All too soon time passed, and Gonad, along with Ruff, Oluff, and four other youngsters, found himself sitting in the coming of age class. The instruct...or of the class, Huggar, was an elderly villager who had, over the years, had taught generation upon generation of young males the secrets of manhood. The old man looked over his students and didn't like what he saw (probably because Huggar's eyesight wasn't what it used to be, and every young lad seemed to look a bit like his freeloading. All the “Serum” did was knock off twenty actual years from any adult’s age. Not only did it do that, it cured most of the diseases caused by old age. Right now our seventy year old elected President was actually his fifty year old younger self. The outward signs of old age being slower to reverse than the inner workings. Of course his makeup people were working hard to keep his image the same as the one the American people had elected, but it was hard to conceal the unruly blond hair growing in. Human space did not spread out in a circle from a central point such as Earth. Instead, humanity spread in two directions mostly, following the arm of the spiral galaxy. The spread in two directions coincided with the shape of a bean at this time, as seen from above the galactic plane. On the short side of the bean, right at the fulcrum of the inner curve of the bean sat the Imperial Central Complex, Capitol Prime. Callisto had been located down the spiral arm, to the right of the Capitol. .No. Stop it. You've been driving all night, Blu, and you're starting to get really fucking loopy. Go get a hot chocolate and wake the fuck up.I took a deep breath and exited the bathroom, walking over to a table and sitting down. Like I had told myself in the bathroom, I got a cup of hot chocolate and sipped it as I read a book from my backpack.I finished up, feeling more alert and awake, and I slung my backpack over my shoulder and marched out.I swung the door open and felt the cold December.