The Blackened Oasis, the Asylum

A man approached the main door and threw himself through the entrance. He clutched onto his blood red duffle bag and as he entered the chambers, a look of concern and confusion was emitted by his glowing yet pale complexion. The door closed behind him, stunning him. All the while he meandered over to what looked like a long wide pit, covered in soot, with large stones surrounding it. Carved in this stone was a date of 2046 M.B.

Outside of this complex was dry and hazy. A radiant aura shone brightly around it. The surface was completely covered in dust, which spat up when stepped on. This was the center of the unknown, the yet to be discovered or determined society. The man simply known as Dr. Zaspa, who went by Dr. Z was an intelligent man. He resembled a general shape of a tree. He had long trunks that extended out from him for arms and massive limbs for legs as well. Atop his head was a bushel of hair resembling a large quantity of leaves. He seemed to hover gracefully when he walked and he had a lot going for him. He had two daughters Gretchen and Flynn, and a wife by the name of Paula. He was a loving father and his wife and he shared the same interest in the one subject that mattered most to him, space. They both had a keen eye for science and futuristic events and areas. Two intellectual beings, tied together by marriage, were mainly focused on one thing and one thing only, Planet Bipec.

Planet Bipec has internationally astonished the world with many magnificent and remarkable occurrences. In 2039, at midnight on July third, incredible colors lit up the sky for the entire world to see. From the earth’s surface, a bluish-green tinge could be seen in pitch darkness. For five minutes, feeling like an eternity, the world gazed and marveled at it. Then at the blink of an eye, the colors were gone.
A scientist by the name of Dr. Marvin Byrd studied these lights from his maximum powered telescope. Back in 2035, Marvin Byrd and Dr. Z were colleagues at a school in Portland, Oregon. They worked on everything together; they partnered up to work on the final science project of the year. These two men were very intelligent and knew a lot about space and scientific technology. Dr. Z came up with a plan to design a high powered telescope that would be able to see far into space and study the unknown. Dr. Z knew exactly what to do and on his own he mapped out the whole telescope and how it would be made. The next day over lunch, he told his idea to his partner and the two shared the excitement. However, Dr. Marvin Byrd stole the plans from him and fled to a small town in Virginia to carry out this invention. This devastated Zaspa, affecting his life, career and his future plans as a scientist. He coped with the pain but was never able to get over it.

Byrd followed the plans by his fellow colleague and soon enough the telescope was created perfectly. Marvin Byrd was now famous, having created the highest powered telescope to be seen by the human eye. He used this telescope and was able to find an unknown planet, which he named Planet Bipec. Byrd was able to piece together what appeared to be was the fourth closest planet to the sun, before Mars. He put his theories to use when he was offered by a space program to look more in depth at this planet and take a shuttle up to Planet Bipec. He obliged right away and the date was set.

That very next year, Dr. Marvin Byrd announced that his journey into the unknown would be occurring the next day. Everyone was looking forward to what his findings would be. Dr. Byrd had been in space before and piloted space crafts a few times as well, so it wasn’t that big of a deal that people were making it out to be. The next day, Byrd arrived at the station quite early. A rather large crowd of people gathered around the launch pad, behind large gates that blocked off onlookers from getting too close. The take off was successful and Dr. Byrd and his shuttle were tracking upward to this unknown planet, Planet Bipec.

Dr Byrd was the first man to travel to this unknown planet because he allegedly discovered it. He could see the earth’s full shape once he got deeper into space, it was incredible. The journey towards Bipec lasted about a day and a half before it could be seen from his craft. The distance from Bipec to the earth was about the same distance from that of Mercury and the Sun. As he gradually got closer to the planet, his shuttle landed snuggly on the surface. Dr. Byrd couldn’t believe his eyes that he had actually landed on a planet that no one has ever set foot on before. Opening up the main door, he stepped out. Soon he was freely moving around and checking the soil fragments and surface structure. The planet had a yellow tint to the surface that made it glow and shine. It was not a flat surface. Bipec had some hills and rocky surfaces. There was a haziness that made it hard to see far, but he continued venturing further over the planet’s surface. However, he didn’t want to travel too far, in case he lost track where his shuttle was landed. As he made his way farther, a prominent figure stood out and became more and more clear. He continued further. At first it looked like some hut, but as he got closer, it got much larger in width and height than what he had expected. It looked like a giant warehouse.

