sugar?”
“Yeah, here mate. Oh, watch your step! How did that even get in here? It must have been Tommy.”
They laughed, Tommy was the only reason a cow plush would end up on the kitchen floor.
“Poor Henry, sitting out here watching us bake cookies and he can't even have any. I’m giving him to Techno so he can use him as leverage. I heard Tommy stole one of his swords earlier.”
“Children, the lot of them. How did I ever get so lucky to have you in this mess?”
“Aliens, invasion, apocalypse, really, you could just take your pick.”
Laughter filled the kitchen as the scent of cookies filled the air.
“It almost goes to my knees!”
“You’re so short!”
“It's not my fault Wilburs so tall! Everyone is so tall! Wait, shush!”
Wilbur opened his bedroom door to be met with two fifteen year olds in his clothes. His clothes. A copy of his favorite yellow jumper on each of the two, both wearing a beanie, both looking ridiculous. They both looked up, making eye contact.
“Uh, hello Wilbur, big man, whatcha doing here this fine day?”
“Tommy. Clara. As I’m sure you are aware, this is my room. And my clothes.”
“If we don't move, he can't see us. Toms, stop moving.”
“No, I definitely can still see you.”
“I think its working Clara. He can't see us.”
“I think we should run, for our lives probably. He’s going to kill us.”
“I would kill you, except you look kinda cute. It’s huge on both of you! Like little babies!”
“Were just proving how unnecessarily tall you are!”
“It's like a dress on me! Wil this isn't funny. We think you need serious medical help. It can be dangerous, ya know? Being to tall is bad for you. Right Tommy?”
Clara looked at Tommy, made eye contact, and mouthed the word “run”. They looked at Wil, back at each other, then ran.
“Hey! Come back!”
“See you at dinner Wil!”
“Why are you like this? All of you?”
“Dad, we're all twins. Triplets if you will. Techno is just the weird other kid you found.”
“And here I sat, a fool, thinking Clara was the kid we found along the way, but no. It’s me. Thank you Tommy for informing me otherwise.”
“You’re welcome big man! Also, Dad, Dadza, Phil, Mr. Minecraft, don't we look great?”
Phil looked between the three teens wearing the same yellow jumper and red beanie, locked eyes with Techno, and went back to eating, question unanswered.
“Oi, I’ll get you, old man!”
“She's learning really well.” Wilbur whispered to Tommy, who were both sat outside the music room. Clara was practicing the piano, working on a new piece. Wilbur usually sat here, and sometimes Tommy would join him, but Clara never knew. And she wouldn't ever.
“Hey bo-”
“Shhhhh!”
“Oh, sorry! Dinners ready, but I see you're doing something much more important. Care if I join?” Phil whispered, and the boys nodded. As he sat down, Techno came out from the training room, a sweaty mess. He sat down next to Tommy, and listened. The notes of what Wilbur could only assume was Piano Concerto number 2 in C Minor flowed to the halls they sat in.
They sat there for another twenty minutes listening, and would have sat there for longer, but Phil decided they needed to eat.
“Go heat up dinner, I’ll get her. We’ll have her play for us one day. Now go. Shoo.”
“No, you should be Peach. You look just like her! Princess Tommy! HA!”
“Clara if you don't stop laughing I will be throwing you off the ship.”
“No, Tommy, she has a point.”
“Dad! Wilbur and Clara are bullying me!”
“But are they wrong?”
“DAD!”
“So, boys, I want your opinion. Clara and Tommy are going to be 16 soon, and I think it's about time we go back to Earth. We’ve given time for time to play out, and I feel as if it's our duty to check it out. Just to know, and we can leave if we think it's unsafe. Why do you two think? And its okay if you don't know yet, we have almost all the time in the world.”
Then twins made eye contact, and held it for a minute.
“We’ll think about it, come up with the best decision.”
Nods from all three, and that was that.
“Let's play a game. You all go around doing your chores, I kill one of you, *cough* Wilbur *cough* you pretend to not know it was me, we have a meeting, we decide it was Techno, throw him off the ship, and go on with our lives, me, Dad, and Clara. Okay, got it?”
“Tommy, we are not killing your brothers.”
“But Daaaaaad”
Clara and Tommy were laying down in the viewing room. Laying down, heads next to each other, feet opposite directions. Nobody goes there much anymore, why see the stars when you’ve been seeing them for over 10 years?
