“Welcome aboard the Pioneer IV. Please look into the glass for retinal identification scan.”

A lanky blonde boy eagerly turned in the direction of the robotic voice and peered into the dark tinted glass. Fascinated, he studied the bright green laser as it brushed over his eye; in less than a second, the glass box chimed its approval, and the droning female voice from the speaker said:

“Welcome, Cale. Have a nice day.”

Impressed, Cale Townsend grinned and made his way to the lounge chairs in the middle of the ship’s lobby. The Pioneer IV was as efficient as he had hoped; even the eye scanners, the most basic technology, were engineered to perfection.
But Cale was more intrigued by the newer innovations. The ship was decorated with all kinds of devices he had never seen before. Tucked in his ear was an automatic English-to-French-to-Chinese translator. The three-dimensional televisions and computers projected flawlessly lifelike images; Cale had already twice mistaken a holographic dog for a real one. However, it was the laboratory that won his heart.

The door to the lab was locked, but the little window teased Cale with a glimpse into the massive room. Cabinets lined every wall, and he could only speculate as to what lay inside them. If the leisure technology was as advanced as it was, he thought, then imagine the lab equipment! At the thought, his hard expression broke, replaced by a small smile. The Pioneer IV thoroughly captivated him.

The gentle voice of an elderly Caretaker pulled Cale out of his rapture. “If you’ll please follow me, children, I’m going to sort you into bedrooms, now.”

With a sigh, Cale rose and joined the mob of young adults forming around the Caretaker. Looking around the room, he had not found a single person who interested him. He noted with scorn that, while he had been looking into the lab, most of the others had crowded around the computers, fawning over the selection of games. And these were supposed to be the most brilliant and talented youths in the world. Cale scoffed, half at his peers and half at himself. In joining the Pioneer Program, he had expected to find people like him – people of intellect. Instead, it seemed he would be rooming with a couple insolent morons for the rest of his life.

Just as the group began to descend down the hallway, the robotic voice poured out of the intercom: “One hour to liftoff. One hour to liftoff.”

Instinctively, Cale turned to look at the open hatch – the window to an Earth he would never see again. For an instant, the desire to return to his familiar life overpowered him, but the impulse vanished as quickly as it had arrived. He shook himself; never did Cale Townsend let his emotions get the better of him. He had already said good-bye to his parents, and he had no other friends back home – at least, none that he felt were worth his time. More importantly, he had studied his whole life to be a part of the Pioneer Program. The Pioneer IV, once just a dream, was now his home - just like he had wanted. At this point, he had no time or tolerance for doubt.

Cale turned away from the hatch, his emotions forced back into invisibility, and walked down the hallway to the bunks. He had an entire universe to look forward to and no reason to look back.

"Ow..." Sammy muttered, straighting up while rubbing his eye. That green light always hurt, now matter how many times his eye was scanned. However, he dropped his hand and smiled as the door opened, to robotic voice inside saying, "Welcome, Sammy. Have a nice day."

"Thanks! You, too!" He said, even though the machine couldn't respond. Sammy began his tour of the ship, smiling and waving to people he didn't even know yet. He couldn't wait to meet them all, though! He would never be alone! Several of the people were already forming small groups, while others seemed to stay on their own. The brunette wondered off down one of the halls, his fingers trailing along the wall behind him as he felt the cool metal. After a few minutes, the hall dead ended into a set of white doors, swinging in the air. Sammy pushed them open, gasping as he entered the kitchen. Long, white table tops, shining chrome... He sqealled ever so slightly, beginning to run to one of the giant mixtures when an elder Caretaker appeared, smiling softly at him. "Uh... Hi!" Sammy said, grinning up.

Now, most people would look at Sammy and think he was a complete moron. Well, they could be right, if one looked merely at the surface, but, in truth, he was quite bright. One had to be to get on these ships! He wasn't a very deep thinker, but had enough intelligence to know his place among the others. He was to cook, clean, teach, and care for the people aboard this ship, and he was glad to! It was the brunette's passion to help. As long as they wouldn't leave him somewhere, he was perfectly fine with going off in a space shuttle filled with strangers!

