"It begins with going to Mars, there, you'll be each stationed in your new living quarters. You are to carry out your daily activities but, at regular points in the day, you'll be required to record your experiences, thoughts and opinions on a video camera. You can contact your family once every thirty sols, no more than that. Attempts of rape, unintentional and intentional manslaughter is illegal. You are to honour one another as equals, but at the end of the day, the Captain's decision is final. Do what is right for the future of the colony. You are being monitored by the people of Earth at all times and what you do will be televised across the globe. It is imperative that you understand that you will not be returning to Earth or leaving Mars at any time."

These were the words that they drilled into us during our two and a half years of training. The four of us; ranging from sixteen to nineteen would be flying to Mars to colonise it and expand the human's trail of destruction. Already they have civilian trips to the Moon, trashing it with their touch. But now, we go to Mars.

My name is Joan. My last name doesn't matter anymore, perhaps to the ones back on Earth, but not to me. We're told in the new world that the children we produce will only every have the last names of the twenty or so people that are traveling to Mars in the next ten years.

We're the first, the first in a long line of people who will be colonising Mars. We leave our families, homes, everything on Earth to go to an unliveable planet and try to make it liveable. Wonderful.

Anyway, my name's Joan. I am a certified multi-board technician and Media expert. That my field of awesomeness. I have a younger sister, both parents and grandparents. I have cousins, aunties and uncles like any other person. I'm sarcastic and a fangirl of a broad amount of fandoms. I come from Australia and have no possible future on Earth.

That's what I told the initiators.

What I didn't tell them was that I'm claustrophobic, that I'm escaping a long family feud by travelling here and even though I hate space and space travel, it seems like the only good future for me.

With the help of stunning, Roman-muscled, blonde-haired, nineteen-year-old, American, Dr Gabriel, his fellow blonde-haired goddess, slightly vain, seventeen year-old, German Dietician and mother bird, Juliette. And my government-instructed pairing; Daniel. He has dark hair and a pale, angular face. In our greys he appears washed out and sickly, but there is charm and sweetness in his appearance. He hails from Ireland and he's the team's mixed Mathematician, Engineer and Physics expert.

The four of us are going to be the first upon Mars.

And we won't be leaving.