Tarsis

The calm, quiet fog passed over Neil as he just stared into the sky. Slowly, his eyes followed it as the wind seemed to be gently pulling it in one direction. Neil took a long, shallow breath.

This time felt longer than the last, Neil thought to himself. This was his eighth rotation of being alone in the camp. Contractors came and went, but like a loyal factory worker, Neil remained a constant presence. "They chose you, Neil." This is what he told himself, but rather, Neil chose the position himself. The company happily granted his request because it was one less thing they needed to think about. He was a robot that could take inputs and consistently produce results. He remembered moments when nobody bothered him while he worked. He was left to his own devices.

There were rotations that filtered other scientists in and out of the camp. Due to "staffing issues" every quarter, he was left alone in the small camp for three weeks while he waited for a new batch of contractors to be processed into the routine. Rotation after rotation after rotation. He could see glimpses of their faces in his memory, but had trouble remembering their names. His mind was grasping, but he couldn't hold anything. Neil took a long, shallow breath.

"Make sure the place doesn't blow up!" Neil had the image of his boss laughing in his mind. A man he had only met in person once, but now only knew him through a monitor. Neil was fine with being left there and never complained. Neil never really questioned anything outside of his work.

Tarsis, his new temporary home, was uninhabitable. The surface itself was a mountainous desert. There was an eerie greenish fog that sat on the surface most days, only letting up every so often. Without the fog, it was bright but not sunny. Because of the atmosphere, the planet was in constant overcast. Neil remembered his training and the engineer explaining the suits they had to wear if they went outside. "Lightweight and flexible," the engineer explained, like he was showing off one of his science projects. Miners were the only ones outside for extended periods. Others, like Neil, would tag along every once in a while, but this was rare.

A name came to Neil as flashes of faces filtered in his memory. "Caroline," he said after an exhale. She was fresh in his mind because she only left last week. Though his mind was hazy, he vividly remembered her long red hair and sharp blue eyes. She and Neil would go over samples that the miners had brought in. He couldn't even think of what they had been studying. All he could remember was how intently Caroline would listen to what he had to say, to the point where even the most mundane work-related conversations felt vulnerable. Neil took a long, shallow breath.

The camp was comfortable and accommodating, even when it was empty. He had stood there as a ghost, looking out the giant windows that took up the walls of the hallways. It seemed peaceful, but he knew the fog wasn't concealing much of anything outside of a bed of rocks.

The feeling of emptiness filled him again. The same feeling of emptiness that drove him to take the rover out. The pinging of the navigation system was still steady in his head. Maybe exploring the environment he had been in but not experienced could give him more than the routine he had built for himself.

Some of the miners had spoken about the massive rock pillars stretching for miles just east of the camp. Although only a few miles from the camp, the drive was long. Neil didn't mind, though. It was one of the few days the fog had dissipated enough not to feel trapped. Neil remembered the walking path but not how he found it. The sky wasn't like it was now; it was bright and clearer than it had been in recent memory. He remembered the view when he found an opening in the path. High up, overlooking a valley. Neil took a shallow breath.

The fog was still calm and quiet. Neil noticed he couldn't see the sky anymore. He couldn't recall when the fog began to set in again. He remembers the moment he decided to turn around. Now he lay in the dirt staring up at the same rocks he wished he had seen sooner, but wishing he had never left.

The initial shock of what had happened. The denial. His ears and head were ringing like a flashbang had just gone off next to him. Neil believed he had just gotten the wind knocked out of him, but after only a few minutes, he knew his situation was much worse. Neil took a shallow breath.

He just stared into the fog where the sky used to be. The terror began to fade, and now he only felt the quiet. Neil imagined crawling, but didn't know if it was just a dream. He had not regained the feeling in his legs. The cold was starting to become the worst part. He remembered the sight of Caroline. She was as beautiful as the mountains he was surrounded by.

The thirst and hunger sank in hours ago as the adrenaline wore off. He longed to be in his lab examining his samples. What was routine and dull now became something to look forward to. Neil dreamed of someone from the next rotation finding him and saving him. A nice thought, he knew, would never happen. He thought that yesterday, as the sun went down. The ground grew harder underneath him.

He was trapped in his own mind. Neil felt weirdly at peace with his situation. The anger he felt turned to apathy, which long ago turned to numbness. Neil gave out a quick burst of air from his nose, his only way to laugh at his situation. Neil took a shallow breath, and with one press of a button, the front of his mask was released.