A Serious Discussion

Marcus blinked as panic gushed through his body, the entire crowd was gazing at him in this moment, leering as if he was absolutely insane.

It was like it was an audience for his funeral, and they were looking at the open casket coffin.

"Could you come this way, for a moment." The Head's voice resounded behind him in a hushed tone. 

"Uh, sure..." He hesitated before walking away from the podium.

As soon as he did so, the Head didn't just urge him to follow, she actively dragged him away, her strength was rather intense for a woman of her stature, as if it completely overwhelmed him, he didn't try to resist, and was rushed off into a back hallway. 

"I'm surprised someone had decided to do it this graduation cycle." Arianna suddenly blurted out, her black hair whisking behind her as she strutted forwards.

"I understand that it's a near certain death wish-" Marcus was about to go on, but was swiftly interrupted.

"No, you don't understand, a death wish? I've seen some events first hand of Spacers returning, death is a means of breaking their chains, I see the humanity return to their eyes, the glee once a plasbarrel is pressed against their skull." The Head recounted her experiences in a harsh tone, sending a network of chills down Marcus's spine. 

Before he can pry further, the two head into a small room, mimicking very heavily some sort of police interrogation room, there were two chairs with bland and flat backs, and a single silvery metal table, which reflected the bright white circular light that hung just above it. 

"Sit." She says bluntly.

I ought to follow what this lady says, I am in the military after all, I might get court marshalled and shot for disobeying orders, if those still exist anymore. 

Marcus quickly took a seat, with Arianna doing the same, she sat opposite, facing him with a firm and equally scary stare. 

"Give me your stellar certificate." A blink.

Marcus clearly deliberated.

"Now." 

"Okay, of course, take it." He caved in, quickly sliding over the thin but covered slip of laminate. 

"Tell me why I shouldn't rip this up." She said rather simply, but the words caused tremors in his heart.

"There's no need to do that..." He hesitates, watching on nervously as her hands contort the slip.

"If you become a Spacer, it's akin to just throwing away your certificate anyway, dead pilot's can't exactly use it can they? So tell me why I should believe you'll survive." 

"Because I'm afraid." He answers whilst clutching the bridge of his nose with two of his fingers.

"What?" She hesitates, narrowing her eyes awaiting an explanation.

"My fear of what's coming is much worse compared to anything that's out there, I'm willing to do what's required of me to preserve a future, do you not weep for our existence to just be folded up, erased, all experiences we have had and will have treated like a scrap piece of paper." He crossed his arms, determined to prove a point.

"I hate to say it but." She huffed.

"You've got a typical Spacer mindset there, but just know it's going to get you killed." She handed him back the laminate slip.

"When you made that announcement, it's like you had held a gun to the side of your head, and told everyone you were going to blow your brains out in five seconds, think about how your parents are going to react this news, I'm sure they know what Spacers are." 

How could one not, most of them have disappeared into the cosmos, however before they do, their appearances cause shockwaves through the systems, only one in a million would ever do it, because who in their right mind would sign off a warrant for certain death, just like that? Except me I suppose. He scratched his chin in thought. 

"You're a rather selfish individual, Mr Marcus. If you want my personal opinion, I think that when you're trapped in your little tin can, in an unknown part of space, that ego of yours is going to devour you, leaving you a husk, maybe you'll even be selfish enough to return to Earth mad, kill a couple hundred people, like always." She shakes her head, clearly disappointed in his choices.

"I know, but I'd rather struggle and have a chance then sit idly on Earth awaiting the death of the universe, that's all." He huffed, clearly he held a view that wouldn't be budged, so Arianna gave up on that, instead changing the direction of the conversation.

"Obviously, I can't make you a Spacer, but I will give you the directions you need in order to become one, someone at my level isn't able to handle those type of affairs, but I'll make a request at the Office of Space Affairs to put you through as a Spacer candidate," She aired out the details.

Marcus shuffled on his seat, listening intently.

"You understand you'll have to undergo some even more extensive training, not just anyone takes up this job. And you understand the weight of what you're undertaking, this is why I'm wasting my precious time talking to you, having someone stand in for me at such an important ceremony is very irksome for me."

