The door opened and a woman walked in, taking center stage of the room. Hope immediately recognized her as the woman who had been speaking to them through the monitor earlier: Lottie.
“Good evening, students. I wanted to come and welcome you on your first day at Cheyenne Mountain.” She peered around the room. “There is something you used to have when living inside the dome—a luxury—if you will, which is now a thing of the past. As you are all geniuses, I am certain you have spent much of your life feeling bored and unfulfilled. Your time has just become your most valuable asset. You are no longer smarter than everyone you know; you are simply average.”
She held their gaze before continuing. “This mountain is where we conduct all of our scientific research. Yes, there are people here who cook and clean and take care of laundry—you are far too busy and your time much too valuable for such mundane activities—but most of the people in this facility are here for medical or scientific research.”
Lottie stepped forward slowly, working the room.
“I am certain Cameron has explained to you that the people you see in this room are your family now. They are your friends, your colleagues, your team. You are not in competition with each other, and I will not tolerate competitive behavior. All information is to be shared between you, but only inside this group.”
Weston held up his hand and Hope cringed at his audacity.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense if everyone shared data throughout the mountain?”
Lottie shook her head. “I can appreciate why you feel that way, but this is a practice proven over generations. Information is shared, but it is shared in an organized and efficient manner. We want you to stay highly focused on the task at hand. If all the groups tried to give input on each project, it would take away from the productivity of each individual group. You will become specialized in your task, most other people in this mountain won’t even possess the vocabulary—let alone the skills—to be of benefit to your project. This system of compartmentalizing all of our research has proven to get the best results from each team.”
Weston didn’t seem to be the least bit concerned about overstepping boundaries. He raised his hand again and blurted out another question.
“If we are working towards colonization, how can we take on such a large project in small groups?”
“As I said previously, your time is your most valuable commodity. You will not have all of your questions answered immediately; it is more likely your questions will be answered through experience. I am certain it will become perfectly clear why we have segregated each group as you learn the role you play in colonization and work on your project.”
Cameron stood from his seat at the side of the room. “It isn’t all going to make sense to you right now. You will figure it out. When you do, you will be so exhausted you will forget you ever had unanswered questions.” Cameron sat back down and nodded to Lottie.
Hope observed Cameron’s role really did seem to be much like a babysitter. He was the strong arm using fear tactics to ensure compliance from the group.
“Cameron brings up a good point. What you have experienced in the dome is nothing like what your life will be now. You will get up earlier in the mornings. Your hours spent on education, the laboratory, and studying will leave you little time left in the day to sleep. On top of that schedule, you are still expected to take part in physical activity as you will need the stress relief induced through exercise, and of course, we have to keep you healthy.”
She leaned against her desk.
“This is a rigorous program. We need each of you to be successful and to make it to the other side. You know what your future will become if you fail, but please understand, we do not wish to expel you. We need you. We have to explain the consequences and what is at stake if you do not pass, but there are consequences on our end as well. If you fail, colonization might never happen.”
Another student held up her hand and Lottie nodded to her.
“Am I correct in understanding we no longer have any free or social time?”
“Yes. You will no longer have free time, and any socializing you do will be over work or studying with this very group.”
The girl looked confused and glanced around at the other girls before raising one small finger in the air.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. If we have no free or social time, and we are too young to be coupled…”
Lottie nodded curtly. “Yes, under the dome, you are too young to be coupled. But, I am sure you are broaching the subject because of the birth control injection you received this morning.”
The girl nodded timidly, and Lottie paused and looked around the room.
“The assumption you are not coupled is incorrect. Each of you have been placed at a table with your new partner. You may be coupled, but the rules here are indeed different. They couple you at this age because the life you are entering is more stressful than anything people in the dome ever encounter. Your partner will be your study partner, your project partner, and your laboratory partner. As of tonight, you will take up shared residence.”
Hope lost the pit of her stomach.
“There is however, one bed and one sofa bed. Because of your age, we do not assume you will want to sleep in the same bed, but that is completely up to your discretion. We have no opinion or vested interest as to when you become sexually active. We have taken the necessary steps to ensure no children are conceived until we are ready for you to do so. We have found, just as it is best for you to not interact with other groups inside the mountain, it will be the best thing for your psyche to have your partner through your educational journey. They will be your best friend, and emotional support.”
Hope swallowed hard. The shock of discovering she was now coupled was a lot to deal with, yet all she could think was that Weston had been right. He had been bragging the previous night to his friends about being coupled. He was now coupled, and would have no way of telling his friends they were wrong. She could hardly wrap her head around the concept or even begin to contemplate how she felt about Weston. She felt exceedingly grateful they were not expected to share a bed.
