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“Who is Laika?”
“Hm?”
“Laika.”
Ever since recovering to the point where he wasn’t constantly bedridden from radiation sickness or body aches, Simon had been doing everything he could to learn anything he could. It’s not like he was stupid, not at all- it’s one of the few reasons he survived the C.O.I. and Iron Lung for so long. Craftiness and resourcefulness was vital to survival on Eden. Nowadays Simon would take Ryland’s laptop or books and read for hours about anything he could find, mostly about plants that he didn’t get to see at home or wildlife.
Today, he looked into the history of mankind in space. Simon knew that, eventually, humans would make it to space, considering he was from Mars before migrating to the space station, Eden, but he wasn’t sure when it had all started. His mother had taught him the basics, but he wanted to know more.
“Oh, uh..” Ryland paused, either hesitant or struggling to recall information. “She was a dog that the Soviets- uh, Russia, they were the Soviet Union when they were under communist leaders-“
“I know what a Russian is, Ryland.” Simon interjects. He hears an irritated sigh but, thankfully, doesn’t try to put up an argument. “She was a dog that they sent into space to test the strength of their spacecrafts.”
Simon’s brows furrowed as he listened to Ryland talk, staring at the portrait that was taken of the little animal.
“Did she make it back?”
There was a pause. “No.”
Simon’s heart shattered.
Why would they send such an innocent creature, an animal that is supposed to be man’s companion until death, to die in such a horrific way? They had to have known she wasn’t going to survive. There was no way she could have.
“Why?” He looked up to see Ryland already watching him, his glasses hanging loosely off his face and his eyes sad.
“Well, they uh.. needed to test if a human being could survive making it past Earth’s orbit for when they eventually sent their cosmonauts- their version of astronauts- to the moon, so they used animals as their test subjects, more or less. They used a lot of dogs that were on the streets, and Laika was one of the unfortunate ones to be taken. Rats, mice, rabbits, insects and even plants were used, too.”
‘She sounds like me.’ Simon thinks distantly. He hovers the cursor over the image of Laika and clicks the article that was linked about her.
Ryland stays silent as the other man skims the information.
Stray living in the streets of Moscow.
Necessary to send a dog first as a test.
Knowing that she would not survive the flight.
Died within hours from overheating.
Only one meal and seven-day oxygen supply.
Oh, god.
Simon makes a choked sound, like a repressed sob, as tears well up in his eyes and run freely down his face.
At least, for him, it made sense as to why the C.O.I. would send him down to the depths of hell. Sure, he was a human being, but he had done bad things. He had killed people. Hurt people. But Laika wasn’t that. She was just a dog- an animal who didn’t know what was about to happen to her.
“She died alone. And so scared.” Simon whispered, his voice warbling from the sudden, intense emotion.
“Yeah,” Ryland agrees, his voice quiet. “They didn’t think much of it back then. Animal rights wasn’t really a concern up until recently.”
There was a few moments of silence, letting Simon’s tears subside into small sniffles before he continues.
“I never liked teaching my kids about what happened to her. On Earth. But.. it’s necessary. As much as I hate it, her death was important to our history of space travel, and it’s also important to know about the things we did in the past so we don’t repeat them again.”
“Yeah.” Simon agrees softly, his voice rough with emotion. He pauses, choosing his next words carefully. “She’s… she’s like me. Y’know, the whole ‘unwilling being getting sent on a suicide mission for science.’” He scoffs bitterly. “At least I eventually figured that out. She had no idea.”
Ryland nods, watching the other man carefully. “If anything, she can’t be hurt anymore. She’s loved everywhere, even if she doesn’t know it.”
Simon rubbed his still stinging eyes with his arm, catching the warm tears that were clinging to his face. He carefully shut the laptop and slid it onto the coffee table in front of where he sat. “I think that’s enough of looking at shit today.”
Ryland huffs a half-hearted laugh through his nose and adjusts his glasses. “Well, if you ever want to learn more about her or anyone else, then just tell me. Or don’t, although I would like a heads up before I find you crying into my computer again.”
Simon laughs wetly, a small smile tugging on his lips. “I’ll do my best.”