Soulmates

by Eiryia

Seungyoon did a last walk around his apartment, would he ever return to this place again? One part of him was perfectly fine with that, but the other was terrified. It all came down to whether or not his personal mission would be a success or not. 

Staring at the screen supposed to depicture a beautiful landscape filled with too perfect nature he sighed. Was he really going to do this? 

A distant bird took flight into the vivid blue sky as another sigh left his slightly parted lips and his eyes shifted their attention from the bird down to his own wrist where thin blue numbers sparkled and twirled endlessly. 

He had made sure that he got the space coordinates tattooed on him before he joined the space fleet. Just in case he hit his head and forgot or something. These were the numbers that was supposed to lead him to his soulmate, if he was brave enough to pursue them and of course if his other half also possessed the same kind of courage. 

Because courage he would need a lot of if he was to go after this promised love, some people were lucky and got coordinates reasonably nearby, or at least on a neighboring planet. 

His coordinates were in a different solar system and not just that, but on the replicant planet earth; Terra-2, a copy of his species birth planet Earth were his kind had originated several millennia ago. Humans were a scarce race in the universe these days and so finding a partner had felt like an impossible task for as long as he could remember. 

Maybe that was why they got these numbers upon birth? He’d pondered this subject so many times and never come to any other conclusion. He had always felt alone and out of place growing up and when he joined the fleet he felt like he served a purpose defending his home planet, but.. 

Shaking his head he looked even further down, to his feet. 

Only one of them were real, the other was already space dust as his ship had been blasted out of the sky shortly after entering the atmosphere at the end of a mission a couple of years ago. 

The enemy had followed them back to their home planet and he had been the only survivor from his ship. 

His part of the universe was a lot more peaceful these days and he wondered if it really was worth leaving it. After all, his soulmate might already be dead, he had no way of knowing. 

Despite all his doubts had he slowly and steadily been investing in such a way that he would have the funds to upgrade his spaceship. Now it was as ready as it could be and thanks to his years in the space fleet he had the knowledge to both fly it and repair it should something happen on his way there. 

Shutting of everything in his apartment he’d made sure the funds were in place to keep it in his name for a decade should he wish to return. He could only hope he wouldn't return alone. 

He’d already filled up the ship with all the necessities and standing in the elevator he took in the actual city view with all the ships zooming by orderly as the sun rose between the many moons surrounding his home planet. 

    "Goodbye" he murmured as he took in one last breath of the morning air, all artificially created by huge filter pumps around the encased city, but refreshing all the same. 

It was way after he’d left the atmosphere of his home planet his feelings had begun to overwhelm him. He felt so infinitely small out there in the darkness and his mission so far fetched he struggled to keep his faith, but there was no going back now and feeling the usual loneliness tug at his heart he managed to calm himself. 

For it was just that which drove him forward through all this; loneliness. If there was a chance that he could change that and remove this dull pain that always tugged at his consciousness then it would all be worth it. Someone to share the rest of his life with, because he already struggled to find purpose in his life now that he was no longer working for the fleet. 

Turning on autopilot on his ship he left his seat to go get some sleep, it was best to get some rest while still in peaceful territory. 

When he awoke it was to find that he had almost reached the place where he’d have to go into hyper speed, he had planed it so that he would only have to do it once and it was the first big risk of the trip because he couldn’t be completely certain of what would be waiting for him at the destination. 

If things were fine once he slowed down again he only had to keep moving towards the coordinates and things would hopefully be okay. If he slowed down into space trash, astroids or something else heavy enough to crush his ship then.. 

He shuddered, he knew it would be the end for him in such a small ship, but it was a calculated risk he was willing to take. Double checking he got the coordinates right he swallowed hard and tightened his belts once more and then he was on his way. 

Luckily for him was there no space debris, large rocks or misplaced planets waiting for him to crush him when his ship slowed down from hyper speed. Instead he was met by the view of several orbiting planets in the far distance and among them was the blue sphere that was his destination. 

