Ray yawned loudly when an alarm woke him up the next morning. He rolled around a few times before throwing off his blanket and getting out of bed. The COM unit informed him that it was now nine thirty two and that his appointment was in twenty eight minutes. He calmly got dressed and washed his face before approaching the food machine at the back of his kitchen. It only offered only a few breakfast options, Ray settled for some toasted bread, scrambled eggs and a black coffee to give him some energy to start his day. He quietly ate his food at the small kitchen table, barely large enough for two people. While his apartment didn’t appear low quality he couldn’t help but to compare it to his ship and preferred the latter one. Without looking at the clock, by the time he had finished his food a bell sounded and the COM unit announced that someone was requesting to enter. Ray got up from his chair and approached the door before confirming, ‘Enter.’
The door panel slid open and disappeared into the right side wall to reveal his guest. A seemingly young woman stood in the opening. She wore white and blue chequered buttoned shirt with a silver emblem resembling an eight at the chest area. Her black trousers clearly hung loosely over her legs. The dark brown seemingly hiking boots stood in contrast with her otherwise more indoor looking attire. What was most striking about her was her long light grey hair, which fell down straight and almost reached her hips. It wasn’t just the unusual colour, but it seemed to give off a strange light blue hue when looking at it.
“Hi, I’m Aurora, I’ll be showing you around today and help you get settled!.” She greeted him cheerfully.
It was then that Ray realised that this was the woman he had seen staring at him during his arrival yesterday. He deliberately hid his weariness and surprise from his face and greeted her back in a friendly manner.
“Nice to meet you Aurora, I’m Ray.”
“Are you ready to go?” Aurora asked.
Ray nodded, “I’m good to go.”
“Excellent, let’s be off then!”
As both of them stepped into the hallway the door automatically closed behind them.
“Lead the way.” Ray said as he gestured towards Aurora.
“Right.” she confirmed and started walking towards the nearby staircase. “First I’ll show you the main way of getting around the city.”
As they descended the stairs towards the ground level she continued, “Despite this being an unusual space station most of the rules you’d find on Earth Sphere or FPA stations also apply here. This includes no personal transportation. So the first thing I’ll show you is public transport.”
They walked through the same road he had come on yesterday. But the scenery looked different from when he had arrived yesterday. The ceiling lights tried their best to emulate the feeling of a morning sunrise by giving off a dimmed but warm light. The streets were clean and litter free. All of the buildings they passed by were very similar apartment structures with only minor variations in shapes, sizes and colours. At the first corner they passed by Ray noticed what looked like a shop. Aurora occasionally looked behind her and noticed his observation. “That should be the closest shop from where you live. Though everything can also be ordered and paid for via the COM unit. Food always comes in standard capsules. There are a few restaurants that offer fresh meals, but they’re located in the business district.”
Ray nodded, “Seems normal to me.”
“Yeah, as insane as Home looks like on the outside, on the inside everything is very much mundane and normal. At least for people who are used to staying on space stations for a long time. Have you lived on stations often?”
“I was on station for the past year, before that I was on spaceships most of the time. It’s been a while since I’ve been on an actual planet.” Ray replied.
“Sounds like you'll do just fine here then. I’m not sure if I’m fully adjusted from planet life to this myself.”
“You’ve been here for a long time already?”
“Only for half a year to be honest.” Aurora replied.
“You’ll be fine, I think it took me about a year to get used on living in artificial gravity back when I first started being in space for longer periods.” Ray reassured her.
It took them about ten minutes from Ray’s door to the nearest transport point. The sizable but low square shaped building stood out amongst the other much higher residential towers. The roads had been quiet so far, but it got more crowded as they approached. A steady flow of people walked towards and away from the building. The entrance did not have any doors, instead there just was a massive several meters wide opening in the wall that allowed people to enter and leave. A narrow plate with some signs had been installed near the middle to divide the opening between departure and arrival. Aurora guided them towards the departure side and they entered the building.
They walked through a broad hallway for a short while until a series of entrance gates blocked their way. Displays hung from the ceiling and on the right wall showed timetables for the various rail lines.
Aurora approached a terminal next to one of the closed gates and took a small metallic looking card from her pocket. “Everything is linked to your ID card here, we’ll pick yours in a bit but I can grant you access with mine for now.” She then held the card in front of the terminal and the gate opened. She passed through first and signalled Ray to follow her.
“Timetables are pretty much what you’d expect from them.” she said while pointing towards a screen on the wall. “This station has intercity lines but not all stations do. For now we’ll head to the business district.”
Ray took a moment to properly look at the rail lines. He quickly nodded in understanding, “So line eight?”
