As I made my way through tower-3 I allowed my mind to wander, as it usually did. I couldn’t tell if I was excited or anxious, just because I was out of school didn’t mean that things would instantly go well for me. But on that same token, This is what I’ve decided, so I’ll have to it work.

  I continued down the hallway and made it to the central lobby of the tower. The wide room was apparently set up like a fancy hotel lobby. Yet another thing my father supposedly had a hand in designing. The unfeeling metal walls that covered every other interior in Flash-Point, were replaced by inviting and homey planks of wood. The lighting was purposely made dimmer too, It really felt like I was inside a building. If it wasn’t already obvious, I loved this lobby, it made me sad that every other room in the space colony couldn’t have looked like this as well.

  The lobby didn’t actually have much in it though. The north side of the room held a few couches and a table, while the south side only contained the elevators. I took an unconscious step towards an elevator and then another. ‘

  I took a deep breath and used my right hand to lightly tap the side of my forehead. “agh, I let the atmosphere get to me.” Doing an about-face, I shifted my torso to look at the eastern side of the hallway. “Stay Focused, Me, I can go home I take the test today.”

  With that, I took a confident step towards my destination.

  --

  At the end of the the hallway, opposite to the central dome was a large room. entering the room, a gentle hiss permeated through the air as the door closed behind me and the lights dimmed. With a beep, hidden speakers in the wall came to life, and a robotic voice began to issue commands. “ATTENTION: Only authorized personnel may proceed past this point. Enter your full name and Identification number into the Holo-tablet designated as ‘NUMBER 1’.”

  As soon as the voice finished, all of the lights in the room returned to their normal brightness, revealing the sterile and boring Interior. The only interesting thing about the room were the two huge airlock doors directly in front and behind me, and the colorfully painted numbers on the wall, one for each tablet. With a deep breath, I took a step toward the tablet designated ‘number 1’. With a second step, the tablet came to life and demanded the same information that was asked of me previously by the automated speakers.

  I quickly glanced around the empty room as my fingers began to input the required information. I’ve done this so many times, and I’m sure I wouldn’t get in trouble for this, but the idea of being found out still filled me with anxiety. At the escape of another deep breath from my lungs, I made eye contact with the tablet to double-check my handiwork. In the first section of the the name: ‘Alex Fendal’, and in the Second section of the screen was the ID number: ‘HP-31146’.

  I double-checked the ID number and nodded in approval as I tapped on the confirm button. A moment later, the holo-tablet a cute little ding sound and the automated voice returned to grace me with words. “IDENTITY CONFIRMED. Alex Fendal, please wait while the system retrieves your Helmet…”

  It usually took a minute for the automated conveyor system to find my helmet, so I allowed myself to get dragged away by the current of my thoughts.

  My thoughts were brought to a stop by a loud

  It was an old thing, An outdated sphere made up of reinforced glass and slowly rusting metal. Around the time I started doing this, I asked my aunt and apparently, my dad was an extremely sentimental man who refused to replace his aging belongings. Not that matters I guess. Without that supposed character trait I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m about to, so I guess it’s a good thing.

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  I took one final deep breath before I grasped the helmet and put it over my head. It was a bit too large for me, It wasn’t made for someone my size after all. Still wearing it for too long tended to make my neck hurt.

  After a few seconds, the lights in the room began to dim once more, and the Automated voice returned, again. “ATTENTION: The Airlock will now Open. Please move away from the door and make sure your helmet's filtration system is Up to date. Finally, Enjoy your visit to the Eastern Dome.”

  With a gentle hiss, the door in front of me began to open. Artificial light from the other side began to spill into the room, as well as its air. As a response to that, a small yellow light in the bottom corner of my helmet changed to a vibrant green. Signaling that I was free to continue. So with a few more confident steps, I entered the Eastern dome.

  --

  “Hello Fendal’s daughter.” So I was currently walking through the Eastern Dome. The place known to the Greater flash-point community as the ‘Castaway Dome’ for reasons I’ll talk about in a moment.

  ”H-hi Mister Aul.” The castaway dome was slightly smaller the Central dome. In stark contrast to the Central Dome, interior was extremely compact. Pathways narrow, buildings small. It would be a true miracle if you managed to-

  ”You Bump Me!” -Not bump into someone.

  “I-I’m Sorry elder- I Mean Klerr!”

  ”…Forgiven.”

  The castaway dome is where the governments of Orion's arm send people whose planets are in danger because of Apollios. Most of the Uldonish live in Tower-4, and by extension, here. Since this part of the structure was built for them, Many of the buildings, and even the artificial atmosphere were tailor-made for their comfort.

  Indeed, the only way a normal human like me could hope to survive in this section of the Colony is by connecting government-issued filters to a helmet. My aunt has access to an unlimited supply of these filters due to the nature of her job, so I was given a few. Combine that with the fact that I have access to my father’s VIP status, and I have free reign of pretty much every part of the colony.

  And so, you might be wondering why I’m here today, and the answer is actually quite simple. I had made my way through the maze-like dome, with a particular destination in mind. It was a small brown box-shaped building. Its door was somewhere else, as the only things of note on this face of its wall was an open window and a bell. Regardless, It was a homey place with a single floor, nestled between large 3-story apartments and the back alley.

  In an attempt to not stand idly in the middle of the path, I swiftly moved up to the window and tapped the bell a few times. It didn’t take long for an older Uldonish man to appear on the other side of the window. When he saw me, his face flashed with understanding and he to speak, with the stunted dialect common among the older people from Uldon. “You, usual thing?” I simply nodded as an answer, and the man left the window and disappeared to the backroom.

  I stood in silence for a few moments when a thought suddenly crossed my mind. “Wait… I buy from here often enough for him to know what my ‘usual’ is? when did that happen?” I couldn’t ponder any explanations because, in a matter of seconds, the man had returned to the window. In his hands was a large tray of food.

  As he placed the tray on the window seal, I reached into my pocket to give him some money, man spoke up “No pay. Take free today.”

  I gave the older man a stare but took the food . “Okay…Thank you?” I took a step back as I thanked him. As much as I found this scenario confusing, I wasn’t the type of person to turn away free food so there was no point in questioning him. I made a careful turn to the right, making sure to keep the tray stable as I did so. I began to walk away but before I could make much distance my attention was beckoned back towards the man who generously gave me food.

  “Hey!” His head was sticking out of the small window, and while he wasn’t shouting, his voice was still louder than I’d ever heard from him previously. “Happy…happy ah, uh, Happy graduation!”

  I can’t really describe how that single congratulation made me feel, but I know for a fact that I was smiling for a long time after that.