"I'm sorry to be wasting your time like this, but thank you so much for this information." He tried to display some gratitude in this situation, but was clearly lacking in how much of an impolite person he had presented himself as.

After all, every Spacer, and by extension, all who wished to become Spacers, were seen as mad and possibly even freaks. 

I'm dreading how my family are going to look at me after this.

But in a convoluted way, it's for them I'm going through with it.

"What are your impressions of the star born." She states rather casually.

"I think they're extraordinary, why do you ask?" 

"Because you're looking at one." She proceeds to gaze into Marcus with eyes that suddenly began to glitter as if silver was contained within every portion of her irises Marcus then felt as though could not even maintain eye contact, he looked at the floor as swiftly as he could.

Why can't I look at her? 

"Intimidation, it's Leo's first trait, Leo is the 'constellation' I behold as a star born." A smile as the atmosphere grew tense, as though a weight was being dropped on Marcus's soul. 

"This is... Incredible..." He said through gritted teeth, his eyes were glued to the floor, his synapses screamed at him not to look up, if he did, that'd mean certain death.

"It's fine now." Arianna replies, she was right, the heaviness all around Marcus suddenly dissipated, and he felt as though he could freely move his head now.

"What do you mean by constellation?" Marcus queried, this had certainly not been public information regarding star born powers. 

"Nothing else, I'm already telling you more then you should know, when you become a Spacer, you'll have more of an information privilege, but for now you'll stay ignorant." Arianna quickly disclosed, once more holding a stern expression on her face.

"One thing you shouldn't be ignorant of, however, is the inherent dangers that lie within these abilities, by their very nature, they are strange and horrible corruptions that latch at your very soul, be vulnerable or stupid for a second, and you'll be 'their' victims."

She planted her hand on the table staring out towards the wall just behind where Marcus was sitting, solemnly reflecting upon something. 

"The Graduation ceremony has yet to conclude, and I wish to be present for at least the wrapping up of it, so we'll end it here, I'm not very happy with your choices, and it reflects on my school that you wish to become a Spacer, but at the end of the day, it's clear there's nothing I can do, so be on your way."

Arianna taps her sharp fingernails on the smooth metallic table impatiently, creating a noticeable clang every time she does so.

It's not like I didn't want this though, and I expected the negative reaction that came with my brazen choice. But more then that, there's no going back now, I've said what I will become.

Marcus exhales sharply, before raising up out of his seat with a screech of the chair legs as they scraped across the floor.

"Thank you for your guidance, I will never forget it." He says with a genuine tone.

"Seconds before being reduced to a pile of meat and bone when on your Spacer journey, reflect on what I said, you'll certainly believe I was right, and you will wish you could just return to normalcy, mark my words, But I'm not going any further, you're not my student to take care of anymore, you're just a stupid pilot." Arianna states, not a drop of emotion amongst her sea of words.

Marcus deeply notes the words of his former head, the door shuts with a creak, as he left behind his comfortable life of academia with it.

His steps carried him into a long and winding hallway, until he finally made his way into the main auditorium, the massive space had people funnelling out, it was clear that it was the end of the graduation. 

Marcus's gaze landed on the woman at the podium, she had beaten him to the hall somehow, it must have been a result of her star born powers. 

I've never actually met a real star born before, I suppose my choice as a Spacer is going to involve me in all sorts of situations and new experiences, but isn't that just natural? 

As he continued to look around, he noticed that amongst the still sitting crowd, or the ones getting up to exit, his family was not included within it. 

This is within my expectations though. I'll have to make my own way home.

His line of thought was evaporated by a voice calling out behind him.

"Marcus." A concerned voice gleamed his ears. 

"Linus." He responded in kind, turning around to face his friend at the Academy.

"What the hell are you thinking? A Spacer? Are you depressed or something, this a way to take yourself out, really, what are you doing?" Question after question speared Marcus as his friend had no possible explanation for his behaviour.

"Gosh, is this just because you want to become a star born before me or something?" Linus deeply sighed. 

"Of course not, I have my own set of reasons." Marcus nodded his head in response.

