Planet Mercury isn't the first place you'd think of moving to, perhaps, but it's for this very reason the small community of scientists and students moved there after the Earth suffered colossal destruction at the end of the 21st Century. Max Steven...
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A tall, blonde-haired teenage boy laid in a chamber of liquid death, with his eyes closed and his heart beating at a small fraction of its normal pace. A blinding light shone down from up above, and his eyes shuttered and opened a sliver. "Where are my clothes?" he muttered quietly to himself, while waking up dressed only in a smooth, white tunic. His entire body was covered in a cool, clear gel, which was both alarming and oddly calming, simultaneously.
A slender, blue-haired woman stood beside his bed chamber, and handed him a towel. "You're going to want to wipe all that goop off you before we head out on your tour. I advise you rinse your mouth out in the bathroom as well." As his vision began clearing up and things came into perspective, his memories came flooding back. "I'm sure you've got quite a few questions on your mind" she said with a straight face, "but for now, get collected, and we'll meet out in the hallway in five minutes".
The blonde boy headed to the bathroom door, only to find that it was a solid sheet of glass with metal accents. As he approached the door, it lit up and a series of panels glowed within the glass. "State your name" the door said in a simulated voice that was neither entire robotic nor naturally human either. The boy scratched his head and thought to himself a good thirty seconds before saying "Maxwell Stevenson". "Proceed" the voice said as the glass door smoothly slid into the floor. "At least I remember my name" Max whispered aloud to himself, "that's a good start."
As Max prepared to begin scrubbing off the gel, he was surprised that the bathroom lights caused it to evaporate immediately right before his eyes. No stickiness, no residue, no mess. Inside the bathroom was a fresh set of clothing next to a large box tied ceremoniously with a silvery blue ribbon and a small card that read "Welcome to MeIT, Max." Deciding to open the package last, Max brushed his teeth, rinsed his mouth and splashed his face with water. Everything felt increasingly more familiar to him as the haziness in his mind began melting away, and he regained a fresher sense of reality. Slipping into his clothes he was content in learning that all of his items fit snugly without any discomfort. "Someone went out of their way to get all these clothes to fit perfectly, I'll have to thank them later."
As he stepped out of the bathroom and back into the previous room, he now had a better sense of his surroundings. In the center of the room was a large glass container shaped similarly to a coffin and filled half-way with the sticky substance that he just cleaned off.
"That was your hibernation chamber," the blue-haired woman said sensing Max's confusion. "You were in there for almost three Earth years to the day, you know. It's only natural that you are experiencing some temporary amnesiatic effects. By my calculations you should be extremely hungry by now. Why don't we step out for a bit and show you some of our finest food options here in the colony."
Max looked over at the blue-haired woman closely and realized that she actually appeared to be close in age to him. Previously he had just assumed that she would have been older, as she was in an apparent position of authority. Seeing her closeup now, his opinions changed. She couldn't be a day over eighteen. Nineteen at the oldest. "You're staring at me, you know." The girl said with a sense of suddenness but also a hint of humor. "It's almost like you've never seen a girl with shiny, natural blue hair before"."
"Natural blue hair?" Max thought to himself. It didn't quite sound right, but he wasn't in any position to question the young lady at this time. He had been staring a bit longer than he intended to, but it had more to do with the fact that the blue-haired girl seemed to be wearing a thin purple cape that fully covered from her neck to her upper thighs and left little to the imagination.
The two of them walked down a hallway that seemed to go on forever and in doing so, Max decided to break the awkward science. "So, what types of food do they have here anyhow? I feel like I could eat a horse.""Well, we definitely won't be serving horse meat. Or any meat, of course. That'd be barbaric." The woman put her fingers to her nose and pinched it ever so softly.
"No meat, you say? Hmmm..."
"On the other hand, if you're into potatoes, then I suspect you're going to be very happy with our chef's selection tonight. Chef Morton of Potato Peter's fame is absolutely gifted when it comes to culinary preparation of all things spud." Max had assumed it was also a joke at first, but now he was starting to believe it to be true. As the two of them continued down the long white hallway with metallic flooring, they finally passed by the first set of glass windows. What Max saw, absolutely brought his jaw to the floor.
The glass was several inches thick and strong bolts surrounded the glass frame as to better secure it. Through this viewpoint, all he could see was endless amounts of rocky craters and dusty mounds. A hazy heat seemed to emanate from the surface. Stars of all shapes and sizes were clear as day in the sky, and it just occurred to him that he actually didn't know where he was."Mercury isn't exactly the prettiest planet in the solar system, but you have to admit there's something special about being one of the first people to live this close to the sun." Max didn't even have time to process what she said next, as the word MERCURY just rang in his head. "Mercury???"
There wasn't any way this could be true and yet, it made complete sense given the views Max was seeing out the window.
"You didn't open the card that came with your clothes, did you?"
Max shuffled inside his pockets and pulled open the card and read it softly out loud to himself. "Dear Max, if you're reading this, then it means you've survived the extended hibernation experiment, and you should be feeling yourself again. I'm sorry that we had to volunteer you into this program without your knowledge, but given the alternatives, it was the lesser of two evils. I hope the crew in the Mercurian Institute of Technology take good care of you. Things are really difficult at the moment, so my communication with you is going to be super limited, if I'm even able to reach you at all. Please trust me. Things are going to work out. —Dad."
A rush of anger, sadness and confusion swept Max all at once. He bit his lip and was too befuddled to say anything.
"If it makes you feel any better, it's absolutely true that this was the better alternative. I can't get too into it at the moment, but you're lucky that you woke up at all. Our doctors and lab assistants looked over you for years while you were in there and quite frankly we weren't sure that you'd even survive the process. Most don't."
"How long was I in there for?" Max asked sheepishly.
"Long enough that you're going to want a second helping of potatoes".
And with that, the two turned a corner and arrived into what appeared to be an extensive cafeteria. There were several empty tables, shiny metal countertops and a variety of food dishes displayed on holographic displays. Cartoon mascots of potato-looking people adorned every corner of the room and the distinct smell of salt and starch made it's way to Max's nostrils.
"That actually does smell delicious. Let's eat first, and figure all of this out."
As the two sat in a corner booth, it occurred to Max that he hadn't asked his blue-haired companion her name and as if through telepathy, she answered the question ahead of time.
"My name is Celine, by the way. I'm going to be your guide for the first few days here and then you'll be on your own. Well, more or less anyhow. I'll be around if you really need me for anything serious."
"Are you part of the research group here?" Max asked inquisitively, just as a blue-haired waitress came by to drop off the first plate of spudtastic deliciousness. Before she could answer, Max noticed that the girl in the booth beside them looked extremely similar to Celine, as did the woman standing in the corner using what appeared to be a communication device. There were slight differences in their hair styles and clothing, but their faces were all spitting images of each other. The food server smiled once she realized Max was on to them."
"We're all family here. In more ways than one." Celine said with a full grin.
Are you all...clones or something?" Max asked while dropping a perfectly good french fry onto the otherwise spotless floor.
