Novah stood in the doorway of door D2. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear at the sight she saw.

The door opened to corridor B, a long thick hallway that had four doors that lead to other unknown rooms. The lights on the ceiling flickered and some hung down, swaying back and forth. Chairs, papers, and all sorts of objects were scattered around as if a stampede of animals ran through carelessly, tearing apart the room as they went.

A strong sense of wrongness settled in Novah’s heart as she took one step forward. There was an Atana with a broken screen in between two of the doors, it’s steady blue light was the one thing not flickering.

Novah walked around, looking at the horrific scene, slowly making her way to the Atana. When she got there, she looked at the crack in the screen. It was like someone punched it out of frustration.

Suddenly—even though it was broken—the screen turned on and a monotonous voice spoke, “Please enter an order.”

Novah’s hands started to shake again, as she stood there looking at the computer. The keyboard popped out of the wall, beckoning her to type.

She typed, What happened in corridor B?

After a long pause Atana spoke, “That is none of your concern, Novah.”

Novah’s heart started to beat loudly in her ears and she back away from the computer screen. Panic began to settle in her mind again. Something was not right with Atana. She had never experienced defiance in a computer before. Though her voice was cold and mechanical, the machine’s words brought fear and challenge. What Atana could do to Novah was unpredictable.

Slowly she backed further away, reaching for one of the doors. At the end of the hall, there was a door that was left open. Novah not wanting to go back to where she came, dashed for the door.

The room she entered was the kitchen or what was left of it. The cupboards were open and some cupboard doors were ripped off. The table was knocked over and the contents of it were spilled onto the floor. There was a big window on the wall, which made Novah feel less trapped but at the same time even less hopeful. The lack of hubs in the sky just reminded her of what seemed like a lonely death ahead. A can of food rolled over to Novah and touched her foot.

Curious, Novah bent down and picked it up. Chocolate pudding… Her eyes looked over to where the can came from and a small cleaning robot moved over, it’s blue lights flashing. Novah stood up in defense. The top of the cleaning robot was a screen which turned on and Atana spoke, “Please enter an order.”

Novah backed out of the room in fear but suddenly she hit a something. Surprised, Novah looked behind her to see the door had closed in on her. She was trapped.

Her heart started to race even faster. It felt like a prisoner banging on the bars of its cell, wanting to be freed. So this was the end then, a death by cleaning robot. Who was Novah to think she could run away from Atana? Atana was the ship and no matter where Novah hid, she would find her.

Suddenly Novah looked out the window and in the near-distance was a spaceship approaching. With a sudden beacon of hope, Novah jumped past the cleaning robot and ran to the window.

She raised her hands up and pushed herself against the plastic, banging on it desperately. The spaceship moved fast and soon Novah felt the blast door open as the two spaceships connected. The whole room shook as the door opened and then a jerk of force when the spaceships clicked in place becoming one.

She stayed there, relief settling into her heart. Shock caused her reactions to delay but it felt like 30 minutes until the doors opened and men in black armor came in. They called out to each other. They seemed surprised by Novah presence. A soldier took off his helmet and started to speak to her. He had a kind fairly young face. Novah didn’t remember anything he said and before she could think or speak. They were giving her off the ship.

The soldiers behind and around her pointed their guns at the empty rooms and hallways as if they were expecting something to attack. It wasn’t until they were boarding onto the other spaceship that Novah came back to reality.

She spun around, shaking the hands of the soldiers of her shoulders and looked behind her. “My aunt—” she yelped.

The kind-faced soldier placed his hand on Novah and spoke, “They’re still checking the ship. All we can do for now is wait.”

Novah looked with glassy eyes at Atana-503, but let the soldiers lead her into the new ship. All we can do for now is wait. She found herself, repeating that phrase in her mind.

Novah let the soldiers walk her through the new spaceship. She felt detached and in a daze but still, she noticed her surroundings. People in white lab coats walked past and turned their head when they saw Novah, looking at her curiously. Every room was bright and white, everything was white.

Some of the people who gawked at her, whispered in each other’s ears things like, “Is that a survivor of Atana-503?” “I wonder what it was like…” “Atana-503!”

Atana-503… People were talking about it like it was a touchy subject.

