Habitat, page 9
part #1 of The End Series
Absence of divertive interests (video gaming, excessive television, social media, and internet)
Increased social activities within the community
Required volunteer work (providing a sense of contribution and self-worth)
Placement Program apprenticeships
Finding:
Habitat adolescents showed significant sexual immaturity (physical and psychological) compared to adolescents living prior to 2030.
Absence of explicit material found in music, literature, movies, television, social media, and other entertainment media
Familial ban on teaching or discussing sexual education (coupled with required educational classes beginning at age sixteen)
Dating restrictions (chaperoned dating beginning at age eighteen and unchaperoned dating beginning at age twenty)
Absence of hormones in animal products
Absence of environmental contaminants
Conclusion:
The Adolescent Human Study suggests with careful parenting, children will grow into successful adults, and thereafter, successful parents of the next generation.
—Faris Kirosh
Habitat Human Development Report
June 2050
ELLIS
AS SOON AS I was a safe distance from my mother’s office, I broke into a half-run-half-jog so I could arrive in front of the Orchard building at the same time as Ellis. I boarded the underground tram bound for Mom’s neighborhood. The tram crawled and arrived at the apartment building after what felt like an eternity. I jumped off and ran to the underground entrance of this building. The door opened and closed behind me. A staircase lay before me, and my adrenaline pumped as I made my way to the top. The second security door required my mother’s card. The unbolting sound sent a rush through me. I pulled the door open and walked through to the lobby, which was empty and quiet. Snippets of memories as a child being in this place with my parents flooded my head. The port directions led me to the apartment but not my true destination. I tapped a message to my mother and stopped. It was too soon. At this moment, I should be buying my food from a vendor below ground. I finished tapping the note and set the message to send in fifteen minutes.
Twenty feet ahead of me stood an ordinary door. I took slow and unsteady baby steps forward intending to use the ten-second journey to scour my mind for reasons not to open the door. When I reached it, I counted the reasons. There were many. I gripped the warm, metal handle and stood motionless. Was it possible this two-inch-thick wood and glass panel separated their world from ours? Could I step through this portal? Did the fate of two civilizations depend on what I did within the Habitat? I didn’t want to shoulder so much responsibility. It wasn’t fair. This one door stood as a bridge between two worlds. I wasn’t trying to break the rules or upset some cosmic balance. I just wanted to spend time with Ellis. I tightened my grip and took a breath.
The warmth of the sun spread across my face, and I realized this same warmth spread across the faces of everyone. There were no differences between the Atum and the humans. We breathed the same air and now basked in this same sun. Atum viewpoints had concocted an immense distinction between the two species. We understood the reality of what this world was, and they were oblivious. Deepening pity gnawed at my gut. For a moment, I considered stepping back, disobeying what fate chose for me long ago. I couldn’t let this be a playful diversion on my part, and I couldn’t be the boy who never grew up. That wasn’t a fictional story from my childhood. This was real, and humans were intelligent beings with feelings—with minds and souls. I couldn’t choose this path unless it was for the right reason. I paused at the top of the steps looking out over Horizon. This wasn’t like me. I had never allowed emotion and sentimentality to rule my actions. My life guides until now had been pleasure and recklessness. I didn’t know if a higher being presided over everything and he or she or they planned this moment a million years ago. This speck in time might be accidental. No matter the explanation, an all-consuming pull drew me to her. If I wanted to retreat, something would have stopped me. This was uncompromising destiny.
I took an unwavering step toward the future and…nothing. No fireworks, no earth-shattering explosions, no sirens. It was a drumroll followed by silence. However, joy and anticipation filled every part of my soul.
On my way, I passed several humans. We exchanged smiles. I was moving among them unnoticed. I strolled through the park into downtown as if I had lived here my whole life. I neared the Orchard building and searched for Ellis. There, I saw people shopping along one of the streets. I quit the role of researcher and instead become an active participant in this world we created for them. The feeling was different as a student. At the Archives, I accidentally entered the Habitat. Now, I was entering deliberately to make contact.