“As you see, when you lift the top of the desk there is a compartment with a tablet inside. There is no work inside this group which is considered restricted or private. The only privacy you will experience is while you take a test. I will make even your examination results public. Everyone needs to know who is at the top of the class and who is at the bottom. I highly recommend you work together to ensure everyone passes. The smaller your group becomes, the more work each individual has to perform.”
Lottie looked down at the table beside her and picked up a tablet. She scrolled for a moment and looked back at the group.
“Familiarize yourselves with the information on your tablets tonight. Initially, you will go to classes with different instructors whose job it will be to teach you the mathematics and scientific education curriculum you will need. Part of your instruction will be comprise of manual skills used when building objects such as welding and constructing electronic devices. Most of what you learn will be self-taught as you are more intelligent than any instructor we could provide.”
Weston held up his hand once again. “You said we are working on one project, one concept that is just ours. When do we find out what that is?”
Lottie nodded again. “We have been working on building a device which will enable people and supplies to be instantaneously transport between our world and the new colony world. You will not be working on how it functions, or focusing on the theoretical physics of this project. That work has already been claimed by another team. We will build one device here, and one on the new world. When activated in tandem, it will allow instantaneous travel. What is needed for this project is a power source.”
Weston snickered and tried to conceal it with a cough.
“Is there something you would like to share with the rest of the group, Weston?”
“Uhhh… solar
energy,” he acted as though he was passing an object to her. “It’s worked for us thus far, and I would assume the new planet has a sun if we can live on it.”
Hope struggled to keep her facial expressions neutral. Part of her agreed with Weston. What else could be more practical or efficient than solar energy? Yet, the way he presented the information made her uncomfortable. If solar energy was a viable option why would their team be assembled? The situation had to be more complex than it appeared, which meant Weston had just humiliated himself. His mouth was a concern, and now she was stuck with him.
Lottie didn’t blink or react. “Solar energy has served us well, but we have deemed it inappropriate for this particular venue. We need the device to have its own power source and remain portable. The greatest downfall of solar energy is that if proper energy storage isn’t available—which it won’t be on the new planet—power will be weather dependent. If, by chance, we have sent people or supplies through the transport device, and the transport device so happens to fail on the other side due to a power outage, those supplies and possibly humans would be lost in a void.”
“Lost in a void? Or would the matter break down?”
Lottie gave a slight shrug. “Not my department, nor does it matter. We will have a secure power source in place to avoid such a scenario.”
Weston didn’t seem to display any shame over his ignorance. “Are we to discover a new power source? Or are we to refine or adapt an existing technology?”
Lottie nodded. “Before the time of the State, a technology was proven possible, yet wasn’t fully developed. We have made progress with time crystals since that period, but this will be the first time we streamline this technology. It is compact with perpetual energy capability. We need the power source to be everlasting, with no human interference needed—another reason solar energy isn’t viable. If something tragic happens to the colonists, the State will remain in control of the new world without having to send another spacecraft. I know this may not sound as exciting or as sexy as other aspects of colonization, but I assure you, you have your work cut out for you.”
Hope looked over at Weston. The color drained from his face and she could almost hear his mind explode. Lottie was correct. It wasn’t sexy; it wasn’t exciting, but despite their young age, the gravity of this project was not lost on them.
Chapter 6
Hope’s walk with her new partner, Weston, to their apartment would have been utterly silent had the pair not struggled so much to find their way. Cameron’s tour had shown them the general direction of their apartments without actually stepping inside one. Hope suspected Cameron specifically avoided an apartment tour to prevent questions about double occupancy.
The apartments had a crude white piece of paper hanging on the doors naming the couples who would dwell inside. Their cluster of apartments were at the end of a hallway in what felt like the furthest outskirts of the living quarters.
There was a shared awkwardness between the pair about stepping inside their new home—as seemed to be true of their peers. They were about to enter their apartment as a couple for the first time, and neither of them knew what to think about the situation. They looked at each other for a moment before Weston shrugged and opened the door.
Her hand flung over her mouth, pressing firmly to keep from crying out. Hope’s face flushed as a sense of shame washed over her. She had never been alone with a male before; now she was placed in intimate living quarters with one. Her jaw trembled as she surveyed the space.