They passed through white corridors and white rooms (some of them had different colors instead of just white everything), until some of the soldiers broke away and it was only the kind-faced soldier and another one whose helmet was still on guiding Novah.

They came upon a door and the soldier with the helmet typed a code and the door opened with the sound of air being released. Inside was an office with a woman in a grey dress, looking out the window. The plastic of the window was also a screen covered in pictures and text. The woman slid her hands across deleting certain pictures from the plastic screen. When he heard the door open she turned around curiously.

She had ashy brown hair that was cut in a pixie cut and sharp features. The dress she wore was simplistic and professional. The woman carried herself with a certain confidence and importance.

The striking woman eyed Novah curiously and spoke, “Kado, you’re back soon and a survivor? Please come closer. There are some things we need to ask you.” Novah approached the glass desk shyly. The woman gestured to a white cushioned chair, Novah sat. “My name is Nadine and I’m here to help. Please, tell me everything you know.”

Novah licked her lips and began, “My name is Novah,” she started and both Nadine and Kado listened intently. “I’m from planet Exdein-57. Me and my aunt Clea went on Atana-503 for vacation. It was your average cruise experience. Um...I woke up in room E with a horrible headache. Nothing seemed out of place. I got up and once I started moving my headache seemed to disappear. I logged into Atana, just the usual things. I was confused to why I woke up on the floor of the living room. I didn’t see sign of any other people. I went into other rooms and there came a door that Atana wouldn’t open, so I override her with the emergency book. When the door opened...I was shocked initially. It looked like a mess and I didn’t know what happened. I was scared...I remember in perfect detail what it looked like. There was an Atana screen that was broken. It looked like someone punched it or something. The strangest and the scariest thing is when I asked Atana-503 what happened…” Novah’s mind drifted off, remembering the terrifying experience.

“What happened with Atana-503?” Nadine asked, almost demanding. Her features were intensive but when she saw the frightened look on Novah’s face, she softened her face slightly and spoke, “Please, we need to know so that we can do something about what happened to your Aunt.”

“So she’s gone?” Novah spoke with a shaking voice. Her eyes started to sting.

Kado looked at her sympathetically and spoke, “We searched the ship and we could find anything. Not even bodies. There were beds left unmade and clothes in drawers. There were diaries and we know who was on the ship. We just have no idea where they are.”

“Well...what happened to them? They can’t have just disappeared!” Novah’s voice rose. She felt like it was incredibly unfair.

“That’s what we were hoping you could tell us.” Nadine sighed.

“So that’s it? She’s gone? All those people are gone?”

“It’s all we can do for now. All we ask of you—all we need of you—is to not cause a panic. You’re not the only minor we have on board that had gone through a tragedy of some kind. We’ll try to get you back to your guardians as soon as possible but Exdein is far away.” Novah nodded and looked at her hands. There was nothing she could do. At least not at that moment.

“Kado,” Nadine spoke, looking over Novah’s shoulder, “Can you get Novah into some clean clothes and show her a room.”

Kado slightly nodded and guided Novah out of the room. They walked in bitter silence.

***

After walking through the spaceship silently, finally, Kado stopped in front of an Atana and opened a door. He then beckoned Novah to follow him.

“These are the chambers,” He spoke, looking up and Novah looked up with him.

There were floors and floors of rooms, reaching towards the top of the ship. There were four elevators even distributed around the room. People dashed past, some laughing and talking, they were just simple people. The spaceship was like a mini city.

“Come on,” Kado ushered smiling at the amazed look on Novah’s face.

Novah broke out of her daze and follow hurriedly. Together they went into an elevator with a couple other people. The elevator was made of glass and didn’t feel like it was moving, more like floating. Novah looked out the glass and watched the floor go further and further away. Until, the elevator stopped and Kado started leading the way again.

The hallways weren’t as bright as the corridor, adding a bit more of a cozy feel. The floor was the same white plaster throughout the ship.

Finally, Kado stopped before a door. The door was black and when Kado touched it, it turned into a screen. Kind of like the plastic screen Nadine was using, except this one, looked a bit more simplistic.

In big letters was the door’s number, J177. Above the door’s number in smaller text was the date, 10/2/4001. Then large letters appeared and the starting up sound, Atana-32.

“Please log in.”