This startled him indeed. He whipped out his camera and snapped a few shots. The click of the camera emitted a flash so bright, it even blinded him. Stepping closer, he got a good look at the complex’s frame and structure. It was quite clean, a pure white, which was considerably odd because of the excess amounts of dirt and dust that covered the planet. He lifted his finger and brought it towards the outside wall and swiped it across. No signs of dirt on his finger tip; why was it so clean? He opened the door, and entered. The inside was bare and empty. It was completely dark, having no life, no movement. He could see a stair case in the distance. The bottom floor had bare walls and the floor was made out of dirt. What did this warehouse mean? Why would it be there if in fact there was no life at all?

Byrd returned to his shuttle for some space snacks and a good night’s rest. He was a little confused and scared of what he could possibly see on this planet in the near future. He was, however, the first one to step foot on to Bipec, and that could not be taken away from him. That night, the air was cold. It Penetrated through the shuttle and surrounded Byrd the whole night. The cold air was endless and merciless. It interrupted his sleep and kept waking him up.

The next morning, he left his shuttle and began a journey back to the warehouse. He wanted to investigate it thoroughly and report back to the space station his findings. The numbing cold air seemingly pierced right through his suit. He was freezing. Struggling to continue, and needing heat as soon as possible, he spotted the warehouse. It looked the same as it was before. As his focus grew clearer, he made out what he thought to be a lit up room on the top floor. He blinked and did a double take. The light was brighter. The light was lighting up the top floor, and creating ghostly shadows on the surface of the planet. He stared in total fixation; this was a clear sign that he was not alone. He tried convincing himself that the light on the top floor was there the last time he journeyed down to the complex. But no matter how many times he tried, he knew it hadn’t been. He was not alone!

Slowly walking backward, away from the light, he continued to stare it. Suddenly, the light went out. Byrd turned around and full out sprinted all the way back to his shuttle and threw himself in, locking the shuttle door behind him. He tried catching his breath, breathing in and out and trying to remain calm. When he would lower his heart rate and catch his breath, the thought of him not being alone erased all his accomplishments of becoming calm. He sat there and slowly fell asleep into a long, deep trance.

He was awake again and felt extremely odd. He had a yearning to venture back into the darkness towards the warehouse. Byrd came to the spot where he always first started to notice the building; however this trip down it was not there. Spinning around, he checked every part of the path to the complex, nothing was there. Feeling as if he was slowly going insane, he felt a strong pull on his legs. Looking down, two red eyes glared back it him. A strange looking serpent continued to spin around his legs. It had a unique pattern on its back and continued to look at Byrd. He lost his balance and fell to the ground.

“What in the world!” Byrd screamed as he woke up. He looked around to see where he was. Byrd was still safe inside his shuttle as if nothing had happened. He was living a nightmare. The once dreamy and magnificent planet was now writing his eulogy. He had to figure out what was happening, so he set out again to this cryptic warehouse. With the nightmare he had just experienced, it caused him to constantly look down at the ground for this imaginative serpent. When he glanced down again he saw a foot print out of the blue. No texture was evident, just a smooth flat footprint. This was not a mark from his own boot. He was being tracked. Looking forward, the footprints increased. He bent down and examined the footprint closely. It held only three toes with a very odd looking heel. It was not human. Byrd followed them and continued walking with his head faced down till the tracks disappeared. Now, he was standing in front of the main door of the warehouse. Back tracking, he swung his head upward and the top floor light again was now shining, brighter than ever.

Byrd had the feeling he wasn’t going to make it off this planet alive. It would be easy for him to just turn around and leave the planet in his shuttle unscathed. But some mysterious force kept Byrd from leaving. He wanted to stay. He stepped foot inside the main door and peered around the corner. It was completely dark; however the light from the top floor trickled down a radiance of light that shone on a specific object. It was quite odd, how the light added a mysterious atmosphere. He moved curiously towards it. It was a large pit, a well of some sort surrounded by large stones around the outside edge. He wanted to make his name known so he dug out his pocket knife. A treasure he cherished for his whole life, it was the only item that he could remember of his father who died suddenly when he was a child. He popped up the blade and began carving into the stone, writing in the date and his initials. This was his proof, his claim of being on Planet Bipec. A long raspy and clammy hand reached out and landed on Marvin Byrd’s shoulder. He spun around and was struck hard on the head by an inanimate object which then fell to the ground.

The creature dragged Byrd’s unconscious body to the room upstairs, the lit room. This thing had three twig fingers coming from an odd shaped, very frail arm. Two immense, beady eyes were surrounded by very pale, wet skin. Byrd was conscious again and looked up looked up. He lay on a thick black stretcher. The light shining into his pupils was extremely bright, blinding him. He could barely make out what was happening to him, but he could see two silhouettes a couple feet in front of him. They had tools in their hands and were standing still, not moving an inch. He tried to move, but he couldn’t. He soon realized he was strapped down and had no way to escape. He was trapped in the top floor of the warehouse, being examined by two things no soul has ever seen before.

