Our lives tuck away into perfectly sized boxes. Everything has its place, every person has their job. We are part of a whole, a United whole. It could be no other way, for the Great World War and its unstoppable aftermath ravaged the Earth. Humanity’s only escape was outer space. We live in a space station, like everyone else. We grow, we study, and one day we will be given a job to do, just like our mothers, just like our fathers.

But if we peer out the thick glass of a porthole, Earth is there, glowing, calling, healing. Earth, wild and untamable. And yet, so few of us dare to dream of Earth…

Chapter 1

Today isn’t going to be a good day, thought the skinny, dark-haired boy making his way across the quadrangle. He was hunched forward, almost defensively, and it certainly wasn’t because the air was crisp. On the massive space station known as The Campus, the climate was perfectly controlled. Today the sky panels and precipitation clouds mimicked a dull autumn day on Earth, c. 2005 A.D. The boy’s hands were in the pockets of his jumpsuit, a utilitarian tablet computer tucked under his arm. The colourless sky hung above him, the roaming clouds taking no notice of this one boy on his way to school. He paused for a moment at the school entrance to gaze up at that nonchalant sky, anything to delay going inside.

Today, the results of the Mid-Term Exams went up, put on public display for the whole school to see and gossip about. Ben Reed, our dark-haired boy, was worried. He peered through the plexiglass doors, hoping no one would notice him observing the uniformed students milling about the hall. Some stood in clumps, talking animatedly; their heads of short-cropped hair bobbed up and down, side to side. Others seemed to be sulking, staring into space, or angrily snapping at their friends. Ben opened the door, head down. As he made his way through the hall, he could feel several death-ray glares on his back. He swallowed and cautiously made his way over to the message board. Not that he really needed to check his ranking, thanks to all the laser-eyes, but he might as well download his scores.

The screen took up the entire back wall of the Tohoshi Academy entrance hall. Different coloured boxes and images danced around it: notices for upcoming sporting events, socials, and lost property. But in the centre was a white, stationary box with four scannable 2-D codes. The results for Years One through Four. Ben edged guiltily closer, close enough to focus the code for Year Three on his screen tablet. His device pinged and he screwed his eyes shut. Then through one squinted eye he looked at the table it displayed.

                            Maths       Science       Culture       Lang.          History         GPA

Reed, B.               100             100            98               98               100            99.2

Ivanov, M.            99               98               95               98               97              97.4

Ohba, T.               99               ..                 ..                 ..                 ..               ..

Not only had he achieved nearly perfect results, but Ben had also scored 1.8 points higher than the smartest, most popular boy in their Year: Marek Ivanov. Marek was competitive, and had a legacy to uphold, his sister having famously scored perfect 100s for three out of her four hears. Ben groaned quietly to himself.

The first belltone sounded. The seed of dread that had been lurking in Ben’s heart was spreading throughout his body. His arms and legs felt heavy. He wished he could be anywhere but school—not that he had a lot of real options. When he reached his homeroom door, he scrunched his eyes shut again, took a deep breath, and then stepped through with his head down. He didn’t want to know how many people were staring at him or whispering behind their hands about him. He walked blindly to his favoured desk near the back of the room and shrank into his seat, hiding his head in his arms on top of the desk until the second belltone sounded.

Glancing up without raising his head, Ben saw Marek saunter in surrounded by his friends. Marek was smiling and telling a funny story. His crew laughed when he reached the punchline. He doesn’t seem to care! Ben thought with surprise. Hadn’t he seen the results? Ben’s dread subsided a little in spite of himself. The grey fog that had clouded his vision cleared. When he looked around the room, he saw that no one was staring at him. No one was whispering about him. In fact, everyone in Year Three looked as they normally did on a First-day at 0815: sleepy and a little bored.

Professor Magna, their homeroom teacher, strode into the room. Tapping her stylus on her tablet, she called for attention. Her sharp black eyes followed the backs of Marek and his friends as they rushed to find seats, settling into desks at random. Marek ended up just behind Ben. Ben’s eyes went wide.

Professor Magna pinged their tablets to confirm attendance, easy as tapping an icon to activate a program which automatically matched tablet IDs to the class name list.

“All present,” she smiled as Announcements began. The board at the front of the classroom came to life. Tohoshi Academy’s Chief Student Representative appeared, wishing them all a pleasant morning. These daily newscasts were usually presented by energetic drama students or extroverts with loads of school spirit. But no one ever actually paid attention. Instead they would fiddle with their tablets or msg each other. It was of course forbidden to speak during Announcements, msging included, but it was harder to monitor digital messages.