"I'm sorry, this area is off limits for the time being. Besides, they're asigning rooms currently." The elder told him, gently pushing him towards and out the doors. Sammy tried to resist, but it was hopeless. As he returned to the main room with the rest of the children, other adults, mainly the Caretakers, began leading them towards the bunking area.

On the path there, his ice blue eyes scanned the surrounding, his lips curled in a smile the entire time, his earrings making quiet jiggling noises with every step. Sammy took notice of one of the windows looking out at the world he would never return to, and a pang of sadness struck his heart briefly. He was leaving behind all the people he had grown up with. The people that had raised him, the woman he was named after, the cook in the orphanage, everything, gone from this point on.

"One hour to liftoff." A voice spoke, yanking him from the window and back towards the bunks. "One hour to liftoff."

His thrilled smile soon reappearing on his face as he walked with the familiar happiness that seemed to brim over and onto everyone he was around. This was it. This was the end of an old, familiar era, but the start of an amazing new adventure.

Kyri loved the little green light. It was kind of like her. It stretched out, sort of blindly, and tried to find those little details that made everything wonderful and unique, it marked them, magnified them, made them all the more obvious.

Then it gave it a number, probably ran it through a quick flow matrix to find the likelihood of the person surviving, assigned it another number which entered a ranking system, picked out of that the top percentages and ran that test again, over and over until the lottery of those left over decided who got on and who didn't.

And happily, she had won that lottery.

Kyri might have been one of the only kids who didn't look back at Earth. The Earth beyond that window wasn't Earth. Earth was back in Coeur D'Alene, where the river on the reservation flowed so fast you could actually see its pass on the giant crystal clear lake. Earth was where the cherry trees sprinkled their pink leaves like sugar, the blood of the miners who founded that place some ungodly time ago, where Aspen trees sparkled over green lawns and the asphalt was always cracked but homey from the winter wonderland of the months before.

That was Earth, nothing behind a sheet of glass could compare.

Kyri continued to walk with the crowd, a pucker permanently on her face. It was as though she were confused, thinking something through, it was the face she always gave when she didn't have her pad.

The hallway tiles were square, but when you stared past them, the lines dissapeared. The result was this odd mozaic of blurred lines and squares, the lighting of the hallway dulled the senses, and was arranged doors facing walls, never doors facing doors, probably for traffic control. The lights above were square, and while the hallway had a curve to it, the geometry of the place was stunning.

Kyri took in the unblemished interior. It wouldn't remain that way. In time that sterile environment would become stained, and this contained ecosystem would look more like a place to live.

Currently, a kid was chewing gum. He was going to get screamed at for that. Absolutely eviscerate. She didn't try to think how he smuggled it on board.

And Kyri walked on with her little pucker face, rocking back and forth on her skinny legs, taller than many around her and looking flighty and untouched by the gravity of her position.

Within, she was thinking of the hair on the girl before her. It was strawberry blond of the most delightful sort, it was a little greasy, but she could tell it would be fading with the lifestyle here, she wondered if she could capture that before it all faded away.

"Yes!" Violet thought ecstatically "Bye, Earth, my own hell, and on to the freedom within captivity."

Place eye in front of retinal scanner for identification

Violet scanned her eye.

Access Denied

'What. What? WHAT!? Access denied! What the f-' she thought. "Wait," a ship tuner ran up, "this, this thing, it's been giving problems. Try it again." She scans her eye, clearly frustrated with the machine.

Access Granted

The doors slide open. "Whew," she thought, " I was almost locked out of my own cage, my own refuge." Thank the... well.... whatever, I'm on! She smiled, and some random trainee looked at her with a confused face.

"Are you happy to leave everything we know?" Her smile dissapeared, and the mean in her reared it's ugly head as she glances out the window. "Yes, I am," she curtly replied, " We are the brightest people, and we get to escape from the normality of Earth. It's great. No more stupidity. I hope, anyway." She attempted a shut-up-and-go-smile. No notice to the expression of pure paini-ness. "You're an odd one."
"Well, you're an annoying brat. Who asks personal questions. And judges for one sentence." and with that she stalked off towards the guy who was going to announce room assignments.
"Hey, Im not done talking to you!" She turns, her face contorted to a pain-in-the-you-know-where expression.
"Do I care?"
"Yes!"
"Wrong."
She continues to walk towards the group gathered around the computers. Ugh, video games haunt us here too?

