El Baron
02-14-2011, 01:07 PM
Day1: February 25th, 2113 | 12:20 AM
It was a bright afternoon, I was stuck in a sea of human faces all eager and lining up in a queue to get into this abstract looking clump of metal where we were told that it could sustain a population of 120,000 for eight years. Everyone around me seemed to be as curious as I was. There were people of all races, age and personalities that have been called upon to board this giant. Some packed more stuff and than others and some packed light. The man beside me that looked to be in his mid 30's lugged behind them a wagon loaded with cardboard boxes that labelled "Clothing", "Food", "Electronics". There was no way I had close to half the stuff he brought. In my black North Face backpack, I've carried some clothes, my laptop, ipod, phone, some money and other small things that I thought I would use for the duration of these eight years that it will take to arrive upon our final destination. I smiled to myself when I saw the man next to me flash out a roll of American dollars. That would only last him so long, I was smart about it. Before I left home, I withdrew the $3,000 I had in my bank account and spent a few days looking up different currencies that I thought would come in handy.
Finally, my turn. Upon walking past the military men dressed in full chemical suits that guarded the machine's entrance, I stepped aboard the ark and I found myself in a large decontamination tunnel. There were men in the chamber dressed in bright yellow chemical suits that handed me a pair of goggle and told me to hold my breath as I stepped onto the conveyor belt. My belongings have been taken from me and put on another conveyor belt that seemed to receive almost an identical treatment in an adjacent room. Nozzles that sprayed a mist of decontamination chemicals circled around me as I slid through the tunnel on the rubber belt beneath my bare feet. Closing to the end of the decontamination tunnel, a large gust of wind hit me so hard I nearly lost balance and fell off my feet, but was held up by two burly men in the chemical suits that maintained a tight grip on my forearm. So that's what its like to go through a car wash with your windows rolled down.
As I walked out of the tunnel, I was given a pair of jeans and a plain white T-Shirt that fit me perfectly. I was completely in awe, it looked big from the outside, but in the interior of this place was massive. There were many workers that had "Staff" written on the back of their shirts to show authority but maintained casualness. People carrying their belongings were getting checked into their rooms. I walked down the massive flat that was crowded with people looking upward trying to absorb the amazingness of this place, a voice behind me said "Sir? Your belongings." I looked at him with my jaw hanging, "Sir, are you alright?" I couldn't believe the size of this place, white lights lit up the cold metal interior of this massive ship. I took my bag from the man and he led me to my room. "Welcome to Ark 51, You're passenger 1170 and you're staying with passenger 7893. But I'm sure that's nothing new to you if you have read your pre-trip information before arriving here."
The man led me down to a long wall of over 30+ elevators and I followed him into an elevator that looked like it had the capacity for much more than just people. As the elevator ascended the man said to me, "You will be staying in room 1018, that would be the 18th room on the 10th floor." Out of curiosity I asked him how many floors the place held. "You'll have more than enough time to figure that out my friend." he replied with a sly smile.
"10th floor." the same female voice announced, I followed the man out and walked down a long hallway that seemed to reach out to the horizon. After a minute, he handed me my room card. As he walked back to the direction of the elevator he turned around and said "Oh, and your roommate is already settled in, if you have any questions ask her. There is a manual in one of the drawers in your kitchen that will answer most of your questions. See you in the near future Austin."
I stepped into the room and I saw a slim figure that measured around 5' 8", I looked at her from head to toe but stopped at where her pink T-shirt swelled. "What are you looking at?" she asked playfully as our eyes met. Shaken, I looked away and erased my dumbfound look from my face and hastily replied, "I-I- I was hoping you had a name tag or something because I don't know your name." She laughed, and continued to do what she was doing before I entered the room, "Well, if you're so curious, maybe you could ask." before giving me a wink as I walked into our room. I apologized and went straight into one of two washrooms for my shower. "Nuh uh uh, this is your washroom." She said as she pointed to the washroom opposite of the one I stood in, "I already claimed the one that is closer to the bed."
I apologized once again and walked into the other washroom to turn on the water faucet for a well needed bath. After the long hot bath I decided to start keeping a journal about my days in this ship. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, I could grow to like her and maybe this really is the solution for humanity. The world was running low on resources and wars were being fought outside of North America over water and oil. I guess I simply got lucky for being chosen to come onboard. I looked at the crumpled piece of white paper that was my ticket to this place, is it really luck that brought me here or something else?