Kado gestured to the login, “Go ahead.” Novah hesitated. “Don’t worry. There haven’t been and reports about suspicious activity. I know it’s hard but you can’t live nowadays without Atana. The world—the world would go into chaos. That’s why we are trying to find out what went wrong with Atana-503.”

Novah nodded and anxiously approached the screen. She typed in her code and password, and then stepped back.

“Welcome, Novah to room J177.” The door opened into a dark room.

Novah walked in and Kado followed behind her. He pushed a button on the wall that opened the big window brightening the room. Novah looked at the view curiously. There was a small—well small for a planet—planet right outside her window.

“What planet is that?” Novah asked, observing the beautiful scene.

“Roanoke, you should have learned that in school.” Kado teased slightly.

“I don’t like geography.” Novah wiggled her nose in humorous disgust.

Slowly, she pulled herself away from the window and looked around the room. It was nice and actually not so white as the rest of the ship. The room was mostly gray and blue. The walls were made of a nice grey fabric material. The best frame was white, but the sheet was a nice dark blue. There were white cupboards and drawers in the wall and next to those was a door leading off into a bathroom. The bathroom was entirely white.

As Novah walked into the bathroom her slippers pattered against the white tiles. She looked at herself in the mirror—a tall, slender built teenager with straight white hair and grey eyes—she thought about everything that has happened. She zoned out for a bit until Kado’s face appeared in the looking glass—a strong man with a scruffy face, blond hair, and blue eyes. Novah turned around and looked at him curiously.

He spoke, “So can I leave you here? There are clothes in the closet, you can clean up. Maybe after that take a look around ship.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Kado nodded and walked out the room, leaving Novah alone in her new bedroom. Suddenly she sighed and started moving, breaking out of her daze. She took Kado’s advice and had a shower. It felt so good to wash off all the stress and trauma.

After her shower, Novah grabbed a soft microfiber towel and scurried over to the closet. She opened the drawers and snorted at what she saw. Every single article of clothing was the same shade of gray cotton fabric.

She didn’t really have much room to complain about clothing, though, especially after everything that’s happened. So, Novah slipped on a grey pair of tights and a loose grey dress on top. She put on a new pair of slippers and through her old dirty ones away with her old clothes.

Novah spent half an hour opening drawers and looking around her new bedroom. But when she finally felt like there wasn’t anything else to do, she turned on her heel and walked out the door.

Novah left her new bedroom. The white corridors were empty and quiet as she passed through them, remembering the path Kado took. She came upon a crowd and over the heads of hustling humans, Novah saw the elevators going up and down to extreme heights and down to the bottom floor. The view was white with areas of blue light coming from all sorts of Atana systems. Even the elevators were giving off blue light as they gained speed, rising far out of sight.

Ruminative, Novah pushed through the crowd and squeezed into an elevator. The people looked over at her in a strange sort of awe. Even without soldiers escorting her, they still knew who she was. Novah could hear whispers passing over the crowds. “Is that really her?” “What is the captain going to do?” “Are we going to be safe?”

She looked down at the glass below and focused on the crowds that weren’t yet staring at her and when the elevator landed, she let the crowd pull her along. Mindlessly, she walked like a zombie, a human record stuck in the average routine of life. It helped her forget, even for a little while.

It’s odd, Novah thought, I always thought of I lost my family I’d be grieving, sobbing because I’m alone. I’ve lost everyone--everything...and all I feel is numbness.

Novah continued to walk and suddenly before she realized, she was out of the crowds. She must have been walking away for awhile without realizing because when she turned around, she saw only empty white corridors.

Now curious, Novah walked around with purpose. Her hand running down the wall, as she walked reading every sign and noting every discrepancy in the scene. Novah walked through a door named V6 and into a main corridor. A gasp left her lips. Windows lined one side of the corridor, but these windows didn’t lead to empty space. These windows were covered with condensation and pushed up against the glass were plants. Green, lush plants like the ones in pictures Novah studied in school.

She dashed up to the windows and put her hand on it. Novah hesitated for a couple minutes. She wanted to go into the garden and experience it, but she didn’t want to go near the Atana. Novah leaned her head on the glass and thought in her mind. Remembering Atana-503, the dark room, the rubble left behind by three hundred fleeing humans.

