Chapter 2 - Welcome to Hub 122

Abby was feeling more and more like a scared child rather than a 17 yr old teenager. She held tight to her parents' hands as they moved from the submarine's air-lock into the Hub that would be their new home. When the submarine was still approaching the Hub, she had been able to see what it looked like through a monitor that showed the outside to the passengers while they ate in the dining area. I'm not sure whose idea it was to provide a 'view' in a submarine, but it had given her the chance to see the Hub as they approached. The Hub was shaped like a massive black block. That was only a fraction of the complex since she had been told the rest of the structure was built into the rock wall of a sea trench.

She thought of how the Hub was supposed to house millions of people and was only one of many located under the sea as her family stepped into a wide receiving area. Attendants moved through the crowd welcoming the arrivals and widdling them down into smaller groups that they led into multiple auditoriums for an orientation. Abby and her family sat down and waited for the auditorium to fill up. Abby kept quiet. Slowly, the noise of the crowd subsided, and everyone turned their attention to the screen in front. It lit up, and a woman in a lab coat appeared and sat down in a chair facing the audience. It was starting.

"Welcome to Hub 122." She smiled out at us from the screen. "My name is Dr. Lily Adams. One of the many people involved in designing your Hub. The Hub is self-sufficient... powered by thermal energy and the sea currents. Its hydroponic gardens and animal cloning facilities provide all the food and clothing needed for the maintenance crew and the nutrients that will be provided to you in the stasis pods. The stasis pods themselves will maintain your health and provide the connection to the VR network and humanity's information database. The VR network will be your home, and it's set up to provide an exact replica of your previous residence as your main base... if you were homeless at the time of your relocation, the system will provide you with a generic residence. In addition, your residence will have a world portal that gives you access to the rest of the VR network. At the moment, there isn't much in the rest of the network, but it is designed to evolve and grow as more people are connected and information is added to the system. To prevent any one government from controlling the network and therefore controlling humanity, the VR network, and in fact, almost all functions in the Hubs themselves are controlled by Gaia, a highly advanced artificial intelligence. Gaia will protect us." At this point, she paused to smile once more before continuing. "What's happening in the world right now is the slow demolition of all the trappings of civilization. Anything of cultural significance will be scanned into humanity's information database to provide data to Gaia. An effort will be made to preserve some of the art and historical artifacts in storage bunkers, but the reality is that much of it will not survive the passage of time. And when it comes to books and multimedia ... all will be scanned then recycled." Another pause, as if she was trying to make sure the information she dumped was sinking in. "Now the next question most people have is 'how can humanity have a future if we are all in pods and can't reproduce the old fashioned way?' Well, the answer to this is a little complicated. First, those of you who are currently pregnant, you will have your baby while in stasis. The pods are capable of assisting with all medical procedures, including birth. The baby will immediately be given its own pod and will appear in your residence to join the family. Second, if you desire a child in the future, then you will have to pass a psychological test to ensure you'll be a good parent. If you pass, you will be artificially inseminated with the seed of your partner of choice or if there is no partner then with the seed from consenting seed donors. That said, one of the main goals of the revitalization project is to reduce the population to a sustainable figure. The elimination of accidental pregnancies will help, and so will the need to pass a psychological test, but Gaia is also setting a 2 child limit for married couples and a 1 child limit for singles. If, after a couple of generations, this has not reduced the population, then Gaia has been given permission to create virtual children for a random percentage of all applicants." The woman stood up from her chair. "That's basically it for the orientation. If you have any further questions, then ask Gaia once you are processed and settled into your pods." The screen went dark.

Abby looked at her Mom. "Now what?"

Her Mom took a look around and pointed out the attendants that had returned to start leading people out either one at a time or by family group. "Honey, it looks like we just need to wait our turn." She reached her arm across Abby's back and laid her hand on her husband's shoulder. He reached up to hold it while they waited. After about fifteen minutes, a tall, slim Asian man approached them.