Alongside the building, nestled under flowering trees was a bench sitting near a bicycle rack. Here, I would wait. I attempted smoothing my wrinkled clothes and noticed my student identification badge still attached at my waistband. I snatched it off, shoved it into my pocket, ran my fingers through my hair, and tried to look nonchalant. Within moments, I saw her peddling in my direction. I had no story, and I panicked.
“Bram?” she called a few yards from me. She beamed.
What do I do? What do I say? She is glowing. What excuse do I have? “Hi, wow, what a coincidence.” I am an idiot. I stood. She rolled her bike into the rack. “How are you? Have you recovered from our crash?”
“No,” she said, “I’m pretty sure I’ll have permanent damage.” We both laughed. “So, why are you here? Have you just had therapy?” she asked, taking one side of her hair and pushing it back behind her ear.
“Yes, I decided to sit and soak up the sun,” I said. So lame, I sound like a grandfather.
“You sound like my dad.” Great.
“Are you here for therapy?” I asked.
“No, I was meeting my friend.” She looked over my shoulder, and for a moment, I was disappointed Ana would join us. I turned to see nothing. “You met her in the Archives. She’s late, but she should be here soon. I swear she told me she’d be out by four o’clock…wait, unless she meant her appointment was at four o’clock. I’m so confused. Was it an extended session?” She put her palm to her head as if to jar her memory.
Everything she said and every movement she made was charming—I had a flashback to the therapist calling the little human child adorable and thinking of it as a pet for her own child. Was I trying to turn Ellis into a pet? Was she my latest plaything I’d soon tire of and put away? No, no, that can’t be. I won’t be that Bram again.
“Oh well, when she gets out, we meet at the Fountain. Want to go with me? I mean, if you don’t have plans. Have you eaten?” She stopped her nervous chatter and looked up at me with a kind smile and a look that told me she wasn’t sure I wanted to spend time with her.
“No, I’m starving. I’d love to go with you,” I said. One of the few truths I had told her.
“Great, I’m sure Ana will come as soon as her session is finished,” she said.
What have I done? “Hey, should I trust you? I hardly know you,” I said, trying to be funny. “You should tell me something about yourself. I don’t want you to think I go off anywhere with perfect strangers.” I hope I didn’t sound like a complete srumof.
She laughed. I breathed easier. “I promise you’re safe with me, I don’t bite,” she said. “Besides, we aren’t complete strangers. Remember, we have literally run into each other before.”
“Have we? I don’t remember,” I said. Please let it work. Where is cool Bram? I sound stupid.
She laughed but ended with a little snort. She swiped her hand at me as if she would hit me but delivered only a playful tap.
“Ow—so violent and angry, are you sure you don’t need a quick therapy session before we go?” I asked, pointing to the Orchard building. More laughing and fake fighting followed. This had to be what my mom called “love taps,” and I thought it felt awesome.
In Atum culture, men aren’t concerned with proving masculinity or behaving in ways humans consider manly. For Atum, providing a successful family dynamic was vital. Atum females considered an attentive husband, gentle father, and competent worker, an attractive mate. However, it didn’t hurt to be handsome. Our compatibility and genetics testing confirmed our ability to function as valuable mates. For us, there were other ways in our culture to prove ourselves. My father doted on my mother. He treated her as if she were his reason for living. His goal was solely to please her, and females desired that type of Atum mate. My virility wouldn’t be questioned by admitting I felt this way toward Ellis. The only problem I faced was her not being on my coupling list, and furthermore, she was a human. That was a major problem.
We walked together, with me letting her lead the way. Of course, I had never eaten at the Fountain or any other restaurant in Horizon, so I needed to be careful. I didn’t have the choice of telling the truth, so my lies had to be perfect.
We stopped at a shiny, one-story building with many windows. Outside was a large, advertisement with glowing colored lights. The sign simulated the motion of a fountain spewing water, in multiple shades of blue. “Have you been here before?” Quick thinking told me it must be possible not to have eaten here.