Aurora nodded in satisfaction, “Exactly.”
Finding the platform was also an easy task and within a minute they found themselves in the waiting area. Another sign above them indicated that the next train would arrive in six minutes.
While waiting Ray’s face showed his deep thoughts. He didn’t believe that Aurora guiding him today was a coincidence. Why had she been staring at him yesterday? It was as if she had seen him before, but that seemed impossible to him. He considered just straight out asking to try and ease his doubt, but hesitated.
Aurora noticed his worrying expression, “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Ray stayed silent for a moment, carefully considering how he should answer. While his initial thoughts were to blame himself for showing his worry he also considered her question to be opportunity. “When I arrived here yesterday, I noticed you staring at me from the welcoming crowd. It was as if you recognised me from somewhere. And now you’re here giving me this tour.”
Aurora’s face showed some discomfort.
“I didn’t mean to startle you. But it looked like an unusual reaction to me.” Ray tried to put her ease.
Aurora took a moment before answering, “I guess I did recognise you. And after doing so, I admit I made sure that I was the one assigned to be your guide today.” she replied.
“How could you recognise me? I’m sure I’ve never met you.” Ray asked in surprise.
She let out a sigh, “You’re not going to believe me.” she said.
“Try me.”
“I’ve seen you in a vision.”
Before anything else could be said the relative quietness of the waiting area was interrupted by the sound of the train arriving. A short siren first announced it’s impending arrival, immediately followed by the whirling sound of air displacement and a braking sound of the train coming to a halt. First a group of passengers disembarked in an orderly fashion. Afterwards people around them started boarding. They followed suit and found two empty seats next to each other and sat down. They waited for the train to depart before continuing the conversation.
Once they got seated Ray shook his head faintly, he remembered the strange fortune-teller that had crossed his path on Atlas IV. “More of that stuff?” he thought to himself.
“Yeah I don’t know what to make of that.” he said to Aurora.
“I can’t really explain either.” Aurora said, “I just wanted to find out if there was anything special about you I guess.”
“You’ll find there is not much special about me.” Ray chuckled, trying to not make the girl next to him uncomfortable, “But vision or not, don’t worry about. Where are we heading exactly?”
His change of subjects had the desired effect as Aurora went back to business, “We’re going to the main administration center to take care of some things. Afterwards you’ll have to watch an introductory movie. I’ll also need to show you the job center. It’s actually forbidden to be unemployed on Home, which caught me a bit by surprise when I first got here myself. You get a bit of free money to make it through the first month but after that you’re on your own here. So it’s important you get that sorted early.”
“I guess that makes sense, there really isn’t much social welfare anywhere these days.” Ray noted.
“You said you lived on spaceships a lot, so I think there are always jobs for people like you. There is still a lot of exploration being done, there is a huge effort going on to try and find a proper planet to live on or at least find some more resources. I’m sure you can find a spot there somewhere.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Ray replied honestly.
It took fifteen minutes and three stops before Aurora signalled they had to get off. By the time they exited the train Ray’s immediate worries had faded again as he dismissed the idea of Aurora’s vision having any significance. They ended up at station “Business zone A”, where they exited the station through a near identical hallway as the one from which they left.
Outside the area looked different. In a large open space a much bigger crowd dispersed in all directions. The roads were also wider to accommodate the larger mass. Trees and flower patches were planted among the sides to give the area a more relaxing atmosphere.
“You can always find a map and navigation support on your COM unit if you need them.” Aurora said as they walked away from the station, “But for today we just need to go straight ahead.”
They stopped in front of one of the larger and taller buildings in the area. A big illuminated sign above the front entrance read, “City eight main administration centre”.
Inside they arrived in a large open space filled with self-service kiosks and a large counter at the back. Aurora walked straight ahead towards a man standing idly behind a counter at the far left.
“We’re here to pick up the ID for a newcomer. His name is Ray Chelsea.” she said.
The man behind the counter nodded friendly towards Ray. “ Of course. Welcome mister Chelsea. Please give me a moment to find your data.”
He typed some instructions on a display behind the counter. The expression on his face changed several times during the process. From neutral, to confusion, to relief to finally somewhat apologetic.
“I’m afraid Chief Leonard Hydal still has the card but he couldn't come in today. He said you could come pick it up at his apartment.”
“I guess that’ll have to do.” Aurora sighed, “Can you give us his address?”
“I’ll send it your COM unit.” the man replied.
“Right, thank you.” Aurora took a step away from the counter and turned her attention to Ray again.
“Off to an unusual start, but we’ll make it work.” she said while scratching her neck in thought.
