The Oasis

Chapter 4

Ch 4 

                  Upon arriving at the final stop, all the crammed passengers shuffled out of the tram once the airlocks had engaged. Large displays holding ranges of numbers flashed arrows indicating yet more instructions.

                  “Oh great. More herding.” Jake mumbled to himself. A screen to the left showed “300-350”. Jake checked his COM again to verify his number, then took his place in line, slowly pushing forward. It wasn’t all that different from lines at Disneyland. People moving slowly, gating through turn styles and getting their identity scanned. When it was Jake’s turn, he pushed through the rotating bars, and a laser pulsed over his COM. “New instructions posted.” It said. As the crowd spread out after coming through the gates, Jake’s eyes gazed upon the immense size of the outpost before him. Jake had thought to himself that the Oasis was as big as a living, thriving city, but that was wrong. It must have been the size of six massive cities joined together. They grey sector, or Maintenance Corps, stretched out for miles before him. He and the rest of his corps buddies were standing on several layers of balconies overlooking the main entrance to the segment of the city Jake would call home. The only way Jake knew how to describe it was like a gargantuan, civilian military base. There were mess halls centrally located along different sections of the sector. The whole city was designed around a polar graph, and that organization continued into the details of each sector.

                   Jake popped up a display from his COM and took a look at the map. There were “exchanges” which were essentially super markets and supply centers. He saw a recreational region or two, and along the far back there were layers upon layers of barracks. Although they were politely labeled “Living quarters”. A flashing indicator on the display caught his attention, and he tapped it with two fingers.

                  “Please proceed to R:235 – θ:320.56 – Z:-13” It said. Below that was his current coordinates. R:187 – θ:317.87 – Z:-4.

                  Jake laughed. After his differential equations class, he didn’t think he would ever actually have to use cylindrical coordinates again. But seeing how the city was laid out, it did make a fair bit of sense. He followed the pathway indicated on his display and was surprised at how efficiently he got there. At first, he was sure he would get lost at least half a dozen times, but as it turned out, the Oasis was designed to make it nearly impossible to get turned around. There were coordinate postings everywhere, and every street seemed to join up with every other street. The whole place was like a web, completely void of dead ends.

                  In a matter of moments, Jake was at his destination. Another file popped up on his COM.

                  “Welcome to your residence, Jake Summers. Please ensure your COM stays with you at all times as it is your only way to access your living unit. You have, 1, co-habitant.

                  “Co-habitant: Russell McKay. 34. Electrical engineer for capacitor load systems.                   Region of origin: Locksley Scotland.”

                  Jake closed the file and looked at the door. There was no real handle, or doorbell for that matter. There was, however, a glowing red bar above the door frame. Jake put his hand up to the door and the bar flashed green with a chime. The lock on the door clicked, and Jake stepped inside.

                  “Welcome home, Mr. Summers.” The ambient voice said. Jake stood for a moment, adjusting his eyes to the darker interior.

                  “Aye! There he is!” Came a strong bravado from beyond a corner. A husky, bear-like man stepped into the hallway and charged towards Jake. Jake only had enough time to put his arms up in defense before he was swallowed in what was possibly the only hug he ever had that threatened to crush his bones. Jake’s forearms were pinned up against his shoulders as he struggled to breathe for a moment. After he was released, he nearly fell to the floor. The beast of a Scotsman caught Jake before he tumbled, and he lead him towards a simple couch as the door closed behind them.