The preparations for the adulthood ceremony left the entire colony in uproar. Lhara held the ceremony every five lunar cycles. One lunar cycle matched old Earth’s solar cycle, something they learned in history classes. For the boys and girls who were just a little young to enter the last ceremony, this was a long time in coming. All of them felt that five lunar cycles was too long to wait to be considered an adult. Especially when they knew that by old Earth’s counting system they were already in their early twenties. Everywhere they went there were reminders of their history. Even Yoochun who liked history lessons more than most, started to get fed up and would mock the constant updates.

-A long long time ago, in a far far away solar system there was Earth but Earth became insufficient for our curiosity and need of resources, so we set out to the distant stars, creating colonies in suitable planets like Lhara, Seffren and Tarp. In the end, Earth was completely abandoned to regenerate and the different colonies also evolved separately, the voyages between them deemed too costly in resources. That is why we have Lara’s colony who is the only one who used genetic manipulation and even though we still maintain spaceships and other ancient technologies we rarely use them. Seffren however decided to maintain their dependency on machines keeping most of Earth’s old costumes. Then there’s Tarp that…

-Shut up, Chun! We know all that. – Grumped Changmin.

Junsu sat next to them with an annoyed face,

-Well, I for one wish the colonies had continued separated. 

-You are only pissed off cause the Seffren girl is a few lunar cycles younger than you and yet she is much smarter. 

-I don’t have a problem with her brains but with the stupid rules. She was awarded the title of doctor already. I have been kept as a student for the last lunar cycles, even if I have virtually nothing left to learn. She, however, gets a free pass cause she’s not from Lhara. Unfair. 

Later, they went swimming in the natural thermal pools of the river Urbe. The fact that they were just days away from the ceremony made them pay closer attention to the people around them, trying to determine who was already an adult and who wasn’t. Almost everyone didn’t use clothes to swim because the water was hot. In fact, the entire valley with the thermal springs was like a tropical forest. Changmin looked down at their bodies and looked again at a man that was on a more secluded area with a woman that was apparently his Linked One.

-Why is that guy pointing up? Is that what they call a ?

The others looked at the couple curiously. The woman seemed to be teasing her Linked One who kept trying to reach for her. Yoochun chuckled.

-Do you guys really go to the same classes as I do? I swear I saw your bodies sitting there, but where on Lhara were your heads? Yes, that’s an . It’s a normal reaction to your Linked One if you are a man. The women have a less visible reaction.

-Why do we only get that after having The Connection? – Asked Jaejoong.

Yoochun sighed. Junsu, who as a doctor student already knew the answer, just kept on splashing in the water.

-You guys really pay no attention to anything besides dragons. Our colony had a smaller number of people, that’s why they used genetic manipulation to allow men to give birth as well. Also, for women to be able to “father” a child. The genetic manipulation, and whatever else they messed with, was used to another big difference between us and the other colonies. They suppressed something called adolescence. For us it means nothing that all these men and women are . Even after The Connection, only our Linked One will affect us the way that guy is affected. It’s also why the chosen ones from the other colonies who are sent here are usually older people. If they are too close to their adolescence period they are a bit out of control. Our own out of control period is just the first fifteen purple cycles or even a blue cycle. It depends on how long The Connection takes to unleash its effects and how long until we settle with our Linked One. 

Junsu looked at Yoochun with an annoyed look.

-But Sarah is from Seffren, the colony who is the closest to how Earth was, and she is barely old enough to be considered for The Connection if she was from Lhara. How come she was chosen to come here?

-Hey, that should be your field of knowledge. Girls apparently have it easier. How am I supposed to explain that? I just read about it. Besides, Junsu, stop picking on her, you know damn well that our medical leaders just couldn’t resist her brain. Even you admit she’s smart, right?

Junsu huffed and went away to dive in the deeper part of the natural pool. Changmin was still looking curiously at the guy in the distance.

-It’s hard to imagine how it will look like when our es finally do that as well. 

Changmin looked between himself and his friends.

-But I guess me and Yunho are going to be the bigger ones. 

Jaejoong made a point of ignoring Changmin while Yoochun shook his head, thinking that the younger one sometimes was just hopeless.

-Size is important but it’s not everything. You all rely too much on The Connection to know what to do. If we were not suppressed, I actually think I know enough that I might be able to do everything already.

Yoochun crossed his arms and stood straighter, proud of himself. 

-Pffft, you mean you read the manual. Big deal. We all sat that class.

-No, not just the manual. The manual is simply an instruction book. I read and saw something that used to be called ography. It is much more enlightening. Actually makes you wish you didn’t have to wait for The Connection or even wonder why you will only ever be with your Linked One.

Yunho was had been silent all the time, decided he needed to find more about what Yoochun was talking about. He was the only one who normally bothered to really listen to Yoochun and he was very interested. His responsibility sense always made him take care of his friends, especially distracted Jaejoong who was now playing with Junsu, and he felt like he should use all the available information to be better prepared for the incoming adulthood ceremony and all the changes that would come with it. 

The two ended up going over what Yoochun had found out in the archives while the other three happily played in the water. Only Junsu joined Yunho and Yoochun after a while, even if he didn’t want to admit that he was also curious about what Yoochun had found.