You Can’t Tell Them They’re Dead, That’s Rule #1
by Dannye Chase
Lifeline Company Rules for all staff on Phoenix Base, Planet 42-Y
It is of utmost importance that you DO NOT attempt to interact with the inhabitants of this planet, and absolutely NEVER inform them they have died. Violating this rule will result in immediate termination and incarceration.
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July 16
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
So like
What if someone’s not telling us WE’RE dead?
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Baby
Please
You do something different today than yesterday?
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Idk I guess so
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Well, these guys never do, do they?
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Interplanetary Email
Unsent draft
July 17, CY849
From: Maggie Collins
To: Annabeth
Hey. It’ll take a few days to route this through the depths of space to you, so I’m sorry I missed your birthday. The calendars around here never change. Haha that’s a joke.
I tried to forget it was your birthday but every year on July 17 my sensors go off or whatever. Fuck did I try to forget you. I still smell you on my clothes.
I’m sorry about my grandma. I’m so sorry she saw you like that. I know you were cool with us dating, but you didn’t want anybody to know the other thing.
I wish that
Fuck I don’t even know.
Yesterday I had an egg at breakfast, and today I had two. Doing something different every day means I’m alive, according to Jess. She’s my co-worker. I think you’d like her. Her tour’s almost up, so she’ll get shipped home in a few days. We just go where they send us, don’t we?
The eggs aren’t bad here. They’ve got chickens at the farm facility so it’s fresh. From humans, I mean. All the animals died out here when it happened, and I don’t think anybody wants to try to eat what came back.
Sometimes I wonder if Hell’s a planet. Our Hell, I mean. Because if this is the afterlife for these aliens then maybe ours is a planet too. Our Hell would be fire and volcanoes I guess.
The aliens here are repeating the last day before their Last Day. We couldn't be here if they repeated their real last day because this place would be nothing but rubble half the time. The aliens don’t look scared, though. They must not have known it was coming.
Maybe this is their Heaven.
In the sector I’m assigned to, Sector E, there’s a garden outside a school. One lady comes every morning—of course she does, she doesn’t have a choice! TB, Tall Blue, that’s what I call her, because that’s what she is. She picks a dead head off a yellow flower and tosses it in the dirt. Every day it’s back again and she does it again and she doesn’t know.
It’s so weird the dead flower comes back. It’s weird the whole planet did.
Love,
Maggie
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Interplanetary Email
Sent Message
July 17, CY849
From: Maggie Collins
To: Annabeth
Hey. My calendar still has your birthday in it so I figured I might as well say hi. I’m good. Hope you’re good.
Maggie
____________________________________________________________________________
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TEST 126 FOR COMMON YEAR 849
Filed July 17, CY849
Members of the board:
Test 126 in Sector K was performed on July 10. In the week since then, we’ve realised 126 was successful at least in that we are now aware of what not to do.
It’s still impossible to know how any particular change might affect the repeating time loop, but it has long been assumed that informing the aliens of the truth about their planet, the loop, and their deaths would cause major changes. In fact, it is Company rule #1 to avoid that very action. Thus the decision to conduct Test 126 was not taken lightly by anyone who greenlit the process. But we hoped that “awakening” the aliens to their situation would result in an opportunity to reveal our presence as observers, establish communication, and further our scientific and manufacturing goals.
Unfortunately, Test 126 caused massive panic. The aliens experienced emotional distress, resulting in drastic, undesirable changes to their behaviour. Most importantly to the Company, most adults walked off their jobs to reunite with children or other family members. We believe that any attempt at communication now would not be well received.
Fortunately Sector K remains sealed off. There is no indication that news of what happened spread to other sectors, either among aliens or humans.
However, unexpectedly, attempts to reset the time loop in Sector K to baseline have so far been unsuccessful. Efforts are ongoing. We hope we will also be able to learn how to rectify our mistakes.
Signed: J. Mills, Director of Testing, Sector K
____________________________________________________________________________
Interplanetary Email
Unsent draft
July 19, CY849
From: Maggie Collins
To: Annabeth
Hello again from the boring wastes of space. AKA Sector E of Planet 42-Y. I’m not supposed to tell you where I am, but since I’m not going to send this, the censors won’t see it.
