CHAPTER
2
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To: Office of Department of
Interplanetary Space Exploration Director
From: Office of the United Nations
Space and Sciences
Date: 21:30 UTC, September 23, 2040
Due to the recent assassination of
the Director-General your letter will be filed until a new Director-General is
chosen. Protocol dictates the order of which the letters filed will be view by the
new Director-General so no guarantees can be given on when a response will be
sent.
You are entitled to file a dispute
to the United Nations General Assembly secretary to proceed with any given
matters that are classified and/or require immediate attention.
Please address all other questions
to the Department of Information and Resources.
Thank you,
Pedro Henrique Martins Dos Santos
Sub-Secretary of the United Nations
Space and Sciences Department
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The school was set up so there were two entrances: One
for 16 year-olds and one for everyone else. A lady in the front was giving
directions. She wore a plain gray skirt and a white blouse. Her hair was up in
a bun and her eyes were covered by glasses that had a shade of dark gray lenses.
Government employees were required to look as simple as possible. She definitely
looked friendly enough.
“Those who were born between May 1st, 2039
and April 30th 2040 will go on my right. Everyone else will please
enter on my left.” She said. Her voice was a little high pitched.
“Is she the one in charge of orientation?” I whispered
to Calla. “I’ve heard they usually get crazed generals with glass eyes that
yell and the top of their lungs.”
“No, it’s the quieter government
women that you gotta watch out for. I heard they are horrible enough to eat
their own babies.” She said.
The thing about Calla is it’s very
hard to tell when she’s joking and when she isn’t. Sometimes she’d laugh or
smirk, but most of the time she would stay straight-faced. I was always caught
in a mix between belief and denial.
“Is that so? I doubt anyone would
marry a government wretch let alone procreate with her.”
“Haha, hey, I’m an aspiring
government woman myself. You can’t say that no one would want me.” She said
jokingly while moving her hands over her hips to form the curves of a perfect
woman.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” I
smiled her direction and was met with another swift punch in the arm.
We went with the flow of
16-year-olds to the left and entered the school’s auditorium. It was already
filled with hundreds of kids ready to be screened.
“Let’s sit somewhere in the back.
People tend to scare me or vice versa.” Calla said.
She grabbed my arm and led me to the back right
section of the auditorium. There was a balcony, but the bottom level was enough
to hold everyone so it wasn’t currently in use. There was probably some other
soldiers up there keeping watch of everyone. The auditorium was filled with 16
year-olds from more than 20 other surrounding high-schools. They preferred doing
the tests at military schools because it required less support from the United
Nations military forces.
Even so, the room was filled with several familiar
faces of those that had played football or had the same classes. If you ever
wanted to see how well a school was divided into cliques, an assembly was the
perfect place to look. The kids in the front had their suit and ties on. The
nerds were pretty in to these things. There were some that actually said they
wanted to go to The Cloud. It was a historical scientific achievement that
would be awesome to study. It was the first device capable of artificial
gravity.
The football kids usually sat as far back as possible.
If this was a normal assembly they would be passing a football back and forth.
Right now they sat quiet. It seemed that an unwritten law had silenced everyone
in the auditorium because it was just becoming apparent that no one was
talking. I guess even though we were pretty sure that no one would test
positive, the very idea was a bit daunting for all of us.
The lights dimmed everywhere except for the stage and
the lady from outside entered from one of the sides. The curtains were still
closed behind her, most likely hiding something that had to do with the testing
process. She held a clear piece of glass in her left hand and slowly walked to
the center of the stage where she peered out into the dimly lit students.
“Good, I’m glad that we’re all here. My name is Eveline
Stone. I will begin by describing to you why this screening process is so
crucial to the survival of human kind and then I will tell you about the actual
tests themselves.” She said.
“N121 is a mutated enzyme in the blood. It’s chemical
process breaks down the body’s immune system making it a perfect breeding
ground for viruses. The N121 enzyme has been linked with millions of deaths in
the years leading up to 2040. Ever since this screening process the world’s
mortality rate directly linked to infectious disease has reduced to a fraction.