"Hello, my name is Hiro Yakamuro. I am your transition coordinator." He pulled a tablet out of his jacket pocket and held it up. "Please take turns giving your palm print so I can call up your residence profile." After we complied, he glanced down at the data. "Forrester family... welcome again to Hub 122." He pointed to an exit labeled Area B Subsection 3D. "We will be going that way for processing." He went through the exit, and we followed him down a long hall into another room lined with 3 gurneys and medical staff. My father asked the question, going through all our heads. "These gurneys don't look like VR stasis pods... why were we brought here?" Mr. Yakamuro nodded as if he expected the question. "The scans, tests, and hook up procedures can be a little invasive and uncomfortable. As a result, the first step is sedation so that you don't have to be awake for the processing. You go to sleep, and the next time you open your eyes, you are in your virtual residence." Dad nodded and lay down. Mom and I quickly followed suit. My stomach was rolling with nerves as the nurse injected my arm with the sedative. Looking into my eyes, she asked me to count backward from 10. "10...9...8...7..." This was fast acting stuff, and I never even reached 5 before I lost consciousness.

Hiro nodded at the sight of all three members of the Forrester family losing consciousness at the same time. "Alright, folks," he said to the medical staff. "Let's get the first scan and tests done for their avatar creation, then we can prep the bodies for the stasis pod hook up." The nurses removed the family's clothes and discarded them in the recycler. Then, they rolled the gurneys into an adjoining room. The room had strange harnesses, and pulleys attached to the ceiling and floor, making it look like the sex room of a bondage fetishist. First, they scanned the family's bodies front and back while they lay on the gurney. Then they strapped them securely into the harnesses to move them into various poses that tested flexibility and captured how the muscles moved under their skin. Once all possible scans were captured, the family was laid back on their gurneys, and blood was drawn for DNA sequencing. Gaia needed DNA information to check for genetic defects that might cause future health issues.

"Okay, let's prep them for the pods." At Hiro's words, the medical staff pulled out electric shavers and shaving cream and began to remove all the hair from the family's bodies. Hiro pointed to the girl, "Check for a hymen. if it's there, it needs to be removed for the equipment hookup." A nurse nodded, put on a latex glove, and spread Abby's legs to reach inside to check for a hymen. It was there. She took out a special tool and inserted it into Abby to gently break the hymen with as little blood as possible. Then she quickly tidied the girl up and laid her legs back down on the gurney. "Now let's get them fully washed up... into the showers." What followed was a thorough scrubbing of the family's every nook and cranny with antibacterial soap. "Okay, they're ready. Let's roll them to the pod chamber." Hiro pulled out his tablet to check the data once more. "Area B - Subsection 3D - Row F - Pods 10, 11, and 12. Follow me."

He led the way into a chamber with rows upon rows of stasis pods stacked miles into the air. After pressing a few buttons on the tablet, 3 pods ejected from Row F and were lowered to the floor. "Father in 10, mother in 11, and daughter in 12. Be careful of the hook-ups. These keep them alive and ensure they have full sensation in VR." Hiro observed as the medical staff hooked up the IV for nutrients and attached catheters to bypass normal bowel functions. They added the VR helmets that covered the entire head to control smell, sight, touch, and taste. The helmet included an oxygen hookup and electrodes that are attached to the skull to send signals directly to the brain. Finally, they added the heart monitor and a device that would periodically draw blood for medical check ups. The next step was one that usually made the medical staff a little weirded out. The sexual stimulation devices. Sex was one place in VR that it was hard to get the sensations right. To sell it, they needed to stimulate the body to orgasm in reality to give the virtual act the realism it needed. Suction cups for the nipples. Then for the father a special sheath wrapped around his cock and balls to stimulate pressure and a large anal dildo. For the mother and daughter large dildos were inserted into cunt and anus. One of the staff looked at Hiro and asked, "Why do these have to be so big?" He looked at her for a moment and replied, "If they were smaller then it would be fine if whoever they were with in the future didn't exceed the size, but what if they did? There wouldn't be enough stimulation." The nurse turned a little red and lowered her eyes.

Hiro reviewed the hook-ups for the whole family to double check it was all attached properly then nodded once and told the staff to load them into the pods. He closed the lids then pressed a button to pump the pods full of nano gel. Once the pods were full he locked the lids and stepped back. With a press of another button the pods returned to their places in the row and clicked in.

"Okay folks let's activate the VR connection to wake them up in their residence and move on to the next group." Hiro glanced once more at his tablet and closed the Forrester family file. Hopefully they will have a good life. On to the next.