Lunarisation I - Part II

10th March

Li Huang Square, Central Development, Dunstan

I happened to run in to Jaime Zhu Hai, the nice woman who I'd met when I first arrived on the moon. I suppose it isn't that surprising, after all there aren't many people here in Dunstan, but still what are the chances? She invited me to play something called 'lunar volleyball' with a group of her friends, and for some reason, I couldn't refuse her.

Jaime taught me that the game was called lunar volleyball, a variation of volleyball designed to better account for the lunar gravity, which made the rules rather different. Not that it made much difference to me, as I didn't know anything about regular volleyball anyway. Teams are usually made up of four players, usually with two in the front and two in the back, but only one player has to be in each half of the court at a time. There are specific positions like winger and blocker, but for an informal game like this, setter is the only necessary position.

The ball used was different than the ball used on Earth, to account for some of the differences in gravity. It was three times heavier, but since the gravity here is six times weaker, that means when hit, the ball travels twice as fast as it would on Earth. And it hurts six times worse. Because of this, it's generally accepted that wearing armguards is a necessity. Of course, there's no way for this to be enforced, but no one wants a broken arm. If you became unable to work, you might be sent back to Earth after all.

Jaime's other teammates are Tobio and Jacob. Tobio is a tall and slender Japanese man, who seems like the type to take things a bit too seriously. Jacob, in contrast, seems to be enjoying himself far too much. They all agreed that I should play in the forecourt, as new arrivals from Earth can jump much higher, since our bones haven't been deteriorating from long-term exposure to the weak gravity. And I'm glad they did, because it seems so much more fun than backcourt. In the back, all Jacob and Jaime seemed to be doing, was chasing after balls that were often far too fast and hard to stop. At the front, however, I was having a lot of fun. I had to hold back when I jumped, because of just how high I went. Even then, I could still jump almost four metres off the ground. At first, when I didn't realise I had to hold back, I'd accidentally jumped over the net a couple of times. It was ridiculous how high I could jump in this gravity. Jaime was our team's setter, which suited her a lot more than the spiking and blocking Tobio was doing (and I was attempting), or the diving that Jacob was doing, due to her height. And she was actually quite good at it. She didn't seem very athletic, so I was surprised, but she almost always got the ball more or less in the right spot.

We played against three different teams over the course of an hour and a bit. We won only one of the games, but we were enjoying ourselves, even when we lost. I made a lot of mistakes, but no one really cared.

"Of course you missed that, you're new after all," Tobio had said.

I don't think I like him very much. He doesn't seem like a very nice person. After the third game, we decided that we were done. I was exhausted. After ten hours of that hellish training course, and then this, I just wanted to sleep already.

"I'm so tired," Jacob stretched, as if echoing my sentiment, "we should go drink."

Tobio and Jacob both nodded in agreement, but I'm far too exhausted to even think about that.

"I'm going to go home. I'm far too tired," I say.

"No, no, no. You're coming too," Jaime replies.

"Huh? But I have my training course in ten hours, and I haven't slept yet..."

"No, you're coming with us. It's decided because I said so," Jaime smiles at me.

"Just give it up," Tobio shook his head sadly, "she never takes no for an answer."

"Is that how you see me?" Jaime says, looking shocked.

"Yes. You're a tyrant," Jacob says, while Tobio only nods.

"You too, Jacob?"

Jaime looks visibly upset. I'm worried she's about to start crying, until I see a slight upward curve at the corner of her mouth. They look like they're having so much fun. The three of them must be really good friends.

So, I ended up going drinking with them, against my will. The bar we went to was hald empty. The patrons that were there were almost exclusively fellow employees at Artemis Energy, and between the four of us, we knew, or at least recognised, most of them. Jacob jokingly siad that since so many of their emplyees come here, Artemis Energy keeps an open tab constantly.

Jaime told me a little about herself, unprompted of course. She certainly talks a lot. Or rather, constantly. She worked for Artemis Energy at their offices in Singapore before being offered the position here at Dunstan. She hadn't originally even really considered going to the moon as an option, so she didn't jump at the opportunity like a lot of others, myself included, have. But, eventually she was convinced by her family to go. Her family had been living as Chinese Singaporeans for at least ten generations, dating back to the 1830s.

"And what about you?" she asked me, with her head tilted in my direction, at just the right angle.

"My father, Osman, was born to Palestinian refugees in Jordan. He was fortunate enough to be admitted to a local school. After that, he earned a scholarship to a university in Singapore. He met my mother, Firenze, there. Her parents were of Italian origin, and they named her after the city of Florence, where my grandfather was born. When I was born, my mother wanted me to have an Italian name, and my father wanted to use the traditional Arab naming system, which is how I ended up with Maria binti Osman."

"Hmm, I see now. I had been wondering, because it's such a unique name," Jaime replied, she sounded kind of lazy. I couldn't tell if that was because she was getting tired, or getting tipsy.

"So, do you believe in the Islamic faith?"

"No, I don't believe in it."

"Hmm."

The two of us sit in silence for a moment. I try listening to Jacob and Tobio's conversation, but I can't tell what they're talking about. The two of them are laughing, and seem as if they can barely manage to sit up straight in their seats. No wonder, they've drunk a lot more than me or Jaime.

"You haven't made any friends since coming to the moon, have you?"

I turn back to look at Jaime.

"No, I don't... I've never been very good at socialising."

"What? Then your just like everyone else here."

"Huh?"

"Most of the people on the moon are social outcasts," Jaime states it as if it's a fact, "after all, only weirdos, freaks, shut-ins, and geeks, would want to live somewhere like this, right?"

"I suppose so... but you three seem like really good friends."

Jaime blinked at me twice, and then started laughing.

"We're not that good friends. I only met Jacob a few weeks ago, and to be honest, I only hang out with Tobio because I feel sorry for him. He doesn't have any friends."

"Oi, I heard that," Tobio hits Jaime playfully on the shoulder. I hadn't noticed, but him and Jacob had stopped talking amongst themselves, and had been listening in on our conversation.

"Sorry," Jaime's smile clearly indicated that she wasn't at all sorry.

"And besides, it isn't like I don't have other friends," Tobio replied.

"Like who?"

An uncomfortable silence hung over us. Somehow it seemed like all the other customers in the bar had also gotten quieter, or maybe we were being too loud until now. More importantly, I feel really bad for Tobio now. And just before I'd been thinking that he was an asshole.