1. Sleep Or Die (a space rock opera)

XENO1N | Chapter I -- This is a serie of songs, so check out the whole album for the story -- Story idea and writing by MIIKA (c) Sept 2026 Lyrics by MIIKA (c) Oct 2026 SLEEP OR DIE (a space rock opera) ------------- STORY Spaceship XEN01N with 20 colonists/crew on board is on its way to a distant galaxy, when an error has occured and the captain and first officer have to discuss how to proceed: let everyone in hypersleep and hope that the ship will reach its destination on its own (in time), or wake everyone up and risk people will not survive the long trip. And what will the crew do/say? ------------- [Captain] Red lights shaking, engines scream, We’re cutting through the black between. Six years out, two weeks to burn, The stars go white around each turn. [First Officer] I read the numbers on the glass, We’ve got enough to make it past... If every heartbeat stays alive, We lose them all before we arrive. [Captain] Put them under. Shut it down. Let the sleeping ship go round. [First Officer] If they wake, they wake in time... If they don’t, at least they die in dreams. Sleep or die. Choose the lie. Hold the line... Wake in time. [Captain] You call it mercy, I call it chance, You’re putting twenty souls in a trance. What if the clocks run slow? [First Officer] What if the systems overload? [Captain] No voice to hear, no hand to steer, No one awake when failure’s near. You’d trade their lives for one more day, And pray the dark gets out the way. [Captain] And you would wake them just to watch Their oxygen tick down to nothing? [First Officer] I’d rather hear them curse my name Than hear machines pretend they’re breathing. Sleep or die. Choose the lie. Hold the line... Wake in time. [Captain] We’re passing planets like sparks in rain, The hull is singing through the strain. [First Officer] Every second costs us blood, Every mile costs more than love. [Captain] I know the odds. I know the cost. [First Officer + Captain] I know what wakes and what gets lost. But if I keep them burning here, I’m not a captain, I'm the fear. [Captain] Then look them in the eyes. [First Officer] They’re sleeping. [Captain] Exactly. [First Officer] I walk the rows beneath the blue, All those faces trusting you. [Captain] No prayers, no orders, no goodbye, Just frozen dreams against the sky. You say the future needs them whole. I say a future needs a soul. [First Officer] So tell me, Captain, what’s the crime... [Captain] To let them live, or let them die? Sleep or die. Choose the lie. Hold the line... Wake in time. <instrumental break> [Captain] We have one chance. [First Officer] We have one choice. [Captain] Keep them under. [First Officer] Give them a voice. [Captain] They’ll never know. [First Officer] They might survive. [Captain] They might not wake. [First Officer] But they might be alive. [Captain] Then make it happen. [First Officer] You make the call. [Captain] Seal the chambers. [First Officer] Save them all. [Captain] The engines flare, the stars collapse, We disappear between the gaps. One last look at the sleeping crew... Twenty faces, nothing left to prove. [First Officer] I reach the switch. My hand won’t move. [Captain] Behind me: silence. Ahead: blue. [First Officer] The ship keeps flying, hard and fast. We leave the living with the past. <Guitar solo> Go to sleep. Hold your breath. Trust the dark. Outrun death. [Captain, whispered] And if we wake before the light... [First Officer] I’ll tell them why we chose the night.