Beep Beep Beep
Good morning. It is now eight o'clock.
Today is March thirtieth, two-one-five-seven.
The weather today is clear with no expected showers and winds going a max of ten miles per hour.
News for today: Today is the yearly Surveying of the Outside. All Ninteens and Twenties are to arrive at the Facility at nine sharp. Don't forget your gear and your Key. Consul Boral states that-

There was a sound of feet walking up stairs.

"Hey Arel, turn that thing off!" A voice called "And you better get up before Michaelis gets pissed."

The footsteps walked back down the stairs and the sound receded away.

The blankets on the bed were all wrapped around a single figure, like a cocoon protecting its dear larvae. There was a low groaning and the cocoon shifted. A lone hand crawled its way out of the blankets and towards the sound of the clock.
-and finally, we would like to congragulate Mr. and Mrs. Williams for their new son, Matth-

The clock shut off with a small click when the hand found the button. Groaning some more, the cocoon rolled towards the bottom edge of the bed, unfurling the blankets from itself as it went.

Then a person fell onto the ground with a sound thump.

The footsteps were heard again as a figure walked up the stairs. A young man about the age of twenty frowned down at the girl who had fallen pathetically onto the floor. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing shallowly, as if the fall didn't even wake her up.

"Arel, you're going to be late for Surveying if you do not get your arse-"

"What did Mom say about foul language, Edain?" The girl retorted, with her eyes still closed.

"I-" Edain flushed "Just get yourself up and ready!" He slammed the door shut.

Arel laid there for a few moments before opening her eyes.

The sun was shining from the slanted windows in her room. She watched the bits of dust float around her like golden specks of light. It was going to be a good day with good weather, like her clock said.

Sighing, she pushed herself upright by her elbows. She stretched out her back and yawned quite loudly.

Today was a very important day.

She got up and headed down the stairs that connected to her attic room. Her family always thought it curious that someone would actually want a room in the dustiest place in the house, but Arel liked it. It was more open than the standard rooms the Community assigned everybody else. The attic had a certain smell to it. It had a nostalgic smell, the kind you smell when you walk into an old museum, of the section of the library that contains very old books. It was left untouched during the Reconstruction. Arel considered herself very lucky to have such an old room all to herself.

She then commenced her daily routine of preparing for the day, but it was slightly different now. Instead of her usual workclothes composed of a simple t-shirt and pants, she put on a sleek, black leather jumpsuit. There were metal pads on her elbows and knees of the same color. Arel tied her long brown hair into a ponytail and stared into the mirror.
You were always the odd one out, Arel thought to herself. Why couldn't I look like Arin?

Sighing, she grabbed a helmet and a pair of shoes on the way out of the bathroom.

Her hands grazed the walls as her feet excitedly pranced down the stairs, as if they could feel the excitement within Arel herself.

When she reached the bottom, she looked up towards the breakfast counter.

Her brother was calmly sipping a cup of coffee. His long black hair was tied into a ponytail as well and he was wearing the same gear as she was. He loomed over at her with bored eyes, but Arel could see a glint of amusement within them anyways.

"So you've finally decided to come back to Earth," he said.

"I didn't leave; the aliens took me," Arel sat on one of the silver spinning chairs in front of the counter. She reached over and grabbed a small sandwhich off the plate and took a bite out of it. Too bad it was cold.

"What a pity they didn't keep you there," her brother sneered "I would have enjoyed the peace and quiet."

"Hey that's not nice!" Arel punched her brother lightly, laughing as she did so.

He laughed as well "But really, you couldn't get out of this place even if you wanted to." He turned away from her and his eyes turned pensive.

"Now you're the one that needs to come back to Earth," Arel retorted "And you know talk like that could earn you a Condemnation."

"Eh, what's the Council got on me?" He lifted his cup back up to his lips "They know they got Elvin with them. He'll back me up."

"Do you miss him, Edain?"

"What?"

"Do you miss our brother?"

Edain looked at her with a surprised look. Then he gave her a sad smile.

"Well, Elvin does come back every once in a while, so I don't really mind. He is busy after all," he answered.

There was a silence between them, but it wasn't an awkward one. It held a sense of family in it. A sense of familiarity. As if the silence was a normal thing between the two.

"Come on." Edain got off his seat and tossed his plate into a hole in the counter. The plate floated above the hole for a second, then it disseminated into small particles that fell into the hole. The plate was gone.

Arel did the same and followed her brother towards the door. He was on the ground, zipping up black boots of the same shine as their jumpsuits. Arel grabbed two bags of a shelf and tossed one to Edain.

"You ready to go?" He asked her.

"Wait a minute," Arel was on the ground zipping up her own boots. The zipper was on the front of the shoe and zipped upwards. Its silver gleam contrasted with the black of the boot.

"Okay let's go!" Edain pushed the door open and ran out just as Arel barely finished with her shoes.

"Hey wait up!" Arel got up a little too quickly and her foot slipped on the floor. She fell face first onto her bag.

"Ouuuch...." she cringed. Righting herself up again, slowly this time, she grabbed her bag and ran out the door. When she was out, she slammed it shut and ran to her waiting brother, not bothering to check if she had accidently dropped something during the rush.