With a frustrated groan, Novah pushed herself off the glass and walked over to the Atana. The bright screen lit up and an emotionless female voice spoke, “Please enter an order.”

Novah hesitated her hand inches away from the keyboard, before typing a simple command, Open Garden Door.

“Opening garden door,” Novah flinched, pulling her hand away from the keyboard and up against her chest, her heart throbbed in anxiety. As she stepped away from the Atana she saw the familiar percentage bar appear, 20%...40%...70%...100%. The door opened with a release of air and Novah dashed inside, before looking back.

Immediately, she was stunned with clean, perfumed air. It was humid and Novah’s skin felt sticky. She looked around at the trees, their leaves were covered in dew.

Novah took a deep breath, letting the wonderful air fill her body. Quietly and respectively, she walked around, avoided every branch and leaf that could possibly crunch under her feet. The wet earth soaked her new slippers, but not even wet shoes could ruin this perfect experience.

She had never seen plants before, nothing except pictures. Exdein was a stone planet, and the air was too cold and dry for any living thing to survive. Growing up, Novah never left Exdein-57, one of the sixty underground cities that were built on Exdein. It wasn’t until her aunt Clea reached out to her, that Novah went into space.

As she walked around, observing the beautiful garden, passing vibrant flowers and strongly scented trees, Novah heard a sound. A soft pretty hum, quiet at first but as Novah went deeper into the garden it grew louder and the humming was replaced with a soft song with words in a different language.

Novah stopped when she saw her, the singer of the song, the hummer of the tune. She was bent down, her knees up to her chest. Her hair was like a waterfall of black ink flowing to the side as she tipped her nose to smell flowers. Next to the girl was a small robot on tracks like a miniature tank.

Novah started to worry and grew shy, she wondered if she was even allowed in the garden and whether this girl was one of those children Nadine was talking about.

“You’re not the only minor we have on board that has gone through a tragedy of some kind.”

The girl lifted her head up after smelling a flower. Her hand drifted to the stem and with a snap, she broke off the flower. Novah gasped and chocolate eyes darted towards her. The girl eyed her curiously, tilting her head like a puppy. The robot moved on its wheels towards Novah ever so slightly.

Novah backed away from the Atana system, unlogical panic flooded her mind. She shouldn’t have left her bedroom. She shouldn’t have even left Exdein. She would be safe with her aunt Clea alive. No matter where Novah went she couldn’t escape Atana and something wasn’t right. She had a feeling--Novah knew it wasn’t just going to corrupt Atana-503.

The girl jumped up, letting the flower fall gracefully onto the pebbled ground. She reached out her hand and spoke in a panic, jumping in front of her robot. “No! It’s okay! You must be the survivor from Atana-503. Look,” the girl bent down to the robot and pushed a button, the screen blackened, “It’s okay.”

“Hi…” Novah started awkwardly, “I’m sorry, I’m Novah--”

“I’m Seiko,” Seiko smiled eagerly, “Don’t be sorry, it’s understandable.” Seiko’s eyes drifted back to the flower that laid on the ground, “Do you not like breaking off flowers?” She questioned looking up at Novah, as she bent down to pick up the delicate creation.

“No. I’ve--I’ve never seen plants before...well never in person,” Novah mumbled.

“Oh really? What planet are you from?” Seiko’s eyes filled with curiosity.

“I’m from Exdein. You?”

“I was born on Qescore but I’ve lived here my whole life. So...it’s kind of weird to say I’m from Qescore...” Novah nodded and smiled. “Have you met any of the others?”

“No. How many more are there?” Novah asked curiously.

“Hmm...I think there’s about five including me--now six since you arrived.” Seiko nodded with a grin on her face. Glad she got the right number on her first try. Suddenly she called out, “Hey!” her grin grew even larger and her eyes shined with excitement. “I was just about to visit one of the others in the ward before I met you. Do you want to come along? He doesn’t mind visitors...if anything I think he’s sick of being alone all the time.” She giggled.

“Sure, why not,” Novah smiled and Seiko smiled back.

Seiko jumped up, picked up her dead robot and yelled out, “Come on! Let’s get there before they serve dinner.” Novah laughed a little and followed the hyper girl who she only met minutes ago.