Ray held a neutral expression, “It’s fine, so we go visit this Leonard?” he asked.
“Eh... “ Aurora made some thinking noises. She lifted her arm and looked at the COM unit around her wrist which started projecting a map in front of her. “Hmm, Lenoard lives quite some distance away.” she said. “Wait, I know. You can go watch the intro movie now. We’ll get the card later. Follow me.”
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Ray didn’t question her decision and just followed. They took an elevator to the third floor where Aurora guided him to what looked like a small cinema room. A large screen in front with four rows of dark purple cloth seats lined up in front of it.
“We’ll change the planning a little bit.” Aurora said while taking some cards and trinkets out of her pocket. She picked out a silver looking card and offered it to ray.
“So here’s the plan” she continued, “You can go watch the movie while I go run some errands. Afterwards you can go have lunch in the cafeteria downstairs, it’s all the way to the right, somewhere in the middle. The card is for the food machines, just swipe it in front of them. You know how it goes.”
“Alright.” Ray nodded and took the card.
“Just take any seat you want, I’ll go and start the movie.”
As Ray sat down on the third row in the middle Aurora left the room and closed the door behind her. Shortly after the lights dimmed down and the ‘Introduction, history and systems of Home’ started to play.
It started out with an explanation of why The Last Free Men were established but it revealed nothing new to him. Initially established by a small group of people who disagreed with both the systems set in place by Earth Sphere and the Free Planet Alliance they decided to establish their own society far away in uncharted space, where they would be left in peace. When the second Kronos war raged between the two large factions many refugees also found their way to the hidden safe haven. As time went on the variety of people flocking to them became far greater than their initial living arrangements could provide. They had always wanted to find a large enough planet to inhabit, but as large as the universe was, planets suitable for human life were extremely rare. As a temporary solution they started building the space station that would become known as Home. Because they had no station architects among their ranks the base structure for Home was that of spaceship. This, and their desire to eventually find a planet, led to the station being outfitted with engines.
As the film continued it explained how the current security procedures came to be and how Home was divided into twelve blocks, which were more commonly referred to as cities. Each city had its own local government, with an electable major and a set of politicians and managers to keep everything in check. The real power however lay with an organisation called central command. Composed of representatives from the twelves cities and a small set of executives which were chosen based on competence tests they decided the overall course and policies affecting the entire station.
The second half of the film dealt with station regulations. It covered a lot of details but Ray felt that it could easily be summarized as just acting like a decent human being. Nothing surprised him and when the film came to an end he was quick to rise from his seat and exit the room.
He didn’t feel hungry but nevertheless decided to go find something to eat. As Aurora had told him he found the cafeteria on the right side of the main lobby downstairs. There were no signs pointing to it and there was no name displayed anywhere, but a large display showing a black and white picture of a knife and fork made it clear what was behind the glass panel door.
Black and white appeared to be the theme of the place. The floor, tables, chairs and counter were all in white with some occasion black accents. Ray frowned at the design and headed for the nearest queue of people to get his lunch. Since nothing caught his eye, he settled for a simple cheese sandwich. He then took a seat in one of the corners and slowly started eating. The cheese, the bread and the indistinguishable vegetables that were between it tasted bland and artificial. “I should take some of the supplies from my ship.” Ray said to himself. He threw the last quarter of his meal into the trash and headed back towards the lobby.
When he got back to the main hall he found that Aurora was already waiting for him. She noticed him approach and greeted him. “Hope the film wasn’t too boring?” she asked.
Ray smiled meekly, “It was alright.” he said.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but I don’t think I liked it very much myself.”
“Most of it was stating the obvious.” Ray replied.
“I suppose to.”
“Where to next?”
“Outside, follow me.”
The second part of the tour mostly involved walking around the city. Aurora showed Ray around both the business and relaxation districts. She elaborated on some of the things that Ray had seen in the film but focussed mostly on the details of City Eight where he would be living. When Ray asked if he would be allowed to move Aurora indicated that he could, but that the procedure was quite long and difficult. Though each city differed she also argued that in the end these differences were not all that large. In between visits to different buildings they stopped by the city’s job office to register Ray as a pilot looking for work. Eventually Aurora announced that they would be taking the train to go visit Leonard, pick up his ID and conclude the tour afterwards.
---
Residential district C looked nearly identical to district A. If it wasn’t for the large welcome sign posted near the exit of the railway station, Ray would have thought they ended up right where they had started in the morning. The buildings and roads looked the same but as they walked further away from the station he noticed that the roads made different turns from his own district. Aurora’s COM unit projected a small map at waist height in front of her. Streets had names and buildings did have numbers, but everything looking so much alike did make manual navigation quite cumbersome.