"Stupidity! With smart people! Is it even possible? Oh wait, this is my life. Things get f-ed up."
She passes a guy looking at the lab, not at the computer games. Wait. What? Guy+computers=Games
Hmmmm...

She almosted reached where lab-boy was, and she was going to see what enthralled him so, but the caretaker came by and rushed him toward the group.
'Better follow,' she thought.

"Hey, trainees. Quiet!" eveyone quiets down and looks at the caretaker with their room plots. "This is how it's going to be. Three to a room, keep it clean, keep it neat, and DON'T ask for a switch. Now here are the pairings..."

Oh, I have to deal with people. Great. Did i miss the training for that?
She instinctively looks around her, lab-boy was looking back, and she turned too. Earth. "Mabye I might just miss you a little, mom, dad-- NO! They hurt me, they messed with my head, they can go to HELL. On the outside she looked composed, but on the inside, she wondered, "Who am I now, what am i doing, missing hell? Who am I gonna be over here?"

"Can I forget Earth?"

"Can I forget IT? What marks my back?"

The narrow hallway opened out at the end to reveal a large, circular lounge room, complete with chairs, toys, and a holographic television. Ten labeled doors surrounded them, each one leading to an identical bedroom.

"Take as long as you need in choosing your roommates," said Mrs. Mayfield, the old Caretaker. "Just remember, three to a room - no more, no less."

With a roll of his eyes, Cale picked a door at random - Room 3 - and walked into the room. Thankfully, the rooms were much bigger than he had imagined. In it, he found three beds, three desks, three computers, a bathroom with a shower, and plenty of living space. More importantly, he would have privacy; surrounding each bed and desk was a contractible wall that, when activated, created one little room where Cale would not have to bother with his roommates - or anyone else, for that matter.

Cale climbed into one of the beds and lay with his hands tucked behind his head. Outside the room, he heard the bustle of kids quickly trying to make friends and find roommates, but he didn't bother; he hoped to spend most of his time in the laboratory, anyway. He would only see his roommates when it came time to sleep.

At the end of the hallway, a man watched the young adults from behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. His almond-shaped eyes seemed to catch every movement, absorbing each action with calm, detached interest. From the expression on his face, no one could tell what he was thinking; but from his appearance and the way he carried himself, anyone could see that he was someone important. While the other adults donned the standard coveralls, this man dressed himself in a gray suit, a black tie, and polished black shoes. Not one black hair stood out of place on his head. Dr. Zhao Min's appearance was always official, but as he watched the kids at the end of the hall, his mind was already at work.

(I don't know how this post got here. I don't understand chat...)

The commons were very annoying to Kyri.

Not because of noise or bright light or anything of the sort.

The room was beautifully symmetrical, beautifully. Except for the numbers on the door. There was too much weight on 8, 9, 10. It felt almost lopsided to her. To anyone else, it was just a room, but to her, it was a design flaw.

She absentmindedly walked into room 4. She knew that in Chinese 4 was a homophone for death, but it was just so off to the side, a place where she felt the odd balance of the room might lay on. It should have been neatly between 5 and 6, but here it was on 4.

Walking in, she gave a curt nod, she didn't hate it, she certainly didn't hate it.

She figured the contractible wall would be godsend. She could get some spa music playing, sit down and start sketching, just to hone and calibrate herself to the living on the ship. Cuddled up in her bed she could always focus and be alone, and then when she wanted she could stroll out to the circular commons when she was translating a picture to be realistic.

Her bedsheet wasn't tucked in at the corner. Untutored savages from the wastelands. Absolute barbarians.

Unable to simply correct the mistake, Kyri quickly gutted the bed, spilling all of its wrappings onto the floor, and began arranging it to the strict standards she had always enjoyed.

