Dane Tyler's Pov:
It was something I would never want to hear about my father like this. After this news, when I turned my gaze to my mother, my mother had already left the dinner table, I had no idea where she was going, and I started looking for her.
At that time, my grandparents tried to stop me, but I did not listen to them and wanted to visit my mother's room first thing.
As I approached my mother's room, I could hear voices rising from the room, it was my mother who was shouting. She wasn't crying, it was like she was yelling at someone on the phone.
"Didn't I tell you not to publish this news? How dare you publish this news"
I didn't know exactly who my mom was talking to, but it had been a long time since I'd seen her get really angry.
The last time I accidentally broke a precious glass that was given to her by my father, she hadn't spoken to me for a week and I felt like she was starting to hate me completely. But she finally forgave me somehow
I'm afraid to enter the room so it's best to listen until I know what's going on.
"I don't care what you're trying to tell me. What you were trying to do was just dry slander, you just wanted to protect your own reputation."
My mom doesn't seem to be able to control herself because of what she said.
"I swear to you that I will avenge my husband and lay you to the ground."
Finally, I thought the room was quiet and just as I was about to open the door, I started to hear my mother's cries.
After waiting for a while in front of the door, I knocked softly on the door and opened the door.
"Mom, are you okay?"
Even though my mother tried not to show what was going on, I had already heard everything. My mother immediately cleared her eyes and opened her arms, asking me to hug her.
I started talking as I hugged my mom tightly.
"Mom, how long have you known?"
In the face of this question, my mother froze for a while. It was a question she did not expect to hear from a 13-year-old boy like me.
"What are you talking about." It was clear that my mother was trying to change the subject.
"Mom, I don't want you to hide it from me, I just... heard everything."
After looking into my eyes for a while, my mother cleaned her eyes with a piece of her clothing and started to speak after sniffing.
"The failure of this mission was discussed from the very beginning. Even though your father knew about it, he still chose to go. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. Because the ISRC is such a large organization, they lied to protect their own reputation. In fact, it was the ISRC who sent them all to their deaths."
After what my mother said, the room fell silent for a while.
"Mom, one day I will go into space looking for my dad and find out what happened to my dad." My mom thought I was joking when she looked at me and started laughing, but actually I was pretty serious about it.
"Well, little astronaut, you know you need to eat a lot to get bigger, right?"
My mom smiled, ruffling my hair, and slowly stood up from her bed and held out her hand for me to hold.
"Let's go, let's not keep your grandparents waiting any longer."
The table was very quiet as we all ate together. This was pretty normal, my grandparents just found out that my dad died, so we wouldn't be able to have a happy family dinner.
After dinner, I decided to go out to the garden and play with the telescope. For about an hour, I watched Saturn, whose rings were about to disappear, with a telescope.
Now, when I was almost sleepy, I started to collect the Telescope and after leaning it against the wall of the house, I headed to my room.
I locked the door and took out my Holographic Tablet and started reading the news about my father.
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Loading search results…
> Who is Atwater Tyler?
> How did Atwater Tyler die?
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I wanted to read both results that appeared on the screen, but the search option that caught my attention the most was about how my father died.
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-> Atwater Tyler's purpose in the mission to travel outside the Solar System, which he voluntarily joined in 2077, was to investigate whether there is any living thing outside the Solar System. According to the news, all his teammates, including himself, were lost on this road that they voluntarily entered with their teammates. ISRC stated that it is keeping this situation under investigation and mentioned that it plans to bring these people back home somehow by continuing to work. While ISRC's next move is unknown, they may be considering sending a team into space soon.
Like our page to follow new and fast news.
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After closing the holographic tablet, I lay on my bed and watched the star motifs on my bedroom ceiling before closing my eyes.
Somehow I wish my father was still alive and I want to explore the infinity of space with him.
"Daddy, please be alive." After talking to myself, I slowly closed my eyes and fell asleep quickly as I was so tired that day.
~4 Years Later - International Space School – Application Hall~
Finally, I'm standing in the middle of the application hall of my dream school, actually not that excited because I used to come here with my family almost all the time. The landscape doesn't seem to have changed much in this long period of time.
Slowly, the hall started to fill with students who applied.
In about a few minutes, after all the stools were filled with students, a lectern was placed in the middle of the stage.
I couldn't hide my surprise when I saw the person on the lectern.
Emerson Reynolds?
All the students could not hide their excitement when they saw the chairman of ISRC on the lectern. While he believed that this man would somehow lose his reputation as time passed, on the contrary, his reputation increased even more.
Despite looking over 40, he became a man that even high school girls fell in love with. I wish this man to die soon.
"First of all, all young talented children are welcome to this hall. I'm guessing you know who I am, but let me say my name anyway. My name is Emerson Reynolds and as you know I am the chairman of the ISRC. The reason I'm here is because I want to see young talents like you through my own eyes. Also, if you paid attention while applying, you will go through 3 stages, and I will be the authorized person to supervise you at all stages."
He raised his hand in the air, wanting to get a hand to speak a few rows in front of the bench where I was sitting. When Emerson saw this boy, he gave the right to speak, and the boy stood up.
"Sir, can you tell us about these stages? And please tell us what your main purpose here really is."
After what this boy had said, Emerson stood where he was, stared briefly into the boy's eyes, then continued.
"Hahaha… We have some really smart young talented kids among us. First of all, let me talk about the steps you need to go through. The first stage is Survival, the second stage is Hard Situation Training, and finally, Determination. Once you have successfully passed all these, you can register."
The same boy continued to speak while still standing.
"Well, can I get the answer to my other question?"
"Yes, I didn't come here just to watch you, this young friend of ours came out very carefully. My main real purpose here is that there is a special person among you and I am here to watch it."
While everyone was looking around in surprise, Emerson Reynolds was looking me in the eyes. All the students in the hall were already talking among themselves.
"Anyway, if you're ready, let's start with the first phase, Survival."
As soon as the lights of the application hall were turned off, my entire vision went black. All I heard was the cries of scared children who would shit themselves at any moment.