This room was, just a room. It contained the same square, boxy concrete walls as the rest of the structure and just as much gloom. There was simply a bed which was sizable enough for two in the center of the room with two nightstands flanked on either side. A sofa which would convert into a bed was pressed against the wall on the further side of the room with a coffee table in front. In addition, a lounge chair lay beside the sofa with a lamp standing tall in between.
She looked over to the left side of the room and saw a door which she could only assume was a bathroom with a freestanding wardrobe beside it. Hope walked to the wardrobe and opened the door to confirm there were uniforms already inside.
There was no kitchenette in this apartment. The kitchens in regular apartments under the dome were truly a waste considering they were only used for tea and breakfast bars, but she already knew she would miss having it available to her. It was silly, one little sink, two cups and a kettle could make such a world of difference to her comfort level in this new home.
Hope looked over at Weston who had taken a seat on the sofa and was looking around the room. His entire body was tense. She merely glanced at him and he jumped up from the sofa as though he was doing something wrong.
“Where do you think those tablets are?” Weston bounced on the balls of his feet. “I think we should get started on our homework. They said our schedule is tight and I don’t want to fall behind.”
Hope wanted to answer but found she had lost the ability to speak. Her eyes burned and her head throbbed as she tried to restrain all the emotions working to burst past her defenses. If she lost control, she would make an absolute spectacle of herself in front of her new partner. She had already been cold and aloof; perhaps they had gotten off on the wrong foot already. She took a deep breath and blinked rapidly to contain the tears threatening to arrive.
Weston lifted the top of the coffee table to reveal two tablets and their docking stations. He retrieved his tablet and handed one over to her. She looked around trying to decide if she should sit in the lounge chair or on the bed.
Lottie said the State had no expectations, nor did the State concern itself with when a physical relationship developed in their partnership, but she didn’t know what Weston’s expectations would be. He bragged in the common room about getting coupled the previous night. It suddenly dawned on her why he was bragging. She darted her eyes around the room and decided the lounge chair was the safest option.
They sat in silence and looked through their tablets, familiarizing themselves with the functions and sections. They only spoke when they had questions or commentary about the features and functionality of the materials on their tablets.
Although Weston seemed kind, she could hardly wrap her head around the situation enough to be friendly. Only yesterday, she had been attending school, wondering what her civil duty would be, like most other students her age. She had been so focused on achieving something higher in her life than her parents; she had never contemplated coupling and what type of companion she might fancy. Now here she was, coupled, and she couldn’t begin to process what that meant, how she should behave, how he would expect her to behave. None of it. Am I lucky? Is this the type of male that caused the girls to swoon or to boast when they are coupled to them? Would he be a good partner? And what were the parameters for defining whether someone was a good partner? Her mind spun rapidly with these kinds of questions.
Hope realized she was staring at her tablet without actually reading or comprehending any of the words her eyes kept sweeping over. She stopped and looked at Weston and realized he had been watching her.
“I can’t read this either.” He placed the tablets down on the coffee table and stood up. “Don’t you think it’s weird that we can’t make ourselves a cup of tea in here?” He dropped his hands and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I know we just lost the lives we had and replaced it with this super messed up weird one, and I am focusing on tea.”
Hope smiled softly and shook her head. “That was one of the first things I noticed when I came here. How do they expect us to work so hard and possibly stay up all night studying if we can’t even have tea?”
Weston picked up the set of maps they had discarded on the coffee table. He flipped through this stack of sheets once more, threw them back on the table and looked at Hope.
“It’s weird. We have set times we are to be in the classroom and in the lab, but the schedule doesn’t say when we are supposed to eat or what time our lights tur
n off. It also says we are supposed to exercise, but it provides no recommended time. How do we even know when the cafeteria is open, and the food prepared for us?”
Hope picked up the set of maps and tablet, then gestured to Weston to do the same. “There is only one way to find out.”
Weston grinned. “Yes, I think a walk about will help clear our minds enough so we can read this drivel.”
“I would like to go to the cafeteria first. I think I am in the mood for some tea, how about you?”
They headed out the door and worked together to decipher the map. The cafeteria wasn’t too difficult to find as the smell of food drifted down the hallway. It appeared they had arrived at a very popular mealtime as the line was extensive. They looked around and found themselves a table inside the large dining space. There were glasses against the wall adjacent to them. After seeing a few people go to the wall and leave with a beverage, Weston left Hope at the table so he could investigate. He returned a few moments later with two mugs and a pot of hot water with tea steeping inside. Hope beamed at him as he sat down.
Beyond: Book Four of the State Series Page 4