"Well whatever they are, they can hardly be worth killing yourself or worse over." Linus exclaimed, attracting the attention of some of the people still remaining in the hall.

"I've already received this advice from the head, you don't need to repeat what I know." Marcus tutted. 

"Whatever, I can't explain how mad I am at you right now, see me if you want before you end your own life in space, I don't care." Linus proceeded to storm off and out of the auditorium as quickly as he could.

Marcus peered down to his feet as they stood on a sleek marbled floor. 

I'm splitting apart everyone with my choices, it's as Miss Arianna says, my ego could very well rot me. 

He briskly walked out of the auditorium, taking in a gulp of the campus air for the last time, he didn't intend on asking for his possessions that had been given to his family, as he knew them well, even if they were deeply angry with him, they'd still bring them home. 

Marcus grew a little teary eyed at thoughts of his family waiting for him at the graduation, hoping to have him back at home after two years, just for him to come out with that nonsense. 

He tapped his forehead firmly to extradite any negative thoughts, and activated the transport field around his boots to glide seamlessly through the grounds. 

Every sight on campus would be his final one, no more statue, no more 'skaters' no more strict lecturers. Not even a chance to almost crash into Centralis space elevator by mistake in the fighter pilot flight simulation again. 

Marcus quickly approached the campus exit, and as he passed through the gate, his momentum suddenly stopped, he almost faceplanted on the floor as the field around his boots dissipated. 

It's a shame you were never able to use these outside the grounds... Marcus grumbled inwardly.

As he arrived outside the Academy, his eyes went upwards, tracing the outlines of the pole looking buildings which just continued on and on into the sky. There would be numerous spheres and other rounded shapes branching off of these towers, often housing luxury residences, leisure centres, or important higher level government buildings. 

These towers are known as space-scrapers, often hundreds of kilometres tall, there only numbered around ten in your usual big city, however in Centralis, the capital, which was dubbed, the 'Space-Scraping City' There's hundreds all around. 

Marcus soon uncovered the small matte black stick from out of his pocket, turning it on as the flat holographic screen buzzed into existence.

He pressed his index finger against the hologram, the projection transitioning when he did so, blinking onto a page for transportation.

"Centralis Hovercraft Solutions, please select the shuttle you wish to take today:" 

"Private Six Seater Shuttle - 2 Silf." 

"Private Four Seater Shuttle - 1.5 Silf." 

"Private Two Seater Shuttle - 1 Silf." 

"Public Shuttle - 4 Lex." 

The currency of the Congregation has both unified into one system and transitioned to becoming completely digitised, which transforms the value of the money based on the market in perfect real time measurement.

The prices are skewed weirdly... a Silf is worth ten Lex, so why would a two seater cost ten Lex, whilst a six seater costs only twenty? If anything that's too good to be true, I still can't afford either though.

Prices on the shuttles are way too high now.

Marcus huffed whilst he looked at the prices, deciding on the cramped Public Shuttle. 

The hovercraft were similar to spacecraft in that they were also omnidirectional, however they could only perform in atmosphere, yet they still had the movement and speed of a fighter craft at times, especially a fancy two seater hovercraft. 

The main difference between the two was their engines, the engines of a hovercraft are solely based on gaining momentum through airflow. Whilst Spacecraft with their engines can move through airless vacuums.

This also means Spacecraft must have technology that can cover vacuum engines and transition to using airflow once docking or flying planet-side, because if a spacecraft kept using vacuum engines whilst they were going into atmosphere, it would overheat quickly and simply explode. 

He deliberated as he finally picked the public shuttle option, the holo-tablet at this moment spat out a blurry flat piece of light, this was a digital ticket made physical, only possible with today's hologram technology, it even simulated weight and matter, so you could hold it. Although it wasn't widely used, only a useless gimmick for this specific shuttle company. 

The only problem with public shuttles is that you have to walk to designated stops for them, and you can miss them of course, they also at the same time only go to predetermined stops, and Marcus's home was a fifteen minute walk from the nearest station.

Marcus briskly carried himself to a large escalator which made him ascend upwards a couple of stories. He stepped onto the platform, approaching the large drop where the shuttle would arrive, whilst making sure to stick behind the yellow line.

