I’m intrigued, and would love to know who the friend is, and how the friend will help the narrator.

Also, what’s the One-Race initiative? Where did the tube come from? This story successfully conveys the feeling that it’s part of a larger world.

Plenty of food for thought, and as the comment above says, introduces wider elements without losing track of the central idea.

It’s good to see you again too, by the way.

Challenge Critique: This is really cool, I love the first person POV. This piece is just screaming for a sequel. I was looking for more action with this challenge so I needed some lasers and explosions with this one. I hope someone sequels ’cause this dude is cool. []o)