Cristov had already gotten through the retina scanner by the time most others his age had followed along. After repeated looks of disgust were spared to his space suit - He rather preferred a pair of slacks, dress shirt, and a tie-, a coo went to a young child, his right hand stretching forth to pat the little girl on the head. He couldn't help but find the kids adorable, and at times he almost wished he was a caretaker instead. The urge to write was with him every step of the way, though, and the fingers of his free hand curled into themselves at the compulsive urge to write. It was hard to fight the urge to find his things and start recording the events of the past few minutes.

"Seems it will always be like this, or so I hope," he muttered to himself, starting out of his thoughts only from the little girl's "Huh?" aimed up at him. "Nothing, dearest. Just thinking about the future." Still, hues wouldn't rove to take in the last sight of the world he was leaving behind. There was no point in looking at what would no longer be his; what never was. A philosophical standpoint was all that would hold him together for the oncoming years, and it was the best way to keep from getting caught up in all the scientific crap that everyone would always be talking.

Almost on reflex, the little girl was picked up at the direction that rooms would be assigned. A living, safety blanket of sorts tucked into his arms, the faint smile flourished for but a moment as he paused to look at the others. They all seemed interesting enough, but his disinterest was evident. At the final instruction to pick rooms, though, the girl was set free for him to wander forth and poke his head into varying rooms. Finally stopping at the third, knuckles hit on the frame before he bothered to cross the threshhold. "Willing to hold one more or shall I depart in search of another vista as my abode?"

Cristov did his best to look charming, head tilting slightly for red-brown locks to fall partially into his face, cutting the corner of an eye from view. Still, at the door he slouched, doing his best to look as nice as he could while being in the dastard pair of coveralls. "I'm Cristov. Cristov Luminairre. Recorder... extraordinaire, I suppose, but I suppose that's unimportant enough." Buttoning his lips at that with a shrug of the shoulder that hadn't sunk against the wall, a smile was once again offered, though arms folded.

At the sound of movement within the room, Cale had to hold back a groan. His last moments of privacy has quickly dried up. Sighing, Cale sat up and opened his eyes to get a look at his new roommate.

He blinked a few times. Sitting on the bed across from him was not the bull-headed oaf of a boy he had dreaded, but instead a tall, elegant, and rather intimidating young woman. The silence that filled the room suddenly seemed to suffocate Cale, and he stiffened. He stared pointedly at the girl, waiting for her to leave, growing more and more anxious with every moment that she stayed.

Then, the girl's voice rang through the tense silence. Her greeting seemed harmless enough, but all the same Cale felt threatened. This girl had blatantly trespassed on the room he had found for himself, and she seemed to have no intention of leaving. Worse yet, as he was trying to think of a way to be rid of her, a young man appeared at the door looking for roommates.

Cale's eyes darted between the two. Both the boy and the girl surpassed him in physical maturity - he guessed they were a few years his senior - but he didn't care an ounce for such a technicality. However, he had to share this room with somebody. And if not them, whom? His hesitation lasted only a moment, and then he reluctantly nodded.

"Sure. I'm Cale." He lay back on his bed with the intention of ignoring the two, but common courtesy nagged at the back of his head. He sighed, turned to the girl, and asked the obligatory "What's your name?"

"Welcome aboard the Pioneer IV. Please look into the glass for retinal identification scan."

The boy inclined his head to the right so the scan had direct access to his eyes. A brilliant green light was flashed for a split moment before it receded once more. Unblinking, he studied the machinery, waiting for the acceptance.

"Welcome, Niklaus. Have a nice day."

Without a word, Niklaus moved on. Machinery such as those didn't quite capture his interest. What occupied his mind, however, was their choice of voices. The first drone voice had been ambiguous in gender. However, the second had clearly been female. A curious choice indeed. They had both been intended to welcome passengers, but the first had a somewhat cold manner. The second was made to give the impression of being warm and welcoming. Niklaus wondered if it had succeeded. But no matter. That was something to ponder over another time. Now was the time to analyze his new setting.

The lounges he found rather distasteful as it had nothing to contribute to knowledge. Comfortable chairs, television, and games? He snorted mentally. A moment later, his view changed. Since other "pioneers" would undoubtedly find the lounge a fascinating past time, he could use it as a sort of study. See how they act alone, or with company.

