The Geodomes: Delta

"Can we change our jobs?" a tall, beautiful boy asked, his face and hair perfect.

"Assigned jobs cannot be changed. You each have the job most suited to you and your abilities."

"I watched Forged in Fire with my dad and went to watch an old time blacksmith one time. I have no idea how to actually be a blacksmith!" he complained.

"There are instruction videos contained within your PED's," Delta told him.

"What's a PED? And he's right, my aunt kept bee's and she told me some of it but I have never done it!" a pouty looking boy said.

"Your PED's are located in your top desk drawers in your assigned rooms."

Several people stood, but Malik forestalled them. "There's time for that. Let's just hold up a minute. None of us were present enough when she was talkin names and jobs. Let's all sit down and go around and introduce ourselves and talk a minute. Say where you are from and all that."

"I just want to go to my room and lay down," the girl who had climbed the counter said, tears forming in her eyes again.

"Me too," Henry said.

There was agreement from several others.

"We probably shouldn't do that," the red haired girl who had stayed behind the counter said. "He is right, let's talk, get our minds off of what just happened. I know we want to all grieve, but right now, let's try and focus on something else. I will start, ok? I am Felicity and I am from Galva. My mom had all of us kids at home and I delivered my three youngest brothers myself. I guess that's why I am the midwife? It makes sense I guess. What about you?" she asked the tiny asian girl who was curled up and hugging her knees.

"Shi. My mom was an RN and... she worked from home sometimes for people who couldn't afford the office. People with no insurance. I helped her."

"Where are you from?" Felicity prompted.

"Chicago, though it was the outskirts. Umm, not the good side of town."

"How about you?" Felicity asked Henry, who was rocking and looking like he may flee to his room any minute.

"Hank. St Charles."

"What do you do Hank and how did you come into it?" she asked soothingly.

She was really very good at this.

"I am assigned engineering and I guess... I guess my dad is an engineer and I dabbled in it a while... trying to get him to notice me. Thought if I showed an interest he would maybe show me and stuff... He didn't, so I was mostly into computers and gaming. Dad was old when mom had me, mom too. He was sort of done and checked out with kids by the time I came along. Hard to compete for attention with grandkids older than me and younger too. Mom watched them a lot and they were all always around. I was sort of... my own entity."

"That's a super useful and amazing skillset," Felicity said, smiling. "Those are going to be real handy and very much needed here I am sure."

She went around to everyone, all of us introducing ourselves and her coaxing us to talk, telling us how much we would be needed to make this place work. By the time we were all done, all of us felt a lot better. I decided I liked her as well, she was so patient and kind and soothing. Very hippie mellow and loving. I liked that about her a lot.

"Can we look at those PED's now?" Henry asked, sitting up. He looked much less freaked out now.

"Yeah, let's have a look at our rooms, but we meet back here in 30," Malik said. "I don't think any of us should be alone right now."

"We gonna eat soon?" Darien asked. He had asked us to call him DJ, but I had a thing with names and remembering them by name association, so I always used the name I had heard first unless I knew someone well.

"I can try and make something?" Deena offered. "After we look at our rooms?"

"We will do that," Malik said. "Eat and talk at the table."

We got up and I put the goat down. She followed me to my room and bounded in happily when I opened the door. I immediately liked my room with the happy yellow walls and bubblegum pink trim. It made me feel happy just looking at it.

The goat tried and failed multiple times to jump up on the bed and I grinned as I went to my desk to find the PED. It was a bracelet? I snapped it on, then gasped as it stung me and shocked me, then lit up. I stared at it, waiting for something to happen. I walked around while I looked at it, looking in the bathroom and the closet where my bags were. My phone and cameras were missing.

I went back out front, the goat following, her little tail wiggling with excitement.

"I am calling you Meri," I told her. "My dad would have loved that. Meriadok Brandibuck was just as excited and curious and reckless as you are."

I sat down and she tried and failed to jump up. I picked her up and she thanked me with snuffles and ear and hair nibbles. I giggled happily, snuggling the tiny little goat.

"She really likes you," Matthew said, sitting near me, still scowling and angry looking. I wondered what the male version of a resting bitch face was. Resting murder face?

"She's just lonely and curious," I said, kissing her on the head. She curled up to sleep.

"She trusts you."

"I don't know how to make this work," I said, holding my arm up.

