I stared at the ceiling and contemplated the last seven years of my life. Within Unit B on board of the U.S.S. Phalanx I have probably met at least a sixteenth of the residents. In my relatively small collection of seven years, aboard I have only traveled a couple miles following the horizontal axis of the Unit. In the Units, you can only travel width wise for approximately two miles and vertically for three miles. I have seen the same people and places over and over again. Never changing never leaving, no one ever coming.

I long to be one of the lucky few who are permitted to traverse the Units at will, but that was restricted to high authorities and selected personnel. I wish to see all the different people, places, cultures that are contained in the other Units.

I have grown faded and jaded of the same stale setting and tired of the same old people. I have grown disinterested in my mundane life, spending everyday following the same routine. That is why I have decided to leave Unit B, my home. No one is holding me back. I have no family, no friends, no attachments in general. I've never been able to make friends. I don't know why, but that is just the way it is.

Yes. Traversing the units as a normal citizen is illegal, but I am no normal citizen. I survived the streets of Tokyo by myself. Self- reliance was my greatest facet. I always find a way. Selfish it may be, but no longer do I cherish the small things in life such as family and home. I wish to see everything. This will be my endeavor.

I take a last look at my home. Everything that I had acquired over the last seven years stuffed into the pack on my back. Everything is not much. I turn away and start towards the end of the Unit. I have no real plan, but I will find a way.

I walk for hours down the main avenue that sprawls lengthwise along the Unit. I walk until my legs ache, but I mustn't stop until the night cycle starts. I walk until I am a third of a mile away from the Unit's end wall. I must wait for darkness to cross the Unit gate leading to unit C.

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My legs hurt so I sit down. I watch the ceiling until the UV illuminators grow dim. I keep a careful eye on my watch until it is time to leave. I head towards the gate at 24:00. I tread quietly along the houses and buildings until I am at the foot of the gate. The gate is manned by robotic sentries upon raised buttresses and locked by an ID scanner. Fortunately, I have the card that I bought off of the underground market. I crawl to the far left side of the gate so that I am in the sentry's blind spots. I make sure no one is out and shuffle along the gate walls. When I finally reach the ID scanner I quickly put the ID to the scanner.

It doesn't work. I will try again. Once more. Dammit! The card doesn't work, it's either a dud or expired. I think fast and pull out a flashlight and a spare jacket. I wrap the flashlight in the jacket and prepare to hit the ID scanner. I swing my hand back and thrust it forwards with all my might.

The flashlight makes contact with the ID scanner and a searing pain flashes through my arm. To hard. My arm aches, but fortunately the gate opens. I am neither surprised or assured in my action. I didn't fully believe it would work, but in the end it did. I step through the gate and quickly run the length of the crossing tunnel.

I reach the far end of the tunnel and enter a separate room. The room is full of space suits, air canisters and other space walking gear. I figure that in order to cross the Units you must wear a suit and go outside. Surprisingly, the suits are un-monitored. Apparently, no one expected anyone to go this far.

This excites me very much. For being in space for seven years, I have never seen outside the walls of the Unit. It has no windows since it must rotate in order to generate gravity and the walls themselves are meters thick. That is what I have heard. I found a suit procedure pamphlet and carefully read how to put the suit on. It is divided into three main pieces, the legs, torso and the head. It is much heavier than I expect. I heave the main chassis over my head and connect it to pieces that contain my legs. I reverse myself into an air- unit on the wall and attach it to my suit. Finally, I slip the helmet over my head.

I walk towards the decompression chamber and close the hatch behind me. No going back. I hook myself to the tether that will prevent me from floating away if I leave the platform. I brace myself and open the exit hatch. The door opens slowly, almost dramatically to punctuate the climax of a movie. As it opens, I take my first look at real outer space. I have traded one view for another.