Moving on, he encountered a sign. He took only a moment to peruse it before walking briskly down the right hallway. He strolled pass the bedrooms, gym, kitchen, cockpit, and Supervisor's Office with barely a glance. It was only when he reached the lab did his pace slacken. Peering through the window to the variety of equipment and cabinets that lay in the lab, he allowed a smile to grace his features. He would find life on the Pioneer IV very satisfactory indeed.

"Hm." Once Cale had performed his duty as a polite roommate, he swung his legs over the bed and stood up to leave. Without so much as an explanation for his departure - or even a standard farewell - he slipped past Cristov and into the lounge, heading straight for the lab.

The way he saw it, Cale had been presented with two choices after America introduced herself: leave right then and there, or be forced to feign interest in her life for another hour or so. And he had no patience for small-talk. Humans wielded the most complex cognitive function - speech - and too often they wasted it on pointless rambling about nothing but themselves. Not only did Cale have no care to listen to the details of America's history, but he had his doubts that she could even speak more than three words at a time. If she could, she certainly hadn't proven it.

In his eighteen months of training for the Pioneer Program, Cale had encountered several of America's type. Their strength, beauty, and cool composure intimidated him at times, but he quickly realized they all had the same weak spot - and America was apparently no exception. She, along with all the other Runners, served as an icon for the program. She had the pretty face that the media on Earth had eaten up, and she could go on the daring adventures that caught the interest of the public. But her endeavors meant nothing unless she had the mind to decipher the meaning behind them, and that was where her image lost its dimensions. She was a beautifully decorated package with nothing inside.

Cristov was also unimpressive to Cale. Unlike America, he accompanied his words with a little style, but to Cale he was equally transparent and more annoying. When he spoke, he was unnecessarily verbose, most likely because he used words rather than substance to create an image of intelligence.

But perhaps Cristov truly was intelligent; Cale had to hope, at least. He had to hope that Cristov or America or someone would prove him wrong out of the blue. As he stared into the empty laboratory, he had to hope that it wouldn't stay empty.

Reaching out a hopeful hand, Cale grasped the door handle - locked, as he had suspected. He sighed and moved to look through the window again when he heard a voice behind him.

"Looking for something?"

Cale turned around to face the man in the gray suit. He sat elegantly poised in one of the lounge chairs, his fingers interlocked, watching Cale curiously. He looked neither amused nor upset, just quietly interested.

"No, sir," Cale replied. The man's eyes on him made him just a little uneasy. "I just wanted to take a look around the lab."

A small smile crossed the man's face. "In time, son. In time."

He rose from his chair in a fluid motion and turned his gaze to the end of the hallway. Then, he looked back to Cale wordlessly. Cale, taking the hint, gave an awkward nod and walked briskly back towards the dorm rooms. Even as he turned away, he could feel the man's eyes on his back.

As Sammy continued to the bunks and instructed to find one with two or less people, he came across Room 4, a single girl inside. Smiling he walked on in. "Bonjour! Je suis Sammy Smith!" He began, his fingers moving to fiddle with the piece of metal in his ear, hoping it worked. Thankfully, it did, his words changing into her default language. "I'm one of the Caretakers here. Do you mind if I share a room with you?" He walked in a little further, looking down at her and grinning as she made her bed again. "Did they make it wrong? I could help, if you wanted me to."

As he grinned down at her, Sammy took in the room out of the corner's of his eyes. Three bunks, three desks, three computers, a decent living area, a bathroom, and even a wall that could be brought out to separate the pioneers with their room mates. This was to be the layout of the other rooms as well, the rooms he was meant to clean up after and the people inside he was meant to care for, happily of course! Service with a smile. That was Sammy, in a nutshell.

Kyri turned, a bright little smile on her face, "Bonjour." Her eyes widened as she saw the... fascinating... caretaker.

"I don't like that lion ring." She said, not bothering to introduce herself. "You have a really cool, asymettrical, congealed look going, but it throws something off" She said, biting her lip, oddly she hadn't even glanced at anything but his face.