He held his up in his hand, still open and not on his wrist. "Tor?" he asked.

"Tauriel."

"That's not a common name."

"No... my dad was a big Lord of the Rings fan," I said sadly. "And he really really likes... liked Evangeline Lily. Had a huge crush on her."

"My dad was a trekkie," he offered. "My mom named me after her brother who drowned when he was eight."

"I'm sorry," I said, still put off by his distant and terse demeanor.

Malik came back down the hall, looking at a display coming from his PED.

"Hey! How did you do that?" I asked.

"Put your finger on both lights at once," he answered distractedly, sitting down.

I did as he said and a display popped up with a menu. "Neat."

Matthew leaned in closer, looking at my display. I tilted it so he could see. I went through the menu as more people came back in.

Deena paused, looking around. "Say," she said to Sabine, who had asked us to call her Say. "You wanna come help?"

"Sure," the girl said, standing. She had obviously been crying again. They went into the kitchen together.

I opened a tab marked jobs, thinking about what Delta has said about tutorials. There was another menu and in that was 'secondary jobs'. I opened it, curious.

Matthew leaned in closer. "We have more jobs?" he asked out loud. "Barber? Yeah, I can cut guys' hair, but I have never touched a girls head in my life," he said irritably.

"Where do you see that?" Malik asked.

"Under job assignments and secondary jobs," I said.

Everyone navigated to it quickly.

"Fishing! Yay, daddy used to take me fishing and I loved it!" Hayleigh said gleefully.

"Massage?!?" Blaine asked, confused.

"Janitorial?!?" Connor demanded angrily.

"Dude, how do you get musician while I get janitorial?" Paul asked Ash.

Ash shrugged. "I played in a band and sang... I guess that means I am like, morale or something."

I stared at my own, confused. Writer? I had thought about writing books, but I never had time. I had written a lot of campaigns... maybe I could write campaigns and teach them how to play D&D?

"Hey you guys, there was food already made?" Deena called, flipping her braids in the doorway. "Come eat."

I followed the others in, though I wasn't hungry, leaving Meri asleep in the chair. I sat down and Matthew sat next to me, still watching me look at my PED.

"You have one too," I said, pointing to the one he was still holding.

"Yeah... what if it's like on that movie where they use the collars to blow people's heads off?"

"I don't think it is? We are supposed to build things and make this place run, I don't think it's going to hurt us."

"She's right," Malik said. "We are the future of the world, this place isn't going to kill us or hurt us, right Delta?"

"I am not programmed to kill, but I can punish anyone breaking the rules."

"Punish how?"

"What rules?"

"Trying to leave the dome, hurting another guest, cheating on your partner, trying to alter my programming or punishment commanded by the leader for infractions to rules from the collective guests."

"Great," someone whispered.

"So don't do any of those things," I told Matthew, gesturing to his PED again.

His scowl deepened and he put it on, then glared at it as it stung him and shocked him. "You left that part out," he grumped.

"It wasn't that bad?"

"So, Abe, DJ and Say, you were all from the same place, did you know each other before you came here?" Felicity asked brightly.

"I played with DJ online sometimes," Abe said. "And me and Say were in the same school, but we ran in different circles. She was a social media influencer and I was a lowly gamer," he said bitterly.

"I seen them a few times," Dj said, shoveling food in his mouth. "But I did the job program and I was in different classes. School wasn't my jam, you know? I worked with my pops at the deli some and at the butcher up the street. Got us good deals at the deli. Win win, right? Hey Dee, you see we have two jobs? I looked and yours is baking."

"How is that different than cooking?" she asked.

He shrugged, but kept smiling at her, clearly interested. "I'm supposed to keep alla y'all in shape," he said. "There's a gym. I used to go to the gym and I was gettin' into boxing too. Maybe some MMA once I saved up for training."

I thought it was cute that he was trying so hard to impress her. I was looking through my job description and instructions while the others ate, still not hungry.

"You should eat," Matthew said, leaning close again.

"I have a tender tummy and I don't feel like eating right now," I answered softly.

"She does," Ash agreed. "But you should eat some of this bread," he continued, his long arms reaching across the table to put a slice of bread on my plate. "It will help."

I looked up at him, looking at more than his longish hair this time. He was tall and skinny, but he was also super hot. His brown eyes framed perfectly by his shoulder length brown hair and his cheekbones framing perfect, kissable lips.

