It was the blaring beeps of her alarm that woke Livia Blackfell. It took her a half a minute to hit the 'stop' button, as Livia didn't want to wake up. She also was inclined to stay in bed all day, but upon seeing the alarm time, she quickly sat up and rushed to get ready for the day; Livia had woken up half an hour late, after all. She only had twenty minutes before she had to go to class. And so, she quickly changed into her day clothes, a simple shirt and plain pants that were both the same shade of dark gray, before heading out to her family block's kitchen. With a push of a button, her bowl was filled with a light gray, oatmeal-like substance that was entirely tasteless. Nevertheless, Livia ate her breakfast, knowing she needed the sustenance for today's activities.

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            "With Earth's destruction from the Resource War, the surviving humans boarded the Odysseus." Livia's history teacher, Mr. Reed, droned on forty minutes later. "We are their descendants, the Middle Generations, tasked with keeping the human race alive as we fly toward a planet that scientists had found long ago for us to inhabit: Terra." Livia was resting her head on one hand, taking notes with the other. History was boring to her, even more so than any other subject Sector #1283's school taught. None of the information in it mattered anymore; all she and her classmates remember was life on the Odysseus. In fact, that was all anyone currently alive knew. She also never understood why time was wasted on teaching the Odysseus youth; it's not like any of this knowledge would be used in their lifetime, after all. Whenever she pointed this out, she was lectured on how 'traditions had to be maintained'.

            Luckily for Livia, the bell rang in the middle of Mr. Reed's lecture, cutting it short. Collecting her things, Livia left the classroom in silence, heading to the library; it was her study hall hour, after all. As the girl entered the room, she took note of the only splash of color in the room: a small potted flower, its scarlet blossoms opened to the light above. Livia assumed the library had gotten it from the Odysseus' storage, where both plant and animal life was placed in cryostasis until humanity reached Terra. She guessed this particular flower would eventually become a fruit, although why the library would be growing such a delicacy confused her. The librarian was watering it, an expression on her face that Livia didn't recognize. She knew what a smile, which the librarian wore, looked like, and while this one was small it... somehow reached the librarian's eyes. With the watering done, the librarian returned to simply sitting at her desk, that expression gone.

            Livia sat at one of the computers, tapping it on. At first, she began to type in the link for the homework Mr. Reed had assigned, only to pause. What had triggered her smile...? She deleted what she had already typed, before entering a query into the search engine: Can flowers cause people to be happy?

            She skipped past historical references to the gifting of bouquets, instead finding her answer in an ancient message board. The writer of the post couldn't explain how, but they did talk about a sense of fulfillment when they cared for plants, especially when comparing the growth of them with how the plants were when they started.

            She wasn't satisfied with the answer. And so, she went to the librarian, who had a name tag that read Maya Smith. "May I help you?" Maya asked as Livia walked up to her.

"You have a flower," Livia stated.

            "The library does. I just water it. Why does it matter to you?"

Livia opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. Why did it matter? "I was just observing..." She looked away, her curiosity dying with the point the librarian had made.

"Well, your observation is made." The librarian said with a frown. "Go back to your studying."

Livia did so, staring at the ground until she returned to sitting in front of the computer she was logged into. She began her assigned homework, her emotions once again dominated by boredom and general uninterest. But she couldn't shake that tiny spark of curiosity and confusion about that flower and how it had affected the librarian.

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"Stop lying, Livia." Her father was telling her.

"It's the truth! She was watering a flower, but she seemed happy!" Livia protested.

"Happiness comes when someone does something that matters. Watering a plant doesn't matter. The only things that matter to us now are raising the next generation so the human race can survive, and to teach them. You know that, Livia."

"You never seem happy. Neither does Mom." She pointed out. "And you're raising and teaching me."

Mr. Blackfell sighed. "Because we aren't technically raising or teaching you anymore. Your teachers took that job."

I suppose that's why Mr. Reed always has a smile on his face; it seems to be the only job on this ship. She crossed her arms as she thought this. "Well, maybe raising that plant matters to that librarian. And maybe it can matter to us, too." She said, continuing even as Mr. Blackfell opened his mouth. "You won't know until you try, dad! That's what the teachers keep stressing!"

"They're talking about studying methods, Livia. I don't want to hear this ridiculous idea from you again." Mr. Blackfell's voice grew a little harsh, instigating a frown from his daughter.

"Now do your homework. Workout's at six." And with that, Livia's father left the kitchen, heading to his room.

Livia stared after him, before looking away. "That can't be all that matters." She muttered, opening her books. "There has to be something else."

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One month later, Livia had written up a lab activity for her psychology class; the teacher, Mrs. Steinfeld, had assigned each student to write a research question for a social science experiment two weeks prior, with the winner being able to conduct the experiment the question helped create. Livia had won, her question being does something have to matter for someone to feel happy? And so, Mrs. Steinfeld handed out copies of the activity to the rest of the class; neither she nor Livia would participate, the former as this was a class activity, and the latter as she had to record her results.