The average life span of a human being is now well over 90 years.”
“Now, this wouldn’t have been possible if we hadn’t found
this N121 enzyme. It is important to note that on average 500 young adults such
as yourselves are found to be carriers of this enzyme. The United Nations
removes and isolates these carriers so that they may not have a chance to
reproduce and keep that mutation going. After the United Nations gained
complete control of the world’s governments, it was able enact health codes
that prohibits any forms of sexual intercourse or courtship before the age of
16. These laws are to protect us and to give us a higher purpose.”
“This will be the 14th time that the
screening has been administered. The first screening was done May 1st,
2041 in this very area. It is administered on different days to children in the
world that have turned 16. This part just so happens to still be May 1st.
If you are not 16 yet or have already been administered the test, please see
one of the supervisors by the door so that we can verify your personnel file.”
“We will begin alphabetically by surname. We will
start with the A’s and continue through until everyone has been screened. The
screening process will go one by one in front of everyone.”
She pushed her finger down on the glass tablet she had
been holding and the curtains began to recede to the side of the stage. Behind
the stage was a slightly reclined chair with a few machines around it. There
were nurses with masks and about 10 soldiers against the back wall.
“The process takes a little over one minute so we
should be able to get through this pretty quickly. I’m aware that no one has
ever tested positive for the N121 enzyme in this state, but protocol still
requires us to be thorough.”
“Two outcomes are possible.” She pointed to a monitor
that was behind the instruments. “That monitor will either turn red or green.
If it turns green, you have the rest of the day off.” She paused, “If it turns
red you will be an outcast to society and shipped off planet to the space
station called The Cloud. This process is called being Bronzed. Bronzing is an
important part in keeping our society safe and healthy. As a result of testing
positive for the N121 enzyme you will be immediately escorted to a vehicle that
will take you to the nearest space port and there you will be given more
instructions. But, seeing your service record from the past I’m assuming
everyone will be green. Let’s begin.”
She started calling out names and little by little the
students started filing in a line. It appeared that all the students had to do
was sit in the chair, the nurse would draw their blood and then she’d put the
blood in a machine that would change the screen behind it green. It was
actually going pretty quickly. She was already done with the A’s and starting
on the B’s.
“So, do you think the nerds are right?” Calla asked. I
looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think The Cloud would a pretty cool place to
go?” She replied.
“I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not, but I
imagine being forced to live in a space station for the rest of your life would
not be that fun. They only say that because their greatest love is science.” I retorted.
“So what’s your greatest love, Shawn McCoy?” She said
in a flirting manner.
“My greatest love is my friends and family, so basically
just you and my mom.” I laughed to myself. “I would do anything to protect you.”
“Wow, I’m surprised by that answer.” She said with a
look of astonishment on her face.
“Wait, why? You didn’t think I could be sentimental?”
I scoffed.
“No, I’m surprised because you sound so mature.” She
smiled and I knew she was mocking me.
“Well, you should tell my mom that. She would never
believe that you just called me mature, even if you were making fun of me.”
“EVANS, CALLA.” Came a loud voice from the stage.
“I guess that’s me.” She said.
I stood up to let her pass into the aisle and then she
turned around and gave me a hug. She was quite a bit shorter than I was but her
small frame fit perfectly against me. I looked around to see if anyone was
paying attention. Everyone was looking forward at the screening process. We
pulled apart.
“What was that for?” I asked her.
“That was for the ‘just in case.’” She replied.
“Nothing will happen to you. I can promise you that.”
I told her
She smiled at me and then skipped down to the stage
level of the auditorium. I was feeling rather nervous for her. I had known her
basically my whole life. My mom had moved here when I was three and she was the
first friend I ever had. I had a few other good friends, but out of all of them
she was my closest. If anything happened to her now, I don’t know what I would
do.