Today for breakfast I had cereal, with something that was supposed to be raisins, but wasn’t. God I am going straight home once Compulsory Service is over. They make it sound all noble but fuck any country that sends its 18-year-olds to weird planets. That’s what Grandma always said anyway. If she only knew I was here staring at dead guys.
I don’t even know for sure why we’re here. Us Comp Service people, I mean. The scientists and the Lifeline Company people work inside buildings and we never see them. Our job is just to watch the aliens and report any changes in their behaviour.
That idea is a little freaky, to be honest. I have these guys memorised and I don’t know what I’d do if someday somebody made some tiny little change. Like got to work two minutes later or had their shoe untied. That would be creepy as fuck. If it ever happens we’re supposed to report it to the people who have more important jobs than us. I don’t know what they’d do about it, though. Probably just blame us for causing it somehow.
Nobody knows why this happened, if it’s the aliens’ biology or something about this area of space that made them go into a time loop. But there’s a rumour going around the base that our scientists want to learn how to prolong our lives, keep us going after death. But for what? To do the same thing every day? What kind of life would that be? Maybe it would be okay if you got to choose what you’re doing over and over.
I don’t think TB is spending her last day like she would want. Before she goes over to the garden, she has an argument with an elderly woman in the parking lot of the school. Another teacher maybe, or the principal. It gets pretty heated. I’m not supposed to go near the school—not supposed to go near the aliens at all, they really restrict your movements here. But I can hear them arguing and it’s not pleasant.
The closest I get to TB is when she comes to the garden. There’s a picnic bench, and sometimes when she’s not around, I sit there. I wonder what she’d do if she could see me, if I wasn’t in this suit that can’t get picked up by their eyes or however the fuck it works. I wonder what I’d say to her. I guess I’d ask her what she was teaching.
Love you.
Maggie
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Our Planet
Pellia is the fifth planet from our Sun. We are an adventuresome planet, weaving our way through a belt of asteroids we can see every night in the sky. Scientists say long ago we were hit by several asteroids, but for the past million years, we’ve charted a safe route through the [Turn to next page]
__________________
Discussion Questions
What is Pellia named for?
What are Pellia’s three main resources?
What is the name of the asteroid that comes closest to our planet every year?
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July 22
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
She’s cold
That one alien u like
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
?
No, she’s just blue. There’s blue ones
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
She fuckin shivers lol
Must have forgot her jacket
If you stopped looking at her ass maybe you’d notice
Want to get lunch in the cafeteria today?
I’m about to go home and I’ve never tried the chilli
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Oh look at you so brave
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Old Shale Pattern
Pattern is worked over a multiple of 18 stitches
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: K2tog 3x, [YO, k1] 6x, k2tog 3x. Rep across row.
Note: this means you do k2tog 6x in the middle of the row
Row 4: Knit
Old Shale makes a pretty wave stitch that is perfect for a scarf.
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Memo re: PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TEST 126 FOR COMMON YEAR 849
July 22, CY849
Lou - Is there a report for what happened with Test 125, the introduction of new tools into the factory in Sector K? Or did that just get lost in the chaos of Test 126? We don’t want to repeat a test over here that you guys already ran.
- Craig S., Testing Associate, Sector E
Memo re: re: PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TEST 126 FOR COMMON YEAR 849
July 22, CY849
Craig - All reports on Sector K are being held back now, but I did see the report on 125 before we ran 126. Unfortunately, 125 was also a failure. The new tools were more efficient, but they were also more complicated to use, and the aliens couldn’t adapt in the small time frame of the loop. They got confused and production stopped.
Copies of the original tools were replaced the next morning, recreating the baseline loop. Everything went back to normal.
- Lou B., Asst. Manager of Testing, Sector K
Memo re: re: re: PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TEST 126 FOR COMMON YEAR 849
July 22, CY849
Back to normal until 126, anyway. But the new tools didn’t set off any panicked behaviour?
