"Young, Cinnamon Lewis, please step forward." Chancellor Jaha's voice echoes through the chamber. Knowing I don't really have a choice I step forward to fall from grace. Guards seize my arms as if I'm an actual threat to them and lead me to the podium in front of the chancellor.
"Cinnamon Young, you have been accused and charged with smoking illicit drugs, overdosing on stolen prescription medicine and aggravated assault against two guards. Are these statements true?"
"Yes chancellor Jaha" I seethe, "Except maybe the last one. I would call it… resisting arrest." I chuckle, sending a mischievous glance to Monty and Jasper. Our laughter causes a slight uproar, the chancellor silences us.
"No matter what you actually did, you have committed crimes against the Ark. Since all crimes on the Ark, no matter how small are punishable by death and you are under eighteen years of age, you are to be imprisoned until you are eighteen, in which you will be evaluated in hopes of re-joining our society."
The reality of his words hit me like a slap to the face. Three years stuck in the skybox before I'm sentenced to the fate of being sent out to space, to die. Knowing the chance of actually being let out freely and back into society is slim to none, tears well up in my eyes.
I once again look at Monty and Jasper, and sadness now replaces the laughter we shared just moments ago.
Guards once again seize my arms and manoeuvre me out of the hall, towards my new home, the small prison block on the Go-Sci ring. As the guards turn the corner and march down the hall with me in tow I let the tears fall.
I'm lead to the shared dorms of the skybox, stares of the other delinquents are on me, seeing who their new roommate is. My bangs cover my eyes slightly, as if they are shielding me from the prying eyes of the other kids. I finally arrive at a cell, thrown in with another girl.
"Welcome home" one of the guards mumbles to me on his way out. The door shuts and I'm left alone with this girl. Her brown hair is long and messy and she's curled up into a ball, as if she was trying to shield herself from something. I walk up to her, carefully as to not startle her.
"Hey," I mumble. "Are you okay?" Her green eyes meet my brown eyes, and then they burst into tears. I rush to the girl's side to try comfort her. She doesn't resist and I pull her into a hug, despite not knowing her at all. Through her sobs she vaguely mutters.
"You remind me of my brother." Her voice is like a whisper. "I was put into this place a few days ago, because I wasn't meant to exist." My eyes soften, she was thrown in the skybox for being born, how cruel can the Ark get? I tighten the hug.
"You've done nothing wrong, the Ark is stupid if they think an extra child is going to harm them. For all they know, you're harmless. The Ark has stupid rules." The girl's sobbing comes to a halt and she looks up at me.
"I'm Octavia." I smile at her, glad to see she's opening up.
"I'm Cinnamon, nice to meet you Octavia."
I jolt awake at the memory, me being thrown in the skybox. I look over to see Octavia across the room, but I'm met with emptiness. I forget from time to time that I've been placed in solitary, even if it was six months ago. Things change I guess. I walk up to the door screen to check the date, and the date I see alarms me. 27th of August. While this date may not be significant to others it is to me.
Using what essentials we're actually given in the skybox, I brush my teeth, wash my face and brush my hair, using the reflective surface of the wall as a mirror, braiding my hair into two plaits. I pull a few strands out of my short braids to frame my face. I curl up into a corner and close my eyes.
A bang opens up my solitary cell door, and multiple guards move in.
"Prisoner 283, put your arms up and face the wall!" One of the guards shouts. Looks like I'm not the only one who knows the significance of today. I do as I'm told, not wanting to hasten my fate.
"Hold out your right arm." This surprises me, I thought I'd just be taken to the airlock. I hold out my right arm and I feel cool metal and a pinching sensation in my wrist.
"Ah," I gasp out in pain and surprise, not expecting it. Like when I was lead to the sky box, the guards seize my arms as if I was the naïve fifteen year old again. I'm lead to the change rooms and an orange jumpsuit is shoved into my arms.
After changing I'm lead to another part of the Ark which I recognise as Mecha station, clipped into a seat and left there. The guards walk away, and I hear one whisper good luck as they leave. I look around the space, it looks to be nearly a hundred years old. Instinct from growing up on Mecha kicks in, and I realise. This is a drop ship, this is a one hundred year old drop ship. More delinquents file in the ship with guard escorts, and I see the familiar goggles and mop of brown hair that belongs to Jasper Jordan.
"Jasper!" I yell out, this catches his attention, and he moves to sit next to me, the guards don't bother moving him. I lean over and embrace him.
"Hey spice, how was solitary confinement?" I give him a glare.
"Solitary was hell, the only company you have is the vague reflection of yourself and the guards." Jaspers expression softens and he embraces me again.
"I'm sorry I asked." He mumbles. I return the embrace.
"It's okay Jasper, I missed you." My voice is now a whisper. A sudden jolt rocks the dropship. Jasper and I look at each other knowing what has happened. In the background I hear chancellor Jaha's monotone voice.
"Your crimes have made you… expendable." His voice continues. I see spacewalker guy float over to a blonde girl and Wells, the chancellor's son.
"Looks like your dad floated me after all" a wave of laughter passes through the dropship, including Jasper's and my own. The boy's attention drifts from Wells to the blonde girl next to him.
"So you're the traitor who was put in solitary." Blondie doesn't look amused.
"And you're the one who wasted a month's worth of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk." Ouch.
Two other boys unclip themselves and begin floating around in the temporary zero gravity environment, but as the dropship enters further into the Earth's atmosphere, they smash into the wall. Not hearing anything a silence spreads through the dropship.
"Listen, no machine hum." Finally Monty said the obvious, triggering and excitement as everyone rushes to the door.
"Bellamy? Is that you?" I hear a familiar voice call out. Octavia pushes in front of the crowd to hug who I guess is my older brother.
"O?" I call out to her. Her attention shift to me and her arms enclose in a hug.
"Hey Cinn," she mumbles in my ear. I return her hug, before turning her around. Some dumbass comments about her, and I hear a deep voice.
"Let them remember you by something else, like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years." Octavia grins at him and Bellamy pulls open the bunker door. It hisses and then silence falls over all the delinquents. Octavia steps out onto the ground before finally screaming.
"We're Back Bitches!"