It was her turn. She walked up the stairs onto the
stage and gracefully fell into the chair. They hooked up a couple wires, one to
her heart and one to her temple. The nurse used a device to draw the blood from
her arm and then used the same device to put it in the machine. It didn’t make
any noise, at least any noise that could be heard from the back of the
auditorium. Then something happened that hadn’t happened with any of the other
tests. It wasn’t green, but it wasn’t red. It was a black screen with ‘[ERROR]’
printed on it. It made a different beeping sound that caused Eveline to stop in
the middle of the name she was reading and stare at the screen.
“That’s interesting.” Was all Eveline had to say.
The nurses didn’t know what to do and the soldiers
stepped in front of the exit. I don’t think anyone was sure what they were
supposed to do next.
“I guess you’ll have to run her again. These things
happen if people have been breaking the law. We’ll have to question you
afterwards no matter what happens now.” Eveline gave a harsh smile.
Calla looks directly and tried to appear as calm as
possible, but I could tell she was not calm by the way she was bending her
fingers back and forth. She always did that when she was nervous. The nurses
started to administer the test again. They drew the blood and put it in the
machine. The machine thought for a moment and then spit out a solid red screen.
At that the soldiers tensed up and two immediately ran to Calla’s side. She
looked panicked and not sure what to do.
How could this be? That’s impossible. There’s no way
she could have this Enzyme both of her parents have lived here their entire
life. What did Eveline mean by, ‘these things happen if people have been
breaking the law’? It didn’t make sense. Before I knew it I was on my feet
walking toward the Stage. The security guards had Calla on her feet and were
beginning to guide her to the back door.
“This system is rigged!” I yelled. Everyone in the
audience and on stage had stopped what they were doing and looked at me. “There’s
no way Calla could have tested positive. There’s no way!”
By then two more soldiers had appeared on both sides of me. They grabbed my forearm and bicep to hold me in place. Their grips were in such a way that escape would probably result in bone. Eveline’s facial expression hadn’t even changed. She looked down at me.
By then two more soldiers had appeared on both sides of me. They grabbed my forearm and bicep to hold me in place. Their grips were in such a way that escape would probably result in bone. Eveline’s facial expression hadn’t even changed. She looked down at me.
“And what’s your name, little boy?” She asked. The
fact that she called me a little boy made my face hot. I tensed up.
“My name is Shawn McCoy.” I replied through gritted
teeth.
“Shawn…McCoy you say? McCoy? where do I know that name?
Ah yes, Commander McCoy’s son. You’re something special aren’t you?” She
motioned for the guards to take me up to the stage. “We’re going to go a little
out of order for this. Test him.” She barked.
It was the first time he had seen her get emotional
but her attitude was definitely apparent. The chair was soft and in a different
situation might be considered quite comfortable. They stuck the wires on my
chest and head and began to draw my blood from my left arm. It wasn’t a needle
that they were using. They set it against my skin and pulled the trigger. There
was no pain but the vial began to feel with a red liquid. They put the blood in
the device and it did in fact make a slight humming sound. The screen was out
of my view but I could tell that it was an error by the beeping sound it made
and the reflection in Eveline’s glasses.
“Run him again!” she commanded. Her voice was losing
the calm in it. It was also becoming very apparent physically. Her stress made
me smile.
The nurses were at my side again monitoring my vitals
and drawing my blood with a clean container. They put the container in the
machine and it hummed again. After a few seconds it made the same beeping
sound. Eveline looked distraught.
“Run him one more time and if it gives the same
result, take him with the girl for interrogation. He probably has something to do
with her error anyway.” She said.
The nurses performed the same procedure and were met
with the same conclusion. Eveline looked me in the eye without saying a word.
Then she looked up and motioned for me to be taken away by looking at the doorway
they had taken Calla through. She stopped them as I got to the door and walked
over to me. Her voice grew to a whisper.
“Let’s hope this ends up a little better than it did
with your father.” She sneered and walked away.
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