- Craig S., Testing Associate, Sector E
Memo re: re: re: re: PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TEST 126 FOR COMMON YEAR 849
July 22, CY849
Craig - The new tools didn’t seem to make the aliens realise anything about their upcoming deaths, no. They still wanted to do their jobs.
- Lou B., Asst. Manager of Testing, Sector K
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July 22
Craig be chillin’ in sector E:
Hey Lou
Hope you don’t mind me texting you. The memos are kinda formal and I was getting tired of all the re:’s
So what’s the fallout been over 126?
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
There’s been quite a lot.
But much of it is above my pay grade, fortunately.
Craig be chillin’ in sector E:
Yeah that’s for sure
Wouldn’t want to be Mills right now
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Probably not.
Craig be chillin’ in sector E:
Hey listen
Would you ever want to like, get a drink with me after work?
I mean it might just be easier to talk face-to-face
July 23
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Hey sorry I didn’t see this.
I’m actually pretty busy right now.
Craig be chillin’ in sector E:
Oh hey no that’s fine
All good
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Okay.
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The idea behind Freeform Crochet is there is no pattern, no rules, no limits. Play around with stitch height and type. Go any direction you want! Make every row different! In freeform crochet you are an artist.
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Interplanetary Email
Unsent draft
July 23, CY849
From: Maggie Collins
To: Annabeth
So the scarf I made came out right. Orderly, perfect waves. I hate it. Got out my damn crochet hook haha. It’s a mess now, with the crochet going every which way. I love it. If Grandma could see it she’d freak.
I’ve been thinking about her a lot. If there was some planet I could go see her repeat her last day, would I? I guess her last day wasn’t much. Unconscious with tubes down her throat. God I hope she’s not repeating that forever.
I’m sorry I outed you to her. I know you were trying to get along with her, even though we were two girls together and she didn’t like it. But she really didn’t want us to be two species. You and I were too alike and too different all at once.
But it really wasn't her fault. Just how she was brought up. And she didn’t raise me to have those beliefs. She was a good person. I just can’t stop thinking about the look on your face when she walked in. And the way your scales shone in the sun when you ran out into the street. I’m so sorry. I should never have just stood there and let you go, but I froze. I had no idea how to fix it. I still don’t know. Which is why I write you emails that you will never see.
I think Grandma’s real last day was a week before she died, the last day before the stroke. If she’d known it was the end she would have called me to say goodbye. I know she would have. Might even have called you, too.
You know what else I’ve been thinking about?
If this planet blew up then WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE?!?!?!
____________________________________________________________________________
SUBSEQUENT REPORT ON TEST 126 FOR COMMON YEAR 849
Filed July 24, CY849
Members of the board:
Over the last 7 days, we have made 7 more attempts to recreate the baseline conditions of Sector K after they were changed so drastically by Test 126. Unfortunately, we have been unsuccessful.
At this point, we believe we know why it has been impossible to “reset” the loop back to baseline. A review of facts is in order:
In initial testing [1-100], small changes were introduced. We learned any change made to the loop becomes the new baseline when the loop resets. For example, if we lock a door one day, it remains locked when the loop starts over.
Per factory work specifically, any production by the aliens results in products that reset themselves with the loop. That is, the products disappear when the loop resets. However, when we provide the aliens with raw materials from outside the loop, those products remain at time of loop reset. So long as we introduce exactly the raw materials that existed on the Last Day, the aliens do not notice the change, and the loop continues at baseline levels while producing actual product. This discovery fueled the creation of the Lifeline Company to market those products.
If any changes are made which produce undesirable results, such as the introduction of updated factory tools per Test 125, which ended up halting production, we have always been able to “reset” the loop by returning to baseline input at the start of the next loop. So for Test 125, replacing the new tools with the old ones caused the aliens to act at baseline levels once more.
During Test 126, the aliens working in Factory 9 were informed of the impending catastrophe and the existence of the loop via message on their personal communication devices, including a link to the scientific evidence. However, the news did not remain contained in the factory, but spread quickly.
It is now our fear the panic was so widely disseminated that nearly every alien in Sector K changed their behaviour. Thus we would need to perform a “reset” for each one of them. So far, we have been unable to do so.
Efforts are ongoing.
