your room without food. Six, thirty days in the Re-Education Building. Seven, six cycles in the Re-Education Building. Eight: Electroshock. Nine: Lobotomy. Ten: Execution." The jarring robotic chorus of voices that were the Sisters recited the words with no hint of emotion while my mouth ran dry.
I shook myself off and tucked myself back in, trying not to think about what going to the Re-Education Building might entail. "How long does it take to work off a penalty point?"
"The points are permanent, off-worlder. They cannot be removed. Be sure not to misbehave again."
When the pod's glass cover slipped back over me, I made no further complaint. My heart was racing in my chest, pounding against my ribs as I lay still. One point just for a little rage. I wondered how many points would have been issued for Saidan's little chat with me? For our friendship? For every thought I'd had about him since my arrival? Did the Sisters know about us, and were they issuing their warning now? I didn't know, but I was scared. I was terrified. I didn't know what to do. I thought about claiming illness to escape the field trip with Saidan, but the rebellious heart inside of me refused to even consider the possibility. One point was nothing. I would go on as usual.
I needed to see Saidan like my lungs had to breathe. No matter the penalty, there was already no turning back.
THE BEACH OF NOTHINGNESS
I had presumed that we would return to the same site we had visited previously, but the bus took us by a different route and I quickly realized that we were going somewhere else. Saidan seemed to have a barely-contained smile behind the twinkle in his eyes, and I suspected he'd set up some kind of a treat by directing his research to a specific area of the wasteland. Despite the previous night's rebuke from the Sisters, I found myself becoming excited.
The broken roads gave way to dirt tracks, which the bus struggled to traverse. It eventually stopped and told us that we had to travel the rest of the way on foot. I honestly wondered if Saidan had chosen the location on purpose for this very reason.
I took a box of equipment and made a show of lifting it up the overgrown hill. The dirt was soft and sandy and I struggled to make it to the top, where Saidan was waiting with a smile on his face. Out of sight of the cameras, he seemed to come to life again, his genuine smile awakening a feeling of warmth inside me. I could hear a distant sound, like the rushing of waves, and I realized I was correct when I took the final step to the top of the hill and put the box down.
Even dead, the beach was a magnificent marvel of nature. The sand was pure white. A fresh, salty breeze blew across us and my gut reacted with excitement. The water reflected the sky in a brilliant purple. It was a spectacle, a place of wonder just for us. I found myself abandoning the box and rushing down the hill to the beach as if it might disappear like some kind of mirage. I fell knee-first into the sand, scooping up the soft grains and letting them slip through my fingers. I knew I was being unrestrained in a way I'd never been on either Earth or Valeria, but I was simply so grateful to see such a place that I couldn't hold my feelings in.
Saidan slowly descended from the hillside as I made my way down to the water's edge. The waves appeared to be purple, like foaming bubble bath rolling onto the beach. I was surprised to find the water was warm, and I had to fight the urge to strip off my bodysuit and jump naked into the ocean.
Saidan reached my side. "It's all dead, you know," he said. "There's no life here either. The ocean is sterile, the sand pure."
"No, there's life," I said. "There's life in the way the waves crash onto the beach, in the way the wind blows, in the way the sand slips through my fingers. The forces of nature still exist even on this barren planet." I realized I was sounding like a Riva Melodia song. I wondered what Lankis would have thought if he could
I shook myself off and tucked myself back in, trying not to think about what going to the Re-Education Building might entail. "How long does it take to work off a penalty point?"
"The points are permanent, off-worlder. They cannot be removed. Be sure not to misbehave again."
When the pod's glass cover slipped back over me, I made no further complaint. My heart was racing in my chest, pounding against my ribs as I lay still. One point just for a little rage. I wondered how many points would have been issued for Saidan's little chat with me? For our friendship? For every thought I'd had about him since my arrival? Did the Sisters know about us, and were they issuing their warning now? I didn't know, but I was scared. I was terrified. I didn't know what to do. I thought about claiming illness to escape the field trip with Saidan, but the rebellious heart inside of me refused to even consider the possibility. One point was nothing. I would go on as usual.
I needed to see Saidan like my lungs had to breathe. No matter the penalty, there was already no turning back.
THE BEACH OF NOTHINGNESS
I had presumed that we would return to the same site we had visited previously, but the bus took us by a different route and I quickly realized that we were going somewhere else. Saidan seemed to have a barely-contained smile behind the twinkle in his eyes, and I suspected he'd set up some kind of a treat by directing his research to a specific area of the wasteland. Despite the previous night's rebuke from the Sisters, I found myself becoming excited.
The broken roads gave way to dirt tracks, which the bus struggled to traverse. It eventually stopped and told us that we had to travel the rest of the way on foot. I honestly wondered if Saidan had chosen the location on purpose for this very reason.
I took a box of equipment and made a show of lifting it up the overgrown hill. The dirt was soft and sandy and I struggled to make it to the top, where Saidan was waiting with a smile on his face. Out of sight of the cameras, he seemed to come to life again, his genuine smile awakening a feeling of warmth inside me. I could hear a distant sound, like the rushing of waves, and I realized I was correct when I took the final step to the top of the hill and put the box down.
Even dead, the beach was a magnificent marvel of nature. The sand was pure white. A fresh, salty breeze blew across us and my gut reacted with excitement. The water reflected the sky in a brilliant purple. It was a spectacle, a place of wonder just for us. I found myself abandoning the box and rushing down the hill to the beach as if it might disappear like some kind of mirage. I fell knee-first into the sand, scooping up the soft grains and letting them slip through my fingers. I knew I was being unrestrained in a way I'd never been on either Earth or Valeria, but I was simply so grateful to see such a place that I couldn't hold my feelings in.
Saidan slowly descended from the hillside as I made my way down to the water's edge. The waves appeared to be purple, like foaming bubble bath rolling onto the beach. I was surprised to find the water was warm, and I had to fight the urge to strip off my bodysuit and jump naked into the ocean.
Saidan reached my side. "It's all dead, you know," he said. "There's no life here either. The ocean is sterile, the sand pure."
"No, there's life," I said. "There's life in the way the waves crash onto the beach, in the way the wind blows, in the way the sand slips through my fingers. The forces of nature still exist even on this barren planet." I realized I was sounding like a Riva Melodia song. I wondered what Lankis would have thought if he could
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