Project Neptune

chapter 1

//Nathan//

"Nathan, Marva come down it's time for dinner" Mom yelled,

"coming" I yelled back, 

the smell of steak and potatoes filled the house my favorite of all time, but ever since I can remember something bad seemed to follow after every steak and potato dinner like the time when the oxygen vent leading up to my room was malfunctioning or when Dad had that microwave accident, now that I think about I never had a good memory with this meal, but still the perk of having steak for dinner is unmatchable this dose still come with a catch moms work, it seems like all she does is work and work non stop, but at least we still eat dinner together unlike Mr hawk's and his kids, it's like he's not even living with them.

"so what are your plans, Marva?" Dad asked enthusiastically

"For what" Marva replied her shoulder tensing,

I think she already knew what Dad was going to ask by the way her shoulders tensed and her facial expression changed a slight frown started to creep up on her face

"You know college, have you decided on a career yet?, you have to be a goal-oriented person to succeed in life", It just seemed like yesterday when I was sitting and having dinner being told the same thing by dad, pick the right career to be productive, reach a high possession, it was all about being a person of power,

Mom started "You should think about being a doctor like me or being an engineer like Dad and your brother"

"is that the only thing we have," Marva said the frown on her face now clear as day,

" don't you want to have an impact on humanity on the lives of the next generation after you" Dad asked tilting his head till his gaze met Marva's face

"I do but... " Marva said unable to push out those disappointing words,

In Vesta living for yourself is unacceptable, your job should benefit the community, and that's what the guidance counselors say to every single student,

"To think that 20 years ago, we would have been floating endlessly in space, but thanks to this lovely woman DR Angele, and her genius idea to combine osmium with our blood we were able to have induced gravity naturally, this is the goal of working Marva, producing something that will change the lives of people for the better" as soon as dad said this the room fell silent,

I guess Marva understood that there was no use in continuing this conversation, dad already pulled the mom card, stating how Mom is this amazing doctor and how she saved us, that's my aim to be just like Mom, an impactful person, forget it she seems so perfect, changing the lives of all the people on the ship and being part of the council while also maintaining a family, how can I compete with that,

"Don't listen to Dad be whatever you want to expect a historian" Mom said letting out a giggle at the end,

I couldn't hold myself back, a chuckle escaped my mouth, at the thought of finishing 4 years of college just to become a historian, who will most likely just hang out all day reading fictional drama and not benefiting humanity, what a waste of space,

"on the note of historians, why do we even have them on the ship it's not like they benefit us in any way," I said to no one in particular,

"That's something I also don't get," Dad said

Dinner finished up rather quickly and we all headed back to our rooms, I waited till 10:00 pm making sure everyone was asleep, and then headed out to the scrap room, which has been abandoned for years because rarely any items have been thrown out as scrap, everything has been reused or repurposed, and most of the items here now I have either brought from my house or raided the scrap room in the engineering department, I have welded my drum set, chair and base of speakers, this is the place that brings me peace, and as each hit of the drums, the rhythm produced seems to match my heartbeat pulse after pulse, it's as if the beats and my heart were one, which is quite relaxing with the shining stars that seemed to be sending a message to me, all of this clears my mind.

For what felt like ever there was no sound except the drums and the background music, a faint but audible sound came from the end of the storage room as I got up turned off my music, and headed to the back I saw this girl who seemed to be looking for something properly scrap, if it wasn't for her book pin I would have properly helped her but the thought of the endless devices that could have helped us prosper, produced by engineers, doctors or researchers who could have joined us and filled the space instead of people like her,

"Get out" were the only things I had to say before, she sprinted out, and I headed back to my music and drums, I stayed like this till 2:00 am just drumming my thoughts away.