The Sun of Life

I had finished maintenance on the teleporter in record time. Yeah, go me. I pumped my fist. My face suddenly flushed at the thought of anyone witnessing my display of outward triumph. Thankfully, people milled about like every other day. Children ran around without care for their concerned parents, the restaurant across the river were cooking their signature noddle dishes, and the birds were perched on the virtual recognition of a tree.

I stretched my arms above my head and checked the time. I was supposed to be meeting Carol in over an hour. She had always been concerned about her performance, despite being the best violin player the world had ever seen. I needed to remind her of that fact once again because she seems to pick and choose what she believes.

"Stacey Hepburn," the voice had a cold and deep tone.

I turned to the suited man wearing a black visor over his eyes. "Um. Yes? Stacey is my... Er, sister's name... Yes." Damn. Why couldn't I be quicker with my lies? And why did I put my imaginary sister in danger like that? "Who are you?" I said after the suited man replied with an awkward silence.

He flicked open his ID. Solar Corps. This man was part of the Solar Corps?!

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I said with hopefully enough sincerity to ensure I wouldn't receive punishment. "Glory to the Sun. Is there anything I can-"

"Glory to the Sun. Follow me, please," he said without emotion. "We need your assistance."

Assistance? What could I possibly offer? Maintenance on a teleporter, or perhaps one of the transporters? A new Solar Corps invention? Oh dear, so many questions which I knew the suited man wouldn't answer.

No one paid us any attention. It was like we were invisible as we walked up to the hovering car made of nothing but dark material. That meant we weren't going anywhere near one of the teleporter locations... Not that they were all working right now (thanks to certain people slacking on the job).

The car sailed smoothly like a windless force was pushing it. I sat in the leather-soaked interior, darkened by the tinted windows, drumming my knees. The suited man sat opposite, his face stoic and unreadable.

I pulled out the screen from my wrist-phone and sent a quick text to Mum.

WITH SOLAR CORPS. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. THEY WANT MY ASSISTANCE. AHHHHH!!

I sent a similar message to Carol and said I'd be with her as soon as I could.

The suited man stayed silent for the entire car ride. This discipline must have been what made them such a success. It was thanks to them we were able to enjoy peace without crime, why we had the empty prisons converted to cafes and schools, and why the sun keeps providing us with light. I would do all I could to help them, though I can't imagine it was going to be much. I mean... me?! They wanted my help? My body shook with a kind of giddiness I had never felt before. Maybe I was ill.

When the car lulled to a stop, the suited man opened the door for me like I was a celebrity. Directly in the path of where I stepped out was the Sky Elevator. The tip reached past the clouds and beyond, the structure stretching off with vertical tangents at intermittent points. They were bridges, also made as supports, and they continued in a rhythmic fashion up till the peak.

"Go inside and head to the top floor," said the suited man. "You're expected. Glory to the Sun."

My stunned mind almost forgot the basics. "Oh, Glory to the Sun. Thank you."

The man watched me enter before returning to the car and silently speeding off. The inside of the cylindrical tower was a compressed cubicle with little colour or entertainment. I pressed the arrow on the wall and the floor rose. My legs stayed straight under the light force pulling me down; it was like having someone big sit on your shoulders.

When the elevator stopped and the doors swished open, a weird smell of burning hitting me and a familiar face had her eyes on my person, waiting, examining. It took me a moment, but my memory clicked into place.

"Mallory?" I said, tuning my mind back to high school and all my classmates. "It is you, isn't it?"

"Stacey Hepburn." Mallory held a tablet in one hand and a space helmet in the other. She had to shift the helmet under her arm so she could tap something on the screen. Just once. "Put on one of those suits and come with me. You can keep the helmet off for now."

Space suits hung in a line of open cabinets. I picked the closest, held it to my body, and pressed the button on the chest. It sucked itself around my limbs and torso, wrapping me like a present. I picked up the helmet and jogged after Mallory, who had seen fit to start moving without me.

The corridor had windows either side and I couldn't control my curiosity. I stopped and stared, placing hands on the semblance of glass: a safety field made by Solar Corps. The Earth shone underneath; the stars glittering in the distance. We really were in space. I guess even little people like me got the chance to see it.

“So, er, Mallory,” I said, trying to keep up with her stride. The corridor split into left and right paths, and Mallory chose right. “How have you been?”

She regarded me with a sidelong glance. “Pleasantries are unnecessary.” There was a bitter tone to her voice. I don’t remember enough of her to know if this was normal.

“Oh,” I mumbled. “Um, then, may I ask why I’m here? Your colleague said I am to assist you.”

She didn’t say anything as we stepped on a sideways elevator that dragged us across the stretches of the solar system at a speed I could barely comprehend. Where the heck were we going?

“Mallory?” I asked again, as we stood, watching the outside world of starlit darkness float by at high-speed. There was no force here trying to push us aside. Our boots kept us grounded, and the suits kept our stomachs in.

“You wanted to know why you’re here?!” she snapped at me. She took a deep breath and relaxed. “You’re here to help with the sun’s encasing.”

My head swivelled to the direction we were travelling in. The sun was enraptured in huge claws of human design. There were plenty of gaps for light to break through, but the man-made structure gripping the fiery ball was a necessity. They had to contain the expanding supernova. Sol, a star lasting millennia, providing light to generations was ready to expand and consume all the planets in the system. That was until the Solar Corps had intervened.

“Wait,” I said. “Wait, wait, wait… The Solar Corps are asking… me to help? With the Sun’s Claws? Me?”

“That is what is happening,” said Mallory.

“Me?! Are you sure you have the right person? I mean… me?”

“You have a PHD in engineering. You have the skills we need. You have showcased your talents on many occasions, even during high school.”

