CHOSEN: A Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Dystopian Novel (22 page)

Rift Valley in Southern Liberty

The shrill cry
of
an inconsolable little girl pierced the air of the evacuation site, causing
everyone to look around. On one of the hovehicles headed to Antes in the
Northern part of Northern Liberty, a young girl with bright green ribbons
strewn through her hair was having a screaming fit. They were forced to leave their
family dog behind and her already frantic mom tried uselessly to calm her. Her
crying set off a chain reaction of crying and whining kids who were scared.

“Get
control of her!” an agent barked at the mother.

“I
can’t do anything. She’s scared! What do you expect!” the upset mother yelled
back. 

“Get
them outta here now. I don’t want to cause a scene,” The callous agent yelled
at the driver sneering at the burdened mother and her daughter. The hovehicle
took off in the midst of the cries and the angry mother’s attempt to protest
back was drowned out by the cries of the other children.

Most
SEP Agents tried to be cordial and polite but always seemed intimidating in the
shiny grey uniforms with exterior armor and helmets. Their faces were partially
masked by a chin guard while the large agent issued reflective shaded glasses
they wore hid much of the rest of their face. The glasses were specially
equipped with the ability to read the tags of registered and unregistered
citizens. All of the special gear made them appear a shade less than human,
floating between a flimsy grey space of real and mechanic. 

The
uniforms were also equipped with a bioshield that once triggered would encase
their entire body and suit plus ten inches. The shield was designed to activate
when any biochemical or smoke above a safe level were detected by the suit’s
sensors. Ten inches allowed them to form a protective wall when lined up
shoulder to shoulder.

This
defense system was touted as a safety mechanism for agents and other law
enforcement officers, as well as citizens. The designers promoted the notion
that citizens could stand behind them and escape to safety if there was an
attack. The idea of the citizens benefiting had always been met with a little
suspicion but the technology had been approved and the uniforms were already
put in the budget without public input.

The
shield technology was designed and invented by the UniCorps International
Security Division after nearly a hundred thousand citizens and agents had died
during the attacks by the homeless more than twenty years before. 

The
technology was heralded as one of the best inventions of the decade and every
peace keeping agency regionally and on the international level bought the
upgrade. It sent UniCorps’s stocks and profits through the roof and with the
enemy still out there, the demand for new technology and defense skyrocketed.
The public was now at the center of the argument for keeping security
developments funded. 

Before
the homeless attacks the world had become complacent and vigilance against evil
had waned. There was little threat seen from those who would inflict harm on
good people. The one world government had come with a stronger sense of peace
and unity.

The
accused attackers were originally sold on the idea of a united world and had
thrown all of their support and effort into making it a reality. It was
supposed to be a world that worked for everyone. They helped to push the idea
through politically and were essential to garnering public support for one
government in the prior decades. It was the men and women who were now outcasts
that had been critical in the election of the first Supreme Leader by all those
able to vote. 

Soon
after forming the World Consensus, people wanted more power, more identity.
They wanted to be from somewhere and have associations with others that were
tied to a place. The corporations and media played on this desire and soon,
there was a campaign for the Homelands. 

At
first it was fun and entertaining. The Homelands campaign was a way to have
friendly competition in production of goods, services, academia, the arts, and
athletics in order to support the World Consensus.

Several
years passed with the loose identification with Homelands. Once people became
used to identifying with a Homeland, more structure was added to it and they
became official areas governed by Region Leaders. The institution of the
Regions strengthened the power of the World Consensus and made them a more
formidable threat on a global scale.

The
homeless were called that because of their refusal to choose a homeland in a
world that supposedly had no borders. It wasn’t what they’d fought so hard to
accomplish. They were now much older but they still believed in one world and
were against forced association with a Region and homeland. 

The
final straw for the homeless was the requirement to register with a Homeland
and have a second identification based on their registered homeland. The
Regional Leaders had proposed to the United Congress that every citizen be
legally required to identify with a Region in order to more accurately meet the
needs of the citizens, both regionally and globally. Registration would allow
them to collect accurate information on official citizen counts which was
argued to aid in making sure each region was given their share of resources. 

The
World Consensus no longer held the promise it once did and had again allowed
for and even facilitated divisions based on regions and place of birth.

