— Ender, please take our guests to their respective rooms so they can rest from the long trip.
— Yes, Doctor, answered the Martian with reptile skin.
— Please follow me, answered Ender
Jack looked at Eva who still had tears in her eyes.
Jack stood up and took his girlfriend's hand and together they followed the guide.
— This is all very confusing, love. Don't worry, we'll get through this, answered Jack
— Thank you for being here, love, I don't know what I would do without you, answered Eva.
They both walked down a long hallway with glass walls and as they approached some black doors, they could see everything in their path, they realized that there were many species that passed through the place.
— Your rooms, please come in and make yourselves at home, answered the guide.
— Here you have the door opening control panel and this button is the window button, answered the guide.
— Remember that the blue button is for the windows and the green button is for the doors. When evening falls, the windows close automatically due to sandstorms. Only the doors for exiting the hallways remain open. The guide answered kindly.
— Thank you, friend, replied Jack, who looked at the Martian with a strange face.
— A lizard with a humanoid body that talks and walks upright as if it were human, replied Jack.
— There are strange people here, said Eva.
— Let's try to rest, suggested Jack as he kissed his partner Eva on the cheek.
Eva hugged her partner in a gesture of gratitude.
The room was spacious and had a modern but cold and lonely style at the same time, simple but cozy. The bed looked like a queen-size space capsule; it could easily sleep three people. The room was a combination of gray and blue colors with some metallic black touches.
On the ceiling hung a kind of speaker with blue LED lights, which seemed to be a means of internal communication. To the right of the room was a liquid screen hanging in the air.
Eva was resting, her eyes moving rapidly, even though they were closed, and her body was vibrating with certain vibrations.
The air was light and cold inside. The atmosphere was denser outside. Temperatures can vary greatly throughout the day, going from warm temperatures during the day to extremely cold temperatures at night. The thin atmosphere and the lack of a global magnetic field contribute to these extreme conditions.
Curiosity was what led him to study Telecommunications Engineering at Stanford University, and his impulse led him to approach the liquid screen floating in the air. When he reached the screen, he put his hands in it and could see how his hand passed through the screen as if it were a hologram.
Jack was surprised by the plasma in front of his eyes, he wondered what material or liquid plasma could adapt to a defined shape occupying a rectangular dimension, it was definitely a new discovery.
The strangest thing was that it looked like an LCD plasma monitor without being solid state and without buttons or operational controls, at least that's what it seemed.
— There must be some operational control, Jack answered himself.
— This type of technology should be activated in some way, by voice, some facial recognition or some remote control, surely a virtual panel thought.
In the midst of doubt and discovery, Jack observed that his girlfriend was sleeping curled up like a baby in a fetal position. Some turbine sounds could be heard in the distance, combined with some voices of some passersby who were passing by the outskirts of the place.
Back again with the monitor, Jack insisted on trying voice controls saying:
— Turn on, activate, open, you are there and other words he stammered incessantly and without any results.
There must be some remote control with a bracelet or something, he thought.
Jack headed towards the door that led to the hallway and finally touched the green button. After a few thousandths of a second, the door opened.
— Someone is coming, Jack assumed when he heard footsteps approaching.
— Who is it? Jack asked in the shadows.
— It's Elliot, I'm the guardian and guide at this moment, he answered kindly.
— I need your help with the liquid monitor that's in the air, Jack answered.
— That's a liquid plasma transmitter for video conferencing and for viewing the outside areas, Elliot answered.
— You must activate it with this bracelet, the Martian replied.
— I give you one for you and one for your partner, Elliot replied
— Every living being has one, Elliot replied
— Thank you Elliot, Jack replied
Elliot turned around and went back into the room, but this time he decided to keep trying with the TV.
Jack put the bracelet on his left hand, pressed the button and the screen lit up, then he saw that his bracelet also synchronized with the plasma device. Finally he moved his fingers through a menu with multiple options. He touched some and tried one by one, as if it were a new toy.
He went through the camera menu and could see that something was displayed on the liquid screen that hung in the air, a beautiful desert landscape could be seen with some caravans he thought.
— Wow! He exclaimed when he saw what his eyes saw.
He continued to touch other touch buttons on the bracelet and when he pressed the plus sign, he could see that the image was getting closer and when he pressed the minus sign it was getting further away, something very common and logical for him, he continued with his research and had the idea that it looked like a joystick or smartwatch to manipulate objects.
Finally his visualization was interrupted by some kind of magnetic interference and the image changed to another, it was Dr. Susan who would be on the screen.
— Hi Jack, I see you're having fun, Susan answered with a smile from ear to ear.
— A little bit, yes. Jack answered.
— Is Eva still resting? asked the mother
— Yes, she is still sleeping in a deep sleep, Jack answered.
— The news about her father's death affected her a lot, no wonder.
— Yes, a lot of information in one go, Jack answered.
— I need you to come by my office Jack, so you can share tea time with me.
— Yes, no problem, and how do I get to his office? —he asked
— I'll send the signal to the bracelet you wear and follow the indicator that will tell you where to go, replied Susan.
— Ready, I'm receiving the signal here.
— Perfect, I'll wait for you in a while.
— I'm leaving, replied Jack.
Susan smiled at the screen and the image disappeared from the liquid screen that hung in the air.
Jack walked in circles, following the instructions of the signal at the end there were escalators that crossed a straight line path, at the end of the path he could see that it was another floor or level.
His steps followed what his eyes saw in the signal on his bracelet, until the signal stopped and without thinking much, he took two steps forward and found a golden door, which opened immediately as soon as it detected his presence.
The camera pointed at his face, he took four steps forward and saw that the room was huge and at the end there was an oval table in the shape of a saucer, gray and blue, and there was Susan sitting in one of the council chairs.
— Welcome Jack, how did you feel?
— Wow! Very surprised with the technology of the place, he replied in a voice of astonishment.
— I can imagine, dear Son-in-law, here are endless books with access to all the information you need, Jack.
— At the end of the hall you will find a library full of content on materials, elements and technological resources, Susan replied.
— Sit down, Jack, let's have tea together.
— I know you have many questions, about how we live, what we eat and about so many things, Jack.
— When I discovered this area, I was as surprised as you, I thought about my daughter, my family and friends, colleagues who would give their lives to be here, Jack.
— And I said to myself, there is a world to discover here, imagine the advances in genetics are amazing.
— I can imagine it, Doctor.
— Drink your tea.
— How is it, do you like the taste?
— It tastes like green tea with cherry flavor, answered Jack
— It's natural tea Jack, flavored with cherry just like you say.
— And how is that possible here?, asked Jack
— Everything is possible with planting and genetics, Jack, we have our own crops
— Who would have imagined that living here was possible?
— On earth we still drink Coca-Cola without sugar, answered Jack
Susan smiled and moved her trunk to the side, stretched out her left hand and opened a drawer or kind of executive refrigerator and took out a can of Coca-Cola.
— Really? When is that can of Coca-Cola from?
— It was bottled a few weeks ago, try it and tell me if it's the same without the recipe.
Jack opened the can and tasted the Coca-Cola.
— Wow! It's the improved version, Jack replied.
— I'm glad you like it, I think we'll get along very well, Son-in-law.