“I didn’t do much back then,” I said. “I just liked reading. My hands kind of did their own thing.”

“And that’s why Jared liked you more,” Mallory mumbled.

"Hm?” I said. “Jared? Jared… Jones? The tall boy from school?"

“Yes, him. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten the humiliation I felt when he dumped me in front of the school! Do you know what I found out afterwards?”

I shook my head, silent.

“I found out he dumped me because he liked you.”

My heart burst. Jared had liked me? Jared, the boy everyone called ‘cool’ and ‘sporty.’ This couldn’t be right. But Mallory’s flushed face told me she was serious.

“He liked the way you committed to your study’s – not like I did that, too. He liked your short, silly pixie cut – he said it was cute and stylish.”

My hands instinctively went to my hair. I just liked having it like this was all.

“He talked about you a lot, even while dating me. The prat. And you were too blind to see anything other than yourself. You never even noticed Jared gawking and drooling over you.”

“I never knew,” I said. “I preferred to focus on my studies.”

“I know,” said Mallory with a smug smile. “I did, too, in the end. And look how much better I ended up without wasting time on a PHD.”

I couldn’t let that one pass without at least a comment. "Your father is a major player in the Solar Corps. That's why you're here, isn’t it?"

"Daddy- My father recognised my talents and put me where I was meant to be. You’re only here because I requested it.”

“Then why don’t you request Jared to love you again?” I said, more petulant than I’d have liked.

“Him and his stupidity won’t be bothering me ever again.”

My mouth went dry. Perhaps I had overstepped. There was no reason to argue and be at each other’s throats like this. We hadn’t spoken much in school, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t be friends now.

“I’m sorry, Mallory. I didn’t mean to stir up any negativity between us.”

Mallory grunted. “Put your helmet on. Make sure the sun-guard is activated.”

I rested the helmet over my head, the pressure locking at the neck. The silence of space seemed all the quieter when covering my ears. That, and I couldn’t hear Mallory’s voice unless it came through the comms.

“We’re arriving at the Sun Base,” Mallory’s crackled voice came through. “Get ready.”

“Will my tools be enough?” I had my scanner, my wrench, and knickknacks which I knew would be no use up here.

“There are more for you to use at our destination. Let’s move.”

We stepped out onto a gangway in open space, leading to the mouth of our sun. There was docking station connecting all the huge claws together; one on this side, and one on the other which we couldn’t see. I could scarcely believe what we were doing. This must have been the sort of crazy stuff Solar Corps did all the time.

I entered through the final door at Mallory’s urging, stepping as close to the sun as humans – once upon a time – had never dared. It glared right at me, threatening to blind me with its flames even through my visor. My heart beat way too fast for comfort, but I was here to fulfil my duty, and I’d do it.

I sought the tools Mallory had said would be on site. I sought other workers, the ones keeping the claws maintained. Nothing was here. No people, no instruments, no instructions.

“Mallory-” I started as I turned to the closing door.

Mallory stood, her helmet and head peering through the window. “You’re here to help, remember,” her voice came through on the comms. “At least you can take solace in knowing you had a little bit of worth after all.”

Something vibrated. A horrid feeling crawled over my skin, like ants had worked their way into my suit. “Mallory,” I said. “What’s going on?”

There was a horrible roar. A screech of something inhuman. A burst of light, brighter than the sun itself, shot out. My arm seized. What was it? What was holding me?!

Tendrils of orange, yellow, red pulled me. They were coming from the sun, and more whips lashed out at my body, wrapping me, constricting me. And another screech of a creature so huge, my ears wanted to shatter even under the helmet, even in the vacuum of space.

“Mallory, please! What’s going on?” I begged as I fought against the dragging of the tentacles.

Mallory smiled with such malignity through the door as she waved. “The sun isn’t what you thought, stupid Stacey – that’s what we always called you at school, by the way. When Solar Corps first came here to try and contain it, they found something interesting. They found the sun was alive.”

My body stopped fighting for a second as I registered her words, and the sun pulled me into a burning abyss. I couldn’t feel it, but my body couldn’t fight any more. My arms and legs had lost their feeling; I had no control. My body wasn’t mine, but my mind still was. As were my ears.

“It wasn’t just alive,” Mallory continued. “It was hungry. Very hungry. It needs feeding otherwise this whole solar system would go bang. So, we did the right thing. We fed it the dregs of society, our criminals, our lowlifes. But now we’ve run out, and the sun is still hungry. What were we to do? Then I remembered you, Jared, and several others whom I despise. With a quick tap and change – voila! You now have a criminal record. And what happens to criminals?” she asked sarcastically. “Just know you brought this on yourself,” Mallory’s caustic voice echoed in my helmet. “Be sure to say hi to Jared for me, stupid Stacey. I hope your existence is finally burnt away before long. Oh, and I’ll tell Carol you can’t stand her violin playing after you end up being a no-show. Maybe I’ll invite her up here next.”

Her harangue had accosted what was left of my senses. She really hated me… Enough to kill me... Enough to kill my friend...

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. But I wanted to tell Mum and Carol that I loved them, to stay away from Mallory, to warn them about Solar Corps. And… I’m sorry, Mallory. I didn’t know. I really thought we could have been friends… I didn’t realise how much I had hurt you.

I didn't know what was happening to my body… I didn't understand how I could exist inside the sun. I didn't know being inside a ball of fire would feel so cold.

The light was so bright, but now I can’t see anything. Mallory had stopped talking, or maybe my ears had ruptured. This fire on my skin, it doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t feel right. My arm… where is it? I couldn't control my fingers. Everything went blank, but my mind was still here…

Still here.