Back at earth, the space program was starting to worry about Marvin Byrd. Mr. Edwin Thorn and Shaun Makee were chatting over the phone about this whole ordeal. These were the two head executives of the space program.

“Hello sir.” Thorn started the conversation.

“Hello.”

“What do you think we should do with Marvin Byrd? He said he was going to check back in with the panel and we have gotten no response from him at all.” Edwin Thorn’s voice quivered when he mentioned this. He was very concerned about this matter.

“It’s a very perplexed situation indeed. I believe the best way to take this matter into consideration would be to find someone willing to go up there and check if he is fine. I know a guy who’s interested in Bipec; I think his name was Gerald Zaspa. I’ll look him up and give him a call immediately.”

“Alright, thanks for your time Shaun. I appreciate it.”

“Yes, sure thing. Have a good one.”

Mr. Makee tried contacting Dr. Gerald Zaspa to figure out whether or not he would be interested in taking a flight up to space. The dial tone began to ring on the phone.

“Hello?”

“Yes, hello, is this Dr. Gerald Zaspa?”

“Speaking, who is this?”

“Shaun Makee, I am a head executive of the space program, Space Program of America or SPA. We were wondering if you could do us a big favor, there is money involved. We need your experience.”

“What would this favor be?” Zaspa seemed very intrigued.

“A man by the name of Dr. Marvin Byrd…” Shaun was cut off.

“Excuse me.”

“Marvin Byrd, do you know him?”

“Ugh, no I do not know this fellow. But please continue.”

“Well anyway, Marvin Byrd was offered to travel up to this unknown planet.”

“Planet Bipec?” Dr. Zaspa asked.

“Yes, Bipec. He traveled up to this planet and he said he would contact our station, about what was going on. We have heard nothing from him and our program is starting to get worried. We have heard about your interest in this planet and we were wondering if you would want to travel to Bipec, and see if he is alright.” There was a long pause in the conversation.

“I would be more than thrilled. I’m willing to help the program.”

“When do I go?”

“As soon as possible sir. The quicker it takes to get up there, the better chance we have of rescuing him.”

“Rescuing him?”

“Yes saving him, that would be the sole purpose of you going up there. Isn’t that right sir?”

“Oh yes right, save him. Sorry there are a lot of things on my mind right now.”

“Its quite okay sir, do you think you would be able to take flight this Saturday? That’s if you are willing of course.”

“I think that would be fine, I will discuss it with my family. My wife is very interested in Bipec, so I am sure she will be 100 percent behind me on this one. Thank you very much Shaun.”

“You are welcome and thank you for your assistance. Take care.”

“Thanks, you too.”

Dr. Z hung up the phone and sat there thinking. This was his chance. It could all be made right again. He had to do this. In his eyes this was the day he had been longing for throughout his whole life. It was all set.

It was Thursday, two days before his flight up to Bipec. Dr. Z grabbed a red duffle bag out of his closet and began loading it up with important tools. These important things were the tools he would use to get back at Byrd. He rooted around his apartment grabbing a screw driver, wire clippings and knife out of his kitchen drawer. These would all play vital roles at his stay on Bipec. He collapsed on the couch and watched the clock. The next day he arrived at the station for some special training he would need to know in order to have a successful flight. He understood the concept fully.

Saturday arrived. The drive to the station was three hours to the east. Grabbing his things he said his goodbyes to his family, his journey had begun. The drive was tiresome; growing very weary he soon arrived at the station. This was a private liftoff. No audience this time. The space program didn’t want to show their flaws to the world and give off any fear that something was wrong. Dr. Z walked through the control rooms passing a large, portly fellow. He was a guard.

“Excuse me sir, what’s in the bag?”

“….Oh nothing, it’s just some, umm space snacks.” Stuttering in the beginning, he thought he blew it all.

“You don’t mind if I had some of that space ice cream, I hear they’re to die for.”
“I am sorry sir, I would love to. I just have a small supply and will need all I have.”
“That’s fine, it’s understandable. Proceed.”

He continued through the hallway until he came to the boarding station. He was yards away from boarding a space shuttle that was headed to his prized area. He entered the main door and strapped himself in for the ride of his life. A man outside gave him the thumbs up and closed the door tight. Dr. Z then locked it and waited. Soon in his headset he could hear the countdown.

