DR. RUTH CARSON grew up hearing about Pandora as a kid, hearing of the alien moon that promised beauty and awe.
Coming from the lower class in the States, she fought tooth and nail to provide any opportunity to distance herself from the hard life s...
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SHE'D taken to using a respirator years ago. With a daily report on the air quality that never dipped under the literal label of bad, Ruth had found herself purchasing a oxygen mask to wear anytime she left she and her grandpa's tiny apartment to venture the dirty streets of what was now Denver, Colorado. A city she'd grown up seeing old photos of with not even a fraction of the towering buildings, the mountains in the distance that were once visible now covered in the same infrastructure she lived in. Now a city of architecture and technology, same as the rest of the world.
A dying world.
The apartment they called home was a pitiful thing, hardly large enough for one person, let alone two, with a poor excuse of a bedroom that of which she'd forced her grandpa to take. She'd slept soundly on the couch the last eighteen years of her life knowing he lied in a bed every night, right where his ventilator could reach him at his bedside. She'd give him the shirt off her back if it meant he was better off.
It was an average evening she had after getting off work from her entry-level laboratory job, the precious time she had to herself after taking care of grandpa and her school work before crashing for the night. Everything she did was a priority, just sometimes shuffled. She'd hardly had time to breath in who knows how long.
Slumped on her bed-couch and scrolling through the slew of emails filling her phone she had regarding her homework assignments and random school news, a singular title caught her eye.
"[R.D.A] RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION: JOB OPPORTUNITY
Good evening Miss Carson! My name is Teresa Hart, Head of Recruiting and Staffing at the Resource Development Administration. I am pleased to make your acquaintance!
I am reaching out to you in regard to a work study that may peek your interests. By way of one of your kindly professors, I received a letter of recommendation for your consideration in a program of the 'top secret' nature, that of which I cannot disclose within this insecure line and without the implementation of multiple NDA's. With your academic trek record taken into account, and extensive test scores, I believe you would be suitable for our program! It would provide substantial financial compensation as well as the opportunity for employment.
If you would like to hear more information regarding this program, please reply directly to this message and we will arrange a call at your earliest convenience.
Best Regards, Teresa Hart, M.S Department of Recruitment and Staffing R.D.A"
Two words stood out to the young woman, words that might change everything for the better. From where she now sat perched on the edge of the old couch, her green eyes shifted towards and focused on the closed door of her grandfather's room, where she had just recently put him to bed after the measly dinner she'd managed to whip together for the two of them.