His lip curled slightly, like he knew I had just noticed how hot he was and I realized I was staring like an idiot. I looked down quickly and nibbled at the bread on my plate.

"After dinner I want to go have a look at the barn with you," Matthew said, scowling harder at his PED display. "See where I will be working and look at the animals."

"Sure," I answered, a little unsure as to why he was so angry.

I finished the bread and started to get up, even though Felicity was still asking people questions and drawing everyone out of their shells to talk.

"We ain't all done," Malik said quickly.

"This says I am late on the milking schedule," I said, lifting my PED. "And I have to feed them and I want to look at where their pastures are before it gets too dark to see."

"I will go with her," Matthew said, standing.

I glanced up at him, feeling a little put off. "I will show you where your bay is, but I would rather look at the pastures alone."

"No one should be out alone," he insisted.

"She said no man, back off and respect it," Malik said.

"We have no idea what's out there," Matthew said, scowling at Malik.

"Delta, are there any animals in the dome besides the ones in the barn?"

"There is one goat outside of the barn," she answered.

"Are there any others? Or anything that will hurt us?"

"There are no predators in the dome though all species will be introduced back onto the planet after six generations. There are bees which may sometimes sting and the sting can be painful."

"There you go," Malik said to Matthew.

"How do you know it isn't lying?" Matthew persisted.

"This place is not here to hurt us or it wouldn't have saved us," Felicity said calmly. "We are the Adam's and Eve's now, it is here to keep us safe, keep us from harm. We were brought here to be kept safe."

"And what if we weren't?" Matthew asked darkly.

"That's enough of that bullshit!" Malik said, standing. "There is no reason to believe this place is anything other than what it is and you need to stop putting bullshit ideas into people's heads and causing more worry and stress than there already is. Tor, you want someone to go with you out there? I ain't gonna, that place is nasty, but I can have someone go with you."

"I will go!" Emily volunteered quickly. "I love animals, I grew up on a farm too."

She got up and came around the table as I went to get Meri. I came out with her and Emily followed me out to the barn, Matthew trailing behind us. "You named her yet?" she asked.

"Meri, like Merry and Pippin from Lord of the Rings but spelled the feminine way."

"Neat. Wow! This is a LOT of animals! Holy cow!"

"Your little space is back there," I said to Matthew, not looking up at him. He was starting to make me uncomfortable.

He went back to the little vets office and I put Meri in her pen and went to the panel where I would be feeding the animals from.

"I will gather eggs then help you milk, ok?" Emily called.

"Thank you!"

"I can help milk too," Matthew said, walking up behind me to look at the panel.

"Actually, it's all kind of automated. If you want you can help gather eggs, I have fed them and set up the milk rotation. I am going to go see the pastures."

"I really should come."

"No thanks, I wanted to walk alone for a while. I need some me space."

He said nothing, but I could see him go stiff. I left, following the little map to go look at the pastures.

When I went back in, Emily and Matthew were in the front room with the others. They had pulled all four couches around into a square and everyone was sitting and facing each other.

There was a space open next to Matthew, like he had purposefully saved it for me. I went to the other end of the couch where Hayleigh was sitting. "Can you all scootch?" I asked.

"There's room..." Matthew began.

"Move down," Malik demanded.

They all moved down, Matthew crossing his arms and slouching down to scowl at the far wall.

When was he going to get the hint?

"We were about to play two truths and a lie," Felicity told me with a smile. "How about you start us off?"

"Oh! Umm, let's see. I once got to eat dinner on a tour bus with Alabama, I know eleven different languages including Klingon and Dothraki, and... I once got to meet George R.R. Martin."

"Who is that?" Deena demanded.

"Game of Thrones?" Henry said in mock shock. "I am going with that one."

"I say Alabama," Rhett said.

"Languages," Ash said.

"Ash is right. It's twelve, not eleven," I said with a smile. "Including Dothraki and Klingon."

"Wow! Cool and... somewhat useless now?" Henry teased.

"Your turn," Felicity said to Ash.

Ashe grinned. "Can't top that one. So, I did meet Gene Simmons once. I played an opening act for Ludo before they got big. I have six toes on my right foot."

"Who is Ludo?" Abe asked.

"I pick Ludo, no way man," Paul said.

"Toes," Shi said quickly.

"Gene Simmons," Connor said.

"Shi wins," Ash grinned.