“No, I haven’t. I’m hungry, and it smells delicious,” I said. It was fortunate, my mother exposed me to human foods. Otherwise, I would have been apprehensive about what I might be forced to eat. Humans enjoyed many foods for which our people had not developed a taste. Fried skins of a pig, an underground nut made into a thick paste, a grit that looked much like sand, and a slimy, green vegetable called an okra. My mother had taken great pleasure in introducing these ‘human-alien’ food items into our Atum household.
We reached the door, and she grabbed for the handle. Like lightning, I remembered to open it for her. We had this custom in our culture. Males performed acts to shelter and protect females. Automated doors executed this task in our buildings, but there were other ways to show this courtesy to females. I grabbed the door handle and pulled, it caught. I pulled again, and it didn’t budge.
She laughed. “Push,” she said.
Great…and now, I am officially an idiot.
I pushed the door, and I joined her in laughing. “Oh, I’m so smooth. Let me warn you—it will be hard to resist my obvious charm.” More laughing on her part. Maybe I’m not too bad at this wooing business.
“Hey there, precious. Who you got with ya today?” asked a cheery woman with enormous hair. I was glad I didn’t lie about eating at this restaurant before.
“Hello, Mrs. McCoy,” said Ellis, “This is Bram.”
“Hello, Bram. Have we met before? Nope, I’d remember you. Ellis, he’s just cute as a bug in a rug,” said Mrs. McCoy. “Y’all take a seat, and I’ll be right with you.”
“Cool, huh?” said Ellis, looking around the restaurant. “I keep telling myself to try other places to eat, but Ana and I keep coming here because it’s close to the Orchard. Where do you eat?”
Mrs. McCoy delivered menus. “Here you are, darlings. What can I get you to drink?”
Luckily, she kept me from having to answer Ellis about which restaurant was my favorite. “So, what do you recommend?” I said, before she asked me the same question again.
“I love everything, but the fries and burgers are incredible. What are your favorite foods?” she asked.
“In our house, eating is a science experiment. You never know how the results will be,” I said, telling the truth this time.
“My dad loves to cook. His effort makes up for his lack of culinary discipline concerning those insignificant rules about cooking times and temperatures.” She laughed again.
Mrs. McCoy took our order and left.
“So, I’ll go first,” I said. “Tell me everything about you, Ellis.”
She smiled. “I hate to point this out, but that isn’t you going first, that’s you telling me to go first.”
I returned a smile and said nothing.
“Okay,” she began, “I’m twenty. I’ll be twenty-one next February. I finished my placement tests last week and can’t wait to get the results. My dad is a doctor, and Mom was in the healthcare field before coming to Horizon. They met here, married, and adopted me. Within two weeks, I became Ellis Bauer. I guess I never told you my last name.”
I hesitated. “No.” I smiled. “It’s a beautiful name.”
“How old are you?” she asked.
“I’ll be twenty-two in September.”
“Oh,” Ellis began, “wait, why don’t I remember you in school? You graduated in ‘50?”
“Oh…I moved ahead,” I said. I surprised myself thinking of it so quickly.
“You’re kidding me. Oh…so you’re one of those kids.”
“What kids?” I asked.
“The brainiacs. That’s what you are. You’re a nerd.” She laughed.
“Okay, you got me. I’m a nerd. I love to study. Have you always been a bully?” I asked, hoping I was funny.
She play-slapped my hand, “I’m not a bully.”
“What do you call that?” I said, rubbing my hand. “You’re so vicious. I can help with your anger problem. You need to learn to control your outbursts,” I said, teasing. “That’s part of my job.”
“What? I want to be a release therapist,” she said. “Is your job related to release therapy?”
“I…” I paused to think of something. “am interested in researching human psychology.”
“Isn’t that a release therapist?”
