by Aer-ki Jyr
1
May 22, 2458
Solar System
Earth
Rio Jakson sat atop one of hundreds of short skyscrapers in Riverside, California with his back resting against a monument pedestal dedicated to someone who did something a long time ago with no real significance. The letters were mostly worn off, and in truth no one cared about the small monument, but it did make for a good spot to sit on the rooftop garden/park and look out over the city, for all of the buildings were bumping up against the mandatory height restrictions, meaning there was nothing taller in this area to obscure your view of the sky.
The 17 year old sat a few meters from the clear fence that surrounded the pentagon-shaped building that was both his home, school, grocery store, fitness center, and all around prison. It had been designed to give the residents just about everything they needed indoors in an attempt to diminish the amount of traffic that plagued the area, and to Rio that meant he was virtually a prisoner, for security wouldn’t let the ‘children’ outside the building without their parents’ permission.
The open air up top was his only reprieve from the claustrophobia inside the building. His parents weren’t rich, nor were they poor, but land space was at such a premium that every building in the U.S. was designed to maximize internal space…or at least every building in the metropolitan areas, which in California’s case covered pretty much the entire state.
He, like many other teenagers, tried to push the boundaries of the residential complex, and had found that this roof was the best option they had, and as such it was usually crowded. This particular spot along the edge Rio favored because it was away from all the recreation areas, giving him a more or less peaceful spot to relax, though he could still hear the sounds of a pickup volleyball game going on behind him in the ‘sand box’ that covered the central portion of the roof.
“Hey,” Nadia said, coming up from behind Rio on his left and dropping a long, flexible tube in a wrapper in his lap as she sat down next to him and scrunched up against his bare arm despite the oppressive heat that was only now just beginning to cool with a stiff breeze.
“Hey,” Rio answered his girlfriend back as he tore open the sugar stick, pulled it out and split it in two, giving her the bottom half that contained the cherry and grape flavoring that she liked, while he kept the lime and strawberry sections for himself as he got a whiff of her marine-scented perfume as she turned her head and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before gnawing into her half of the foodstuff.
“They sure aren’t wasting any time,” she commented, gesturing to the half-constructed tower in the distance that had already risen above the height restrictions of the other buildings. It was several miles away, but it was so large that it was impossible to miss and dominated the local skyline.
“Star Force doesn’t mess around,” Rio commented, drawing a look from Nadia.
“What’s wrong?” she demanded, poking him in the chest for emphasis.
Rio sighed. “How do you always know?”
“I can hear it in your voice…now spill.”
“You’re not going to like it,” he warned her.
“Now you have to tell me,” she said, scooting away just enough that she could turn and face him. “What’s wrong?”
“That’s what’s wrong,” Rio said, pointing out into the city.
“The tower?”
“No, everything else,” Rio said with disgust. “Everyone here, they’re going nowhere. Doing nothing. Hell, half the people in this building haven’t gone outside it in years. They just sit here stagnating, and for what?”
“We all get spooked, Rio. This isn’t your first time. I nearly had a panic attack three weeks ago in the hall outside the locker room. We manage it and move on, like always.”
“Move on to where exactly?” he asked with a touch of anger in his voice.
Nadia gave him an incredulous look. “Move on, move on. What do you think I mean?”
“I think you don’t know what you mean.”
“Now you better explain what you mean…”
“Or what, you won’t talk to me for three days? Then we make up and continue on…doing what? What is anyone around here doing?”
“Everyone is adjusting to the Star Force takeover. Things aren’t going to be the same anymore,” she said, gesturing with her hand towards the tower under construction, one of many popping up across California to house the transitional personnel that were already reworking the local infrastructure and social systems…including the schools, though those efforts hadn’t reached their building yet.
Rio shook his head. “Good riddance, but what is anyone going to be doing here?”
“Not having to work for a living, that’s what,” Nadia said like Rio had lost his mind and forgotten how to count to 3. “No more crap jobs just to get by. Everyone gets a place to live and food to eat, no money required. We don’t have to worry about where we go after we graduate…at least, not once they get done with things. Is that what’s bothering you? You’ve got another year before then.”
“But even then, what do I do? Live rent free, worry free…and then what?”
“Marry me…if I’m not already taken,” she joked, wrapping her right arm through his while she bit off the end of her sugar stick.
“And just live out our lives together doing…nothing?”
“Marriage isn’t nothing.”
“It isn’t something either. It’s a status, not an activity. Not a life.”
“I didn’t think you thought so little of me,” she said, knowing he wasn’t serious.
“But that’s just it,” he said, finally turning to look her in the dark green iris implants she’d gotten two years ago. “You’re a person, not a piece of property to acquire. Don’t you want to do anything with your life? Once Star Force gets through remodeling here, whenever that will be, we won’t have to worry about scraping by and working to live. So what do you want to do when that happens…sit around and watch vids all day?”
“Something is really eating you. No more being evasive. What is it? Just tell me.”
