Stale Air

Evan woke up once more, this time at a proper time of 8 am. His body felt heavy as he stretched his muscles. This was a routine that Evan had been familiar with for most of his life, as if his muscles weren't properly attended to throughout the day, even short bursts of activity could leave his muscles screaming in pain. Not to mention the added strain onto his body that he gained last week, he was very clearly on the decline. Evan's only hope is that it wasn't too steep a cliff.

Moving out of his room, he could smell the breakfast that his mother had cooked before the left for work. Though it was a little cold from when she made it an hour ago, it still filled the air with it's flavor. The twins were playing a game, with Zack sitting on the floor watching the television. Evan walked over to the plate his mother had prepared and put it into the microwave to be reheated.

Ollie noticed his brother and after taking his turn in the game that him and Mary were playing he called over to Evan. "Mornin, whatcha doing today Evan? Want to play with us?"

Mary turned her head towards Evan and chimed in as well "Yeah, play!"

"I'll be going down to the Heart. I want to finish a painting I started a few months ago." Evan replied.He had been meaning to get around to finishing the painting, but various things had cut his time up to where he couldn't get more than an hour to paint. But now that things were the way they were, he didn't want to leave it half finished. It was going to be the last thing he gives to his family, he couldn't afford to not finish it now.

The Heart itself is the common term that the people of the G-46 refer to a giant instillation in the center plaza of the ship and was one of the few places on the ship that the artificial gravity was lowered. The reason the artificial gravity was lowered in this area for the residents to enjoy the weightlessness that space had to offer without being being completely subjected to some of the issues that it presented for the human body. Because of this and the beauty that the designers were able to put into the area, many residents of the ship would come to the Heart to relax on their free days.

As for his skills in painting, and drawing by extension, Evan could be considered to be highly talented. Perhaps it was due to the large amounts of time that he had devoted to the activity throughout his childhood because of his condition forcing him away from those activities that were more physically involved; or maybe it was just a natural born affinity for the painting that drew him to it.

It is due to the large amount of time he spent on this hobby the cost of supplies that Evan would have eaten through with his painting would easily cost in the hundreds to thousands of dollars. The

reason this money sink hasn't occurred is due to a few reasons, primarily though production of paint was limited to non-recreational use only and that paper was a rarity on the ship, if one excluded the physical books and select documents stored in the library. Luckily he didn't need those things, and could instead rely on a tablet that was specifically designed for art.

Thus when he said that he wanted to go down to the Heart to paint, his siblings knew better than to try to push him to stay for a game. They had long since recognized Evan's passion for painting. It was him that pushed the pair to try and design the many games that his family had helped the two test.

"While I eat though, why don't you explain how to play this one, I haven't seen it before." Evan said as he brought his food over to the table.

The twins were practically glowing as they explained the rules to Evan. Though most of the rules went over his head due to the lack of a physical set of the rules that he could carefully read through, Evan could at least understand that the two had spent a while on this one. Shortly after they finished explaining Mary and Ollie continued playing the game from where they had left off while Evan watched and finished his breakfast.

Upon finishing his food, Evan stood up from the table and bid his younger siblings goodbye as he gathered the things he would need for the day. Looking back into he house as he opened the door he saw the three enjoying the day, and smiled as he left for the Heart.

The trip to the Heart was a 15 minute walk from his home, and saying hello to his neighbors or other people that were walking through the ship was the most interesting thing that happened on his journey. Walking past the point that the artificial gravity had a hold on the ship, Evan pushed off of the ground to get a better view of the area before he resumed his painting. Every time Evan came here, he was reminded of how beautiful the Heart is.

The Heart was essentially a park for the residents, and for this reason, much like the library, the designers had put in painstakingly high levels of attention to the flow and aesthetic of the plaza. The grass that was placed in the room was layered in steps and these steps went from the very bottom of the plaza halfway up the circular plaza. The roof of the plaza was similar in it's circular shape, but instead of grass a dome of 6 different layers of pressurized and highly heat resistant glass covered the room. This dome provided a similar view into space as the focal window in the library, but with a major difference.

The focal point of the Heart was this difference. It was quite simply an artistic manipulation of artificial gravity to allow for a large globe of glass to stand center of the plaza. In addition to this globe, there was a set of smaller glass globes that revolved around it to recreate a scene reminiscent of the human's home planet of Earth and it's solar system. Though these globes were 'smaller', they were still large enough for a dozen or so humans to fit comfortably inside of one.

While not the main attraction of this instillation, due to the artificial gravity manipulation, if one were to stand on one of the glass globes they could walk around it. Many young children found this activity to be the most interesting part of the Heart and would often come here to play around the globes. As a result of this, it was also not uncommon to see a kid become sick from a temporary instance of disorientation from the mixing information from their eyes and internal ears.

As Evan picked out the spot he intended to continue his painting from, he couldn't help but relax from seeing the faces of others enjoying the day along with him. Pulling out his tablet, Evan resumed his painting in peace while sitting comfortably on the grass below the glass structures and the window into the void with those static stars.

5 hours later, Evan put the final touches of the painting and saved the final version to the tablet. Satisfied with his work, he stood back up from the grass and put away his stuff. Stretching his body once more so as to not allow his muscles to tighten up, Evan readied himself for his next task for the day. Spending time with friends he would likely never see again, and saying his ultimate goodbyes. Taking a deep breath, the young man began to walk towards the residential area in the southern section of the ship.