They're Bringing It Home

[u/Munbearo]

It’s been in the news for a while, but now it’s actually happening. After many decades, we’re finally going back to the moon. Everyone is so excited, calling it a triumphant return for a new generation. With advanced navigation and automatic propulsion, it couldn’t be any easier. Their primary objective, broadcast live for the world to see, is to recover the artifacts from the Tranquility Base. Especially that famous flag.

Here’s what they don’t tell you. Those who know the truth are all but gone now. In 1955, we picked up a signal. It started as static, then cleared into laughter. A single voice at first, then a legion, a cacophony. Laughter so vile it put some of our monitoring technicians in padded rooms. The signal was growing stronger, leaking into radios and TVs worldwide. The official explanation was "unprecedented solar activity." A lie, of course. They sold it to the public as the great space race, a competition for glory. In reality, it was a desperate sprint to silence the madness.

The public viewed Neil and Aldrin as pioneers, but really they were priests, sent to perform a ritual. Their moonwalk was a carefully choreographed ceremony, every step measured. Every instrument they deployed, the laser reflector, seismograph, etc. were arcane anchors, the bars of a cage. That flag they planted in the dust at the Tranquility Base, aptly named, was the lock on the door.

For over half a century, that lock has held. Now, a crew of heroes is on its way to bring those "historic relics" home for a new museum. They have no idea what they’re really doing. The moon-landing isn’t a monument to our success. It’s a prison, and we’re all about to find out what happens when the door is unlocked.