The
punishment for refusing to comply with registration was banishment from the region.
No other region would accept the homeless as official citizens so they would
truly be homeless and forced to live without any legal identity or resources. 

Prior
to the attack, the government had already managed to greatly reduce the
overhead for prisons and chose not to jail them due to costs. The homeless
could not receive any benefits and were only permitted to work in jobs that no
one else wanted. They were forced to pay a penalty tax for the burden they
caused on society for refusing to comply and be accurately counted. They were
also charged for a second type of uniform which identified them as being without
a regional registration.

And
for greater insult and embarrassment the homeless were required to turn in
their regular World Consensus government issued uniform. This clothing was
phased out in favor of regionally specific uniforms. With the exception of
those on government assignment, or attending approved private clothing functions
and events, the regional uniform was required for all daily wear. 

Immediately
following the attack, the United Congress hastily drafted a bill which was just
as swiftly voted into law. It said that every person was required to register
and every child was to be registered upon birth. After the fear instilled
through the treatment of the first wave of homeless, very few people had chosen
to resist the registry. 

The
homeless were forced into hiding or to prove, many unsuccessfully, that they
were not a part of the attack. Most wound up in the repurposed jails and
prisons, now working the menial jobs for no pay. The government justified this
forced labor by stating the attackers should be grateful that the death penalty
had been abolished and that they were receiving room and board.

They
were stripped of all but basic human rights and had their World Consensus
citizenship status reduced from basic to fringe. Not only did they take the
adults who had pushed the homeless movement, they took any child sixteen or
over as a para-adult and the rest were sent to the Agency for Orphaned
Children.

Children
over ten were sent to a special program meant to remind them of their
responsibilities and commitment to being a World and Regional citizen of the
World Consensus. The younger children were eligible for immediate adoption to
parents who were vetted to be strong and responsible citizens.

It
didn’t take long for those who chose to be homeless but had not been charged of
any crimes to realize they were still being counted and still working in the
system, without benefits. They could join a region if they chose but would have
to pay an additional penalty tax for being reestablished as a full citizen and yet
they could not receive benefits for the subsequent year. It was blackmail.

In
a matter of a few years all they’d worked for had been destroyed and returned
it to what it had been, but only worse with all power aggregated. The
corporations had bought the governments in all but name before anyone who was
alive had even been born. They’d bought the healthcare system and controlled
the jobs, food sources and food chain, media, and every essential good needed
to live.

The
formation of the World Consensus simply gave them a more efficient way to
leverage that power. Each Region Leader was also a high ranking official at one
of the macro corporations that belonged to UniCorps.

The
homeless who escaped capture were now outlaws and harboring one would mean loss
of full citizenship at a minimum and possibly land a citizen in prison with
fringe status. The homeless who escaped or who chose to remain outside of the
system, removed their internal registrations and now roamed the areas where no
one wanted to live - the deserts, hills, and the old oil fields that were now
dried up and abandoned.

They
set up camp where they could but most groups could never settle due to the ongoing
searches by SEP Agents and the World Consensus. They were generally left alone
as long as they stayed out of sight and out of the way, unless tensions flared
or someone was needed to blame for a crisis, an attack, or even economic
issues. Then the agents would begin hunting the homeless again.

Those
who had found the least desirable areas had the best chance of being left
alone, but there were never any guarantees.

Antarctic Research Center

The energy on
the ARC created a recognizable buzz in the air. Everyone was on edge and
tempers flared with little to no cause.

“Rupert,
I need you to clean up the data and store everything new securely. No mistakes,”
Zura barked orders.

“Of
course. I’ve got it under control,” he answered in as easy a voice as he could
muster.

“Johan,
will we have everything ready to continue analysis from back home?” Zura turned
her attention to Johan now.

“Yes,
of course. It’s the same process I’ve done every year, my love,” he smiled as
he touched her shoulder gently.

“Uh
huh, and the latest data is loaded for today’s meeting already?” Zura asked
absently as she decided to seek refuge in the ROC room.

“Yes,
honey,” he called after her as she walked away.

The
goal of everyone she came across was simple – keep her from having any other
reason to reach her peak fury. Even Johan with his quiet patience and Mave couldn’t
seem to bring her back to calm. 

The
mounting tension was getting to them all. Mave followed Zura into the ROC room
with a cup of coffee. 

“Coffee?
It might help settle your nerves a little,” Mave offered.

