“Henry!” Melissa shouted, “Have you heard? They’ve passed a spending bill!” I smiled at her, and although it was my doing that led to that, I decided it would be better not to say anything.
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Although, the amount they gave us was shocking enough that I could reciprocate with her. “That’s great! But what are we going to do with it all? I mean there’s satellites and all, but what else?” Melissa smiled, thoughtful. “Well I think I know just the thing, I ought to call a meeting…”
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She rushed off, and less than a second later, I received a message on my phone about a meeting. I picked up my laptop from my desk and walked over to the meeting room, which, sadly, was halfway across the building, then settled myself down, the meeting beginning.
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“...So!” Melissa began, “I’m sure you’re aware of the spending bill, but you may be wondering what we are going to spend it on?” That was true enough. “So I’ve composed a presentation to identify all the things we’re going to do with this, as since I am Director, I get to decide what we put this money on.”
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The projector powered on, and the presentation began. “So, first, we’re going to have to bring the ISS down. It was supposed to be decommissioned ages ago, but when we bought it, we just kinda kept renovating and using the thing, but if the moon is going to crash into us, we kinda have to bring it back down.” The screen changed from a picture of the ISS to one of Earth.
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“Now, the next thing we’re going to be spending on is a mass retrieval of our outer space satellites and astronauts in orbit, but after that, we’re going to attempt to develop a propulsion system for the planet, probably earth based.” She paused, before turning back to us. “So, what do you think?”
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“...Well, Melissa,” I said, “Is a propulsion system really the best way to go about this?” She smiled at me. “Yes. We have no sun to propel us solarly.” Another person spoke. “How are we going to do this fast enough? Mars is already heading straight at us, and I doubt we’ll actually be able to create something to propel the planet.”
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Melissa once again smiled lightly, and responded quickly. “It’s better we try something than do nothing. Besides, we made the International Railway, there’s nothing stopping us from going further—than ourselves.” The questioner nodded, beginning to pack their things. “Will that be all? Okay, you can all go, you’ll receive an email in more detail later today. Goodbye.”
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Everyone stood up, began packing, and left, but I stayed behind, I needed to talk to her. I walked over to her as she picked up her laptop, her mind visibly racing. “Hey, Melissa?” She responded without looking at me. “Yes Henry? Anything you need?”
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“Well, not exactly, but I do have a question.”
“Mhm?”
“How do we devise a propulsion system that could actually move the planet? Wouldn't evacuation be better?” She had already, at this point, packed up everything and was ready to leave, as so was I. She sighed, smoothing out her dress.
“I’ve already thought about that, we wouldn't have enough time to make rockets for sixteen billion people,” She then picked up her bag, turning toward me. “And besides, where would we go?”
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She very much had a point, so I pushed no further. We walked out of the meeting room, the conversation diverging to a different topic.
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Though I doubt we’d survive, one could hope.
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