Signed: J. Mills, Director of Testing, Sector K
____________________________________________________________________________
July 24
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
Saw the updated Sector K report
Did you?
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Yes.
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
It’s just so casual, like yeah we fucked up an entire sector but it’s fine it was just an experiment, it’s good data
You know I can’t help but think they want to do this with humans some day
Murder a whole factory of workers and get endless free labour
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
They didn’t murder them. It was an asteroid.
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
Not the point
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Look
Yes, Sector K was bad.
But there’s a reason the dead don’t have rights. They don’t need them.
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
I just feel like
We’re stuck on this path now and I don’t know where it leads
July 28
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
Hey
You around?
Something’s going on
I don’t know who else to talk to
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Yeah
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
Ok thanks
Do you think it’s possible any of the aliens knew it was coming?
Like figured it out on their own, before we were even here?
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
How would they do that?
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
So I was reviewing some of the scientific work from Sector E
There were a few scientists there that was really close to figuring it out
Like REALLY close
So like
What if one of them did?
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
So what?
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
So somebody in sector E might KNOW
About the planet exploding
Maybe about the time loop
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
No, that doesn’t make sense.
Anybody who knew would have warned everybody else, like they did in Sector K.
Or tried to get off-world.
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
Not necessarily
They might have had a reason to stay
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
And go into a time loop on purpose?
What possible reason?
Craig Deep space fish boi ʚ(•”̮•)ɞ:
I don’t know
Doesn’t really matter
The point is, I think somebody in sector E might be AWAKE
Don’t know if that’s what the bosses want to hear.
____________________________________________________________________________
July 28
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
U made me a scarf?! *Blushes*
July 29
Maggie?
Hello
Answer your texts!
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Hey, sorry
Uh this is awkward. It’s not for you
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
LOL
I know dumbass
Sending it home?
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Not sure
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Oh baby
You didn’t
Tell me you didn’t make your alien crush a scarf??
You can’t give it to her!!
They’ll put you in fucking jail
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
I know!
I just don’t think it’s fair she’s cold forever
I won’t let her see me. I’ll keep my suit on
I’ll just leave the scarf out by the garden where she deadheads the flower
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
No no no no
Come on you are not this dumb
You don’t fucking know how this works
You are messing with a time loop full of dead aliens on an exploded planet
What if you die? What if we all die?
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Don’t be so dramatic
It’s a scarf
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Yeah and what if she realises what’s going on?
That she’s dead and people are watching her
If it was you, would you really want to know?
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Well maybe there’s somebody she would want to say goodbye to.
July 30
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
I couldn’t do it
I fucking couldn’t do it. I couldn’t give TB the scarf
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Baby that’s smart
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Yeah except now she’ll stay cold
And now it’s like it’s my fault
I can fix it and I didn’t
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Honey you can’t fix it
July 31
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Jess I fucked up
Jess
Jess
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
What??? U didn’t give her the scarf did you?
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Worse
My knitting scissors I lost them yesterday been looking everywhere
TB HAS THEM
She fucking cut the deadhead off the flower with my scissors!!
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Wait WHAT
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
The flower TB deadheads she was using her hands now she has my scissors
I didn’t give them to her it was an accident I must have left them on the picnic bench and she found them
What do I do?????
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Holy fucking fuck
Did she see you?
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
No I always keep my suit on
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Does anybody else know?
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
I don’t think so
I’m supposed to report it but I’ll get in so much trouble even if it was an accident
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
No shit
Is TB doing anything else different?
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
No it all seems the same
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Holy shit
U fucked up girl
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
I KNOW
____________________________________________________________________________
FINAL REPORT ON TEST 126 FOR COMMON YEAR 849
Filed July 31, CY849
Members of the board:
After 3 weeks, we are suspending attempts to bring Sector K back to baseline conditions. It is not possible to perform a “reset” with every alien in Sector K with the current manpower we have available, and the output of the factories in Sector K is not large enough to offset the cost of bringing extra company personnel to the planet.
We can revisit the situation if that changes.
Signed: J. Mills, Director of Testing, Sector K
____________________________________________________________________________
July 31
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Hey Craig you there?
Craig (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻:
Hey!
