"Mr. Miles, just one more moment of your time. What do you think of your new classmate, Miss Breaker?"
I froze. I thought she was pretty, but of course I couldn't say that.
My face suddenly felt really warm.
"I, um--” I cleared my throat. “I think I'll need some more time to figure that out. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better, and I’m excited to have the chance to learn from her this year."
The reporter, a stout, grey-haired man, grinned, and I wasn't sure why. He asked me a few more questions, I concluded the interview with what I hoped was a charming smile, and then I was out, having made it around the room to the exit.
"That was exhausting," I said quietly to Ralph. "Is it always like this?"
"No," he assured me. "If you think this is bad, wait until the end-of-year exams come around."
I was grateful when the shuttle bay doors closed behind us, cutting off the curious stares of the crowd. I could understand why they were interested in the senior Terran transfer student, but that didn't keep my palms from sweating.
Ralph made a few motions over his prism, then handed it to me. An odd figure flashed across the screen: a huge circle divided into six sections, with a smaller, undivided circle in its center.
"It's a map of the station," Ralph explained, acknowledging my quizzical look with a nod towards the display. "The circle in the center is the library. See?" He tapped the circle on-screen, and the word Library appeared.
I followed suit, tapping each section, starting with the top-left and going counter-clockwise. Recreation, Workspaces, Accommodations. Student Recreation, Classrooms, Student Accommodations.
"The students are separated from the adults?"
“Of course," said Ralph, as if that was the most natural thing in the world. "Except the instructors, anyway."
"What about the parents?"
"It's been proven that parents create discord in an otherwise flawless learning environment. They argue with instructors and hinder a child's growth, so the less-gifted parents stay on Earth and the Alpha-native adults stay on their own half of the station. It's a logical arrangement, really."
Ralph sounded so polished and matter-of-fact that I wondered if he was repeating his explanation from a script.
"Can students and adults ever cross over to each other's sides?"
Ralph answered with a cordial tone and a frown. "Everyone knows to stay in their respective areas."
I wanted to ask about the consequences of going to the adult side, but I decided against it.
Ralph had started smiling at me again, though. "Except for today! You get to take a tour of every area of Alpha. We want you to know exactly what to expect when you graduate." He sped along, looking over his shoulder, motioning for me to follow.
Honestly, from that point on, most of the tour was a blur. It took up the rest of the day, and there's no way I could ever remember all the details. Basically, the two recreation sections were full of shops, restaurants, theaters, and arcades. The workspaces were pretty cool: a series of offices and rooms, each full of something different. Some had computers, others had test tubes, one even had a bunch of huge sewing machines, I think. I didn't get to see much of the adult accommodations for privacy reasons, but Ralph pointed out the small, essential businesses between long stretches of living quarters. The design, as I expected, was very efficient. The classrooms were tidy and high-tech, but had plenty of extra corners, nooks, and alcoves for studying.
Along the way, I saw that each classroom had a number on the wall beside it, corresponding to the class designation of the group of kids meeting inside. For example, according to Ralph, I was going to be in grade twelve, class one. Each grade had two thousand different classes, and each class got its own room. So, it wasn’t totally surprising that classrooms took up a sixth of the station.
Each of Alpha's six main sections had a main corridor that branched off into a series of smaller hallways. These hallways connected into each other and also into the main rooms, like the shops, offices, and living quarters. As we toured, I followed along on the prism map. The entire station was really just a huge web, the hallways making a complex grid to house the rooms, which were on the intersections of the web.
I tried to take in everything I saw that day, but all I really remember are passing sensations. Everything in the station, from walls, ceilings, and floors, to storefronts and doors, was made of something sturdy, metallic, and silvery. All the doors slid open and closed from the walls with a very futuristic-sounding whoosh. Also, there were different words and directions carved into the walls: for example, This way to Café Venti or Grocery straight ahead. I could feel the deep, smooth depressions of the letters in the walls when I touched them. The lights overhead were pleasantly bright and almost invisible, docked inside slits in the ceiling. Everything smelled fresh and clean, so different from Manhattan.
Every so often, I noticed, there was a break in the metallic color scheme. Whenever we reached one of the main rooms, it was colored white. There were white decorations on the walls of the hallways. Even Ralph's clothing, I realized, was grey and white.
I looked down at my dark red T-shirt, suddenly feeling very out of place.
The tour ended at what Ralph told me was my own dormitory. As soon as I walked in, though, I realized it was way more than a typical dorm: it was a suite. Complete with an entryway, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, a bathroom, an office, and a gigantic bedroom, I felt like royalty.
Ralph left me alone in my new dorm, explaining that I could direct any further questions to my personal interface system. He was only a transfer coordinator, I remember him telling me, so I wouldn't be seeing much of him anymore. Apparently his job only encompassed the actual transfer and an orientation tour.
After Ralph left, wishing me good luck, I began to explore. As I made my way through the already fully-furnished rooms, I noticed that my bags were waiting on the floor of the bedroom. There was also a prism sitting on the dresser.
I sat on the bed, exhausted. My feet were aching and I couldn't remember having sat down since the shuttle ride, not even to eat.
My watch, already adjusted to Alpha time, read five o'clock.
Closing my eyes to rest for just a moment, I remembered that those new friends planned to meet me at eight. Passing recollections of Alpha flashed through my mind as I drifted off.
∆∆∆
I sat up, startled. Out of reflex, I looked out the window: it would take some time, I thought, before I adjusted to seeing the entire galaxy outside my room. It was always dark, which was a little confusing at first.
My watch read 7:48 PM.
I felt a rush of nerves, realizing I’d fallen asleep for way longer than I planned.
I got up, grabbed my backpack, stuffed the prism inside it, and immediately heard a knock at my door.
As I got closer to the dorm entrance, I heard muffled shuffling and giggling from the outside. It stopped abruptly when I tapped the panel beside the door.
Four bright smiles greeted me as I shouldered my backpack.
“Hey, player!” greeted the only guy in the group.
“Hey! Mark, right?”
“Malik,” he corrected me with a grin, “but close enough.”
“Sorry,” I said, embarrassed. “I’ve met way too many people today.”