On Our Own (gxg)

Chapter 2 - Pushing boundaries

A/N: I hope you enjoy the chapter. I promise I will update soon and there is going to be more action and less descriptice parts... ;)

It's a long walk. I mean, this ship is home to about 100,000 people and it started with exactly 689,311 humans, boarding it to escape from the dying earth.

The number of inhabitants is decreasing. That is one of the big problems of the giant Alatis, and we have to solve it soon. Dad always says it's the great task of the demographs. But I am worried because he once stated that we need at least 75,000 people to keep Alatis running.

The Alatis Laws rule everything. Even birth. Every woman must give birth to at least two children until she reaches the age of thirty. I think, that even that - controling the family development of every woman - is cruel and should not be part of a law. But there are other things that are clearly not okay on Alatis and that go even further.

We have got the sentence of death. I mean - okay, if someone kills someone else I can understand that some say he only deserves death. That is the way it used to be back on earth for a long time. But on the Alatis you are sentenced to death for every little break of the Law. If you have bad luck and very bad friends they can sue you for picking one of their pens at school saying you stole them. That is exactly what a weirdo and social outcast with superficial friends like me could experience. So I am kind of released to be leaving school without such an incident.

That thought pulls me back into the stream of reality and the ceremony I am about to be the center of. While thinking I managed to reach the station. Yep, there are stations in Alatis. This ship is huge. Transportation takes place with the SpeedTubes - a very highly branched network of electro-magnetic tunnels. The vehicles rushing through them with amazing speed and carrying up to 4 passengers are called Bubbles. Obviously. So the next Bubble will be mine. I jump in and stand at the provided spot. The soft seat adjusts to the seize and shape of my body, then it fastens by connecting with the harder, plastic-like parts of my suit at the shoulders and the waist.

I can put myself in any position I want now - the seat is completely supporting me like an exoskeleton. I prefer a sitting position. I type in my destination at my arm-hologram, the Bubble accelerates. It's the left arm because I am right-handed. Everything works with that. Every citizen has got a tiny chip implanted into the wrist of the non-preferred arm. It contains everyones ID - main personal data like name, date of birth, bank account and so on. The implant is capable of doing a whole lot more stuff like surveying the hormonal balance. Maybe Dad should try that.

It also works with near field communication, that's simply how you pay or lock and unlock doors.

Back in the days on earth everyone fancied 'smartphones'. We really learn stupid stuff at school. Glad it's over. Well, smartphones are nowadays replaced with holograms. Most people wear them as a gadget to their suit in the arm with the ID. There are different models, but they work almost the same. Your hologram is linked to your ID. But you can browse the web or read or call your friends or simply type commands to different devices. The range of the holographic display varies, mine is so high tech that I could completely surround myself with an artifical environment - ArEn - this used to be called 'video-gaming'.

With a bing the Bubble stops and my seat automatically puts me into a standing position and releases me.

I leave the Bubble and stare after it as it's rushing out of the station. Sometimes I am really fascinated by the job those technicians, engineers, developers or logistics experts do. Rayen, you know what you become. No question. A medic, no matter what. If you don't do that your father will torture you in not known ways.

I sigh. But in a way the stupidity and monotony taking in my whole life give me security, too. I mean, I do not care for anything, I just live my life as I am supposed to. Sometimes I feel like a robot fulfilling its purpose and being fine with it, because I can't change it anyway.

I reach the door to the conference room of the bridge. Before I slide my left wrist along the lockpad to get in I clothe my face in smiles. After all, it's my birthday. And although my smile is fake, no one will notice. Everyone in the room is just as superficial as my faked happiness.

I walk in and face a gathering of the high society of the Alatis. Even the President is there. Thanks Dad, I murmur silently in my head.

Everyone else is smiling, too. They are congratulating me, shaking hands, hugging me. There's a buffet. Really, everyone is smiling. Isn't that absurdly funny? No one really knows you, but everyone seems to care. Some smiles aren't even fake, but the owners of the faces are so superficial and flat that they wouldn't even know the difference. And of course one face sticks out. One pair of eyes is almost physically hurting me. He smiles, but his sting blue eyes make me shiver. My father seems to mute every noise around me. I am afraid. He seems to silenty remind me of what I had to do, remind me to fulfill my task, remind me of what would happen if I didn't .

Stiffly, but smiling, I hold a short speech, thank all the people for coming, then they scatter around the food and the room. As expected. I want to escape this gathering. My feet carry me to the huge panoramic window. Since this conference room is really close to the bridge I have a stunning view over Alatis. Once more I think about how hilarious the name is. It is suposed to be Latin meaning "the winged creature". So you'd expect the the ship to be majestic and graceful. In fact it is just an ugly, tremendous greyish-metallic block of metal floating through the universe.

I stiffen as a hand rests at my shoulder. I turn around to face the President.

"It's time, I guess", says he. His voice is crackling due to his age, but he is fit and tough. I nod. I follow him up the little steps onto the podium. The chatter immidiately vanishes.

He proceeds with the normal speech, congratulating me and so on. An then he asks me.

"For welcoming you among the full legal citizans, you are to choose a profession. You will work in that career your entire life and can not change, as the Alatis Laws read. Your labour will preserve and improve life on board of Alatis. I may now ask you, and please think about your answer, as it is final: Which profession shall be yours?"

I want to become a medic. That's what I am supposed to say. My eyes wander through the cheerish faces of my guests and finally stick to my fathers gaze. And then I do something I haven't done in a long time. I listen to my instincts.

"It's an honour to me to announce that I am going to join the Alatis Army."