“Ok, third floor of that building.” Aurora said as she pointed to the building to her left.
“Apartment thirty six, should be to the left.” Aurora said when they arrived on the third floor. As they walked through the hallway they noticed a faint light coming from an opening a few doors away. When they approached they found that the door to apartment thirty six was wide open.
“That’s odd, I guess he was expecting us?” Aurora remarked as she moved towards the door. Ray followed closely behind her. When she peaked inside she let out an audible gasp and took a step back. Ray quickly stepped past her and put himself in front of the opening. He immediately spotted a man laying down on his stomach deeper inside the apartment. He appeared to be unconscious. Scanning the apartment he did not notice anything that looked like a break-in or a struggle. “Hey are you alright?” he called out to the figure laying on the floor. There was no answer or movement.
He looked behind him at Aurora. “Can you call a hospital or some medical services?” He asked.
“Yes, yes, I’ll do that.” she confirmed.
“I’ll go take a look.” Ray said as he carefully stepped inside the apartment. Aurora did not follow, seemingly afraid to cross the threshold with the hallway. She started entering something on her COM unit.
The inside of the apartment was clean and organised. Large closets and drawers were set up orderly amongst the walls. Ray passed through a small entry hall before approaching a larger carpeted room where the man was lying. The arrangement and sparse decorations did not give away anything about the person living here. Ray smelled the air before continuing and did not notice anything out of the ordinary. He spotted a large desk to the left of the man, which hadn’t been visible from outside of the apartment. The corresponding chair had been moved away from the desk, but the position and posture of the body did not give the impression that he had collapsed in his chair and fell on the ground that way.
Ray knelt down close to the body. The light grey sweater and dark brown pants were both spotless. He put his hands underneath the figure and turned the man around. The man who he presumed to be Leonard looked to be in his fifties with some minor wrinkles in his face and his brown hair starting to slightly grey out. On his front side nothing seemed out of the ordinary either. Ray put his hand on the man’s chest. His expression became grave. There was no pulse. He quickly moved his hand upwards towards the man’s neck. His eyes narrowed and his heartbeat fastened. It felt cold. Leonard was dead, and he must have been for a while. He briefly inspected the rest of the body for wounds or indications of harm, but found nothing. “Did this man have a heart attack? Does that still happen this day and age?” he wondered to himself.
He got up slowly, and looked around again. He spotted an empty food container on the kitchen table in the distance but other than that the apartment looked very tidy. Then he took a look behind him, at the man’s desk. His heartbeat seemed to stop for just a moment and his eyes widened in surprise. On the desk lay out a set of tarot cards in a three by three grid. All cards were turned face up, and all of them showed the same image. The grim reaper. Ray instinctively took a step back. All of his muscles tensed up and all of his senses were now on full alert. He shook his head in disbelief and confusion.
Aurora had seen him look at Leonard's body, but because of the angle she could not see what was on the desk. She had been closely observing as Ray had calmly examined the man on the floor. But when his posture suddenly changed she got alarmed. She took a deep breath and also stepped into the apartment.
“Are you ok?” she asked as she approached.
She didn’t have a strong reaction to seeing the cards but nevertheless took a step back upon seeing the ominous card formation. What she didn’t understand was why it affected Ray that much.
Ray took a deep breath. “The man is dead. Did you call anyone?”
Aurora blinked and took at the man on the floor. Her expression turned from worried to sad. “I did. They’ll be here soon.” She spoke slowly and quieter.
They both stepped outside of the apartment again. While waiting for someone to arrive Ray kept his gaze fixed on the man in the apartment. Aurora took some steps away and stared into the hallway.
It didn’t take long for a small squad of people to show up. Four men, dressed in a dark grey uniform arrived at the scene. Two of them immediately entered the apartment while the other two remained outside, one person started talking to Aurora, while the other one approached Ray.
“Good day sir, may I see your ID card please?” the man asked.
Ray sighed, “Presumably, it’s somewhere inside of the apartment. I only arrived here yesterday.”
The man’s expression was confused and he looked over to his colleague who was talking to Aurora, who quickly confirmed Ray’s explanation.
“Alright” The man continued, “could you explain to me what happened and what you saw when you arrived.”
Ray gave him a rundown of the events leading up to their arrival and what they noticed. He included that they had gone into the apartment to check on Leonard and that he had turned him around to verify his pulse. He did leave out the part about the tarot cards.