"Everyone with a number on their paper will work with people with the same number. If you don't have a number, you'll be working alone." Livia said, before gesturing to pots, paper shreds to simulate dirt, and robotic flower bulbs, which were normally used in biology classrooms. "If you have a blue dot, you'll be raising one of these. If you have a green dot, you'll be making decorations to mimic a clear day on Earth." This idea she had gotten from another ancient message board, which had compromised of an argument about which weather was the best. Livia chose a clear day as it would be the easiest to mimic and least destructive of the classroom.

With Mrs. Steinfeld's announcement that the lab would begin, Livia's classmates got to work, half getting into either pairs or groups of three, with the other half working alone. Livia turned on the tablet she had been holding, her fingers hovering over the keyboard that was on the screen. She walked around, asking and recording how her classmates were currently feeling; all except one reported 'bored', or 'normal', with the outlier stating that 'this was a waste of time'. And then, she stepped back, and let the experiment commence.

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It didn't take long for Livia to notice an improvement in her classmates' moods. In the following weeks, they reported enjoying decorating the classroom or caring for the plants and expressed excitement for the class. The decorations consisted of white and gray balled cotton hanging from the ceiling, with most of the light being centered on a large lamp just above the classroom clock. Livia walked into this decorated classroom, seeing the flowers blooming under this makeshift sun. In front of her, classmates were chatting as they either tended to the flowers or adjusted decorations, adding to the feeling of contentment that filled the room. Mrs. Steinfeld turned her head to the door as Livia entered, giving her a proud smile. "Your thesis was right, Livia." She said. "Look around you: everyone's drastically happier compared to the start of the year. This could actually help the Odysseus' passengers." Mrs. Steinfeld congratulated.

"Really?"

"Yes. In fact, if you wanted to, I could help you write a proposal."

Livia glanced at her classmates, then at her notebook, thinking. She herself had enjoyed this lab. And it would end soon, she knew. But if Livia managed to convince the Council? This project could continue.

"That would be great!"

"Then let's get to work; the next Council meeting is in a month."

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Livia stood in front of the half-circle of adults, who were murmuring amongst themselves. Each Council member was randomly selected by the Odysseus each year, and thus it was extremely rare for someone to attend more than one Council meeting as a Council member; they only met once a year, after all.

A Councilman stood, clearing his throat. The murmuring stopped as he spoke, his voice flat and dull. "Our next item to discuss is Proposal Number One-Eight-Nine-Three-Two, which will be presented by student Livia Blackfell." He announced, before sitting.

Livia took in a deep breath, nervousness settling into her as the council members all turned to face her. "My name is Livia Blackfell, a student from Sector One-Two-Eight-Three. Last month, I conducted an experiment in my psychology class, to see if only the teachers were destined for happiness. My results show that as the classroom was decorated to look like a clear day on Earth, and robotic bulbs were cared for, the mood of my classmates significantly increased, with no difference between caring for the bulbs or creating decorations." She began, graphs of the students' moods and images of the classroom before, during, and after the experiment appearing on the monitor next to her. "All our lives, we were told that as members of the Middle Generations, our sole purpose was to reproduce and teach our traditions to the next generation so humanity and our way of life can continue. I theorize that this feeling of emptiness that me and the rest of the Middle Generations feel, except for the teachers. You have the same feeling, right?" When no one contested this, she continued. "Thus, gaining a true purpose, one that can be lived by day-to-day, increases the fulfillment, and by extension, happiness, a person feels."

"And so, I propose the Weather Project, to transform Plaza Ten into a simulated Earth environment. Trees and other plants would be removed from cryostasis and placed in the plaza. A giant circular lamp would be installed on the starboard wall to simulate a sun. Passengers would be able to care for the plants or create art. In other words, Plaza Ten would become our form of an Earth park." Livia explained. "I yield my time."

The same Councilman nodded, then glanced at the others. After a few minutes of the group whispering to each other, he spoke. "This is, in theory, a good idea," he began. "But not so much in practice."

Livia felt a pit begin to form in her stomach. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," explained the Councilman, "that this goes against the purpose of the Odysseus. It was meant for one thing, and one thing only: transporting a living human population to Terra. Our purpose is to make sure that there is a generation alive when this ship reaches its destination. And so, Proposal Number One-Eight-Nine-Three-Two, codenamed the Weather Project, is rejected."

"Wait, you expect us to just live empty lives?" Livia protested.

"Not empty, Miss Blackfell. Find solace in the fact that you, and all of your classmates, are necessary for the continuation of humanity." said a Councilwoman.

     "Now, please leave. We have many other things to discuss today." The Councilman who spoke before added, gesturing to the door.

Livia stepped out of the door, her heart sinking. But that doesn't give us solace! as soon as this thought entered her head, it vanished; she saw that the Council would never implement her plan, no matter who its members were. In conducting her experiment and writing her proposal, Livia had found a purpose, a guiding light to guide her each day. With that gone, she couldn't help but once again succumb to the monotony of life aboard the Odysseus.