Her almost inhuman stare was a little disheartening, but after a pause it relaxed, as she pulled her comforter over her apparently mummified bed, so tightly bound it put many army bunks to shame.

"I think I've got it" She said, gently tucking her pillow under the folded sheets and comforters, laying down one corner to add a softer, hotel feel to the mess.

Picking one of her hairs off the comforter, she promptly turned and fell back into the pristine covers.

"I'm Kyri" she said, hating the faint hiss she swore she heard from the translator, she hardly needed it, her father had been very sad to hear the crew would be lazy and defy all these children the joys of learning Chinese, English, and French, each a fascinating, different language, each with absolutely ridiculous properties that made most linguists cringe.

Kyri felt her first pang of sorrow, she wouldn't hear daddy mocking French or praising Chinese, never ridiculing Estonian or trying to make English sound good. It had annoyed her to no end, and now she missed it most.

"I'm a... a... I draw pictures" she said, having a mind lapse at her own occupation. "But a caretaker? That's nice, can you cook, because I swear if you can't this will be an ugly trip for the both of us"

Yawning from the long trip, Songharaddh "Sun Tzu" Neang looked around, seeing the Earth one last time. No matter what, even though the Earth is a shit-hole, its still his home, and home will always be home. He sighed as he walked into the hangar bay for Pioneer IV, realizing he'll probably never see it again in his life, he began to tear up. "Guess, I'll see you in the next life." He spoke to the imaginary personification of Earth. Smiling and crying at the same time, he walked up the ramp for Pioneer IV. His parents seen in the distance giving him a blow kiss. He gave him their last wave and entered the ship. He looked around at the entrance and saw a little console.

"Welcome aboard the Pioneer IV. Please look into the glass for retinal identification scan.”

"Uhm.. Okay." he says and puts his eye in front of the scanner, then blinks on accident, "Ugh."

"Access Denied. Do not blink your eye. Please try again."

"Whoops. Sorry." Sun stares into the scanner, holding his eyes open this time.

"Access Granted. Welcome Neang, Songharaddh. Have a nice day!"


He didn't care about meeting others, or taking a tour. He merely wanted to relax, to sleep. He was assigned to Room 8. Quickly running to his bunk of the far left, he saw his pile of books. Obviously placed earlier by his servants. Smiling, he went through the books, seeing whats in his pile, he skimmed quickly through, tossing the books around. Sighing, he jumped onto his bunk, laying silently.

Sun quickly got up and sat in his bunk, seeing as no one was beside him, he decided to strip down into his boxers, as he always does at home. Then he began to crawl into his favorite blanket. He was already showing symptoms of a certain nearly uncurable disease. He was homesick! Sighing, he decided to bring out one of his most loved books, "The Demonata: Lord Loss," the first of the series by Darren Shan. The books were made centuries ago, but he brought the whole series with him anyways, including 400 other books. No seriously, that wasn't exaggeration, he literally brought 400 plus books with him. That was his whole bookshelf, being a bookworm, he was interested in writing his adventures of "Life on Pioneer IV." But realizing that nobody from home would probably never read it, he decided to scrap the idea.

He began to quickly flip through the pages, he read the books plenty of times. This is his fourth. This is quite literally his most favorite books of all time. It consisted of gore, drama, love, betrayal, an amazing ending, and a mixture of demons and aliens. How amazing is that? Quickly finishing another chapter, he put the book down, putting the book mark in it. Smiling, he decided to walk out of his bunk room, and into the cockpit. Looking out, he sees the black pitch sky, with stars. The view you couldn't see on Earth. With unnatural lights, and pollution drifting from a certain country to the north. He finds his chessboard hidden under in the locker inside the cockpit. He began to arrange the pieces and blankly stared at them.

-Moved to correct location

"If you’ll please follow me, children, I’m going to sort you into bedrooms, now." The words had registered in his mind, but he'd dismissed them as unnecessary. It was only when he found himself alone did he slowly pull away from the lab. Another time, another time.