The man nodded, “I’m going to have to ask you to come with us to the station and make a formal report.” he said. He then confirmed that his colleague was done talking to Aurora and the two men nodded to each other. “Would you please follow us?”
The group of four headed outside as the two other officers remained inside. Two large winged but otherwise rectangular shaped vehicles stood parked outside. Ray recognised them as PHTs, short for personal hover transports, more commonly called phats. They were in essence flying cars. By the time they arrived the transports had already attracted the attention of several onlookers who were trying to figure out what was going on. But they were ignored as Ray, Aurora and the security staff all got into the back entrance of one of the vehicles and lifted off immediately. The phat rose straight up from the ground until it reached a height of about five meters, then made a turn and flew away in a straight line. The inside of the vehicle was barebone, with two long benches, suited for three persons each on both sides of the craft. There was an area in front for a driver that was separated by blinded glass so Ray couldn’t make out if they were flying on automatic or if there was actually someone in front. He sat next to Aurora while the two other men sat on the bench opposite to them.
When Aurora noticed him looking her way she answered Ray’s question without him having asked it, “I’m ok” she said quietly, almost whispering.
The flight didn’t take long and the PHT landed on top of the roof of a three story building. Ray had no idea where on the station he was when they got out. The sky was starting to become darker and the surroundings were unfamiliar to him. When he looked around he saw that the area was much more open than the places he had visited during the day. In the distance he could see taller buildings rise but in the area close around him he estimated that the highest structures only reached four or five floors.
He didn’t get much time to further investigate the surroundings as the officers guided them inside. They entered the building and took two sets of stairs downwards. The hallways they passed through were dimly lit and narrow, creating an oppressive atmosphere. After a short walk they arrived in a better lit open space. From there they split up again, Ray was guided to a room on the left side, while another officer took Aurora to a room on the right side.
He was led into a small interrogation room. There was a single plastic looking desk with one chair on each side. The security officer pointed Ray towards the chair the furthest into the room, away from the door. He took a seat himself and then placed a small black, cublical device in the center of the table.
“Right sir, we’re sorry that we have to go through this, but I’m just going to ask you to tell me what transpired. This device here will record and transcribe our conversation and it will be added to our official documentation. So please, state your full name and give me a detailed version of why you were at the apartment and what you’ve done and seen while there.”
Ray nodded and calmly gave the man an explanation of what had happened during the day. He made sure to clearly state again that he had been in the apartment and that had examined the body to determine that the man was dead. The only detail he left out again was his reaction to the tarot cards that he had seen on the desk.
The officer listened attentively and didn’t interrupt him. When Ray’s story was finished, he thought for a few seconds before rising from his chair. He opened the door but signalled Ray to stay seated, “I’m sorry sir, it’ll be just a bit longer. You’ll have to remain here while I handle some paperwork. You’ll be good to go in just a bit. Thank you for your patience.”
The door closed again and Ray was left alone in the tiny room. A myriad of emotions whirled through him. Tarot cards, fortune tellers, a girl that had seen him in a vision, a suspicious dead man. He wanted to dismiss everything as coincidence. But most of all he just wanted to feel safe and right now he did not. The ominous words of the conflict following him echoed in his mind again. Ray sunk back in his chair, relaxed his muscles, closed his eyes and thought deeply about the events that had transpired. Though he had not kept track of time, when he heard the door opening he felt that he had been thinking for a long time.
“You’re good to go.” a different officer appeared in the opening and signalled for Ray to come out.
Without further explanation he was guided towards the exit of the building. The officer once again confirmed that he could leave and that if they needed another statement from him, they would contact him. Ray just nodded and left.
Outside he was surprised to find Aurora waiting for him. She looked down but took the initiative in greeting him.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“I… uh figured I’d wait for you. Show you the way back to where you need to go.”
“Thanks.”
Aurora started walking, Ray followed closely behind. He opened his mouth to speak, started a first syllable but then stopped. Aurora looked over her shoulder. “I’m fine.” she reassured him.
Ray took a deep breath, “I wanted to ask you something.” he said. “If you could tell me something more about the vision.”
Aurora slowed down for a moment, “I… maybe not that fine.” she replied.
They continued walking in silence until they ended up at a rail station. “I can tell you, but right now I really need some rest.” Aurora spoke slowly.
“I understand.” Ray said.
“Your train will be on platform four.”
“Thanks, I’ll find my way.”
“I’ll… uh… let you know something… when we can talk.”
“I appreciate it. Take care.”
“Yeah, you too.”
Aurora went on ahead and entered the station, Ray followed and saw her take the escalator towards platform one. He stood still as he watched her disappear in the crowd above. Afterwards he continued onwards to platform four.