Ben was the only student who paid attention to the Announcements. He was making a note on his tablet about a change in location for Cadet training when a msg pinged.

M.Ivanov>; nice job on exams, egg-head. once again!

Ben twisted around in his seat. Marek tipped his head in acknowledgement and gave him a smile. There was not a hint of malice to be found in Marek’s clear green eyes. Ben’s brow furrowed in confusion. He twisted back. For some reason his heart was beating fast.

>; thanks… he wrote in response. He was mystified. Everyone always hated him for doing well in school, ever since primary school. Why is Marek even talking to me? Ben wondered.

Marek fidgeted in his chair, tapped his stylus along the edge of his tablet, and then wrote another msg.

M.Ivanov>;you don’t cheat, do you?

Ben started scribbling a frantic “no” response, but Marek’s next msg came through before he could finish.

M.Ivanov>;jk, jk. i know you don’t. you’re pretty straight-laced.

M.Ivanov>; but seriously, where did you come from? didn’t think i’d have any trouble being top-of-the-class at Tohoshi. and i’ve got my family’s reputation to think about!

The next msg that came through was a hand-drawn laughing face. It was poorly rendered, but it almost drew a smile out of Ben.

B.Reed>; but… i just don’t get it. haven’t you seen how everyone acts around me?

Marek didn’t respond right away.

B.Reed>; everyone thinks i’m weird. they hate me because i’m smart.

B.Reed>; you must hate me too

M.Ivanov>; i don’t hate you!

M.Ivanov>; haven’t got any reason to. so you did better than me on exams. so what?

M.Ivanov>; my sister is super smart too. better than me at everything. i just roll with it.

M.Ivanov>; if you’re smart, you’re smart. don’t try to hide it, that’s my advice.

B.Reed>; i didn’t ask your advice…

Ben blacked out his tablet screen and stared hard at the Announcements, just in time to see an announcement which would change his life:

“Third Years, mark your calendars: this year’s Earthside field trip has been scheduled for the New Year holiday,” intoned Principal Rapstein in her familiar gravelly voice.

Earth! thought Ben excitedly.

“It has become a tradition in recent years to take a group of our Third Years to Earth to visit the Union farm-plants there,” continued Principal Rapstein. “We join Union workers in the field, tilling the soil and assisting with harvest. It is a labour-intensive expedition, so there are physical requirements that must be met. Please notify your homeroom teacher if you are interested in lending your hand. Uniting Our Efforts, We Strengthen Our Union.” Principal Rapstein’s wrinkled face faded into footage of previous field trips.

Ben sat rapt, eyes glued to the images on the board. Trees laden with fruit, fields and fields of growing crops, sunlight streaming through a lush, wooded clearing… Earth… he sighed silently. The other students were looking less enthusiastic, muttering things like “Who wants to spend their holiday working?” and “My mom says Earth smells like sewage.” Professor Magna looked around sharply in an attempt to catch the speakers. It wouldn’t matter, thought Ben. I have to go, I have to see it!

Announcements moved on to sports; the student reporter was interviewing Tohoshi’s head cheerleader, who, apparently unable to contain his school spirit, stopped mid-sentence to turn backflips across the pitch. But Ben was still daydreaming of Earth, trying to imagine what kilometers of open space would look and feel like.

The biggest open space he had ever been in was the Stadium, built to house an Olympic regulation-sized football pitch back when there was still an Olympic Committee. Even Central Square, the heart of The Campus, was smaller. Ben imagined the Stadium pitch tall with corn stalks, waving in a gentle breeze.

His tablet suddenly lit up, pulling him from his reverie.

M.Ivanov>; you going to the game next week?

Ben’s brow furrowed. Why doesn’t he just leave me alone?

M.Ivanov>; it’s gonna be insane. we’re playing Nanshing.

M.Ivanov>; they’ve got some pretty good runners, but they don’t have a good defense.

M.Ivanov>; you should come, bet you’d enjoy it!

Ben wasn’t responding to these messages, so Marek jabbed him with his stylus.

“Hey,” he whispered. “You worry about people thinking you’re weird. Why not come to a game like everyone else does?”

Because running around a field after a ball is a frivolous waste of time, Ben thought. It doesn’t increase your knowledge, it doesn’t add value to the Union... And the last time Ben said that out loud, he came home with a black eye.

“C’mon…” coaxed Marek, voice barely audible. “You can watch all the documentaries in the Union, but nothing beats live action!”

