Darkworld: Earth

2.36.

Sarah slung her bag over her back and stared out the window of the space station. She was in a good mood today. Today was a good day, and she was looking forward to tomorrow. She had barely been thinking about Diego at all lately. When she did, the feelings were almost muted compared to the intense longing or the acute agony which she had experienced previously.

She felt like a teenager again, if she was being honest. Perhaps it was all in her head – she was on experimental neural regeneration therapy to treat brain damage, after all. But she was more optimistic than she’d been since middle school.

Which was fitting, considering her destination.

Doctor Trenola – she was adopting the human title around Earthlings even though there wasn’t quite a direct Yonohoan equivalent – had suggested that a change of scenery and mental stimulation would be good for her during this time. So some arrangements had been made, and she had been provisionally discharged from the hospital.

She didn’t care if it was provisional or not. She was free! And she was still in Yonohoan space, which meant that she didn’t have to answer to the corporations or governments quite yet. There would be a reckoning some day, but not today.

Today, she was going on a field trip.

She watched through the transparent wall as her ride appeared. She was surprised at how excited she was to be scheduled for this trip, despite the fact that she’d already spent time aboard one.

A Toormonda.

She was going on a Toormonda trip. Except, unlike the Guardian , which she had briefly served upon doing light duty before arrangements were made to get her the care she needed, this one had been in service for a century already. She would be the only earthling passenger, but not the only passenger. She would be a student in a group of Yonohoan teenagers as they all toured the local star systems and learned about the universe.

As the Toormonda docked with the station, she identified the other passengers by those who were waiting in line, many of them with luggage. She smiled at them when she caught them staring. Probably they were wondering if she was an Earthling or a visitor from one of the other brightworlds that sometimes did business with planet Totola. She’d been living among them for months now, but the shape of her head gave her away as a different species of human.

She waited for the others to board, and then followed them into the Toormonda.

When the door closed behind them and they realized that the strange lady had followed them aboard, some of them looked confused. None of them looked particularly concerned, however.

“Welcome. You are the Six hundred and fifty-seventh class aboard this particular Toormonda. I hope that you are all looking forward to this educational and formational experience. Often times, the bonds formed on a Toormonda will last a lifetime. Even those of you who came aboard with your friends may find the bonds between you deepening as you spend time together and explore the nature of reality.

“Please note that while this ship does have significant privacy protection modules, the close quarters means that you have a reduced expectation of privacy. Additionally, in lieu of usual Topoka monitoring, any Tuunka Powan will be reported to your guardians,” the ships voice said. It was sexless but friendly.

Sarah wondered what Tuunka Powan meant, but she was pretty sure by the context that it meant hanky-panky. The speech was in Yonohoan, but after weeks of an immersive experience Sarah was more or less proficient with that language now.

“Why is there an Earthling among us?” one of the girls asked. One of the other girls elbowed her for her forthright rudeness.

“Because I’m another one of the passengers,” Sarah explained in their language. She smiled in a way that she hoped was friendly. “I am from Earth. I am being treated for a neurological disorder and my doctor thinks that spending time aboard a Toormonda will be good for my health. Additionally, I never had the chance to take a Toormonda ride when I was your age and I’m really looking forward to it. I hope we can be friends.”

The Yonohoan teens looked around at each other, considering the situation. One of the boys suddenly asked “Did you bring Earth Music with you?’

“I did!” she announced, and the atmosphere improved immediately. “I hope you all like K-pop.”

~~~~~~~

It turns out that Yonohoan teenagers and Earth teenagers have one thing in common. The moment that they get away from their parents, they immediately begin to party.

The music from her tablet, which she had carried with her from the Seeker , blared through the Toormonda as the teenagers drank fizzy beverages and danced to the unfamiliar beats. There was laughing and playing. Two boys got into a wrestling match. Sarah saw two different couples making out in a corner despite the warning about Tuunka Powan.

And half of them were singing along to the song. Poorly, repeating words that they didn’t understand and sometimes had difficulty pronouncing.

Sarah felt a little out of place, like a college student at a high school party, so she retired to the bedrooms.

Unlike the private rooms of the Guardian of Dreams , this Toormonda had the standard layout for the semi-private areas. A private-ish bedroom for the chaperones to share, and two dormitories. One for boys and one for girls. Since Sarah wasn’t a chaperone, she’d be sleeping with the girls. Naturally.

The group shared a bathroom with private stalls and a communal shower area. Communal bathing with the same sex was standard in Yonohoan culture. The boys and girls were scheduled to take showers at separate times, but using the same facilities. Peaking was greatly frowned upon, but no doubt happened.

They were teenagers, after all.

Sarah had asked, and she could either shower with the girls or schedule a time for herself. The Yonohoans understood shyness, it just wasn’t common.

Sarah retired to the girls dorm and claimed a bed for herself. The mattress was just barely long enough; if she were any taller she wouldn’t fit. She smiled as she noted graffiti atop of graffiti atop of graffiti on the walls. Nobody had made any effort of removing the murals and decorations. It seemed to be a tradition for everyone to try to leave behind a little mark from themselves.

An adult Yonohoan came into the room. A man. He smiled at her and showed her his hands in a gesture of greeting. He was surprised when halfway through the gesture she grabbed his hand and shook it.

“That’s how we do it on Earth,” she explained.

“I see. As I was about to say, I am Dornodo. This is my Toormonda, and I welcome you aboard it.”

“You own this thing? I thought they were like owned by the school system or something,” Sarah said.

“No. It is a business to run a Toormonda. The children or their parents save up and pay for the privilege. Your own ride is being paid for by the hospital, and you are receiving a generous medical discount. I am fortunate to have been trusted enough to purchase this Toormonda when its previous owner became too frail to look after the children any longer and was forced to retire,” Dornodo explained.

“I see. I bet it’s pretty unusual to have an adult passenger,” Sarah said.

“No. It is actually very common for adults to get nostalgic about their experiences as a teenager and ask for me to repeat their journey. Often with their spouses or lovers. The rules for those journeys are very different, of course, and I am often relegated to hiding in my quarters with earplugs,” the man explained.

Sarah laughed. “Well, I see. You aren’t worried about the kids while you’re here checking up on me?”

“They’ll be fine. This always happens when we leave port. It is part of the experience. Once they calm down and have a rest period, we will begin the educational experience in earnest,” Dornodo explained.

“I am very much looking forward to it,” Sarah said.

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