Following the sounds of conversation and receding footsteps, he soon rejoined the group. Staying back, Niklaus watched closely as each person chose a room, noting how they chose roommates similar, or different, to themselves. Apparently, they did not choose according to the roles they were assigned. Rather, they chose on the basis of personality and quirks... Intriguing. How productive would that be? And-

His thought process was stalled by the sharp gaze of a well dressed man. His very appearance gave the impression of perfection. The standard suit and tie of a businessman made him look official. His facial expression was observant, but made him seem unapproachable. Standing at the very end of the hall, he gave them no words and was passed by relatively unnoticed. Perhaps it was his silence that hid him, or perhaps people were simply intimidated by the reserved, calculating man. Either way, Niklaus was likewise affected and found his feet dragging him to the nearest empty room.

Closing the door behind him, Niklaus found that for once, his observations had failed him. Room 8 was, in actuality, not empty as evident by the untidy bedsheets and the pile of books on the left of the room. Frowning slightly, he realized that he'd have to share the room as it was probable that no other rooms were empty. Shaking his head in resignation, he targeted his side of the room and untucked a corner of the bedsheet to signify his claim on it. As he had nothing from Earth to make his claim clearer, he moved on, feeling that that was sufficient. A bed, desk, computer for each occupant. A shared bathroom, and a sort of "living room". Roomier than he had expected, but the thing that caught his eye was the divider. He brushed his hand over the mechanism and smirked. The designers certainly had their priorities straight. Studies over socialization. Perfect.

"Ignacio..."

"..."

"Ignaaaaaaaciooooo..."

"..."

"...Ignacio!"

A deep sigh exploded through the cold, empty hallway and Ignacio Manuel Torres-Aravez covered his face with his hands, praying for patience. "What, Isabel?" he snapped. His little sister, standing calmly next to him with her thin arms crossed behind her back, didn't even bat an eyelash at his outburst.

"Look at it," she said, nodding toward the earth hanging forlornly in the distance. "It's the last time in a while you'll be able to, you know."

Ignacio rolled his eyes. "Yes, I do know," he said, turning to walk away. "Unfortunately, when you make us late, we don't have time to reminisce about our happy times on earth. Come on." He set off down the empty hallway, looking around for anyone who could tell them where they were supposed to be. He could practically feel Isabel's scowl on his back, but he ignored her. After a few moments she felt her familiar light steps alongside him. "Please, please behave yourself while we're here. I don't want you shipped back off to earth or left on some random--"

"Oh, listen to you! As if I'm some hoolum," Isabel laughed. She was about so say something more, but they rounded a corner and were confronted with a crowd of people. She smiled impishly up at him. "Time to make friends," she said in a sing-song voice.

Realizing he was still... in his boxers, Sun ran towards a locker, and he put in a set of fatigues that were made for him, having the Cambodian flag stitched onto the right sleeve. Relieved, he jumped back onto the seat, staring at the chess pieces, he began to play a game in his head. A rather short game, sort of reliving a certain match he played against his father when he was younger. Sun smiled widely, and put the pieces back into the original molds and stored the in his locker once again.

He got up, looking out the windows, he stretched with a long yawn, and decided to watch some TV. He walked down the hall and into a room filled with games, and holographic televisions. Looking through the collection, he found a holo-disk, one of his favorite movies of all time. Star Wars: Episode IV. He was requesting to join Pioneer IV for a reason, because Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, was one his favorite movies of all time. He put the holodisk in, and began watching the movie. Who knows how many times he's watched it, maybe 4-500 times? Somewhere between that. It was apart of his dream of going into space, meeting an extraterrestrial, killing them, or being a diplomat and having a healthy relationship between two races, no matter, primitive or advanced, he hoped to meet another from another planet, hopefully they were intelligent. He paused the movie and went to get some popcorn, he threw it into the microwave and put it for 60 seconds.

Beep Beep Beep Beep goes the microwave. 60 seconds have gone by and he pulls the popcorn out of the microwave. He got back to his movie. About ten minutes into the movie, he decided to not finish the movie, he skipped all the way to the ending credits, Sun loved the ending song, and waited through the whole ending credits. Yawning, he decided to go back to his room, Room 8. He walks into see a strange man looking at the rooms.