“10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3...2…1…We have lift off.” The shuttle jerked upwards and began it’s ascent towards the sky. The force was intense and slammed his body as far back against the seat as possible. Looking out the window, Dr. Z saw the earth come into focus. It looked like a swirled up marble. A day passed, Bipec became clear through his vision. There it was. Clouds were formed around the planet. This was the haze factor; he had to be careful in landing the shuttle. He didn’t want to underestimate how close he was to the surface and collide into Bipec. The distance between him and the planet’s ground decreased dramatically in a few minutes and he slowly brought it down and landed expertly. The dirt and dust spewed up from the surface and surrounded his shuttle. He had successfully landed on Planet Bipec.

He allowed the dust to settle before he stepped out on the surface of the planet. He began to cover the ground. He had to find Byrd. He could see nothing around him at all, just thick remnants of dirt that constantly found its way on the visor. Finally, in the distance, an object began to come into focus. Dr. Z started to pick up the pace as he realized this could be a sign of Byrd. As he approached the object, there was still no way of telling what exactly it was. The cloudiness of the planet made it almost impossible; he could just make out that something odd was there.

Fighting through what was now a cold wind, he finally reached the object. It was a shuttle, Byrd’s shuttle. His heart raced, he was not far from the man that ruined his life. Flashbacks appeared in his head of him working with Byrd and how he created all the plans for the telescope that would make millions. This was his chance to deliver the knock out blow and get some cold hard revenge. He peered into the shuttle, it appeared lifeless, but he made sure by opening the door. Byrd was not there, only a few wrappers and tissues. He stepped inside carrying his red duffle bag with him. He unzipped the pouch that held his wire clippers and screw driver. This would be a cumbersome task; however it needed to be done.

He began unscrewing the cabinet door of the intelligence system. It took him awhile until the screw jarred loose and he was able to pull the door off. This exposed all the cables and he began clipping each and everyone one of them until he knew for a fact that he had shut down the shuttle. Very pleased with his work, he screwed the cabinet door back on like nothing had happened. Leaving the shuttle, he continued his quest to find Marvin Byrd. He had to be close. Dr. Z returned back to his shuttle to report back to the space program station.

“Hello, Edward Thorn speaking.”

“Yes, this is Gerald Zaspa. I’ve landed on Bipec.”

“Any luck?”

“I am afraid not, I have not found his shuttle at all. I do not know where he could be. He may have not landed on this planet at all.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am almost positive; there are no signs of life here at all. Does this mean I am the first to land on this planet?”

“As cruel as this is, yes I guess that does mean you are the first one. Continue trying to look for Byrd.”

“Oh I will, you have my guarantee. I’ll report more later.”

“I will find you Marvin. That I am sure of.” Dr. Z said to himself out loud after he disconnected with Mr. Thorn. He was determined. He exited his shuttle and continued in search of his foe. He clutched his bag and walked with such poise that no one could bring him down. With Byrd’s shuttle unable to return to earth, Dr. Z figured Byrd would not live long up here. Dr. Z’s emotions carried him forwards towards his long awaited reunion with Byrd.

Wiping the dust off of his space suit visor, he headed toward the direction he figured Byrd would be. He began to notice small divots in the ground. Bending down to take a closer inspection, he could tell it was a trail of some sort. Dr. Z began following these tracks till it led him to what looked like a large warehouse. This fortress was immense, extruding out in each direction for what looked like miles. This however could be due to the haze and how it affected his vision.

Standing at the foot of the entrance, he started to feel very suspicious and nauseous of this whole ordeal. Just then a light flickered from inside the complex, making him jump back. The light then died out and all was dark in a matter of seconds. He approached the main door and threw himself through the entrance. He clutched onto his blood red duffle bag, and as he entered the chambers, a look of concern and confusion was emitted by his glowing yet pale complexion. The door closed behind him, stunning him. He meandered over to what looked like a long wide pit, covered in soot, with large stones surrounding it. On these stones was a carving with a date of 2046 M.B. This odd occurrence puzzled him, but then he pieced it together. Mumbling to himself, he stuttered.

“Does he think he can get away with this? Carving the date and his initials into stone, huh? We’ll just see about that.” He laid down his bag and reached in moving his hands precisely looking for one tool. His hand grasped a rather large knife. He began crossing out Byrd’s mark of fame on Bipec until it was unrecognizable. Shifting his weight to the right, he started carving his name and date on the stone. Making sure for the world to see, that he in fact was the one who successfully made it up onto this unknown planet. Pleased with the job he just accomplished, he set back out for his shuttle for sleep. Tomorrow, he would search solely for Byrd.

