Alex looked outside his window, staring at the beautiful blue their ship was rapidly approaching.
The ship made its slow but steady approach to Mars. Through therge observation windows, they could see the transformation of the red.
Once a barren, destendscape, Mars had undergone hundreds of years of terraforming, turning it into a lush, Earth-like. Vast oceans glistened under the sunlight, sprawling forests covered thend, and massive cities dotted the surface, connected by an intricate web of transportation systems.
"Look at it, Alex," Mira whispered, her voice filled with awe. "Mars is... breath taking."
Alex nodded, his eyes wide with wonder. "It''s incredible. Hard to believe it used to be a lifeless rock."
As their ship descended through the atmosphere, the view of the terraformed grew clearer.
They could see massive cities filled with skyscrapers and bustling traffic of people everywhere within, surrounded by verdant countryside and shimmering bodies of water.
"We have arrived at our destination, we wish you all a safe journey from here on!"
An announcement red out from one of the loudspeakers, bringing Alex and Mira out of their awe.
The ship made a smoothnding at the main spaceport on Mars. The passengers were instructed to disembark and proceed to the inspection area.
Alex and Mira gathered their belongings and joined the line, moving through the process with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
As they reached the front of the line, a stern looking security officer scanned their IDs and documents.
"State your business on Mars," the officer demanded.
Neither of the two were surprised at the strict security checks, as this whole Sr system was under tight wraps, which was expected considering it was the centre of the Federation and its control over the gxy.
While Alex was busy with looking for his documents on hismunicator, Mira cleared her throat. "We''re here to enrol in Capital Prime. We have our eptance letters and all necessary documentation."
The officer scrutinised their papers, then spoke. "All newly enrolled students should have been here already. Thousands of peoplee through these checks every year with forged papers trying to enter Capital Prime, and none seed. What makes you think you''ll be the ones to break this record?"
At first, Mira didn''t even react as she had done everything properly and followed all the rules. But she couldn''t help but be gobsmacked when this officer was using them of forging their documents!
Not to mention, the officer hadn''t presented any evidence other than them beingte, which made this situation seem even more suspicious.
"Our documents aren''t forged." Mira stiffened her tone and answered resolutely. She wasn''t going to let some no name customs officer stop them from rightfully entering.
By now, Alex had also realised what was going on, and his mood quickly took a 180 from being excited to finally enrol in the best university in the gxy, to annoyed and angry at the arrogance of this officer.
But before he could even speak up, Mira pulled up hermunicator''s interface and started calling someone from out of nowhere.
It only took a few seconds for the person on the other side to pick up,
"Hello, is this Professor Will I''m speaking to?"
Mira turned towards the guard, a smirk on her face.
But the guy justughed it off.
"Neat trick, but some no name wannabe students like you wouldn''t have the number of one of the most prestigious Professors in the university, just give up al-"
"..."
A holographic figure soon appeared out of Mira''smunicator.
It was Professor Will.
Immediately, the officer''s face went from the typical arrogant smile to one of horror.
Professor Will only took one look at the guy before he delivered an ultimatum.
"Let my students pass now and I won''t have to contact your higher ups about this incident."
The guy was too scared to even speak anymore and he could only thoroughly nod his head and open the gates for the duo.
Professor Will''s hologram gave a nod to Alex and Mira, and disappeared shortly after.
They sarcastically thanked the officer and made their way towards the transport terminal. Their bus was sleek and futuristic, just what one would expect from such an advanced city, designed forfort during their rtively short journey to Capital Prime city, where the University was also situated.
Alex and Mira found seats near the back, their excitement quickly returning to them.
***
"Screw those damn rich kids and their entrance letters!"
Roan shouted at the top of his lungs the moment Alex and Mira had left.
He was the officer who stopped them from entering.
And he had just received a disciplinary action notice on hismunicator.
''Screw that Professor Will, he said he wouldn''t pursue the matter any further if I let them pass!''
However while Roan was venting his anger in any way he could, hismunicator started ringing once again.
This time it was a call from his manager.
He quickly freshened himself up and calmed down, before he picked up the call.
"Good morning sir, I hope-"
"Cut the bullshit. You''re fired, Roan."
His manager instantly shut down his zing and got straight to the point.
"I''ve given you too many chances over thest 6 months, but this time you really screwed up. How the hell did you manage tond in the bad books of Professor Will Wothers!? I warned you not to keep bothering the newly enrolled students just because your own kids didn''t make the cut, yet you never listened. I''m sorry Roan, but this is goodbye.
You''ve been removed from your position, effective immediately."
All of a sudden, Roan felt his worlde toppling down all at once.
''No…''
''All this just because I was messing with some kids…''
One second he was happily ''doing his job'' as a customs officer, and the next he was getting dragged out of the terminal by the security.
''Fuck this shitty world! Life is so unfair!''