Last Hope for Humanity
Dreamt 10/24/2023 - Rewritten 3/21/2025
Average Reading Time - 5 minutes
The Earth was dying. Some scientists sent five people into space, each on a separate ship. This last ditch effort with the last supplies left was made hoping one day they would be able to rehabilitate Earth. I was one of those astronauts. I only had little knowledge of what life was like back on Earth, our memories being erased besides what is essential to the mission. The only memory I can quite grasp is that each of the five people was sent from separate countries, mine being named Labbia.
The spacecraft, fittingly named Lunar Labbian, was miniature and uncomfortable. I had to constantly wear my spacesuit. Sure, it looked fancy with moon and star memorabilia on the design but that didn’t make it better to wear. The room is more of a rectangle with a giant window of the outside galaxy and a little pedestal in the middle. On top of that pedestal was a giant, star-like shape that was blindingly white with specks of color in it. In that star was an AI that guided the ship and was also there to keep me sane.
Instead of the outside world window, there was the option to go into screen mode and pass the time through games. Seemingly endless possibilities with the most realistic graphics known to man. That was where I spent most of my days waiting for when I’d return to Earth. Mind-numbing for sure, but pleasant. It was hard to play with gloves on, but that was the only entertainment I had besides asking the AI questions.
The AI would give questions seemingly daily – time was hard to tell – to keep my brain stimulated. These were called brain tasks that would also measure if I was still fit to be on the mission. The questions seemed easy enough until they descended more and more into my past. It asked me about my family and I got more upset than I had ever been. I could feel tears rush down my face.
I probed it with my questions of where they were and what their names were, but to no avail. No matter how many ways I tried to bypass the computer system’s information. My throat burned with my screaming pleas. The lights went from a dim light blue to a deep red, and the Lunar Labbian’s rockets were firing off. I was now hurtling towards a planet nearby. The AI berated me, saying I was not fit to repopulate Earth anymore. And yet even its anger didn’t feel real. Just a calculated equation of me not meeting the numbers anymore. I was alone and crashing.
A memory came to the surface, the most important one that could be in this moment. Where the emergency exit release button was. After I pressed it a flash of light and speckles overcame me. The next sensation I felt was the wind hitting me in this orangey-red desert. I held on tight with my parachute guiding me.
My teeth rattled as I collapsed onto the ground. My head shot with pain as I had an intense ringing in my ears. It felt as if my head had finally become clear, reeling with my old life. A life not in front of a screen or a fake friend. A culture, a family, a home. All of the good and bad. The feeling of nostalgia was interrupted by a faint feeling of blood spilled down my face. I tried to lift my hand to brush it off, but the weight felt too much to bear.
This weight trickled through my body. First, it was the hands, then the legs, then the chest, and the head. It felt like soft rain making it all feel ok. I fought to keep my eyes open, sensing something was coming near. My body went limp and my eyes looked up. A figure towered over me, holding out its hand toward my dying body. The light glimmered across the spacesuit the thing was wearing, and I saw a familiar face.
“Dad? What happened to our family? Why are you here…” The pain had caught up to me. I tried to speak but my tongue grew heavy and my mind was shutting down. The last thing I saw was my dad rushing to save me.
The world went dark, and I died.
Analysis
Last Hope for Humanity is one of my only space related dreams. Which, to me, is really interesting. Dreams usually take from what media you consume and your life to get content. In my family, the only type of movies we can all enjoy is the sci-fi genre. When my sisters aren't away from college or when I want to make sure a selected movie will be a hit with mom and dad I go for those kinds.
The main aspect that stands out to me in Last Hope for Humanity is the feature from my dad. It was my blood dad instead of my adoptive dad, which I haven't met in real life. Searching for a family life I don't remember in the dream parallels that relationship in real life. Although, it was more an emotional turmoil I was going through in quarantine and early high school than when I had the dream.
Another aspect was the resentment of technology. There was a bigger emphasis on the boredom that endless content with no stops brought in the original writing I did when I woke up. The passage was very detailed on how the games were the only thing that had brought me joy and how they were my only connection to the " outside world" I left behind. I'd say in real life this is the time where I was starting to understand why I didn't enjoy typical social media anymore, so the mindset bleeding into my dreams does not shock me.
Also. Would love to note how I was one of the only five selected to be the surviving human race. So funny to me. But could be notes of how people typically view themselves as the center of the world, pun indented. This was around the time where I was truly getting outside of my self hatred I had during middle school, so that thought is a little shocking to get in there for me.
Overall, Last Hope for Humanity was very exciting to me. Although it is not a character dynamic dream, which are my favorite, it holds value to me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did dreaming it!