Yeah hi!
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Did you see the report?
Craig (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻:
Yup
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Have you ever been to Sector K?
Craig (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻:
No
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
I liked it a lot when I first got here
I feel like i got to know some of the aliens somehow
It’s weird i mean they couldn’t see me but they were familiar
Craig (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻:
Yeah I get it. It’s the same with me in E
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
I can’t get back into Sector K now, it’s closed off.
But they must be suffering
They know they’re going to die
They know their kids are going to die
& it’s just repeating forever
Craig (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻:
Fuck that must be awful
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
It is it’s fucking awful
Do u really think one of yours in Sector E is awake?
Craig (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻:
Yeah maybe
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Then they must be at peace with it right?
Spending their last day the way they want
Not panicked
Craig (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻:
Seems that way
And it could be the same in Sector K, for a few of them
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
I hope so
Craig (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻:
I mean sometimes it’s a blessing to know, right?
Live every day like it’s your last
That’s supposed to be a good thing
Lou B, AM Testing, Sect K:
Thank you for that
____________________________________________________________________________
August 1
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Anything happen today?
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
No
TB is acting same as yesterday
She has my scissors still but nothing else is different
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Fuck girl u dodged a bullet
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
I think so
But Idk what she does all day
Just at lunch
I think I’m going to follow her and find out
Just in case
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Be careful
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Yeah
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
Can’t believe my service is up tomorrow
I’m really going to miss u and your constant drama lol
Too bad we can’t text between planets
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
I’m going to miss you too
Jess (๑✧◡✧๑):
I can email!
Maggie ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ:
Yeah
That would be nice ty
Safe travels
____________________________________________________________________________
Interplanetary Email
Unsent draft
Aug 4, CY849
From: Maggie Collins
To: Annabeth
You’re the only person I can tell about this. Jess went home and I don’t know if I’d tell her anyway. I definitely can’t tell my supervisor, they’ll lock me up forever. The only person I can talk to is someone who will never hear this.
I fucked up. TB, Tall Blue. She’s not like I thought.
Two days ago, I followed her, after lunch. She cut the flower with my scissors and then she started walking down this path into the park. We got into a wooded area and someone was waiting for her, that elderly coworker that she argues with outside the school. The coworker seemed less angry, calmer, like she was ready to talk. But TB got this look in her eyes and then she said some awful things and the old woman cried. And then TB fucking took out this KNIFE from her pocket and stabbed her. And laughed about it.
There was so much blood.
TB looked so happy.
She’s been doing this and doing this every day. Every day she kills this woman.
I couldn’t sleep. Jess is gone. I don’t have any other friends here.
So I did something. Maybe you’d be proud of me, I actually fucking did something. I went back yesterday morning to the woods and I left a note for the old woman. I just said someone was coming to hurt her and she should get out. Go home.
When she got there, she read it. And she left.
And when TB got there later I thought she’d just be confused, you know, like where was her coworker, she must have changed her mind about coming, but she wasn’t.
TB looked around the woods with this awful smile on her face and she started talking. To ME. Even though she couldn’t see me.
She asked if I was the one who left the scissors and said it was really dumb for her to take them cause it must have been the reason I followed her but she was so tired of her fingers being sticky from the flower every day. She said she hadn’t been sure before if her people were being observed by some other species but she knew after the scissors showed up that somebody else was there.
Anna, she’s awake. She knows about the loop. She knows they all died. She said she knew it before, because she’s a science teacher and she figured out it was coming, and this is what she wanted to do. She wanted to hurt this other woman. She said it was worth it to live over and over and never change if she got to hurt her like this. She said her only real regret was in all the planning, she forgot her jacket at home that morning, and she was too worried any observers would notice such a big change.
I didn't know how to tell her I made her a scarf.
And then she said I had to fix what I did. That I had to reset the loop, come back tomorrow and take my note away. I have to let her kill this woman. And if I don’t TB will tell everybody they’re going to die, that they’re in a loop. And everybody will suffer then, not just this woman, and it’ll be my fault.
Anna
I thought I fixed things.
I thought I COULD fix things.
If Hell is a planet, this is it.