“Coffee
isn’t going to do a damn thing for my nerves, Mave. The only thing that’s gonna
help is if everyone here pulls their weight so this meeting goes like it’s
supposed to,” Zura snapped as she looked up briefly from her work.

She
was revising her talking points for the meeting. Mave just looked at her with a
raised eyebrow and sat it down beside her before walking back out of the room. 

“Whatever
we do, we need to do it right today,” Johan said when Mave came back into the
science center. 

“Yeah,
we will already have the funders on us looking for any reason to discredit us.
We don’t need Zura on us too, not if we can help it,” Rupert agreed with Johan.

“She’ll
be fine once we get started and she’s in performance mode. Plus, we’ll be there
to back her,” Mave said with certainty. They’d been in difficult meetings
before, but none as difficult as the ones recently. She hoped she was right.

“My
friends, we need to head down to the ROC room. Let’s hope a few minutes to
herself has helped,” Johan said hesitantly.

Zura
and her team now waited in the ROC room - ready. Zura had made them go over
everything key to both the report and to the argument they planned to make again
and again, ad nauseam. The notes that had been prepared now served only as a
prop, no longer needed to state their case.

Mave
looked at Zura, trying to send her some calming thoughts but Zura wasn’t
receiving anything. She was still on edge and needed to reserve every one of
her emotions to get through this. She needed them to drive her past her
nervousness and fear. 

Zura
thought about the kids and the pangs of guilt she’d become too familiar with, returned.
She hadn’t seen them today and didn’t know if she would. The kids would be okay,
she told herself. They were almost para-adults after all. After today she could
finally plan their sixteenth birthday party. Last minute planning, but there
was nothing new there. At least Mave had promised to help her. 

The
door from the lab opened, bringing Zura back from her thirty seconds away from
the thoughts of the meeting that had consumed her entire being. It was one of
the kitchen staff coming through the door rolling a double stacked cart filled
with food. Johan directed him to set up the table on the side where coffee and
juices were already waiting. 

Zura
stood up after the young man setting up the food left the room. She studied the
layout, satisfied at her choices. Perhaps another cup of coffee, another one,
would help settle her nerves or at least give her some momentary comfort. She
grabbed her mug from her seat and poured herself a tall cup of coffee, rich
with fragrance.

She
looked at Mave and felt guilty for snapping about the coffee earlier, but now
wasn’t the time for apologies. She added cream and two cubes of sugar, stirring
it slowly as she watched the crystals dissolve in the coffee that had turned a
lighter shade of brown.

Mave
took the pitcher of coffee and poured herself a cup of coffee, black, one scoop
of sugar, before passing it to Rupert. Johan passed, one cup was good enough. He’d
be jittery if he had another.

“I
believe we are as ready as we’ll be,” Zura finally spoke to her team.

“Agreed,”
Johan said tapping his fingers on the tablet in front of him.

“What
will be will be. We can only present what we know and try to convince them to
do the right thing,” Rupert said. He ran a hand over his hair before pulling it
back into a low ponytail. “Johan, will you propose revisiting your solution
again today?” he asked curiously.

“I’ll
have to see how the rest goes. If I think there is a window for it, I will. If
they balk at the rest of this, well, I’ll save it for another day. Don’t worry
though, at some point, we’ll have to look at real options to solve the
problem.” Johan looked at his beautiful wife Zura and smiled. He thought he
almost saw a small smile cross her face, but he wasn’t sure. She was still only
partially with them.

A
sense of foreboding quiet permeated the remainder of the ARC. The core team was
in the ROC room, waiting because after months of preparation, they’d gotten
down to the meeting day. The prior weeks had been unusually intense and
stressful and finally culminated in today. It was their one chance to impress
upon their funders the importance of taking action immediately.

The
representatives from UniCorps and the World Consensus would be arriving any
moment. There were more people than usual this year because of what was in the
report. 

***

MOST OF THE
other staff were preparing as well, in different ways, trying to get their work
done so they could leave for home and the winter season. The family unit
belonging to Zura and Johan was no different.

The light
bounced off the walls in the living room and tried to find its way down the
halls, but was blocked by the angles. There would be no one in there until hours
from now. Everyone else’s preparations to leave meant the twins finally had
some space and time to do what they’d wanted to do for days.