Chancellor Green is a tall, balding man who wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses tight to his face. He stands from his desk when an Official escorts us inside his office. There’s a slight limp in his step as he walks over to greet us. To my surprise—and Ellin’s as well—John doesn’t spring into his usual introduction. He looks nervous more than anything.

“Please, have a seat,” Chancellor Green says. He points to a curved table. “Fill these out, then we’ll talk.”

He hands each of us a square device. When I sit down and activate it, an instruction screen hovers a few inches over the device. I read it, then use a stylus to scribble my name in midair. The image fades and a new one appears, a list of illegal activities and other such terms: no fraud, murder, theft, or intentional damages.

Be a sensible citizen, basically.

I write a brief description of my future goals on the last page, check a box to guarantee my pay, and sign the document.

Once all five of us are finished, we hand back the devices. Chancellor Green shuts them in a drawer and limps to the long outer window, which faces north. The Kairos supernova hangs directly in the center of the view, far to the right of Shield Tower. The city basks in the sunset, the eastern side of each building alight with a deepening gold glow. A lone hovercraft drifts above Shield Tower and descends toward the docking platforms.

Chancellor Green leans his shoulder on the window to take weight off his leg. His head bobs, then he sighs and points at the supernova.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” he says. “Freshens up the view.”

Ellin and Glacia both mumble agreements, but Michael, John, and I stay quiet.

“I hope you enjoyed the opening banquet,” Chancellor Green continues. “Finest seafood shipment we’ve received in years, I’d say.”

“Don’t mix shrimp with the steak sauce, though,” Glacia warns. “Bad idea.”

Chancellor Green looks at her from the corner of his eye. “I’ll keep that in mind. Did you all have fun at the dance?”

He dances right there, an awkward jig of shuffling his feet and twisting his hips. Wow, that’s sad. Even I can dance better.

“It’s been years…”

He trails off, clearly reliving his younger days in his mind. After several seconds of awkward silence, he fixes his eyes on me.

“I heard you’re excited for Thursday’s expedition, Arman.”

“Yeah, can’t wait.”

My voice doesn’t reflect how I feel. It doesn’t show him how ready I am to get off this dusty, hot rock and travel through the stars and find Ladia and explore Belvun. He’ll never understand how trapped I am, how alone I am, how bored and angry I am.