Byrd remained inside the warehouse on the top floor. He was still strapped onto the stretcher and the thought of leaving alive all but diminished in his mind. Byrd received some kind of fluid through a long, thin tube that was connected to a mechanism placed beside his still body. They were performing experiments and testing his body. What they wanted to see was how he responded to these shots. Byrd thought these were some type of mutation shots. He received a shot a day and was about to receive his tenth shot. The creatures huddled in a corner and discussed their plans in a very unique language.

Byrd remained still, focusing on what exactly these two things were mumbling about. The one spun his head and looked Byrd straight in the eyes. His finger extended towards where Byrd was lying. The other stood to the side with a needle wedged between his top two fingers. The side effects of the shot were not evident yet, whatever though they were looking for was not good for Byrd. This meant he would be receiving more shots. As Byrd watched the two intently, he saw the one lunge towards him, striking him in the upper section of his left bicep.

“What do you want from me!” Byrd screamed in agony. He started to shake uncontrollably. What he was going through was not normal, this had never happened before. He had reacted horribly to this specific shot. The spasms continued, he began coughing and spitting up wildly. The creatures did not know how to respond to this. They quickly unlaced the straps, holding Byrd’s body above the stretcher. The one grasped Byrd’s two legs and the other held his upper sector. They rushed madly down the stairs and outside of the complex, laying his motionless body onto the surface of the planet. They wanted nothing to do with an infected being. Byrd lay unconscious up against the main frame of the complex, defenseless.

Dr. Z awoke from his sleep and rose out from his seat. A rush of excitement was with him, to give Byrd what he had always deserved. Grabbing his long knife, he nestled it snugly into his left pocket. This being done, he jumped onto the ground. He followed his footsteps to the warehouse. As the warehouse began to come into a focus, some inanimate object laid outside the complex. He stopped and recollected his thoughts.

“Hello?” He called out. He got no answer. He continued, resuming his pace until it became clear, it was a body. It was not moving. Dr. Z again called out once more and again received no answer. He sauntered over until he could see the whites of the eyes. It was Byrd, his enemy, Zaspa’s demon. Byrd Lay in front of him staring aimlessly into the darkness.

“Look at yourself, you no good thief. You ruined my life and I want it back.” Byrd’s eyes remained transfixed onto nothing at all. Zaspa moved closer and yanked him up by the neck, pinning him up against the outside frame. Byrd responded by spitting up profusely inside his helmet and coughing dramatically.
“You stole my idea, you stole my life.” With this being said, Dr. Z held up his long, sharply pointed knife Byrd’s neck. Byrd coughed some more but was able to get some words out.

“Please Gerald, don’t. I’m begging you. I will give you money. Is that what you want?”

“I don’t want your infected money, I want you.”

“Look, we can sort this out. We have families; you don’t need to do this. Please. We were in college. I was young and heartless, and I am sorry. Please.”

“You should have thought of that when your actions led to my life slowly dissolving away.”

“Listen Gerald, I am sorry. We can both get out of here unharmed. There are creatures here that are experimenting on me; you don’t know what I am going through right now.”

“You lie; you don’t know what I have gone through my whole life. Yeah, how’s that feel? Huh, do you like feeling powerful? Does that give you pleasure?”

“No sir, you have this all wrong. Please.” Dr. Z then lunged towards Byrd, striking him hard on the forehead, knocking him down. Continuously he kicked hard in his sides. Byrd was hurt, physically and mentally. This madness was driving Byrd’s mind over the top. He felt horrible.

“Gerald, just let me live. I don’t deserve this.”

“You think I deserved all my hard work and ideas being stolen by some ruthless crook? There is no way I am leaving this planet without finishing my job.”

“What do you mean your job?”

“This job.” Z slammed his knife into Byrd’s leg, piercing the suit and striking deep into the skin.

“WHY?” Byrd screamed in pain, blood ran out of the punctured area. Dr. Z then kicked Byrd hard into the outside wall again. An injured Byrd remained still. Dr. Z began slowly walking backward in the direction of his shuttle.

“You won’t get away with this! There is no way anyway can find out what I did to you. I will get you in jail, Gerald, put you away! Attempted murder, that’s it. Once I am able to reach my shuttle your life is over. You hear me? OVER!” Hearing this, Dr. Z turned around, smiling and chuckling a bit under his breath.

“Yes, have fun with your trip back. I wish you the best with that.” Laughing hysterically Dr. Z continued his walk to his shuttle, his work was done here.