The alloy dome of the parliament chamber refracted cold white light, and the holographic projections of the 24 ceremonial officers were suspended on the circular seats. Each gaze was like a sharp blade tempered with ice, piercing my exposed shoulders and neck. The speaker's voice echoed repeatedly in the empty hall through the loudspeaker system, and each word became a heavy hammer on my heart: "First, he will be deprived of lifelong political rights, effective immediately; second, all interstellar accounts, colonial assets and military supplies under his name will be frozen in the entire territory; third, he will be permanently expelled from the Sky Garden. Without a special order from the Supreme Council, he will not be allowed to set foot in this life."
I lowered my eyes, and my fingertips clenched the ID chip hidden in my sleeve - it was still engraved with my former name, and each stroke was the imprint of the Sky Garden on me. It wasn't until the attendants' projections were extinguished one by one that I raised my head and looked at the huge picture window outside the court. Outside the glass, the circular ecological circle of the sky garden is slowly rotating. The light of artificial stars shines on the layers of suspended buildings. The corridors wrapped with vines, the tarmac where I ran on my childhood, the training cabin when I first piloted a mecha... Those images are like broken stars, shining hot in front of my eyes.
The guards escorting me walked silently on both sides, their metal boot soles stepping on the smooth floor making a monotonous sound, as if they were counting down to my embarrassing farewell. The spaceship was parked at the edge of the spaceport, and the indicator light under the ramp flashed cold red, as if to warn me that this was an ultimatum. The moment I stepped onto the gangway, I couldn't help but look back. The sky garden looked like a gem filled with light in the dark background of the universe, but no part of it belonged to me.
