Chapter 2, Awaken:
3477, 061 Last Light Moon Season, Isra
I moaned as I was rudely awakened by the sound of loud beeping in the vicinity of my head. I flung my arm in the general direction of my bedside table and hastily tried to find the off switch. When I failed to find the neon green button I cracked open my eyes and looked around in confusion. Where was it? It was usually right next to my shoulder. I reluctantly sat up, the upper half of my body sliding out from under my warm blankets. I frowned not recognizing the room for a moment before I remembered. That's right, I had been relocated to a shared domicile a few days ago. They had said something about my block of domiciles being contaminated or something. No matter, If I don't get up soon and go to class I will receive another tardy and they will think that I have caught the disease.
I sighed, climbing out of bed, my feet slowly padding over the heated floors towards the lavatory. I heard someone else moving inside. I didn't bother knocking, both of us had come to a previous agreement that modesty nor privacy was an issue. It wouldn't have served anything. Cana looked up and smiled at me when I entered the room. Yes, that's right, a female. She had no attraction to males and I had no attraction towards females, that was also one of the main reasons that we were roomed together. Though it was rare that someone would happen to be a homosexual it wasn't questioned and was fully accepted.
I walked to the panel near the door, as I went, I slowly removed the wire contraption that circled the crown of my head and opened the air tight locker to put it away. I moved towards the sink and wiped my face clean. The comfortable quiet was broken when we heard the bing in the dining room announcing that our meal was ready.
After we had broken our fast we parted ways to go to our separate learning facilities. She would be headed to the medical section and I would be headed towards the mechanics section.
As I strolled through the hallways a few people greeted me in passing, either by a nod of the head or by a small phrase muttered under their breath. No one was energetic at this time of day. It was still an hour or two before the official lights-on. The only people you see at this time are either in an advanced school group like me or are execs, everyone is still asleep in their domiciles.
I entered the classroom, ready for most everything. I sat down at my assigned spot. Ignoring the glares from the females in the room as my work partner grinned at me. This was one of the few occasions of when I was paired with a male, and an attractive one at that. When our teacher entered the room she announced that we would stay and extra fifteen minutes after the class for a special protocol. Everyone in the room, including me, groaned. I knew what the protocol was, there wasn't a person who didn't.
The class went smoothly as usual, nothing was ever out of place, not on Mothership Isra. We all went through the teaching simulations and completed the tasks that were required. When the class was over we removed the headgear and turned in our answer sheets before sitting back down. I sat, shivering when I felt my thigh brush against my partner's, I was so lost in my embarrassment that I barely noticed when the door opened and the execs entered the room.
The execs stood in front of our class as protocol, backs straight, chests out, shoulders back, feet apart, hands clasped in front of them. Perfect posture, stoic, not a hair out of place. This was the life of an exec, no emotions are permitted on the front, the smallest slip could mean the difference between life and death. Once the execs felt that they had our attention they began their announcements.
When I got back to my domicile I placed my home-assignment on my bed before walking to the lavatory, stripping as I went. When I arrived to the cleansing room, I turned up the steam level and punched in my preferences, I was feeling unusually stressed today and was in the mood for a massage. As I waited for the beep that would alert me when the room was ready for me I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. My criticizing eyes taking in every detail. From my medium length maroon hair to my feminine eyes and delicate mouth, to my slender shoulders, muscular arms, smooth stomach and my long legs. All in all you could probably mistake me for a female. But that was not of importance to me, the only thing that truly bothered me about my appearance were my freckles. I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard the cleansing room beep. I sighed, turning away from the mirror and walked into the special room feeling the intense need to relax.