Chapter 4B: False Utopia
Terminal 71, Dock G19, a group of tired teens walked out of a supply shuttle. Twenty hours in confined spaces took a toll on them. Even though the shuttle was equipped with a full bathroom, a dining area, and a large enough area to do some stretches, the trip still felt difficult. People in the past may have compared it to traveling via train. The journey from Beijing to Guilin was around twenty hours as well. People who have taken the trip would tell you the horror stories of boredom and confinement.
But they were finally here. Their shuttle detached from the tether and landed in Dock G19 in Terminal 71. Several robots began taking the cargo out.
The teens who have just stepped out stared in a kind of stunned paralysis. They stood there looking at the large dock. A person soon walked up to greet them.
“Hello, you must be this month’s batch from Seed Ship Beta,” The man in glasses smiled. Clutched in his hands was a holographic clipboard which displayed their information.
“Well, let’s go to the new arrival department.”
The teens followed behind the man. They weaved back and forth between the bustling robots and walked towards the large gate leading deeper into Gaia. As soon as they step through the terminal entrance, they saw one of the main lobbies. It looked like a giant city center. Several tall high-rises that touched the ceiling created a sort of labyrinth feeling. Numerous electronic posters and holographic advertisement glowed in neon giving the entire city a sense of sleeplessness. Endless amounts of people dressed in colored garbs were walking, talking, and socializing. Countless floating vehicles hovered across the ceiling carrying passengers to various locations.
The street was onyx black with bluish lines running through them like veins. Several fake looking trees lined the side. They glowed neon as well and matched well with the whole theme of the city. A wondrous sight that allowed the city to look like it was in a constant state of twilight.
“Welcome kids, to Gaia, this is the city of Lumistein,” The man beckoned them to follow close, “Don’t get lost now. Follow along; we will arrive at the new arrivals office soon.”
The entire street was a pedestrian walkway since all the vehicles floated above on the ceiling. Several Roombas were cleaning the streets regularly. The little things move at an incredible pace, so fast that no one has stepped on one yet. A single trash-collecting robot slowly rolled along a predetermined route. People who had trash to throw just tossed it into the opening on its head. A bright flash and the garbage would be gone, incinerated into dust.
The teens and the man passed by many stores, from salons to bookstores, to electronic retail, and even bars. The only thing they can’t seem to find are restaurants, but they pushed it to the back of their heads. They lived off nothing, but nutrient bars their entire life anyways. They only heard of restaurants in history class. Their sense of taste and smell deteriorated over the years, but their eyesight and hearing have heightened.
After passing several avenues, they arrive at a seemingly unnoticeable alleyway. They walked in to find a single round glass door. It wasn’t decorated at all but inside, a bright white light shined outwards, casting several square shadows from the stickers posted on the door.
“Wait here.”
The man walked to the door and flashed his ID card that he fished out of his breast pockets. A small ding echoed through the alley, and the glass door slid open.
“Come in,” The man said with a hypnotic tone.
The teens mindlessly walked in to find a reception area. A neon green tree stood in the middle of the circular room. On the left-hand side was a desk with a brilliantly smiling girl behind it. She wore a business casual attire and a blue hat with the logo of Gaia on it.
“Hey Gerald, your back already?” The bright receptionist wearing all pink laughed.
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“Only had one group to pick up today.”
“Easy day huh?”
“Yeah, let’s get them through orientation.”
“Ok, give me their names and codes.”
The teens walked up one by one and spoke with the receptionist. Their code and names were recorded into the database.
“Ok, you guys are all registered now. You will go through a week-long orientation before we assign you to a more ‘permanent’ location,” The receptionist smiled.
“What is this orientation?” Kurt asked.
“We introduce you to Gaia and all its available services. You will meet with your supervisor who will help you until you reach adulthood. Think of it as a continued apprenticeship from your life during the seed ship.”
The teens frowned. They remember all the menial tasks they had to perform for those crazed old men and women for their experiments.
“Don’t look so glum; our supervisors are all professionals! You will find that they all are very skilled in the path you will choose to set on,” The man with glasses said calmly.
“Paths?” Nell asked.
“You all were brought here based on certain criteria. They will all fall into certain paths. Whether its engineering, military or human resource, you all have some experience in it already.”
“I see…” Ruri said shyly.
Alex pondered about her supervisor. She felt disappointed that the old man couldn’t be here with her. Perhaps he would have been her supervisor. They could continue their mutual tinkering from the seed ship. But alas, he is gone.
Now that she arrived, she felt a sense of loss. What was her purpose now? What did the old man wanted her to do in Gaia?
The confusion hit her hard. She stood there silent as the other three bombarded the receptionist and the man with questions about Gaia and what they were to do.
“Ok, let’s stop dillydallying around in the receptionist area, follow me to your temporary residences,” The man clapped his hands and said.
The teens followed him to an elevator that led upstairs. When they exited, they saw a long corridor with many doors.
“Each of these doors leads to a single person residence. It contains a bedroom, bathroom, and living room. Sustenance will be provided as usual by Mother. Now unpack, we will meet downstairs in the main meeting room in an hour. Just follow the signs on the wall,” The man said as he hands each kid a key with a door number embedded in it. Then quickly walked away as if they were no longer his responsibility.
“Let’s go together,” Nell said as she skipped along. Kurt carried all their luggage since he said he needed the weights training. First up was Ruri’s room. He unlocked the door they walked into the apartment.
“Wow, it’s perfect!” He exclaimed.
The living room area had a large low standing white table with several seating cushions around it. A black sofa laid against the wall with a TV on the opposite wall. The entire wall facing the door was a window peering out towards the neon city. They could see all the people moving like small dolls. Afterwards, they entered the bedroom and found a single queen sized bed with two end tables on each side. Large curtains blocked the window currently, but it could be opened to see the same view as the living room.
Kurt put down Ruri’s suitcase in the closet. They went to check the bathroom. It was the only thing that didn’t surprise them. It looked like what you expected a fancy bathroom would look like; only everything was black. The sink counter was black marble, the walls were black tiles, and the floor was black as well. A single light beamed from above. The shower head looked like a dragon.
After Nell hugged Ruri, they went to the other rooms. Poor Ruri was stunned and blushing. He stood in his temporary adobe for a good fifteen minutes before finally moving again.
Nell’s room was next and looked the same, only thing different was the colors. The table color and bed color changed to crimson. The bathroom was a light banana yellow. Nell gave both Alex and Kurt a hug as they left for their room.
Kurt’s room was next, thankfully, Alex didn’t have any luggage like they did.
“See ya later,” Kurt smiled as he walked into his room.
Alex smiled back and walked away. Lastly, it was her room.
She turned the key and stepped inside. It looked similar to all the others, but again, the colors were different. After pulling open the curtains in the bedroom, she jumped into her bed and took a deep breath. The warmth comforted her confused mind.
Looking outside at the magnificent neon city, she was lost in the view. She gripped her necklace USB and sighed.
“Carpe Diem,” She sighed. Might as well think only of the present for now. Nothing to worry about in the future yet.
Suddenly something caught her interest in the corner of her eye. Two people with strange haircuts walked into an alley hidden from sight. They were carrying two large boxes and looked terribly shady. Soon, the two walked out of the alley and were no longer carrying the boxes. A vehicle quickly rose from the aisle and sped away. It looked different from all the other cars, clad in silver and emitted a reflective glare. Compare to all the other dull white ones, it was a sight to behold.
“It’s probably someone important,” She thought, “But the logo on those boxes…”
The logo was the same shape as her USB.
“Old man, just what ties do you have in Gaia,” Suddenly her interests perked up. It looks like it’s going to be an eventful time.