There were two women and a man inside the pods.

I remembered the shitty feeling that it was to lay down on metal, and decided to carry everyone to their respective beds.

"Hey, everyone!" I shouted "I'm gonna carry all of you to a more comfortable place, so you can get used to everything more easily. I must warn you that I had a really bad time with the light and with my lips, so I suggest you don't try to talk or open your eyes until I get you to your beds, in the dark"

I walked towards the pod in my right, where a girl was lying down. She had beautiful, long brown hair, the face of a model, and a somewhat normal figure, which kind of surprised me, considering the message that fucker left in the bathroom.

I told her in a low voice:

"Hello there, my name is Nathan, and I'm gonna carry you now, alright?"

She nodded with her head, and I proceeded to take her in a princess carry to one of the beds.

Reaching the room, I told her:

"Well, each bed is assigned to someone already, so I'll need to figure out your name, before putting you down. Is your name Karah?"

She moved her head sideways, negatively.

That only left me one option, so I put her on the bed to the left of Karah's, which had a dogtag registered with the name "Scarlet Eden".

"So, your name is Scarlet then. Well, Scarlet, I need to leave for a bit to get the others, but I'll be back shortly, and I'll bring water, okay?"

Again she nodded, confirming what I had said, so I left and repeated the same process with the other two.

Markus Eden, and Karah Eden.

All of our surnames had been changed to match our team's name. Maybe the sadistic doctor did this to create a familiar sensation between us.

Enough of the doctor crap. Clearing my thoughts, I resumed my care of the three people to their beds.

I brought water, and gave it to each of them. Found something similar to sunglasses inside the arsenal, and put it over their eyes, to help adjusting to the clarity, and covered them with blankets, to fight the cryogenic cold.

With this done, I told everyone that while they were trying to get used to things, I'd be taking a bath. I was stinking after that work, and I realized my clothes were dirty all over, from falling around on the grass and the mud.

I went to the bathroom, took off my clothes, and threw them in a tube labeled "Dirty Laundry". Just when I did that, the wall right beside the mirror opened, revealing clothes I could wear after the shower. I chose some ripped jeans, a simple, black shirt and combat boots. Of course I took underwear too - damn. After taking those, a panel appeared on the right, asking "Do you want to make this set your default casual clothing?" And displayed the letters Y/N.

I pressed Y, and confirmed my choice. I love jeans.

Not caring enough to take my dogtag out of my neck, I took a steaming hot shower, and let the heat and flow take away all the tears that spontaneously left my eyes.

Even though everything from earth wasn't lost, everything I had was.

I couldn't handle pretending I was fine for long, and I couldn't show weakness in front of the others - I was assigned as the team leader, and someone who's broken can lead no one.

So I used the shower excuse to get a grip, and think about what to do, and how to keep us all safe.

Done with cleaning myself, and crying my heart out, I got dressed and left. Nervous - and afraid that my sadness would show on my face and that my soon-to-be comrades wouldn't like me - because, after all, we'd only have each other for a great amount of time.

Through the door, I could now see all of them sitting on their respective beds. Karah had already taken off her sunglasses, and was having the same reaction I had with the greenery. She had a wide smile, and sparkly eyes, filled with tears that wouldn't take long to run down her cheeks.

Scarlet was... Odd? She was shaking her arms all around, looking at me, and screaming "Hi there, I didn't see you because of the blinds. You're Nathan, right? Aw, no, that won't do... That's it! I'll call you Nate!" She then gave me a big smile, and tried to get up. Seeing her try that, I panicked and shouted:

"No!"

She fliched, and looked at me in a questioning way

"What's wrong?" She said

"Okay, how do I tell you all this...? Okay. I'll give you the short version of things, then you can look at the holograms later... I am really sorry to tell you this, but - First: we are not on Earth anymore, this is Exitium, and we've been sent here together to build another human society. Second: your body has been altered in many ways, and right now you can be considered as super strong. Third: We will, kind of, acquire new abilities as the need arises."

What I said attracted the attention of everyone, and they all stopped doing what they were doing to listen to me. Markus had been messing with his dogtag all this time.

"And last of all, but definitely not least, Earth is no more. Our planet... is... dead."

Everyone froze. Dammit. Their faces. That sadness. This is going to kill me - but I have to be strong. Not only for myself, but for them, for the rest of humanity - no, fuck humanity, I have to be strong for my family, that got left behind, because they'd surely want me to live my life until the end, to its fullest.

I swallowed my sorrow, and said:

"I'm sorry. I tried my best to make this as painless as it could, but I'm not able to make it so - it hurts me too, it hurts a lot. But remember. Remember your families, remember your loved ones, and most importantly, remember their wishes: for you to live your life."

Lifting my head, I saw Markus and Karah crying, though not moving at all, frozen just like me... And Scarlet. She had a sad smile on her face, and she was still staring at me.

I didn't know what was going through her head at that moment, I couldn't understand her reaction, that had been so different from all the others, from mine.

And while my thoughts were fully chaotic, she slowly tried to stand up, once again - and jumped away, then she suddenly begun falling. I almost didn't have enough time to catch her. I dashed across the beds and caught her right before her back hit the floor

"What are you trying to do?" I asked, clearly worried.

She then started crying, hugged me and said while sobbing:

"I can see your pain, Nate. Don't hide it. We all feel the same."

So much to be seen through so easily, I think, as some tears form on my eyes again.

"You want to know why I smiled, Nate?" She asked

"Why?" I said

"Because you're a good person. Thank you"

She told me, before letting go of my chest.

I offered her help when she was trying to stand up, and she accepted it.

We slowly walked back to her bed, and she sat down.

I gave her a weak smile, and whispered a silent "thank you" with my lips

Walking back a bit, I called out to everyone. And said

"Everyone, as of today, we are Team Eden. We won't be united by the wishes of our ancestors. We won't be united by the mission given to us. We won't be united by need. We will be bound to each other by our sorrows, our sadness, until we can turn it into happiness. Let all these tears represent a pact between us, one that lets us come together to stay alive. Let us be bound by these tears"

I said, letting the salty water overflow from my eyes, clouding my vision.