It was the start of the year 2084, the Earth was still rotating normally, it hadn't stopped yet. At that time, humanity was living normally without magic powers.
Darian was currently in Paris. Because of his work, he usually traveled a lot, he was a famous biologist, one of the most important ones. He was currently inside his laboratory and his house, which wasn't far from the most important tower in Paris; Darian had a beautiful view from there.
Right now, he was studying a new type of plant that had arrived from another planet. Darian at that moment was only 22, it wasn't rare for someone this young to already be this important in this field, but Darian was one of the few exceptions. He had always been interested in plants since he was young. While he kept analyzing this plant, he remembered the time he stayed at his grandmother's house.
Darian had lived there since he was 18. His parents were always busy with their work, so Darian didn't spend much time with them, in fact, he was left with his grandmother. His grandfather had died even before Darian was born, so he never had the chance to meet him.
The grandmother, called Anny, was really happy to have him there. since her husband had died in a car accident, she was really happy to have some company again, especially because she was now at the head of a factory. Doing it all alone at 65 was becoming hard.
For as long as he could remember, Darian had always helped his grandmother at the factory. While the grandmother still did everything, Darian enjoyed helping her for as long as he could.
"C'mon Darian, I'll teach you how to treat these types of plants!" The grandmother called for Darian, who was only 7 years old. He ran towards her and remained charmed by the sight of the beautiful plant.
"See… you need to do it this way…" Anny showed Darian how to remove the plant from the soil without ruining everything around it. "Try it!" said his grandmother with a happy expression. Darian, curious, took the tool, and with the help of Anny, he was able to remove the plant from the ground without any problem.
As years passed, Darian became more and more interested in the field. His grandmother was happy to see Darian loving plants this much, sometimes she even gave him gifts, which were usually books about plants.
Darian received much love from his grandmother, but his parents didn't forget about him; in fact, during the weekends, they would always visit, and they would all go somewhere and have fun together.
At the age of 18, the moment he finished school, Darian immediately went to one of the best universities in the world. This university was located in Asia, so it was really far from his house, which was located in America.
Darian didn't want to leave his grandmother like this, she was the one who had taught him most of what he knew. He was sad thinking that he had to go and live somewhere else to study.
"But Darian… you love plants and biology in general so much, you can't lose this chance." Anny tried to comfort Darian. She didn't want him to go away either, but inside, she knew that it was the best thing for her grandchild.
"I know, but… I can't leave you alone like this," said Darian, looking down with tears flowing down his cheeks. Anny got up from her chair and immediately hugged Darian.
"Don't worry… I'll be alright. Think about your future, Darian." Darian didn't remember much of how that conversation went, he couldn't stop crying.
After that day, Darian began his new life in Asia. He went to that famous university, and his life was great. The fact that he was studying biology was helping him a lot, in fact, all his grades were great. He didn't even have a language problem because, as the years passed, English became the official language of the world. Everyone knew how to speak it, and because of that, communication with people became easier.
As years passed, Darian graduated with maximum grades. Because of that, it was easy for him to find work. One of the most important industries related to space wanted Darian, they wanted him to work for them. Darian was so extremely happy that he immediately accepted.
In the year 2084, humanity was able to reach other planets in the universe, and Darian was one of the first people in charge of studying the plants of those other planets.
But Darian never forgot thanks to whom he was able to reach this level. His grandmother was still alive; she was currently 88, but she didn't feel her age. In fact, she worked without any problem on the farm.
Now, thinking about his past, Darian got so distracted that he didn't notice his eyes were focused on the tower outside his window rather than on the plant from another planet.
"Dammit." Darian looked at the time, it was already 10 p.m. and he was feeling extremely tired. He had worked the whole day, and his head was hurting so much.
"I guess I'll go for a walk." Darian took one of his coats and went out for a walk. The moment he came out, he took the car and went outside the city. Paris had become really overcrowded with people, and there wasn't really any place you could go to be alone anymore. During that period of the year, there were many tourists in the city.
Darian went towards the highway without a proper destination. He took the first exit on the highway that inspired him. He didn't travel much, it was around 30 minutes, but if he had to be honest, he didn't even realize which city he was about to arrive in.
