The Floater

Barton drifts alone on a colossal observation platform, a floating laboratory far beyond any planet. His job is simple—monitor the station’s endless array of self‑maintaining gadgets and report any alarm. The real challenge is staying sane in the void, a task made harder by the frequent visits of Dr. Von Ulrich, a clinical officer who subjects him to endless psychological tests. Between ink‑blot analyses and strange questionnaires, Barton turns to quiet pastimes like shaping faceless figures from clay, carving wood, and reading forbidden books.

As the months stretch into years, the isolation begins to wear on him, and the sterile routine feels increasingly like a slow, unseen drift. Von Ulrich’s probes into Barton’s thoughts grow more invasive, pushing the watchman to confront memories of a life he left behind—family, Earth, ordinary human contact. Yet the platform’s endless horizon offers no respite, only the occasional glint of distant debris that reminds him how fragile his existence is. Listeners will find themselves sharing Barton’s quiet desperation and his subtle, creative ways of keeping the darkness at bay.