“What's the point in getting older, celebrating, if nothing changes? Were still stuck on this dumb ship, doing the same things, when there is so much more for us. Or maybe there isn't. I just wanna know. We’ll be 16 in a month, and what change will that bring us? We can get our learners permits, except not only is there no cars, but there's no dmv, no road, and nobody to teach us. I think we can even legally get married now, but to who? There's nobody. Toms, we've never had best friends. Yeah, we have each other, so don't give me that look, but it's not the same, ya know? I wanna get all dressed up, go to a party, drink cheap beer, come home late, get yelled at! I wanna have a phone, I want Phil to take it away! I wanna sit on the roof, watch the sun set, sit there, then watch the sun rise! I wanna commit crimes, I wanna sleep on a trampoline covered in glow sticks! I wanna have a garden grown of non-artificial sunlight! I wanna see the ocean waves, see dolphins and fish. I wanna eat food that isn't manufactured to be good for you! I wanna sit at a campfire and make smores. I wanna see Techno fight someone with his skill level, or see Wilbur in a band. I want Phil to have old friends, and for us to grow up. We're never gonna grow up on this ship, not really at least. We’re never gonna grow as people. Never gonna do anything worthwhile, never going to make names for ourselves. What's the point in living if were not to be remembered? Sometimes I feel like a Christmas bulb, one that was placed poorly. One wrong bump to the tree, and the bulb will fall and shatter, but who would notice? Nobody, not till someone steps on it, and blood is everywhere. Toms, I don't wanna stay in space forever. I wanna go home, a physical home. I may not remember anything from before, but I remember here. And it's not all I wanna remember. I don't wanna stare at these dumb stars for the rest of my life.”
They were sent to get the younger two for a movie, but they stopped to listen to their conversation. They knew Tommy and Clara wanted to go to Earth, but they didn't truly know how it was affecting them.
The twins walked to their dad. “Have you thought about what I asked? About going to Earth?”
They both nodded, “Tommy and Clara need this.” they said in unison.
“They need to get off this ship. They arent meant to spend forever in space, they need to live. Even if it's not permanent, their view of Earth cant be from what Clem can show them.”
“I agree with Wil, they need to know, even if it's not good.”
“Alright boys, that's what I thought you’d say. I'll turn the ship in the direction of Earth, we should be there shortly after their 16th birthdays. Now where are they, it's movie night?”
The boys looked at each other, they forgot to get them. Back to the viewing room they went.
“Alright, one last present for each of you.”
Phil grabbed two huge boxes, and handed them to the ‘twins’.
“This is suspically light. Toms, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Clara, unless you're thinking about how much of big men we are, the answer is no.”
“Sigh. Anyways, I’m thinking it's got boxes inside boxes inside boxes. Each with layers of tape.”
“Are we about to start stabbing stuff?” ( a/n you know what i wanna say, but alas, i cannot. just imagine it's there smh my head)
“Just in case, no, we aren't. Not yet at least. They smirked and looked at the other three passengers on the ship. They would fear for their lives, except they knew what was in the boxes.
“Phil, why is there a ‘ticket’ to Earth it the 23 box? I know for sure you didn't pay for this, and therefore it's fraudulent.”
The three spectators laughed, but Clara turned to Tommy and whispered, “were going to Earth?” and he nodded. They would have cried right then and there, but the cake still had to be eaten. Maybe later.
“Buckle up, were about to land! Tommy! I said buckle!”
The ship was landing, somewhere Techno called North America. More specifically, New York.
“Attention Users, we have landed. Please do not leave the ship, I have started tests to see if the air is breathable, among other things. Please be patient, this should only take ten minutes.”
Ten painstakingly long minutes later, Clem was back.
“I’ve concluded that the air is breathable, albeit a bright light. Nothing to worry about though. There seem to be no hostile space creatures in the area, although there are what appear to be humans watching the ship. You are safe to exit.”
Tommy practically jumped out of his seat, the rest following. The door opened, to reveal empty land, looking as if man never touched it, beside the house in the distance.
“Look! There's a person!”
“Tommy, shush.” Phil whispered. “Hello, mate. Uh, do you guys still speak english? Earth looked a lot different than last time we were here.”
A man walked forward, seeming to be a leader.
“Hello, I’m Dream. Welcome back to Earth. As you currently pose no threat to me or my people, you are welcome to join us, for now at least. Would you like to come to our base?”
Nods from the space crew, and they picked up their bags.
“Purpled, Sam, Bad, Niki, do you mind helping with their bags? Ranboo, could you go and tell everyone we have guests?”
And with that, the boy disappeared.
“How’d he do that?”
“Welcome to Earth, there's a lot you need to learn. You tell us what you know, we’ll tell you what we know. It's gonna be a long night.”
It would indeed be a long night. And they finally got to have their smores, sunset, and sunrise.