"Oh. Are you my roommate? Sorry about the mess."

-Moved to proper location, Pioneer IV

Niklaus took off the translator earpiece and placed it on the center of his desk. It was an unnecessary equipment, and he needn't carry it along. He considered sitting down, but decided against it. When his roommate came, he'd prefer to be standing. Now all that was left was to wait.

The small hiss of the door opening heralded the arrival of his roommate. Turning, he looked over him, taking in his profile. 'Some deepening of the voice and maturity is beginning to show. Height is average for an older teen. Aged fifteen to sixteen. Probably not seventeen, but I can't exclude that. Tanned skin speaks of time in the sun, or perhaps it was passed down through the family. If so, that implies desert area- No. From distinguishing facial features, he's descendant somewhere from Asia, probably the south. Unkept hair signifies lack of discipline, along with his casual greeting and untidy belongings. Southern Asia then. And yet, despite his careless manner, he shows remarkable dedication to his work. What work would that be though...? Ah, a cheerful demeanor. Very well.'

His observations taking only a few moments, Niklaus quickly chose the proper response and smiled, his manner casual, "Yeah. I'm Niklaus Talbert, a scientist-in-training. And it's fine about the mess. No one to scold you 'bout it anyway, huh? Oh, I missed your name...?"

While the children bustled around the lounge looking for roommates, the man in the gray suit slowly ambled his way to the center of the room. His steps hardly seemed to make a sound, but the old Caretaker felt him approaching nonetheless. She turned to face him, naturally averting her eyes as though she stood in the presence of a titan. He greeted her with a small, amiable smile.

"Good evening, Mrs. Mayfield," he murmured in his soft, soothing tone. "Would you mind calling the students to the center of the room? I would like to speak to them for just a moment."

"Of course, Dr. Zhao." With a dutiful nod, Mrs. Mayfield turned and raised her voice. "Children, gather 'round! The Head Supervisor is going to speak, now!"

The hectic murmur of children trying to find their homes turned into an excited buzz. A large semi-circle began to form around Dr. Zhao as the kids eagerly converged to meet such a highly esteemed man. Before they had even set foot on the Pioneer IV, they knew the name Zhao Min. From the edge of the room, Cale Townsend slowly made his way to the mob of chattering children. He wanted to kick himself; how had he not known that the Head Supervisor was speaking to him? After all the days he had dreamed of meeting and impressing Dr. Zhao, he had blown his first impression. He sat down and crossed his arms over his chest, scowling.

Once the kids had settled down and grown quiet, Dr. Zhao welcomed them with a smile. "Good morning to all of you. For those of you who don't know, my name is Dr. Zhao, and I am the Head Supervisor here on the Pioneer IV." His voice had a soft and soothing cadence with only the slightest hint of an accent. When he spoke, he invited attention and inspired reverence.

He continued, and the kids listened in near-silence. "The thirty of you have chosen the Pioneer Program as not only a career, but a lifestyle, for the rest of your lives. However, your transition to the program is not complete. You can think of your first year here as an extension of your training program. For any questions you have, you can go to a mentor. By this time next year, we intend to send the mentors back home and give you full control of the ship. In order to earn such a responsibility, though, you must know and abide by our rules and policies.

"We in the Pioneer Program do not tolerate violence or bullying. Besides, we have provided you with virtual combat games; you can always settle your disputes there and save yourself the broken bones." A quiet laugh rippled through the group as he continued to speak. "Likewise, we do not allow the handling of unauthorized equipment; only Runners should handle weaponry, and only Navigators should be in the control room. No item from an outside area, including Earth, should come aboard this ship unless it has been tested and approved for safety by a scientist. Also, we allow no articles of clothing other than the white suits provided for you; everything else should be disposed of by the end of the day. Beyond that, each faction has its own set of rules, which your mentors will go over with you tomorrow. A more detailed list of the rules can be found in the handbook, which you can obtain from a mentor. However, I have no worries about your understanding of our policies. You in this room are among the best and the brightest young adults in the world. I trust that you will bring nothing but the finest performance to our program. Now, are there any questions?"