After a minute or so of waiting, a blocky, 25 feet long white carapace floated soundlessly onto the platform. 

The cracks in the side of the hull slid open, a few passengers poured out, whilst Marcus and two other people walked in, he quickly scanned the holographic ticket against a panel next to the blacked out bus driver's pod. The flat piece of light dissolved into nothingness when he did so.

He went up the aisle, and as he had predicted, the bus was cramped, you could only move up in a single file line, and most of the seats were taken, he tutted when he couldn't get a row to himself, so he had to sit next to a fat-bellied old man. 

This guy might as well have taken up both seats with his gut. 

The shuttle driver closed the doors, the reason being that shuttles were still piloted by humans and not artificial intelligence was the fact that recently AI had fallen generally out of favour in everyday situations, though it was still used here and there.

The catalyst for this is that 22 years back, in 2143, AI was incredibly widely used and popular, you'd see a self driving shuttle every two seconds in Centralis

One day however, a solar flare wiped out some critical logic systems in electronics, causing thousands of deaths when shuttles would just collide into buildings and the ground, as though their brains were switched off. 

This event was known as 'The Computer Scourge' which left the general population with a rather sour taste regarding AI, some had obviously lost relatives to them all those years back and have held grudges since. 

'Please remain seated' An electronic voice gently called out from some speaker above his head. 

If you stood up on a shuttle whilst it was moving, you'd no doubt be thrown around like a ragdoll.

Everyone was boosted about an inch off of their seats when the shuttle took off, it always happens, the hover engines have a big kick to them when accelerating. 

Marcus could barely eye the window that looked out into the city since the large belly of the man sitting next to him was very much in the way, however he could still make out the white spires and wider concrete structures below which moved past in a blur.

The shuttle's going quite fast, and since it's a transport shuttle, the air funnels are guided in a pre-determined route, so it doesn't need to stop behind traffic on the way, meaning it can reach upwards of 300 MPH. He inwardly nerded out as a Pilot during the monologue.

Marcus always liked using both the metric and imperial systems, he mixed and matched when he wanted, perhaps the same strange behaviour was what ended up compelling him to become a Spacer.

Unfortunately, it's still going to take 30 minutes just to get to the station closest to my home, I wish my parents moved in some place closer to Centralis, we're essentially in a rural area. 

The young man folded his arms, deciding on sleeping the rest of the way, the fat man next to him was most likely to get off at a stop before him, considering Marcus's stop was the last on the route.

This means the guy would plausibly just tap Marcus on the shoulder to wake up, meaning he didn't need some elaborate alarm to not miss the stop. 

His eyes closed as he drifted off into a short nap.

It must have almost been time, as when he opened his eyes, and felt the predicted tapping sensation on his shoulder, he looked around, gone were the towering space scrapers and massive concrete blocks that Centralis was composed of, instead his surroundings were filled with lush greenery and red-brick estates, containing gardens and balconies with all sorts of comforts. 

This was the middle class suburbia haven he lived in, and he thanked his parents constantly for it, even if Marcus wished to have lived somewhere closer to the city centre in his developing years.

Marcus snapped awake, quickly getting up and apologising to the big bellied man for falling asleep, before he noticed that they were actually at his stop, so he swiftly followed behind the large figure to make his way down the aisle.

As soon as Marcus stepped towards the exit, he thanked the driver, keen on maintaining some image of politeness today.

The shuttle floated off gently when he got onto the platform, before accelerating and speeding away in a blur of motion.

He silently made his way out of the station, whisking by pedestrians when they went down the escalator. 

After a lengthy few minutes of walking, he caught sight of his parent's house, a three bedroom two story brick estate surrounded by a few trees which peppered their front garden, there, a white object with blinking blue lights seemed to be hovering gently over the grass to mow it.

AI was still detrimental to everyday life, obviously, even after the scourge. 

He'd huff, approaching the pebbled steps up to the sleek black front door, trembling as he placed his index finger on the print scanner in order to open it.

It slid open with a clack, Marcus was more afraid of his parent's opinion than most others, it was what caused him so much deliberation with choosing to become a Spacer. 

He walked into the silent house without even daring to breathe.