Mindless

Chapter Fourteen - 008

Everything here is different.

Ok, well, not everything. We still have uniforms, classes, designated meal times, etc. But everything within those categories is different.

Our uniforms have a lot more to them. I found one in the closet and it's pretty strange. A black, skin-tight shirt made of some soft, metallic material is the first thing. One sleeve is short, the other long, ending in a glove that goes over my hand with a hole on the top of it. Second, after the black shirt, is a dull green jacket with a collar and sleeves that go down to just past my elbows. Third is a pair of rough, but not uncomfortable, gray pants. They have elastic in the waistband and at the end of the legs, which end about four inches below my knees. The last item in the uniform is a pair of black clunky boots with laces.

I put that all on but am left with another issue-- what to do with my hair. In the moonBases, it was always pulled back into a tight bun. Here, that just doesn't seem right. Plus, there aren't any hairbands.

I braid it into an intricate design, making sure it covers the scar on my face.

My voice translator stays. A little green chip attached to one of my teeth, it's waterproof, foodproof, pressure-proof... basically everything-proof.

For the first half of my day, I have classes. We covered that much in the briefing. As to where those classes are or what they're about? I haven't the slightest idea. All I know is a room number that I don't know how to find.

The clock on the wall says 04:30 hours. We have to be in classes by 05:00 hours.

I decide that if I get lost, I'm lost, but until then I may as well try to find my way around. There's got to be a pattern of some sort-- just like in the moonBases.

Walking the hallways feels strange. My boots make no sound but they feel like they want to, like if I hadn't taught myself to tread quietly so long ago they would.

There are no paths, no way to know where people are going or when to stop for them. There are people walking on the wrong side of the hallway, people moving in all directions, people jogging or full-out running, dodging between people weaving in and out of the general traffic before disappearing into random rooms. It's confusing; I almost get knocked to the floor by someone in a hurry twice.

I finally find a room with the 'Classes 204' printed on it, the room where I'm supposed to be. I press my fingertips to the sign, like we were taught during the briefing, but nothing happens. The screen stays exactly the same and the door doesn't open.

I tap my knuckles against the door twice and it opens from the other side. I face a girl with bright red curly hair and those weird plastic things, glasses, I believe they're called, on her face. She grins.

"You're the newcomer, alright. You have an hour before this for breakfast, kid. And you might want to go get some school supplies-- head down to the library and then the cafeteria. Two lefts and a right for the cafeteria, go straight for four and then left two for the library."

"Thanks," I say, then nod and walk away. Straight four and left two... I've got an hour for breakfast? How much breakfast do these people need? We got fifteen minutes for eating in the moonBases-- get in line, grab a bowl, put it under a pump and watch as the gray much pours into it. It's packed full of nutrients and tastes like licking the floor. Not that I've licked the floor before.

The library doors are just open. I step cautiously through the doorframe.

It's a large room, parts of it filled with shelves, other filled with desks or strange looking chairs, and one entire section devoted to technology.