The fact that this was all artificially created like some gigantic seed bank continued to blow his mind, but what boggled it even more was the fact that his own destiny was intertwined with something not created directly by the universe it self. How did destiny know of its existence? Or did it? Maybe it just gave out coordinates and one had to hope there would be something there. 

Chuckling he imagined hanging out in a ship at a set location of nothingness for a year, waiting and hoping someone else would show up. What if someone else showed up randomly instead? He wondered imagining the scenario in his head while setting the course for Terra-2. 

The trip down through the layers of the atmosphere was more turbulent than he had anticipated, but at least he had not been shot down by neither the guardian satellite or the research team residing on the planet. 

Luckily had he done his own research and uncovered that he needed to apply for a permit to land on the planet because it was privately owned by a large company that had funded much of its creation. After paying a symbolic sum, promising to help out the research team and to follow a set of rules had he been granted permit. Hopefully had his soulmate done the same thing or he might just bear witness to his potential love of his life being shot down from the sky by a gigantic armed satellite orbiting the planet. 

That would truly be the grand irony of it all, having to watch the potential love of his life getting shot out of the sky because they were too stupid to apply for a landing permit. 

Stepping out of his ship under the grey sky feeling the light drizzle of summer rain he sighed a sigh of relief. He’d made it there and couldn’t be happier. A man in a lab coat was walking towards him followed by two smaller men in an uniform unfamiliar to him. 

    "Welcome to Earth!" the larger man said excitedly spreading his arms out in both directions as he said it almost smacking the two men following after him. "Well Earth two, but who is counting" he added now pulling his fingers through his chaotic looking curly hair adding to the wild scientist look. 

Thanking him he locked up his ship and followed along to do registrations before receiving further instructions. 

He learned a great deal from the man who called him self Ted although his full name was Tellus something something, he’d forgotten the rest as soon as he’d heard it. Ted had explained about how the planet was still in the early days, chuckling about no dinosaurs and explaining how they researched primitive life and plants. 

    "Things haven’t been going by the book exactly, you know how it happened the first time, but we didn’t expect that" Ted said walking him out of the registration office down the hall. "We got sidetracked and so did nature, oh well, nothing for you to worry about, enjoy your stay and we will contact you later" Ted said stopping by a pair of sliding glass doors. 

On the other side a new man was waiting, a man who didn't look human at all. His skin was white’ish blue, a few teal colored scales merging with the skin in some places. On his head was several small horns and his eyes were all black. The way there was no pupils to tell what he was looking at was slightly unsettling to him, but he smiled at him in the friendliest way he could manage all the same. 

The man had greeted him warmly enough and escorted him along out of the building. 

It didn’t take Seungyoon long to realize that this man was a talker, he kept at it non stop talking about his name first, complaining about how he quite unoriginally was called Trihorn cursing his parents jokingly for that, before going on to explain about the fake moon not working too well on the tides of the fake planet. 

As they talked they left the facility he’d arrived at and walked out onto a small street. Tiny hovercrafts were lined up outside the gate and he got into one along with Trihorn. 

    "Everyone who comes here gets a small hut for themselves, the most conveniently placed ones are occupied obviously, but we got some agricultural themed ones that are free" Trihorn said as the vehicle they were sitting on lifted of the ground taking them down the small street. 

The houses lining the street were all small white half orbs with the top part in glass, some with telescopes pointing out or large antennas poking out at odd angles. Some even had miniature versions of the half globes next to them meant for plants, or at least that was what he thought they were meant for. 

They kept driving for quite a while until there were fewer houses and more nature. It was all greenery with trees scattered around. They took a turn along a river and kept going until they reached a field with a small orb placed in the middle. The weeds seemed to be attempting to take over the place as they had already climbed up half the way over the small orb that would now be his home for a year. 

    "Well, I’m sorry about the state of the outside, when they said you had to work is it basically just to clear out this space and help out growing a few plants in your yard" Trihorn explained stepping out on to the soft beige colored gravel which was also half overtaken by weeds. 

