“ Come on John, time to wake up,” John thought, “Today’s the big day.” It was true, this day was one John has been waiting for a long time. He arose in his bed, still pretty groggy, and headed for the bathroom to get ready for the day. Soon after he finished showering, dressing, and preparing his bag, he went to say goodbye to his wife and child. “But Daddy,” Susan shouted, “We won’t get to see you for a long time!” “I know,” John said lovingly, “But I promise to be back as soon as I can.” “You promise?” His wife inquired. “Yes. Cross my heart and hope to die.” He gave the two a kiss, and headed out the door, and soon, the taxi he hailed earlier was waiting for him. Within the hour, John reached his workplace, the hatchery station. He clocked in, and found his manager. “Ah, right on time, John! The boss would like to see you now. Are you ready to start your next big assignment?” “You bet I am,” John exclaimed. “Excellent. Now, you just need to head up the stairs, and take a left.” John nodded and thanked the manager, then headed for his boss’ office. Just as the manager said, the office was up the stairs and just to the left. John knocked on the door and heard a muffled “Come in.” He did as instructed and entered the door. “Good morning, John,” his boss greeted him. John had seldom seen his boss around the hatchery station. “Now, as I told you in the e-mail, I have a big assignment for you, one that will require extensive time and travel away from home.” The boss explained to John that he will have to travel with the regular shippers. These employees were the ones who went to get the creatures the hatchery exported to their clients. Like the boss, John barely saw these guys around. For a time, he didn’t even know they actually worked here. The boss told John that this assignment would take a minimum of 5 weeks. John had been on long business trips before, but this would easily top them, as they would take three, four days at most. “So John,” his boss interrupted John’s thoughts, “Are you ready to go?” John had to think for a minute; Was he really ready to leave his home and family for that long? But then he remembered that this mission would pay him handsomely, and his family did need the money. “Yes,” he decided, “I’m ready.” “Wonderful,” his boss exploded, “Now then, you’re going to need to grab your things, and head to the docking section of the hatchery.” It took about ten minutes, but John had finally found the docking station. “Oh, hello,” an unknown, female employee greeted, “You must be John. The boss told us to be expecting you. You are John, right?” John nodded. “Good. Now with this being your first time here, I will need to explain your situation and what you will need to learn, as I can guess you haven’t been on a reclamation mission.” She explained how John will need to maintain a near constant supply of oxygen, and how the creatures he and his fellow employees can be dangerous, and how they will be put in a vegetative state until they reach their destination.