Chapter 1: Part 1/2

Moving to a new city is always difficult, especially when it’s a megacity the size of which you’ve never quite seen before. Everyone was vying to get in these days, and when my passport arrived in the mail, I was so giddy it was hard to believe. All those years of work in the government, dutiful community service, and then five years of waiting, and I was in the place that would let me realize my dreams.

It’s rumored that the City, as it had come to be called, for there was only one that could compare to it, had pioneering in biotech in all areas. And with the job I’d picked up there, it wouldn’t be long until I could get the body I had always dreamed of, too. Some went as far as to call it the Promised Land, but I wasn’t so sure of those claims personally. Certainly, one hundred million people living in Geostationary Orbit was nothing to laugh at, but something just seemed off about referring to the higher level of the corporate hellscape as heaven.

Still, it sure beat being down here. I’d long since made my peace that it would be years until I’d be allowed to visit my family, but then again, I’d hopefully look entirely different by then. I tied up my long hair in a braid as I waited for the train to the launch pad. Next to me, a young lady sat looking at her phone, giggling to herself. She seemed not to notice my presence until I accidentally knocked my bag over, spilling a few of my treasured belongings I was allowed to bring in the ten kilo weight limit container.

“Oh, let me help pick it up,” she offered as I turned to put it back in.

“It’s no problem, only a few things,” I replied.

“If you say so,” she said, smiling sweetly as she pointed to the ceiling, “headed up there?”

“Yeah,” I replied, “I can’t believe it’s all over and done with, I’ve finally got the passport and cards and job and whatnot. I thought for sure it was going to take another five years.”

“I getcha,” she said, “big city.”

“Yeah…” I mused, “nothing like Toronto, huh? That’s the biggest I’ve been to.”

She giggled again, her voice filling the air with sweet laughter, “I’ve heard they’ve got Tim Duncan’s up there, if that’s what you mean.”

“I uh,” I began to try and formulate a witty reply, but found the train horn blared right as I began to speak. There were assigned seats, which meant I probably wouldn’t see her again.

“Hey, see you around,” she said, grinning, “My apartment’s up in Solar Heights, Floor Fifty-Three, if you want to chat. Amanda Simmons.”

“Funny,” I replied, “that’s my floor as well.”

“Oh! Great,” she said, “I’m sure we’ll get coffee sometime and catch up then, yeah?”

The train doors opened and I replied with an ‘mhm’ as I entered the proper car. I walked over to the row, next to what looked to be a married couple leaning on each other to sleep. I was in the aisle row, which was definitely a help for my gangly legs.

I typed the name “Amanda Simmons” into my phone notes app and put it away, making a note to myself that once I was moved in, I’d have to introduce myself. I sighed as I thought about all the stuff it involved. Sure, they provided you a space, and you didn’t have to worry about credit checks or payments, that was taken out of my salary automatically, but every furniture piece, non-digital item? Expensive as Hell.

Then again, the salary I made would justify it, but I’d pretty much be limited to a complimentary cot and the vacuum-shrunk pillow I’d brought along, in terms of sleep. At least they grew their own food up there, took water from comets, the usual, otherwise I didn’t know what I’d do. I sighed as I watched the high-speed train zoom at insane speeds through the countryside, making only a few more stops until we reached the launch point.

Our seats on the train were, luckily, the same as our seats on the rocket. The couple, now awake, sat chatting to each other, allowing me the peace and quiet to listen to some 70’s rock, dozing off just as the ship finally docked. After about two hours of waiting, the captain on the ship welcomed us to Voyager City, the official name of the craft on which I would likely spend the rest of my life.

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The first week at my job was easy enough. I had gotten a job working in the biosystems bay onboard, running analysis on air quality, water quality, you name it. The only unfortunate part was, they had the new folks do field work. That meant a lot of getting in the mud and vents. It wasn’t unsafe, just gross.

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“At least you don’t have to work in zero G,” my boss offered, chuckling at my mutterings as we collected samples.

The workday concluded, and exhaustedly, I retired to my apartment. As soon as I got there, I remembered what I was going to look up on my phone at the earliest possible opportunity: a trans support group. I had heard there were larger communities of people like me up here, especially given the relatively compact size and high population of the City. As I scrolled on my phone, I saw it: a support group for Floor 53, with a small website dedicated to it.

I noted down the location. The benefit of having a colony of fixed width was that the grid pattern the buildings followed was easy to locate. The next meeting was soon enough, only a few days away. I figured, I could just make it a few more days without meaningful human interaction, and who knows, maybe get some resources?

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“Welcome to the Trans Support Group of Floor 53,” a woman with sienna hair sang, “I’m Andrea, and I’m currently the leader here! Since we’ve got a few newcomers, let’s introduce ourselves, everyone, our name, pronouns, and something we like to do, and don’t be strangers to the new folks!”

Just as the first person was about to speak, I heard the door open and shut quietly behind where I was sitting. Amanda walked in, waved to me as she recognized me, and sat down next to me. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, meekly waving to everyone as she sat her purse down at the side of her chair.

We went around giving introductions, until we got to the person I was dreading hearing from: me. The whole group stared at me, and I started sweating. I knew they weren’t doing it to make me uncomfortable, and were just waiting to hear my name, pronouns, and what I liked to do. The issue was, I didn’t know how to answer any of those three things. I looked nothing like the name I had picked suggested, neither did my pronouns, and what I liked to do I just didn’t have the money for up here yet.

As I began to stammer, I felt a soft hand on my shoulder, as I turned to see Amanda smiling at me confidently and reassuringly. “My name is Nancy Devon,” I said, trying to feign more confidence than I had, “pronouns are she/her, and I like to play tabletop games.”

“Tabletop games!” I heard Amanda gasp with excitement, before she quietly said, “sorry.”

“It’s alright! Thank you for introducing yourself, Nancy,” Andrea replied, “we would love, I’m sure, if you gave us a demonstration sometime.”

“Thank you,” I said before quieting down.

After a few moments of silence, Amanda introduced herself, “Hi, I’m Amanda Simmons, my pronouns are she/her, and I love to play Enchantment: The Summoning.”

That was…exactly what I liked to play. But I had left my deck down on Earth, because you know, capacity limit. I smiled at Amanda, and she smiled back, before the rest of the group continued with introductions. After a quick presentation someone had prepared on the history of queer film, which was interesting, we were dismissed to free discussion time.

“So,” Amanda asked me, “do you play Enchantment?”

“I do,” I replied, but I left my cards on Earth.”

“Oof, same,” she replied, grinning, “but I think with my first paycheck, I’d love to buy more! I’ve been asking around, and I think there’s a shop nearby where there’s also tournaments! Maybe we could go after coffee?”

“Sure!” I replied, “can I give you my number for that?”

“Of course!” she replied, giggling, “It’ll be so fun to play with someone else interested in this stuff.”

After we exchanged numbers and sent confirmatory texts to make sure we’d both gotten the right one, we said our goodbyes and walked off to our apartments. It sure was great to make a new friend, especially only like three days after moving in!

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