The compound

Mars – Year 2698

Mervia exited the clinic, exhausted. During her twelve-hour shift, she had delivered four babies, assisted a hospice care patient into the end of his life, and participated in a heart surgery. She took off her filthy scrubs and threw them in the nearest biohazard bin. She was ready to go home and fall into the deepest sleep, but a hand grabbed her arm, startling her.

"Mucri! You scared me. I was about to go home and crash."

"I'm sorry Mervia, but I'm afraid your grandmother passed away an hour ago."

"Oh." Mervia sighed. "She wasn't really a young one, way into her fifties. Honestly, I didn't think she'd last that long, especially with her lung condition."

"I'm very sorry for your loss, you must have been expecting it for a while now."

"It doesn't make it easier, but I'm glad she's finally at peace. I believe having outlived her own daughter was already worse than death, she was never the same after mom died."

"If you ever need someone to talk to, you know my office is a safe space."

"Thanks doc."

With a heavy heart, Mervia exited the premises and dropped on a bench, waiting for the shuttle that would take her home. Her eyelids were so heavy, she slept through the journey and entered her district on autopilot. She didn't even take off her clothes, collapsing on her bed and drifting off instantly.

The sharp sound of her alarm awoke Mervia. She rubbed her eyes, still groggy, and sat up. She had slept with her feet dangling off the bed.

Out of habit, she stood up and reached for her tablet. Her thumbprint unlocked the device and a small metal square slid from inside it. She grabbed the needle box on her bedside, took out a fresh needle and stung her finger. She squeezed her finger above the protuberance. As soon as a drop of blood landed on it, the square retracted inside the tablet, lighting the screen green and the usual message appeared "All clear! See you tomorrow."

As her mind was escaping the fog of the night, she started to get ready for her day. Today was her day off and she decided to take an extra-long shower. While in there, she was thinking about the events of the previous day. A tear dropped down her cheek, quickly washed away by the dripping water of the shower. Thoughts were trying to emerge in her mind, instantly chased away by a new train each time, making her nauseous.

She stepped out of the shower. As she was wrapping herself in a towel, she noticed her phone had lit up and she received an email from the HR department of the hospital. The email was titled Automatic bereavement leave notification. The message told her she had to take two mandatory days of bereavement leave. She sighed and got dressed. She didn't know if she wanted this time off, but she knew it was procedure.

Mervia decided to take a walk so she could clear her head. She left her unit, walked quickly to the end of the district, and slowed her pace once she entered the next one. The reality of her last blood relative's death hit her, and she cried silently as she kept walking. People on the street were sending her judging glances but she did not even notice. After about an hour, she reached the end of the compound. No one ever came here as there wasn't anything except the concrete floor and the two-way mirror that bordered the compound. She pressed her forehead and hands against the cool surface, sobbing. No one knows how long she stayed there for, but when she looked up, the artificial sun was high above her.

She decided to not drag things out, caught a shuttle back to her unit and grabbed everything she needed to take care of her grandmother's affairs. She took another shuttle to the business district and paid a visit to the notary. The notary was very helpful, and her grandmother didn't have a lot of things to her name. The phone line would be disconnected in a single phone call and Mervia already lived in the unit her grandmother owned since the latter was in hospice. The only thing she wasn't expecting was a large wooden box the notary gave her. It was apparently part of the will.

Mervia was shaken by the encounter. She already knew it wouldn't take long, but she didn't think it would be that short, an hour and a half at most. It really saddened her, knowing that the only thing left of her grandmother was a box.

When she finally returned home, it was the evening and she needed to turn on the lights to examine the content of the last item she had inherited.

The box was a simple light brown wooden rectangle, roughly the size of a large shoe box. She dreadfully opened it. Inside was a single item, an external hard drive. She exhaled a breath she didn't even know she was holding and sighed, almost disappointed. What could be so important that this drive was the only thing her last relative left her?! When she lifted the item out of the box, she noticed a piece of paper taped on the bottom, it read "only plug on an offline computer". She thought it was strange but decided to honor the old lady's last wishes. She grabbed her laptop, turned off the Wi-Fi and plugged the drive. It was full of files, pictures, and a video. She pressed "play". A man she didn't recognize started speaking. He was nervous and sweaty, rubbing his forehead and talking so fast, he was almost erratic. He described something called the Mississauga Debate. A months long political and ethical controversy held between the most influential leaders of Earth, the issue of which would dictate the future of Mars and its inhabitants. He said that the choice they made was wrong and he needed to make sure that the correct information and proof reached the people it would affect. The Earth was in a critical state, and they managed to terraform Mars. They decided to send a first colony of humans as sacrificial lambs and locked them in a compound where they would live exactly like on the blue planet. They would test their blood and scan their bodies daily to monitor their responses to the environment. Every person would be given a monthly shot to further the research. Once they were sure the environment was habitable, they would send a more privileged group while continuing their experiments on the compound.

Mervia was shocked to say the least, at least five generations of her family had lived there. Why did no one talk about this? Did anyone even know? Was any of it true? She opened the files one by one, reading through classified documents and pictures that made her believe what the man had said. By the time she closed the last document, her head was aching with information, and she noticed the morning had come. It was almost time for her daily blood check-up. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to be a guinea pig for some rich and powerful she had never heard of. Her tablet started beeping, reminding her to draw her blood.

She panicked and ran out of the unit with the computer and rushed to the hospital. There was only one person she trusted at that point.

"Mervia! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on bereavement leave."

"Hey doc, does your offer still stand?" She asked nervously.

"Of course, come to my office."

She knew Mucri's office didn't have cameras for medical confidentiality. She showed her friend the video and the most obvious and important proof. It took her a while to process, but she came to terms with the situation after a few hours of arguing back and forth.

"We need to get this out to the public" Mucri said.

"I know, but how?"

"I have an idea, wait here."

Mucri left with the laptop. Mervia waited for what seemed like hours when her friend finally came back.

"We need to leave, now!"

Mervia didn't question it and they bolted out of the hospital. She was following Mucri who was running like her life depended on it, which, it probably did. As they were running, people were coming out of their units and workplaces. Some were screaming, others were crying, a lot were throwing away their tablets, stomping on them. A crowd started to form and followed them until they reached the end of the compound. On giant advertising screens, you could see the video playing on repeat and the various evidence being displayed. Hundreds of people were now banging on the mirror, yelling at the top of their lungs to be set free. A few people stayed behind, in disbelief. It lasted about an hour until they heard a loud crack. There was a fissure in the wall. The time seemed to stop as the crack extended in a star shape, becoming longer and longer until a piece fell off, and another one, and another one...

Everyone collectively gasped as the artificial sun was at its highest and, for the first time, they gazed on the other side...