Austin, 12:47 AM.
It was a bright afternoon, I was stuck in a sea of human faces all eager and lining up in a queue to get into this abstract looking clump of metal where we were told that it could sustain a population of 120,000 for eight years. Everyone around me seemed to be as curious as I was. There were people of all races, age and personalities that have been called upon to board this giant. Some packed more stuff and than others and some packed light. The man beside me that looked to be in his mid 30's lugged behind them a wagon loaded with cardboard boxes that labelled "Clothing", "Food", "Electronics". There was no way I had close to half the stuff he brought. In my black North Face backpack, I've carried some clothes, my laptop, ipod, phone, some money and other small things that I thought I would use for the duration of these eight years that it will take to arrive upon our final destination. I smiled to myself when I saw the man next to me flash out a roll of American dollars. That would only last him so long, I was smart about it. Before I left home, I withdrew the $3,000 I had in my bank account and spent a few days looking up different currencies that I thought would come in handy.
Finally, my turn. Upon walking past the military men dressed in full chemical suits that guarded the machine's entrance, I stepped aboard the ark and I found myself in a large decontamination tunnel. There were men in the chamber dressed in bright yellow chemical suits that handed me a pair of goggle and told me to hold my breath as I stepped onto the conveyor belt. My belongings have been taken from me and put on another conveyor belt that seemed to receive almost an identical treatment in an adjacent room. Nozzles that sprayed a mist of decontamination chemicals circled around me as I slid through the tunnel on the rubber belt beneath my bare feet. Closing to the end of the decontamination tunnel, a large gust of wind hit me so hard I nearly lost balance and fell off my feet, but was held up by two burly men in the chemical suits that maintained a tight grip on my forearm. So that's what its like to go through a car wash with your windows rolled down.
As I walked out of the tunnel, I was given a pair of jeans and a plain white T-Shirt that fit me perfectly. I was completely in awe, it looked big from the outside, but in the interior of this place was massive. There were many workers that had "Staff" written on the back of their shirts to show authority but maintained casualness. People carrying their belongings were getting checked into their rooms. I walked down the massive flat that was crowded with people looking upward trying to absorb the amazingness of this place, a voice behind me said "Sir? Your belongings." I looked at him with my jaw hanging, "Sir, are you alright?" I couldn't believe the size of this place, white lights lit up the cold metal interior of this massive ship. I took my bag from the man and he led me to my room. "Welcome to Ark 51, You're passenger 1170 and you're staying with passenger 7893. But I'm sure that's nothing new to you if you have read your pre-trip information before arriving here."
The man led me down to a long wall of over 30+ elevators and I followed him into an elevator that looked like it had the capacity for much more than just people. As the elevator ascended the man said to me, "You will be staying in room 1018, that would be the 18th room on the 10th floor." Out of curiosity I asked him how many floors the place held. "You'll have more than enough time to figure that out my friend." he replied with a sly smile.
"10th floor." the same female voice announced, I followed the man out and walked down a long hallway that seemed to reach out to the horizon. After a minute, he handed me my room card. As he walked back to the direction of the elevator he turned around and said "Oh, and your roommate is already settled in, if you have any questions ask her. There is a manual in one of the drawers in your kitchen that will answer most of your questions. See you in the near future Austin."
I stepped into the room and I saw a slim figure that measured around 5' 8", I looked at her from head to toe but stopped at where her pink T-shirt swelled. "What are you looking at?" she asked playfully as our eyes met. Shaken, I looked away and erased my dumbfound look from my face and hastily replied, "I-I- I was hoping you had a name tag or something because I don't know your name." She laughed, and continued to do what she was doing before I entered the room, "Well, if you're so curious, maybe you could ask." before giving me a wink as I walked into our room. I apologized and went straight into one of two washrooms for my shower. "Nuh uh uh, this is your washroom." She said as she pointed to the washroom opposite of the one I stood in, "I already claimed the one that is closer to the bed."
I apologized once again and walked into the other washroom to turn on the water faucet for a well needed bath. After the long hot bath I decided to start keeping a journal about my days in this ship. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, I could grow to like her and maybe this really is the solution for humanity. The world was running low on resources and wars were being fought outside of North America over water and oil. I guess I simply got lucky for being chosen to come onboard. I looked at the crumpled piece of white paper that was my ticket to this place, is it really luck that brought me here or something else?
Austin, 12:47 AM.