This city was empty. It was almost 11 p.m. and the streets were empty. Darian searched for a place to park his car, after that, he stepped out and breathed. The air was totally different from that of Paris, which was a city with many people. Right now, he was breathing "empty" air, and it was totally different.
As he breathed, this type of air reminded him of when he lived with his grandmother. 'Hey, now that I think about it… I haven't talked with Granny for like two days.' Darian realized that now in America, it would be around 10 a.m. He searched for a bench, and the moment he sat down, he immediately called Anny.
Darian spent a long time with his grandmother on the phone; she was currently feeding the animals. Darian remained there talking with his grandmother for a long time. After he felt tired, he decided it was time to head back home.
When he noticed the time, it was around 3 a.m. By the time he returned to Paris, the city was emptier; now all the people were asleep, so the city was quiet again. The moment Darian returned home, he barely had time to remove his coat, which was left on the chair, before he fell asleep on the bed without even putting his pajamas on.
The next day, he received an important email from the industry he was working with.
'Sir Darian, thanks to your help, we were able to discover many important things about the plant on XERBAB-7. That is why we decided to send you there. As you might know, XERBAB-7 is near a black hole; that is why we first wanted to let you know. We know that your help is very important, especially because you have been the only biologist currently working on the plants of XERBAB-7. You can reach our laboratory to learn more and give us a proper answer. We're waiting for you!'
The mail he received said only this. Darian didn't know how to react; as he read the email, he was shocked. He could barely contain his excitement.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT?! IS IT FOR REAL?" Darian checked multiple times who had sent the email just to be sure it wasn't one of his friends making a weird joke, but it was real! Darian really couldn't believe it. He felt so happy that he got back in the car and drove towards the laboratory, even though it was around two hours away.
Darian immediately got there. "Oh, we were waiting for you, Sir Darian. Please come inside." Darian didn't spend much time here; thanks to his skills, he was able to work directly from home without having to go there every time.
"So, Darian… this is what you need to know about XERBAB-7." One of the scientists there immediately explained everything to Darian. He said that the mission would last 50 years on Earth, while only 10 years would pass on XERBAB-7. In that moment, the scientist got it wrong, because it was actually 500 years that would pass, but he didn't notice his error, and Darian didn't really know this stuff about XERBAB-7.
"So, we think that this planet can really be defined as a New Earth. Because of this, we need you to go there and see everything. But don't worry, you will not be alone; there will be multiple robots going with you," said the scientist. Hearing that, Darian was so excited that he could barely contain it.
"And tell me… when do I need to go?"
"The starship will be ready at the start of 2085, exactly on January 15. Until that time, you're free to do what you like. Because we know that this job came up all of a sudden, we can let you live this year as happily as you like." Darian did not care about that; he was already happy with the news. "Thank you so much!!" Darian shouted happily. The scientist laughed softly.
"Don't worry, Sir Darian… we will write you an email if things change."
"Thank you so much!" With that, Darian waved and went outside. Inside his car, he screamed as loud as he could.
"Oh God…" Darian really didn't know what to do. He was happy, but now that he realized… he felt sad. Going away for more than 50 years would mean that his grandmother might not be alive anymore, and his parents would be very old.
While thinking about whether it was a great thing or not, Darian started to drive toward his house. "I need to tell everyone about this… but is this really a good thing?"
Darian immediately shook his head. "It definitely is. It's probably one of the greatest things that has happened to me. I can't believe I'm going to be able to discover so many new things…" Darian knew that not all the plants of XERBAB-7 had reached him; many hadn't been taken yet, and because of this, he was really excited. He would be able to study a new type of plant… he would be the first human to ever stand on XERBAB-7!
The fact that people traveled to other planets wasn't rare, but it definitely didn't happen every day. The more Darian thought about this, the happier he felt.
The moment he returned home, he immediately grabbed some clothes and put them inside a suitcase. "I need to tell them… let's go to America!" With that, Darian headed toward the airport. Because he couldn't leave his car there, he decided to take a taxi.
'I don't know for how long I will stay… but I want to spend as much time as I can with Granny Anny and my parents…' With that, Darian headed toward the airport, ready to take the next flight to America.