Dylan and I rounded the front edge of the long nose of the train to the side where the doors stood ajar. He went on inside and found an empty seat, but I couldn’t help glancing over at the nose section, where instead of a control panel, there was a roped off area for strollers, wheelchairs, and the like with a robot attendant standing at the ready.
Sitting next to Dylan, I leaned over and asked him, “How do you pay for the train ride?”
Dylan stared at me as if I was an imbecile. “Pay? The train is free. No one pays to get on and off the train. It’s always free since it’s the only mode of transportation.”
My eyebrows shot up into the air. “The train is free? And there aren’t any cars here either?”
The only response I got as the train took off and jerked me to the side was a simple shake of his head.
Craning my neck to look out the window behind me, I jolted as the cushion beneath my rear end began to shift. Before asking what was going on, I recognized that it was merely conforming to the shape of my body. Cradled in its comfort, I watched the silver, blue, gray, white, and black buildings blur into stripes of bland colors as the train’s speed increased.
Finally, the train glided to a stop so gentle, I wouldn’t have noticed the difference between the smooth sailing and the end of the ride had I not been peering outside. Changing my gaze to focus on the windows across the way from where I sat, I noticed we’d stopped at the entrance to an enormous courtyard.
“Come on, Allie, this is our stop.” Dylan stood and rushed outside, barely waiting for me to join him.
Stepping off the train, the vastness of the courtyard occupied my entire vision. Arranged in a circular array with beige, blue, and black buildings each over forty stories tall surrounding it, the courtyard broke the chromatic tradition of the rest of the city. Decorative mosaics covered the floor in a Mediterranean style that suggested Greek origins. A set of five steps led down from the train station, leaving a flat area broken up only by a fountain with all sorts of mythical creatures spouting up in the center.
Snapping back from my observations, I realized Dylan had continued towards the second tallest building just northwest of where we stood. Jogging to catch up with his power-walking stride, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “Where are we?”
“In the Science District…it’s also known as the Ocean District due to the main focus being ocean science.”
“Okay…I see.” My eyes drifted around to take a closer look at each building. “So the lab you need to go to is in this building? Why are you doing observations anyway?”
“Yes.” Dylan continued to hurry across the courtyard, finally reaching the steps in front of his destination. “This is the main ocean science building. The lower levels are dedicated to the labs. To answer your other question, high school students have to choose a research topic at the beginning of their acceptance into high school. They then have to spend the next four years working on the project each summer. Senior year, they present their findings to the entire class during the last few weeks of school. It’s standard for everyone. I chose to do mine on intertidal research.”
Dylan held open the glass front door as I asked him another question. “How do the students choose their topics?”
Before answering, Dylan entered his code to access a stairway level to the right of the marble-floored lobby. “They choose them based on whatever they are interested in getting their professional or Ph.D. degree in.”
“What if they don’t want to get a Ph.D.?”
Dylan paused descending the stairs, nearly causing me to smack into him, and frowned at me. “That’s not an option. Everyone has to obtain the highest degree possible in Oceania.”
My mouth dropped. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” Dylan hurried down the last set of stairs to the bottom floor and swung open the door.
Sliding through the door just before it closed, I found myself in an area smelling strongly of fish. In contrast to the rest of Oceania, bland concrete made up both the walls and floor. Looking left to right, I saw bulky fish tanks along with carts, laboratory machines, and desks scattered among them, leaving very little room for people to navigate. “What did you choose?”
Dylan must have found his teacher’s desk because he attached his communicator device to the square tablet in the center of a large workspace. “I chose marine studies.” He watched the upload intently as he added, “I guess I didn’t have much of a choice. It’s in my blood. My dad’s an oceanographer and my mother is both a marine biologist and marine engineer.”
“Whoa.” My mind was blown.
“Yeah, they’re both very intelligent people.” Dylan clapped his hands once and said excitedly. “Now that that’s done, we can have some fun.” Dylan and I left the oceanographic building behind to greet the artificial light of day once again.
“Where are we going now?” I wondered, sitting down on the bench just outside the courtyard waiting for the train.
Dylan’s face grew somber and he replied, “I think there is something that you need to see before anything else in this city.”
I merely stared back at Dylan, trying to figure out what he was getting at as a train parked itself in front of our stop. This time, the train had a brown
