I opened my eyes and immediately regretted it, the light above my bed glaring into my retinas.
Slowly I unstrapped myself from the tethers on the bed, and getting into what little attire I needed for this day.
After groggily pulling on my underwear, my eyes had adjusted enough to the dim light and I finally looked up directly into the eyes of my sister, floating above.
I flinch back and stumble in the empty air before grasping the side of my bunk, glaring at her.
''''Ready to grow up, little man.'''' Her voice filled with mirth.
I stifled my annoyance at her, glancing at her slender form, with only traces of the puppy fat that defined the majority of my body.
She was always the more confidant of the two of us.
Despite the fact we were both eighteen, she was 5ft tall, whereas I was just the normal 4.5ft, average for our age, which she never let me forget... Although she could have been referring to something else.
''''Let''s just get going'''' I said, carefully trying to keep the tremor of shock from my voice, but she seemed to hear it anyway, her smile broadening even further.
''''Are you both ready?'''' Called a voice from below us, my mother Reisa.
''''Yes!'''' We responded in unison before pushing off the from our bunks to descend down to her.
She was sat strapped into a chair by the door and smiled when she saw us.
She''s small for an adult, barely over 7ft, but she had kind eyes that seemed to always look like they''re trying to see beyond a strange haze, but that''s not unusual for Adults.
''''Today is going to be the most wonderful day for you. Adulthood will let you finally understand.'''' She said looking at both of us with a happy but complex expression, her eyes lingering on me a bit longer than my sister.
We nod with wildly different levels of enthusiasm, my sister grinning smugly, while I merely looked at the floor.
We left through the door after receiving a well meaning hug from her and some whispered apology from her about our father being at work.
It doesn''t matter, there''s nothing really to say, we are about to grow up.
Leaving our pod we travelled down the hallways in leaps and bounds, the zero gravity something we''ve been able to move through with ease since we were only a few months old, first learning how to angle momentum and control our centres of mass, then after the bumps and scrapes, learning to displace that momentum and avoid injury.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Before the Loss, our ancestors used to be on a planet where they could barely leave the ground for a moment before being dragged back down.
It always sounded so exhausting to me.
As we travelled further through the ship we encountered other children our age, escorted by parents and carers, heading to the same section of the ship, the G.A.I.A Chambers.
Me and my sister avoided the floating clusters of friends, all chatting nervously and expounding their glee with false bravado. Instead we travelled silently as a pair, our mother further behind us, moving even more sedately than usual.
I casually glanced at the corridor around me, my eyes shaking off the last cloying vestiges of restless sleep.
Steel and chrome are the main fixtures that barely shined in the early day shift lighting strips that run along the hall, and the myriad of floating children looking like prepubescent pilot fish.
The endless circular windows that dotted the steel interior of the ship, looking at nothing but the void of space, a continuous tableau of metallic greys, interspersed with droplets of absence, that only hint at the stars beyond.
I don''t even know why they bothered with these things. There wouldn''t be anything interesting to look at outside for a few generations yet.
Slowly we moved through the ship, finding our way through the unfamiliar corridors by following silver coloured lights that run along what was presumably once the floor before gravity stopped meaning anything to the population.
Slowly we find ourselves with a large group of other teenagers, waiting outside a single large sealed grey portcullis.
I looked around and had a moment of satisfaction, seeing all the bluster of the chubby youthful faces around me drain away with nervous anticipation taking its place.
Most of them were about my height, some of the larger ones were nearly as tall as my sister, but overall they we were a pretty average group of 18year old Pre-Adults.
''''Enter'''' An automated voice said from a hidden speaker by door, which gently pulsed green, before opening smoothly with the slightest hissing sound that could only be heard because of the silence among our group.
Inside was a large well lit spherical room where the Genetic Alteration Inducing Adulthood or G.A.I.A pods could be seen. There were hundreds of them built up like cancerous little polyps covering the whole room.
''''Find a pod and enter, the process will begin shortly'''' The same robotic voice said from all around us.
At this point, almost on instinct, I looked at my sister beside me. She''s no longer smiling and I begin to see anxiety on her face as she watches the others climb into the small confined pods.
Reaching out, I grab her hand and squeeze.
''''See you when I''m a man'''' I say with all the humour I can muster.
''''Hmmm. So never?'''' She responds, but her smile was grateful rather than mocking and we slowly entered pods adjacent to each other through hatches on the top.
The interior is cramped and contains a single dim light source beneath my feet, a gentle white with flecks of grey from age.
A small breathing mask was located in a nook to my left.
I pick it up carefully and it sealed tight to my face when I place it over my mouth.
''''Welcome to Gaia, your adolescent aid. Due to the inability of humans to achieve adulthood in zero gravity, the Gaia pod will provide you with this service.
The survival odds are 78% as of the last year''s Group.
Please Remain calm.''''
The hatch above me closed