Seungyoon watched him walk up to the front door, take out a small sphere no bigger than the thumb nail on his own hand before inserting it in a small hole in the door covered by a small metallic flap. The edges lit up in blue light and the door slid open with just a hint of a clink and a creak. 

    "I’ve made sure the inside is pristine at least" Trihorn said smiling and he was right. Above them was a glass dome showing them the cloudy skies and around them was all white interiors from the kitchen to small couch. The exception was a couple of wooden chairs and a mat on the floor that looked like it was made of straw. 

He got a small tour of the place although it weren’t big at all along with instructions on how to use the kitchen appliances, switching the power on and off and a few other practical facts about the place. He was free to clear space on the field for his ship, but they preferred if he kept it at the airbase as it would be protected against the elements there and it was in the interest of all to keep as many functioning ships ready at all times. 

When Trihorn left he sat down on one of the wooden chairs, resting his head on his duffle bag thanking the universe he’d made it there in one piece. He still needed to unload his ship and to pick up essentials from the community shop, but he was in no hurry. The kitchen got some essentials and he’d brought a few things with him in his bag as well. 

Sitting up again he stared up into the cloudy sky above him, if he squinted his eyes could he see tiny raindrops scattered across the glass roof. How long had it been since he’d felt or even seen rain he mused to himself. 

On his home planted there was rain too, acid rain kept out by barriers and force fields around the city. Despite feeling clammy and damp from the cool rain was he happier than he’d been for ages. He liked this place, or at least what he’d seen of it so far and he was already aching to see the rest. It was one part in particular he longed to seek out and that was the ocean, he’d seen the wast blue of it flying into the base and figured it couldn’t be too far away. 

He unpacked his things, put on a jacket he hoped would protect him a bit better against the rain and the wind before heading out. 

Eyeing the weeds everywhere he knew he got his job cut out for himself, but that could wait a little longer surely. He walked around the dome and found a smaller one on the back of it. Entering the code he’d been given by Trihorn a small buzzing sound erupted and the dome opened. Inside was dark earth and a small wooden box with an instruction sheet and tiny containers he guessed were seeds for him to plant. He looked over the instructions once, deciding it wasn’t too bad and found that he was lacking the all important fertilizer. 

Deciding it was the perfect excuse to go to the community shop he closed the orb again and went on his way. 

The rain picked up in intensity as he walked and so he was relived when he finally reached the shop that had been pointed out to him by Trihorn as they had zoomed past earlier. A blue circle on the door told him it was open and so he went in. 

The shop was surpassingly cozy compared to the sterile outside with the white dome and the blue lights. It got plants growing everywhere and all kinds of wares lined the many counters and stalls leading up to the main counter at the far back. A woman with long green hair sat reading behind the desk that was partially covered with tiny sprouts in all kinds of different containers. 

    "Oh hello!" the woman exclaimed cheerfully while getting to her feet, a hearty smile spreading across her lips as she walked around the counter to greet him properly. 

    "The soulmate seeker is here!" she said shaking his hand as had been normal in old human culture. So they all knew why he was there then he thought to himself. It was true and there was no reason to hide it, but he couldn’t help but to be a little embarrassed by it. "It’s so romantic!" she sighed taking a step back to look at him properly adjusting her glasses as she did so. 

He smiled, a slightly bothered smile, but she didn’t seem to notice. Instead she went on to talk about her wares, her expertise and how she could help him. 

He’d picked up as much stuff as he thought he could handle to carry home before leaving the shop, picking up food, a few plants and the all important fertilizer. She’d gifted him a better rain coat and given him a small pat on the back after seeing him pull it on. 

    "Stop by anytime" she had called after him into the rain and he added nodded acknowledging before bracing himself against the cool wind. 

Once he returned home his fingers had been stiff with cold and his back aching from carrying everything. He’d dropped the gardening stuff in what she had called the greenhouses, like the old humans had called their glass houses for their plants, before heading inside to warm up. 

There was heating delivered by water in some clever technological way he weren’t quite sure how worked, so