Our Bio

1. Landing

Bloom Beckett - Day I

Turbulence. I helped a kid get buckled into his seat, ignoring my own. More turbulence. I rolled my eyes, standing up to get a better view of the world outside. We continued to shake around in this giant, flying death trap. Looking out, I finally saw the planet. Coming closer, closer, closer...

"What a smooth lan-"

          Then we crashed. I skidded forward, watching the outside from the window. Unfortunately, momentum took control and I flipped over the seat in front of me. Most people were standing up by then. I steadied myself against the perfectly squared chair. Not enough relief.

          Remnants from this new place's ground flew up in chunks, surrounding The Floater in gray dust. Obviously it couldn't actually be a smooth landing. Anyone hearing me mumble this on the vehicle would know. Stressing, I ran through a few things in my head, trying to find order.

Maybe...check everything before you leave. AlPur Pack? Check. Clothes? Check. Government issued cellphone? Check...

          Finally, I stepped out onto the gray...dirt? The gray dirt. I stepped out onto the gray dirt, silver specks scattered loosely inside, like a person painted a coat of glitter across the ground.

          It reminded me of the things I missed. From glitter to people. Just...my life. Even things like "painting" a house, with only two million color schemes to choose from. We had such an underdeveloped country, stuffed with things, trash. A life that was categorized as the lowest standard of living. But now...

          Now those were the things I longed for the most. I missed the "trash." The things I would never get to see again. Left on Earth, forgotten memories of our past mistakes. A planet left in ruins.

           The government hadn't been handling things well, either. Even if our officials were stationed in space, all of the worlds leaders trying to make sense of this situation, they still controlled us. Monitoring everything until things could be sorted out.

          I looked up at the light blue ribbon drifting above us. At least the sky looked normal in this place. However, it had a slight shimmer that contrasted with the dull atmosphere of Earth. As I looked around, searching for more things that reminded me of home, one of the flight attendants blasted their voice through the speaker. A high pitched screech breaking through my thoughts.

"Passengers. Please finish exiting The Floater. We hope that you had a wonderful time onboard. Turn right to make your way to the Home Management building. Don't forget an Earth mint on your way out!"

          The voice was in a different language, but a small chip imbedded in my temple easily translated. My eyes shot from one place to another, until landing on a volunteer holding something.  Attempting to make the "transition" smoother, they threw a bunch of circular mints on a metal tray. Painted on the mints were green spots coated over a blue base. Small Earths.

           This made things so much easier to handle. Indeed.

          I jogged over to a little center with the words "Home Management" in big, boxy letters. More signs next to it said the same thing, but in different languages. At least 90% of the people on my ship spoke an Asian language, so this was to be expected. English wasn't the only one out there, after all.

          Inside of this homely building were a ton of little packages. So many that it got hard to walk without stomping on some. The entire place was plastic, the kind that was invented a while back by some over-hyped white guy and his billions of dollars. It just melted and slipped past the atmosphere when exposed to a ton of heat. All of it, gone in a second.

          The government really set up this planet nicely. Millions of these "Home Management" buildings were scattered about. Each had been filled to the brim with small packages. Inside were small, plastic bags that blew up into full-sized houses. Made more eco-friendly than any seen before. Like that actually helped our planet. Our home.

            Whoops. I meant what used to be our home. Picking up a house, I looked at the advertisement on the back, a Caucasian family smiling in front of a meltable house. I threw the packet aside, looking for a nicer one. Since currency was temporarily frozen until the few countries could come together, a feat that was stretched longer and longer, even with the current state of only seven governments (and even less languages). Since they couldn't put their lives together, everything was issued out for free. A fresh start. I began my search. Another package, another failure.

          Third time's a charm, I guess. The house had an...odd design. It was a full blown two-story building. Looking at the small, cardboard picture, I smiled. Wasn't like we were going to use these houses forever. Picking it up, I walked to one of the "transition" volunteers at the front, and scanned my house into the system, before walking out, people shooting bewildered glances my way. Primarily the cashier, but one can get paranoid easily.

          Could a 15 year-old really get a house? Well, the government didn't argue with it, considering my parents were stationed on different continents. It was temporary housing. We'd meet up in a week or so. So, I did the only sane thing to do when forced to move to another planet. Let me explain.

          The stress of this new planet was deafening. I took in a deep breath, opening my package slowly to blow up my new house. Call my spontaneity a coping mechanism. Checking the label, I almost laughed, despite the horrible situation.

          Club-themed house? Check. Smiling, I mumbled to myself. A sentence that anyone within hearing distance would most likely agree with, considering I was planning on living in a club for the next week.

"I always was a little chaotic."