“Not technically, I don’t practice in the office doing sessions with patients. Instead, I study case files to determine needs created by the Ha…Horizon…by the town. Huma…people are changing because of what’s happened on Earth, and many psychological changes will continue to result.”
“You really do sound like my dad. And, by the way, he is king of the nerds.” She laughed. “Do you know him? Alex Bauer? You must study at the hospital.”
“No, I don’t think so. I haven’t begun my work there. I’m in the last phase of my training.”
Mrs. McCoy returned with our food. “Chili fries, grilled cheese, and chocolate cake. Enjoy.”
“Thank you, Mrs. McCoy. This looks incredible,” I said.
“Well, I declare, Ellis, I could just sop your fella up with a biscuit,” said Mrs. McCoy, giving us a wink. Ellis giggled. I didn’t understand what Mrs. McCoy meant, but it sounded painful and not pleasurable at all.
I looked at my sandwich and dessert. They looked delicious. So did Ellis’s chili fries.
“You must have a sweet tooth,” she said. I wasn’t sure what that meant either, so I laughed. She did too. I thought I would rather have a tooth that was sweet than let Mrs. McCoy sop me.
“Your fries look great. I’ve never tried them with chili.”
“I’ll trade you fries for a bite of your cake. What do you say?” She pushed her plate toward mine and picked up her fork, letting it hover over my dessert. In our culture, sharing food from our serving dishes was an intimate act, and people did this only with family or spouses. I felt strange seeing her enthusiasm over this nonchalant human practice. She smiled at me as she lifted cake into her plate. I scooped fries over into my plate and returned the smile.
I was unsure about everything I said, but being with Ellis felt easy and right. I wanted to tell her everything and skip to the part where she knew the real me, and I knew her completely, and we were…
“You’re putting way too much thought into whether chili fries were worth the sacrifice of cake,” she said. She was clever and quick.
“I think I might be in love,” I said. She turned a gorgeous shade of pink. “These chili fries are fantastic,” I added. I noticed she had chocolate on the corner of her mouth. I wanted to reach out and wipe it away, but instead, I took a napkin and held it in front of her. She looked confused. I pointed to my mouth, and she looked embarrassed. I remembered when she had lunch earlier with Ana and said she would be embarrassed if I had seen her with the burnt sandwich stuck in her teeth. I wished I hadn’t told her the chocolate was on her lip, so I picked up a chili fry and purposely let the chili graze my mouth. She laughed and started to wipe at the frosting on her mouth. “No,” I said, “leave it. We should start a new trend.”
She leaned across the table and took her napkin to wipe away my chili. “Sorry, the world isn’t ready for that fashion statement.” This was the second time she touched me, not counting the time we collided. I understood, to her, this was not intimate. But for me, it was electric.
According to my research on human behavioral history, in American societies, touching wasn’t forbidden. Handshaking was a form of greeting and taking leave. The practice of greetings called high fives was absent of intimate connotation. Humans made more general physical contact with one another than my race. What were we thinking?
“You never had chili on your fries? Where have you been living, Mars?”
“No, not quite.” If you only knew. “Mom is more into health food.”
“Eww, yuck, so is my mom. And your dad?” she asked.
Without thinking, I said, “He died not long after The End.” I forgot to use my bio story; fake Dad was alive.
“You mean your biological dad?” she asked, amazed I still had a member of my own blood survive with me. No family had more than one member survive The End.
“No, my Horizon dad; it’s only my mom and me, now.”
I cringed and felt guilty every time I told her another lie. Was I fooling myself into thinking we could have a happy ending? Oh, yeah, by the way, Ellis, I am Atum, what you call alien, and Horizon isn’t real. You are living in a giant science experiment. I thought you were my ideal mate, so I faked a whole life story, and now I want to confess. My mother is your therapist, and I’ve read your private files. Oh, since you aren’t supposed to know this, we can’t date because my government has a ban on human-Atum relationships, so we are breaking one of the worst laws ever. I couldn’t do this to her because she didn’t deserve to be hurt. I had to leave.
