First topic message reminder :
“Inspection.” There was the familiar rap on the bars of her cell that signalled the space was about to be turned upside down in search of smuggled contraband she no longer even had. Astrid Li, a name she was sure had been her parents attempt at humour, given she, like everyone on board the space station currently in orbit above the Earth had been born here, sighed heavily and rose up off the hard cot that functioned as her bed. She stood with her hands pressed to the wall, legs shoulder width apart. It was a daily occurrence; any excuse to bump her up the list of candidates to be sent back to the planet. Humanity had long ago brought its own planet to the brink of extinction, and given that they weren’t developed enough to travel the stars yet... this was the best they could do. The space stations in orbit at the time of the nuclear Holocaust that snuffed out life on Earth were mostly owned and operated by the Chinese government, which explained the abundance of Chinese surnames amongst its populace. As often happened however, the gene pool quickly became so diluted that it had become difficult to pick one race from the other. They had done their best to maintain cultural heritage, but as generations wore on, even that had become difficult. With each generation the children wanted less and less to do with learning about their ancestors. Astrid was no different. She was quickly approaching her eighteenth birthday, and the under the strict law of their space station ark, would be liable for any crime committed to result in death. Prior to coming of age, crimes were punished by imprisonment, but there was no longer any room for that. Thus far any crime, no matter how petty, had been punished. But now the elders were faced with the difficult choice; either reduce what crimes were considered for punishment, or begin killing minors for their crimes. The station had finite resources, and some were arguing that a child that broke the law would only grow into an adult who broke the law, so why prolong their life at the cost of law abiding people? That was when one elder had offered a third option; use them as guinea pigs to test how viable a return to earth would be for the general population.
So here she was, locked away because she had dared to steal the key to the zero G training chamber for a little late night fun with her friends. She had taken full blame, thinking the fact her mother was on the council of elders would help her. Not a chance, if anything, her punishment was more severe because of this small fact. A point had to be made.
“Inspection.” There was the familiar rap on the bars of her cell that signalled the space was about to be turned upside down in search of smuggled contraband she no longer even had. Astrid Li, a name she was sure had been her parents attempt at humour, given she, like everyone on board the space station currently in orbit above the Earth had been born here, sighed heavily and rose up off the hard cot that functioned as her bed. She stood with her hands pressed to the wall, legs shoulder width apart. It was a daily occurrence; any excuse to bump her up the list of candidates to be sent back to the planet. Humanity had long ago brought its own planet to the brink of extinction, and given that they weren’t developed enough to travel the stars yet... this was the best they could do. The space stations in orbit at the time of the nuclear Holocaust that snuffed out life on Earth were mostly owned and operated by the Chinese government, which explained the abundance of Chinese surnames amongst its populace. As often happened however, the gene pool quickly became so diluted that it had become difficult to pick one race from the other. They had done their best to maintain cultural heritage, but as generations wore on, even that had become difficult. With each generation the children wanted less and less to do with learning about their ancestors. Astrid was no different. She was quickly approaching her eighteenth birthday, and the under the strict law of their space station ark, would be liable for any crime committed to result in death. Prior to coming of age, crimes were punished by imprisonment, but there was no longer any room for that. Thus far any crime, no matter how petty, had been punished. But now the elders were faced with the difficult choice; either reduce what crimes were considered for punishment, or begin killing minors for their crimes. The station had finite resources, and some were arguing that a child that broke the law would only grow into an adult who broke the law, so why prolong their life at the cost of law abiding people? That was when one elder had offered a third option; use them as guinea pigs to test how viable a return to earth would be for the general population.
So here she was, locked away because she had dared to steal the key to the zero G training chamber for a little late night fun with her friends. She had taken full blame, thinking the fact her mother was on the council of elders would help her. Not a chance, if anything, her punishment was more severe because of this small fact. A point had to be made.
