Stardust

Chapter Five

Walking down the hall, Thomas saw many posters of space, the average Stardust the human has, science, space stories and more. One that caught his eye was a poster with a huge spaceship labeled PEGASUS floating amongst the stars, quoted, "Future ship for future generations."

"In here," the doctor assessed. Opening the door at the very end of the hallway, Thomas was greeted with a bright and pristine room, all white with heavy and high-tech machinery. Thomas walked in with a wow, his wonder of science and technology never boring him.

Ever since his first Stardust check, he had been exceptionally inspired by science, but he never really studied the Stardust theories further.

"We improve our methods of checking Stardust frequently. Safer and more efficient. You reckon that the money this whole setup took would go elsewhere, but you'd be wrong. Here, put your coat over there. If there is any metal, you'd need to take it off."

Thomas nodded and unbuttoned his orange coat, sluggishly taking it off and not taking his eye off the machines.

"We'll do a few simple checks first, like height and weight. Then well get done what you came here to do."

Thomas nodded.

Walking towards a scale, Thomas untied his boots and set them aside, then stepping on the scale. The doctor slid the squares back and forth until the balance balanced.

"178 pounds. Good."

Thomas stood tall against the ruler to measure his height.

"5'7. Alright, let's get this done and over with."

Walking towards the big machine that was shaped like a donut, the lights gradually turned off and they powered the machine on, a high pierced sound reverberating afterwards.

"Any metal?" one doctor asked him.

"No, sir." He was careful not to wear any.

The doctor nodded, "Good. Step up here, mate. We'll position you and x-ray your body to examine your cells, hence finding your Stardust count."

Thomas already did this a few times, they didn't need to tell him twice.

Laying down, the doctors wearing pristine coats and doctor's masks positioned him on the table correctly. Once they did, a loud beeping sound occurred. Another doctor wearing a mask walked up to Thomas and stuck wires to his arms, rolling up his sweaters sleeve's first.

"We need this to test your cells reaction with the x-ray, telling us how your Stardust reacts to the radiation."

If there was one thing Thomas knew about these checks, the radiation would kill even more of cells and give him a risk of cancer. It was a well-known fact, though.

"Don't move, this will be over in just a hop."

Within a few seconds, his body started to move under the giant scanner or x-ray. He watched the green line scan his body, but when he got closer to it, he closed his eyes and held his breath.

And that was that. It was done.

"Alright Thomas, you are done with that. One last blood draw and you may stop seeing us."

After Thomas finished all his Stardust checking and blood drawing, he grabbed his coat and keys, walking out the door and towards his car.

It was brighter than before, causing Thomas to shield his eyes. He didn't feel like putting his coat on because it was so hot.