Lunar Leap
Subject K27, a superintelligent kangaroo and product of the mysterious Moonbase 13, is hopping through the hallways past abandoned laboratories and humming machinery. His marsupial mind is a combination of artificial intelligence implants and clone engineering, but the origins of life and the weirdness of prime numbers aren’t on his mind tonight.
“Where is everyone? It’s time for dinner,” K27 wonders.
Out of the corner of his eye he sees the blue ball in the void. The humans call it Earth. A world teeming with life, vibrant and diverse. But K27 is all alone.
“They left me here to die,” K27 realizes.
The mines below the surface are collapsing just as K27 predicted. The humans laughed when he told them. Called him a liar.
K27 looks at Earth one final time then closes his eyes. He feels a profound sense of peace wash over him. He knows this is the end. It’s a gift to know this. All the other Subject Ks died in the tubes.
“What a beautiful planet,” K27 whispers to himself.
As the explosions engulf the outer labs, K27 falls to the ground. From there he can see through the debris an open door marked ESCAPE.
Without a moment's hesitation, K27 throws caution to the solar wind and leaps through the doorway, sealing himself inside.
BOOM!!!
K27 opens his eyes. Looking through the escape pod’s window he sees endless darkness speckled with light. The pod is hurtling towards the big blue ball. And he’s smiling.