#the whole colony ship idea kinda sprung from here

[ben-drabbles]

To Regret It All

This colony ship was cleanest start for a new civilization out of any of Earth's attempts. Most included seeds for new societies in their designs; for example, the Hero's Journey kept many stories of old Earth alive, though the deterioration of their physical records means that most are now kept as oral histories or long-distorted fables. Some took the risk of cryogenically freezing their passengers and crew, though that rarely, if ever, worked. After all, everyone dies eventually.

To Regret It All, however, kept a strict divide between their passengers and crew, and replicated Earth's environments as closely as space allowed with rotational gravity and a massive tube-shaped biosphere. The second generation born on their long voyage did not even know they were on a spaceship, let alone why. The crew, once they ensured the ship would reach their destination - a planet as Earth-like as they could find - were frozen for any emergencies the ship's advanced autopilot could not handle. When To Regret It All reached its final destination, the crew was euthanized, and their whole section of the ship - including the autopilot AI - was ejected and destroyed. In this way, the civilization born of the Regret was something as wholly new as possible.

Of course, no one can escape the influence of their parents, despite the efforts of the Regret. Some believe that the passengers of the Regret are actually the closest people to those of old Earth, as they did not start over from a template or goal. They just kept living, albeit in a much more confined - and, well, cylindrical - space than a true planetoid. Others believe that the first generation of colonists instilled a certain value in originality and fresh ideas, rather than a true blank slate. Others still suspect that a certain ease of living permeated their early years, due to the lack of real danger built into To Regret It All, and the people's inability to truly explore their surroundings. Who is to say? We can only hope that the passengers and crew of the Regret rest easy, knowing that they did the best they could.

Though, after the autopilot and crew were killed, the colonists certainly had a very eventful landing.