One Button, One Billion Lives

Written by: Erin Cho

Edited by: Samantha Law

A hive of unanswered, perhaps unanswerable questions swarmed my mind as I stood there in the middle of the spaceship’s main corridor. I was on my way to the fourth sector of the massive spaceship–the captain’s dorm. However, a group of other astronauts from my sector rushed through the corridors with each and every single person harshly bumping into my shoulders. I knew some did it on purpose, with the self-willed and stubborn smirks that was laid out across their faces. Once I arrived at the door of the captain’s dorm, I knocked with the trembling fist of mine. The door opened. 

My head shooted upwards. Hurriedly greeting the captain, I asked about the extensive mission to go out of the spacecraft from a few days ago that I was not invited to. His eyes rolled and traced the outline of a rainbow as I swallowed my spit nervously. Lazily, he mentioned something about me “not being capable” and how “your time will come, so just be patient.” I disappointedly nodded and walked back to the second sector–the astronauts’ dorms. That night, I fell asleep muttering to myself “but every other astronaut in my team got invited and the last time I was called on for an extensive mission was six months ago!”

In the middle of the night, I felt as parched and dehydrated as the Sahara desert so I went to the cafeteria to pick up a bag of water from the colossal white bags that were piled up near the entrance. As I was passing the main panel room, I heard a few voices. I thought: Who could that be? It’s already past midnight… Driven by curiosity, I looked around just in case of other astronauts also wandering around the spaceship. Two round circles penetrated the entrance at a similar level to my head and neck. As soon as I noticed it, I panickingly bent my back and crooked my knees into an awkward position. With my still contorted body, I pressed my ears against the thin slit in the middle of the hefty metal door that allowed sound to slip through.

“Do you understand?” said the captain of my sector. I recognized the lowness and vagueness in his voice. 

“Yes. So basically tomorrow at exactly ten in the morning, the murderous asteroid will strike Earth, wiping out all the lives on the planet. We also have to ensure no astronauts press.. that red button that can repel the asteroid.” exclaimed one of my teammates, whom I’m unsure the identity of. 

Caught in a maelstrom of emotions, my jaw dropped to the floor in shock and I curled my fingers that would not stop vigorously quivering. My body sank to the floor and a neat stream of tears flowed down my face at the thought of my parents on Earth being in danger. However, the beat of slow and steady footsteps pierced the silence of dejection. Silently, I stood up and rushed into a cleaning cupboard a meter away from the entrance. Interestingly enough, the door also had a circular window and I could fortunately hear the astronauts’ conversation. All they did was wish each other a good night and afterwards, returned to their respective dorms. Due to fear of being caught, I stayed in the cleaning cupboard with my ears standing upright, in case any astronauts went into the wrong direction and had to come back or wanted to get a bag of water like me. Right now, my motive was not to get water. It was to go into the main panel and see if I could find any information on the asteroid heading towards Earth. 

At an extremely steady pace, I tiptoed out of the cleaning cupboard and looked around at least ten times before entering the main panel. As I was opening the door to the main panel, I realized the stillness of the moment and how time had seemed to stop when it was nighttime in the spacecraft. The door almost created a gap big enough for me to fit through when a puncturing and penetrating creak sounded across the entire corridor that extended from the back of the ship to the very front. I quickly hurtled into the room while fearfully biting off the skin of my bottom lip. The majority of astronauts are not allowed in here, well especially not me with the ongoing rumor of my “clumsiness and irresponsibility.” Therefore, it was my first time seeing the rows of panels perfectly lined up with each other, covered with a variety of vibrant and flamboyant colors. 

I recalled a conversation I overheard a few weeks ago in the cafeteria. It was about how no books, food, drinks or anything were allowed in the panel room as to avoid messiness or spillage that could potentially cause damage to the powerful buttons. That is why there were zero books, zero papers - absolutely nothing except buttons! Surprisingly, most of these potent buttons were exposed and gleaming like a beacon of light through the darkness. It was definitely dark but not as dark as the corridors as the pane of dim light that shone over the colorful panels. Slowly walking and scanning through the buttons, I found a single red button with a plastic cover on top. I thought: this must be the red button that repels the asteroid one of my teammates were talking about!

There was an absence of labels whatsoever but I could tell it was the correct button, with its deep, gleaming maroon red glow that shone through the plastic cover. I buried the nail of my thumb through the slim gap between the panel and plastic cover. Flicking the inviolable cover up., the red button attracted me. Without hesitation, I lifted my fingers to press the button, but to no avail. I tried again but something, something inside of me stopped me. I carefully considered the two pathways that lay in front of me. Even if I did press the button, there would not be any evidence that I was the hero and I would be risking my position as an astronaut that I studied and worked so hard for throughout my life. However, the best consequence would be that my parents can be saved. On the other hand, if I were to act like none of this happened and returned to my bed, my parents would be swiped out. With this thought, I was significantly convinced to press the button; until I was reminded of the countless times both my parents lectured me for not being a doctor, lectured me for the one ‘B’ in my middle school report card, lectured me for not giving them enough money on mothers day and fathers day. Retrieving my hand, my bewildered self just stood there. This one decision of mine can impact whether billions of lives can have a chance to live their life or get eradicated from Earth. 

This spaceship contains a humongous storage of food, water and other necessities that could last everyone on the spacecraft at least one hundred years. Knowing this fact calmed my mind until I contemplated whether the astronauts would actually give me access to these resources. Considering their rebel nature and harsh treatment towards me, I knew I could guarantee them stealing my necessities and mentally torturing me for who knows how long! Every thought seemed like a file in a drawer and the drawer was my mind. Currently, the files were all jumbled and shuffled so I took a deep breath and organized my thoughts. I lifted my finger, unsure whether it would go towards the button or the handle of the exit. My mind had decided what to do but my heart was still unsure, so I just let my body control my actions. Watching my finger take on its own life, it abruptly shooted towards the button and returned to its original position next to my body afterwards. A pang of confusion overtook me; I was somewhat glad, as well as somewhat unsure whether my decision was morally and ethically correct. 

Although I would have to withstand days, weeks, months and years of my parent’s lectures and diatribe, I knew I made the right decision. Later on, I realized my foolishness for thinking about my parents’ scolding when my decision was responsible for billions of lives. Once I closed the door to my dorm, I comfortably shuffled into bed, wrapped with the warmth of the thick blanket and then closed my eyes. 

I smiled at the thought of billions of lives obliviously smiling without knowing what could have happened to planet Earth. Then, I fell asleep.

The End.