I'm going on a vacation. There must be greater things to see out there. I don't know what I'm looking for, but I'm sure I'll find it... out there. It's out there. The rocket leaves the station!
2. Pipes Planet
For thousands of years a species of crafty monkeys have been weaving an intricate web of pipes. They walk around the planet leaving behind this trail of pipes and no matter how many times they go around, there is always unpiped land ahead of them.
For thousands of years a species of crafty monkeys have been rending a convoluted web of pipes. They walk around the planet tearing apart this jungle of pipes and no matter how many times they go around, there is always piped land ahead of them.
It's best if I don't tell either group about the other.
3. Winter Planet
It's never warm here. Birds are frozen into the trees. They are just barely awake and aware enough to partake in a prayer. \"Let this winter last--it keeps us in the past.\" Although this is a peaceful place, I don't want to waste any more time here.
4. Black Hole Planet
Every year it gets a little closer to the black hole. Nobody wants to leave. They are happy to stay, knowing they will get pulled in and destroyed. I urge them to move someplace safe, but they tell me, \"This is just the way things were meant to be.\"
5. Full Speed Ahead
I haven't yet found what I'm looking for. But it must be somewhere out there. The fuel tanks are half empty; if I don't turn around now, there will be no way to get back home.
6. Giant Whale Planet
A misty planet with a leathery blue surface? I fall into a hole and... ohh! Wonderful! Beautiful! A most breathtaking kaleidoscope of shrooms and fungus and ferns. A complete ecosystem, delicately balanced, complex, spiraling--living inside the whale. I want to stay here forever.
The royal family welcomes me. They give me a tour and show me the wonders of their world. Their society is like an endless geometric shape: each part made of more parts in every direction.
The air gets thick. A foreign object is inside the whale and its immune system is reacting. It is nauseous. The plants are starting to wilt and I flee. Please don't get sick!
The whale vomits and the entire civilization is spewed into the void, rendered to dust. The whale sheds a single lonely tear and closes its eyes.
7. Barren Planet
Despair. I ruined it. It's gone. An entire civilization destroyed. I see a small, rocky planet orbiting close to a star. I need to stop and think. I abandon the rocket and land on the planet alone. Nothing exists here (except my racing thoughts). Here is a cliff. I cannot live knowing what I have done to that whale. I must jump.
8. Epilogue
The empty rocket drifts out of orbit and into space.
