Isolation

Chapter 01

Present day...

The alarm beeped from the glowing, blue hologram that projected from the wall. It made a sharp ping that reached deep into Mark's subconsciousness to make sure he would wake. Punctuality was something that was important for the colony, especially students. He arose from his deep slumber. As much as his body wanted him to get out of bed, his mind had other groggy ideas. He let the alarm rattle his brain for the minute until it went silent on automatic snooze.

But, unfortunately, his dad kept tabs on everything he did. Not that Mark blamed him. It's kind of his job.

His face took the place of the clock, emerging as a light blue light. Mark peeped through his closed eyes, knowing the inevitable was drawing near.

"Lights on," Jason's voice came through the speaker below.

The lights flashed on in the room, reflecting off the gray, metal walls. He groaned.

"Come on, champ," he called him by his favorite nickname. "It's Friday. Last day of school for the week."

"I know, Dad, I know."

Regrettably, he pulled himself out of bed and set the gray covers back in place like he did every day. He tucked the covers into the bed frame and adjusted his pillows.

"Did you study for that test you have today?"

His voice was a little robotic with some static coming through the speaker. It was made for alarms and not voices, but that would be fixed later. Once there was enough metal to replace it, and once it was a high enough priority, it would get changed. Everything does eventually.

"Yeah. It wasn't that difficult," he said. "Microbiology is easier than I first thought."

In the small room was a closet and a small space indented into the wall for showering and using the bathroom. It looked like an old stall, but it was really high tech. He walked in and looked in the mirror. His hair liked to curl up while he was asleep, but it was having a bad hair day. The hair was sticking up everywhere. His stubble had formed longer strands of about half an inch long. Mark didn't want to shave it, but he didn't want to look like his father, either. He threw off his pajamas into the hamper and took his shower. He stood under the showerhead.

"Begin bathing procedure," he said.

Almost instantly, water, mixed in with some soapy cleansing compounds, began to drop from the ceiling to the floor in a steady stream like summer rain. He could feel his skin warm from the soap, cleansing his pores. Scrubbing wasn't required, but he did it anyway. Shortly after, a flow of warm air replaced the water, drying him within two minutes. There could be no more excuses for being late to work or school since the shower was on a timer. He fiddled with his hair so it wouldn't fall in his eyes while it dried and resumed its normal shape.

He moved to his wardrobe. The sensor picked up his presence and slid the hidden door up from its magnetic seal. His Silver Suit, having been washed overnight and calibrated, hung clean and shiny. This was their uniform.

"And you did your training?" His dad asked from the wall. He was keeping his eyes on his tablet, paying Mark no mind while he dressed.

The material separated from its tiny chain links, allowing him to step inside. It sealed itself using the magnetic technology discovered some time ago, though he couldn't remember when.

"Yup. Those Drax didn't know what hit them."

He looked at himself in the mirror again. The gray suit fit just right. The entire suit was basically a "onesie" from looking through the old archives he found the word from. He turned the cuff of his wrist and heard a familiar *click* as his communicator became active. Blue holographic images with different functions appeared as it adjusted to his body's presence. The colony really liked the colors blue and gray. He checked the diagnostics that came up on the screen and confirmed everything was operational. He turned to look at their genus's symbol shine like silver on the shoulder of the suit. Canis lupus. The wolf.