The Myth called Earth

Chapter 1

 Day 1

The day i stepped out of my cocoon. The day i completed my 17th circle around the Central Sun. Probably, the most important day of my entire life. From the time i gained consciousness, i had dreamed of this day and every second before that my parents had dreamed it for me. 

Hi! I am Cloud the 7th  of the Builder's clan. I belong to a different galaxy so i do not expect you to relate. My planet is called the Orcuz. It is 90% raging stormy oceans and the rest 10% land(which is still excess for our scant population.) Except that, we had a lot of things.

We had Coastal Purifiers who supplied us the ocean water after purifying it. So, there was an abundance.

We had superior technology that synthesized food and other resources tirelessly.

We had limited population which ensured none having to fight for their share.

We had a disciplined society and our rulers weren't the least bit attracted to war or power for that matter.

And we had our fatal problem: The absence of an atmosphere. The disappearance of all our natural vegetation and rivers. The closeness to the Central Sun.

Our whole life revolved around this single issue. We lived under an Artificial Atmosphere that was conceived in the most brilliant grey cells of Orcuz. I like to think about the Atmosphere as an umbrella of complex gases and radiation that countered the harmful rays emitted by the Central Sun. Although, it's effectiveness was restricted to the single landmass and a few selective seas. The oceans were exposed to the wraths of the Outer Space and none ever bothered to do something about them. As long as the water was available, who cared?

This may sound disturbing but the people of Orcuz had adapted to live in such conditions. Anything other than that was unimaginable. However, it had it's own cons and pros. All the children when brought under the atmosphere after birth died within a day. As an experiment, a child was kept under the strictest supervision for 5 years and then allowed out. But that resulted in a disaster. The child coughed, cried and shook painfully before succumbing to viscous blisters on his skin. After that, the scientists and the builder's had succeeded in building a special environment solely for children up-to 17 years of age. It was completely cut off from the main land and only a filtered set of people had the permission to enter the place. It was called the Cocoon. For 17 years children were taught, trained and  brought up there. Initially they had all the facilities they required: cleanest air, absolute protection from the atmosphere, purest water, best food and ample of free time. Although this was very expensive to be maintained and cost not only in wealth but also in other resources. So, each year one of the facilities were withdrawn. The children faced hazards, some expired but the majority adjusted to it. In this way at the end of the 17th year the children became fully capable of stepping out of the Cocoon an reuniting with the rest of the world. That day, it was my turn.

 I strolled out through the long bridge connecting the train station with the Cocoon. It was my first time there. I resided in the Cocoon for so many  years and I wasn't even familiar with it's front porch. The bridge was in the form of a narrow tunnel with carpeted floor. I had no idea what the surroundings of the bridge looked like.

Was it built over a stream or a road? Or perhaps there was a bunch of such other tunnels around it?

I wondered walking along with the general crowd. Every face I walked with had been permanently etched in my memory through these  years. They were the only people i was permitted to approach. And yet no one conversed.

 My mother's last word replayed in my mind. It bothered me somehow. I scolded myself knowing fully well that I could not stress over something a stranger whispered to me a second before i was to begin my journey towards my new life. Yes, a stranger. My mother was a scientist at Cocoon. And i had always known her as a scientist. Barring that, I had no personal equation with her. The 200 other teenagers around me had never seen their parents. Only recently some of them had been contacted and claimed so that upon arrival to the mainland they can make an informed choice. I was different. My mother had always been a cabin away and yet i had never seen her. I had grown up with a scientist with a white coat and polished manners. I had never known the love of my mother. It may seem funny, but i didn't even know that the lady who typed away in the computer busily till her eyes refused to open was actually my mother until the age of 6. Falcon told me that and i remember the news spreading like wildfire through the nursery. Falcon, my best friend. He was the only thing that i could call mine. As tragic as it may seem, the other's considered me lucky, they despised me for it. Through all the perilous years Falcon had been my only little salvation.

My mind jumped back to my mother's word again. It echoed in my head.It bothered me more than it should.

Don't be fooled by anyone. You may escape this prison but you can never live. You can't soar, Cloud, you can't.

She had been strangely loud and painful, like she was trying to warn me against something. I only felt insecure. I felt like she was trying to attack my dreams, my aspirations, everything that would become my only purpose once I left Cocoon. I wanted to defend myself, but kept mum. At the first chance I whimpered and left without a second thought. I resolved I would never turn back to this portion of my life.

"Cloud!" Falcon chided. I spun towards him. We were nearing a counter. I hadn't paid attention and was wandering through the crowd. Falcon had always been like that. He always was bent on protecting me and yet was the rudest person I had ever met. Even after knowing him longer than the rest of the world, sometimes I could not read him. When we were little, we would often be forced to participate in friendly games that took place in a courtyard by the study rooms for developing our team spirit. I can still recall so vividly, how I always went with a friend and came back with a stranger. As we strutted towards our destiny together I felt the same way. Once, we were out there a lot of things would change. We would need to settle down, start working somewhere. I had planned out quite a lot of it but I didn't want to do it all alone. Falcon was the closest thing I had to family, I wanted to treasure him. Maybe not for long but at least till I found myself someone I could call my own. I knew he was in no way bound to me, he must have had his own set of planning done and he had every right to do so. Despite trying my best i could not shake away the urge to share with him my ideas.(Just in case, if he was going through the same phase as me.) He nudged me towards the counter, i had zoned out again. It was a simple security scan. I walked past it swiftly and a horde of codes flashed on the screen beside me. The in charge of the counter, a lady with black goggled nodded at me.Two dots made of pixels spiraled around her glasses, forming the eyes and then dissolving. I was afraid she had had a clear view of my insides. I shoved away the thought and walked into the next counter that blocked the entire tunnel. It was basically a dumping ground. A sign on top of it declared :Waste material. The man attending it did not bother looking up. He just pressed a button after regular intervals and a pair of robot hand tossed away all the junk that accumulated on the counter. Everyone had something to give away, something that they did not want to remember, something they did not want other's to remember or something which they simply did not care about. I approached hesitantly. I was carrying a lot of excess load but i couldn't decide which one of them could be categorized as unnecessary. I was about to begin my new life, it was important to know who i was.  

Do you like who you are? 

I was shocked by the answer i received. I was about to begin my new life, this was my opportunity to redo everything according to my choice. I dumped all my memories. Every last piece of it. The man on the counter eyed me briefly then pressed the button. I watched the metal hands dump all my childhood into a bottomless bin. I looked back. Falcon stood behind. He wasn't the least bit surprised.

"If they don't provide us with clothes on landing you can borrow my shirt. Although, I want it back" he whispered. I smiled at him warmly which he didn't return.

Together, we walked into the train that was connected to the mouth of the tunnel. I still had not seen my world.