Moon from Citizen by Spiral

Soon he finds himself flying over the moon. He has no idea how fast he is going, he merely feels like he is floating slowly by, under the complete control of this massive body. Suddenly an old speaker he plugged in for fun (mainly because he read that all rockets were equipped with speakers to communicate with Earth) cracks to life. The sound is all static and white noise, but just below it he hears the familiar voice of the machine.

We citizens cannot understand how much the machine loves us; it is wiser than we are. Although the machine seemed to take no interest in the citizen’s disappearance, it was actually frantically looking, but the machine can only look up, its satellite eyes were destroyed ages ago by orbiting trash, now it only has ground eyes, and they always look out into space. So the machine sees its citizen leave, watches him thread a path through the garbage, and now it has found a way to bring him back.

Machines are closer kin then we realize. It is easy for the machine to take control of the ship, but how can it return the ship safely to Earth? The answer lies in a distant planet with a great red eye. The machine speeds up the ship, but it still takes three year to arrive. The machine and the man talk, speaking of what is best for human kind and the essence of freedom. By the time the great planet looms into view the citizen has made a choice. A choice to choose.

Soon the machine’s plan is clear, it whips the small ship around the planet, hoping the gravitational velocity gained will build up enough speed to not only return to earth, but also penetrate its atmosphere. The citizen feels helpless, until he feels a strong pull from the planet beside him. Perhaps this is a way out? He tries to stare past the gas clouds but it is no use, the planet is either a tomb, or a release to a new life. Anyway, it’s pulling on him like it wants to help.

It only takes one bump. He uses his own body to knock the ship off balance and suddenly he is in the grasp of the massive planet. The machine tries everything, but it can’t force the ship out of this invisible grip

Chris, Aaron, and Bill, the three constant members of Spiral are desert born. They played childish games amongst dunes and cacti and now, their music breathes sand.