Ben spun on Marek, whose eyes widened at Ben’s ferocity.

“I don’t care! I’m not interested in football. I just don’t want to go!” Ben tried to keep his voice down, but his frustration was mounting. He could see a haughty smile playing at the corners of Marek’s lips.

“Leave me alone!” Ben burst out. Marek began laughing.

“Ben Reed! Marek Ivanov! Detention for talking during Announcements! You will meet at 1630 sharp this afternoon for toilet cleaning duties—” She paused to check something on her tablet. “—on the fourth floor.” She chuckled to herself as she turned back to the board. Ben could just about hear her say “—even the top students”. He sat petrified in his seat, not daring to turn and look at Marek as Announcements wrapped up. I just got a detention, he thought, and continued to his first class in a state of mild shock.

*

By the end of the day, Ben was feeling better. As the shock of his first detention wore off, he immersed himself in his studies, falling headlong into the new material. With his tablet under his arm, he made his way towards the front entrance.

“Where are you going?” Marek shouted from the stairwell. Ben paused.

“Um, back to my dorm?” He blinked, hesitating.

“We have detention right now, baka.” Marek grinned. “Toilet cleaning duties!”

Ben groaned. He had completely forgotten. He looked up at Marek timidly.

“Could Professor Magna have been joking? I mean, it’s the first day back after Mid-Term. And everyone talks during Announcements. Maybe we could just apologise and—”

“Do I hear a student trying to get out of his detention? And Ben Reed, of all people! Tsk tsk!” Principal Rapstein had approached them silently, surprising given her age. “Best be moving along, boys!”

Ben jumped when he heard her voice, inches away from saluting as he’d been taught in Cadets.

“Right, Principal Rapstein!” he barked, and sped after Marek up the narrow stairs.

When they were halfway down the fourth floor hallway, Marek tucked his tablet into the front of his jumpsuit, placed his hands behind his head and swaggered a little.

“You’re so obedient, Reed. I bet you don’t even use your tablet for browsing anything that’s not on the school-approved list.”

Ben looked down, embarrassed. He didn’t. “The rules are there for a reason. To keep us focused on our studies.”

“You don’t have to follow every rule to get good grades. Don’t you ever have any fun?” Marek spun to face Ben. “You should join us at the Park sometimes. We sneak out before curfew, and Isak rigs his tablet to display an old movie on the back of the fake mountain.”

“Is that why you didn’t score as well as me on exams?” asked Ben. “Because you were sneaking out instead of studying?” He was mortified at the thought of wasting precious study time.

Marek’s eyebrows knit together. “No. That’s not why I didn’t score as high.” They were walking side by side now. Marek sighed. “It’s Isak. He doesn’t do as well in Maths and Science. So I was tutoring him. He’s my roommate, after all. I guess it meant my scores in the other subjects took a hit.”

Ben thought this over. “But why did you help him?”

“Because he’s my roommate! We’re friends! I couldn’t just abandon him.” He looked over at Ben, but Ben’s face was completely blank. Ben did not understand why this might make a difference. They had reached the supply closet on the fourth floor. He paused.

“Maybe you just don’t understand what it’s like to look out for your friends. You’re more like a machine than a human.”

Ben was speechless. Maybe he didn’t understand how to make friends, but he was still a human being!

Marek opened the door to the closet and surveyed its perfectly organized interior. Picking out a few items, he suddenly turned and hurled something towards Ben’s chest.

“Catch!”

Gripping his tablet in one hand, Ben didn’t quite catch the bottle of disinfectant, and it clattered to the floor. He bent to pick it up, and took a little longer than normal to straighten up. He was looking away.

Marek noticed Ben’s silence and tried to get a look at his face. Ben jerked away, then stared directly at Marek. Tears were threatening at the corners of his eyes; his face was blotchy and red. Marek opened and closed his mouth, trying to find something to say. He quickly turned back to the closet and began setting out the rest of the supplies.

The sound of Professor Magna’s high-heeled boots clicked down the hallway in their direction. Behind her was a member of the custodial staff who would be supervising their detention.

“Good to see you boys taking your punishment seriously. Tablets,” she said briskly, and the boys handed them over. “Custodian Wong will ensure that you two do a thorough job. Work hard!” She smiled a wicked smile and clicked off down the hall and into a staff lounge. Custodian Wong squinted and sized the boys up. They must have passed his test because he grunted and nodded his head sharply. He indicated the way towards the toilet. As they entered, Marek stole one more glance at Ben, who pointedly avoided his gaze, although his tears had disappeared.