"Hey Bert! You gotta see this!" The voice called out to me. It was merely six hours after my arrival on the International Space Station, and already we had some downtime. "What is it this time Mike? Another piece of debris or something" I yell out, "How about putting your Engineering Major to work on, oh I don't know, something less trivial?" Mike sighs "You're such a pessimist. And I have the next three months to get shit done, why can't we relax for just a few minutes?" I resist the urge to throw my book at him. No sense wasting a good copy of 1984 on trivial matters.

I guide myself over to the window where Mike is standing, mainly to shut him up more than anything. I had known him for years before joining NASA in 2022. I had been incredibly lucky for the past few years, being able to take a few months off to work with a local charity helping with relief efforts after a flood damaged a significantly sized but well unprepared village in Africa. The village was largely unheard of, and received minimal attention from the government, a result of larger towns and a city taking equally severe damage. I had only heard of the town as my brother, Nick, had attended college with a friend who had left ages ago after his family was able to earn just enough money to send him to a university in South Africa. Once done with University, he immigrated to America and decided to go by the name of William rather than his birth name. Nick had called me up the day the floods were occurring, saying that William wanted to go home to help with rebuilding efforts. Nick wouldn't be able to make it and thus recommended me. I agreed, and through that I saw the worst of humanity.

The project was supposed to be simple, me, William, and a few friends of mine from college, Braiden and Alesa would go to the village, whose name translates in the literal sense to “Safe Haven,” via an amphibious aircraft owned by Alesa and would set up a basic shelter system a few miles from the village. The plane itself would be taxied a couple hundred yards away from the river so that we could get out quickly in the event of an emergency. Alesa, coming from a long line of doctors, had been working as a general and trauma surgeon after college, making her ideal for handling anyone in need of first aid. Even in a worst case scenario, we would get there within three weeks after the flooding given the necessary prep time. We made it in two. Despite our plan, we didn't even need to touch down before we realized something was wrong.

The whole village, no, the whole landscape was being torn to shreds. What appeared to be a massive trench was being dug in a direction opposite the village, then curving back in the direction of the river. Right alongside the village were the beginnings of a gaping hole in the Earth. Braiden, who was piloting the plane called out over the radio, "What in Heaven's name is going on down there? Some one better fucking answer!" A deep voice screamed back, "Divert your plane. We will eliminate you if you do not change course. Mark Shields cares little for rats like you!" Everyone drops dead silent. Mark Shields was one of the richest people in the world, with business dealings in two main markets, fossil fuels and a private military. In that moment, we all understood. The world was undergoing an energy crisis, and Mark Shields was leading all the big oil, coal, and natural gas companies to fossil fuels wherever he could. Nearly all of modern society rallied behind him as a savior to the developed world while he came and destroyed the lives of people have already lost everything. In those moments, the moments where we had to fly away with our lives, not even being able to touchdown and do anything, anything at all stop this madness, I learned that humanity's materialism killed our sense of morality.

"Er, Bert." Mike taps my shoulder, taking me out of my flashback. "You ok, you zoned out quite a bit. Need some water?" "I'm ok" I respond, "Just thinking about something. What is it that you wanted to show me?" Mike gestures towards the window, where a clear view of the Earth is in sight. It is night time, but even from the height of a space station, massive lights come from Earth. I recognize what I am seeing. "All the cities, all of the developed world is shining bright. Only the developed world shines, I realize. It's been three days since that fateful trip, and society still rallies behind energy giants like Mark Shields. "How can humans live like this? Why is it that we only care for the developed world? Tell me Mike" I look towards him, "Is this really what god wanted?" Mike looks at the floor "Bert, you're acting weird. Weirder than usual. Just enjoy the view."

"No. I will not enjoy the view. I hate this view. I hate all of us, all of those that have contributed to this view! We stand upon the work of God, obsessed by our own materialism. Dominated by it. Tell me Mike, how is it that humans are so entitled that we feel as though we can go to such extravagances in the name of ourselves. I understand now." My hands begin shaking, my whole body is experiencing tremors as I go through this epiphany.

"Humanity is corrupt. We have failed. We are a disappointment to God. As such, it is only fair that we experience Armageddon. Humanity is a disease, a parasite, and like all parasites, we must be eliminated!" Mike yanks on my arm, but I pull away from him, rushing to an air lock mechanism. I reach for my suit, but I feel something smashing my head. "Sorry Bert, guess you aren't going to finish your book after all." I feel another thud, and another. I begin to feel faint. "We have failed God. We have failed God. We are doomed" I mumble. I fade into unconsciousness, feeling nothing except for my own disappointment in humanity.