Titan

The hologram speaks again, “You are the future of Earth, and all of humanity. Each and every one of you will be given an occupation. You will start your training on the Titan Explorer. You will apply that knowledge to your job once you are on the surface of Titan. There are five categories you will be placed into based on skills and knowledge you already possess.
You will be placed in Food and Water, Technology, Power, Architecture and Engineering, or Health and Human Services. Good luck to you all, children of Titan!”
Dr. Armenzi is zapped out of existence.
Another hologram flickers onto the stage. This person is the leader of the Titan Exploration project—Dr. Lucas Midas. Dr. Midas speaks, “Welcome, children of Titan. All of the tests you took in school have led up to this moment! You will be placed in a category based on the scores of different tests.”
On the screen behind him, my picture flashes onto the screen.
“Infinity Olivia, you have been placed in Architecture and Engineering.” Alexys hugs me and the rest of my friends clap.
Dr. Midas continues, unaware.
“Alexys Garde, you have been placed in Health and Human Services. Raven Edwards, you have been placed in Food and Water. Marcus Edwards, you have been placed in Architecture and Engineering. Alexander Iridium, you have been placed in Technology. Samantha Jackson, you have been placed in Power. Sophie Tennyson, you have been placed in Architecture and Engineering. India Murray, you have been placed in Power.”
Dr. Midas continues on to the lower age groups, so I zone out and talk quietly with my friends.
Finally, Dr. Midas disappears from the stage. Another hologram receives an exasperated sigh from a girl my age sitting near me. I recognize her as Sophie Tennyson from her picture on the hologram screen.
This hologram is of my mother.
She smiles sweetly at all of us before saying, “If you were selected for Health and Human Services, please exit the auditorium and join us in the Psychology Department.”
This is all very creepy. Join us? Yikes.
My mother disappears and is replaced with Sam’s dad. He says, “If you were selected for Technology, please exit the auditorium and join us in the Interactive Laboratory.”
Next is a young, chipper-looking lady who says, “Hullo there, children of Titan. If you were chosen for Architecture and Engineering, please come to the Demolition lab!”
I stand up, along with Sophie and Marcus, and walk out the door.
We all took the elevator at once. It was a tight fit, seeing as the elevators are made to hold two people at a time. We dimmed the exterior view, so we wouldn’t get in trouble for exceeding the space limit. Sophie and I started chatting, mainly about simple stuff like, “How do you do?” “What’s your favorite color?” Other odd get-to-know-you tidbits were spoken as well.
Marcus clammed up and rode the elevator in silence. We reached the bottom floor in record time. Sophie and I stepped out first, immediately followed by Marcus. The bottom level is probably the happiest, cheeriest place on the whole spaceship. The saddest place is definitely the Psychology Department.
We followed blinking signs until we got to a huge door that said, “Demolition Laboratory!”
Beneath that someone had written ‘Have fun!’
This door needed a fingerprint to open, so I stuck my finger on the little pad and watched as the light above the door turned green. As it opened, I heard whispers and laughter.
The inside of the Demolition Lab was completely pitch black, except for glow-in-the-dark letters reading, ‘I’d turn back if I were you!’, ‘Watch your step!’, and ‘Welcome, Titan Children.’
I stepped into the room, and suddenly the room was flooded with light. The lights revealed all of the architects and engineers smiling at us.
The happy young lady we’d seen a few minutes ago as a hologram floated down from a catwalk, filled with ethereal beauty.
“Welcome to the Demolition Laboratory, where all your dreams are built and then destroyed for no apparent reason!”
I couldn’t help myself. I laughed.