"His shoes would be a little bigger on that foot and they aren't. It is easy to see in those converse," she said.

"Shi, that's you then!" Felicity said with a smile.

We went around and around, laughing and putting more and more outrageous things out there. It was actually fun and we were all laughing by the end. We stayed until the small hours of the morning, the game devolving to just talking and fond talks of our family. It was cathartic rather than sad. Felicity as the counselor was very spot on, she was great at it.

People began curling up and falling asleep against each other, no one wanting to go off and be alone. Hayleigh, with her pouty lips and sultry eyes had no issues at all turning and laying in my lap and putting her legs over Blaine's lap. Blaine held her legs and scootched down, laying his head back. Matthew laid his head on the arm of the couch, his arm curled under his head. I shifted slightly, turning enough that I could cuddle in the corner, Hayleighs head still on my lap. It wasn't super comfortable, but none of us wanted to be alone. Being together was it's own comfort.

We all woke in the morning almost at the same time as one person woke and it caused a wave of motion and noise. My neck hurt as I sat up and I noticed a few people curled up on the floor and more people stretched out on the couch.

Yawning, I went to my room to shower, then changed my mind and went to feed the animals and put them out first. Meri was out again and waiting for me, excited to see me. I smiled and scritched her head before putting her back so she could eat. I let them all out and Meri came right back through the slats to me. I was good with that as I gathered the eggs and went back in. I put the eggs in a bowl, then went and showered, Meri playing in the water around my feet. I had put her out twice and she came right back in, gleefully playing in the water. A shower wouldn't hurt her, I decided.

I half looked at my bed longingly as I got dressed, still tired, but I went back out front. Most everyone was still out there and Deena was making breakfast. I was actually hungry this morning.

"Are you sure that thing is safe?" Anya asked.

"Does it have fleas?" Henry asked.

"She is safe," I said, pulling the exploring goat into my lap. She bounded up and down the couch I sat on. They were still in the square shape.

Ash came in and scooped Meri up before laying in the other couch to play with her. She climbed his chest and snuffed at his hair, then explored down to his legs and back as he smiled at her with a sad smile.

"You seriously like that thing?" Hayleigh asked, coming in.

"I like animals... I had a dog about her size. Australian shepherd mix. All energy, always playful."

"That thing is not a pet and it can't live in here," Sabine said from the kitchen door. "Breakfast is ready."

"She is a pet if Tor wants her to be one. She isn't bothering you," Ash said sitting up and putting Meri back on my couch.

"I don't like it," Sabine persisted, her attitude showing.

"Then don't mess with her," Ash said, standing and shrugging. "What you like and don't like doesn't dictate the rules. I don't like spinach but that doesn't mean no one here can have spinach."

"What's up?" Malik asked, coming down the hall and sensing the tension.

"That animal can't stay in here," Sabine snapped to Malik.

"It's Tor's pet and she isn't bothering anyone else," Ash said. "And I like her too, she is sweet and cute."

"Me too," Emily said, speaking up.

"She won't hurt anything in here," Matthew said. "I advise against getting attached to animals that are meat, but she is a milking goat so it's not a big deal."

"Animals are dirty!" Sabine said.

"She just had a shower," I said, grinning. "I even conditioned her hair."

Emily giggled.

"Let her have the goat," Malik said softly to Sabine. "She won't bring it in the dining room or kitchen when Dee is cooking, ok?"

"Whatever. When y'all get sick I get to say I told you so."

I put Meri out the door before going to breakfast, not worrying about her wandering too far or getting lost. All the animals had trackers on them and I could find them on the panel in the barn.

I could hear her bleating for me as I walked away and it kind of broke my heart.

"She really likes you," Emily said sadly, listening to the goat cry.

"That is stupid loud and annoying," Sabine said, rolling her eyes.

"Leave over, we get it, you don't like the goat," Matthew snapped.

"So maybe this morning, we do a little more exploring," Felicity said, interjecting. "Group up in groups of six and take turns looking around. Malik, you take Sabine, Hayleigh, Deena, DJ, and Matthew and explore the other hall first. Check out all the amenities. I will take Shi, Abe, Blaine, Henry and Anya outside and to the east to look around. Ash, you take Paul, Connor, Emma, Rhett and Tor outside to the west and look around. We will explore for an hour, then come back and switch off, looking around where our groups haven't explored. Then lunch and a nap and we can do the last tour. How does that sound?"