Rio leaned back, putting his head against the stone of the monument and looking out over the tops of all the other residential buildings with people just like him, looking ahead to normal, boring lives. Then there was the Star Force tower, rising further above them by the day as its frantic construction continued.
“I want to make something of myself, not spend my life just…living. I want to do something that matters.”
“You still want to go to law school?”
Rio frowned at her. “That was a long time ago. Besides, with Star Force in charge there’s no need for lawyers. Their civilian legal code is only 5 pages long. You can practically memorize it in a day.”
“I think that’s the point.”
“What?”
“That you can memorize it. That way you know the laws.”
“Novel idea there. Wish we’d thought of that.”
“But don’t they more complicated rules…for business or something?”
“Yeah, they do.”
“So?”
“I don’t want to be a lawyer, or whatever the new version is.”
“Then what do you want to be?”
“A man.”
Nadia squeezed his arm. “Well, I haven’t done a full body inspection yet, but I think you’re already there.”
“Sexuality can have a strong influence on the weak minded.”
“What?”
“It’s a quote.”
“From what?”
“Star Force.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
“It means ordinary people get caught up in relationships, and those relation
ships form the basis of their entire world.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t consider you to be a bad thing. Are you saying that I am?”
“I can’t define you,” Rio insisted as he stared out over the city, wanting her to understand. “You’re your own person. So am I. The question is, what do you want to do with your life, not who you want to be with.”
“What should I want?” Nadia asked skeptically.
“To be better than everyone else.”
“What’s wrong with everyone else?”
Rio turned to look at her again. “What’s wrong?!”
“Yes. What’s wrong with everybody else? Why aren’t they good enough for you? Why am I not good enough?”
Rio shook his head. “You’re missing the point.”
“No, it’s coming through real clear. You think you’re too good for us,” Nadia said, thumbing back towards the others on the rooftop park.
“No I’m not…but I want to be. Someday.”
“You’re not making any sense, Rio.”
“I can’t say here, Nadia. I have to get away. This place, these people…they’re killing me.”
She ran a finger down his chest. “You look fine to me.”
“On the inside. I feel hollow. Empty.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“Don’t. You’re the one thing that makes this place bearable.”
“Well that’s better, but I still don’t get what you’re trying to tell me.”
Rio closed his eyes and lowered his head, knowing there was no way to break this easy to her.
“I can’t stay here anymore.”
“Where exactly do you think you’re going?”
“I passed, Nadia.”
“Passed what?”
“The recruitment test.”
Nadia stiffened. “What test?”
“Remember when my uncle came over a few weeks ago?”
“Yeah.”
“He didn’t take me water skiing. Well, he did, but while he rounded up some of his friends he dropped me off downtown and I went to the recruitment center.”
“What recruitment center?” Nadia asked with no small amount of anger in her voice.
“Star Force. I passed the entrance exams on the first try. I was only missing the PT test.”
“That’s why you’ve been doing all that extra running?”
Rio nodded. “I needed a 5:15 mile. Yesterday I ran a 5:14 on vid and sent the file to them. I got a confirmation message this morning. I’ve qualified for Regular recruitment.”
“Regular what?”
“A Regular. The Regulars.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about fighting the lizards,” he blurted out.
Though he couldn’t see it, for he wasn’t looking at her, Nadia’s face scrunched up into a look of total revulsion.
“Military! Star Force is bad enough, but military? Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“It’s what I want,” Rio said simply.
“What you want? What about me? What about our life together? Our marriage? Our children?”
“I don’t want children. I don’t want a marriage, a normal life. I want to be someone,” he said, turning to face her. “I want my life to matter.”
Nadia pushed him away. “So I don’t matter?”
“You do matter to me. A lot. Which is why I want you to come with me.”
“Now I know you’re out of your mind.”
“Your science scores are high enough for a tech recruitment, I’d wager.”
“I don’t want to join Star Force. I want to stay here, see what changes Star Force makes and how they affect our lives. If what they claim is even half true, it should be a golden age for all of us ‘normal’ people. I want to raise children in that…maybe not here, in this building, but one like it.”
“Is that all you want? Just to be a mother?”
“You make it sound like it’s not important.”
“It’s still you defining yourself through other people. Who do you want to be, Nadia? You…nobody else. Just you.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you. Am I suddenly no longer good enough for you?”
“I have to be man, Nadia.”
“Be my man,” she insisted.
“I can’t be your man before I become a man…and I can’t become a man if I stay here, get married, have kids, and do nothing with my life. Everyone does that. Everyone has kids. Billions upon billions of people. It may be important but it’s not special, and it doesn’t require any skill. You just hump and let nature take its course. You know that better than most people with your parents.”
“My parents suck, which is exactly why I don’t want to be that way with my kids.”
“Why do you need kids? Why can’t you just be enough as yourself?”
“I want kids, Rio. It’s not about them defining me. I want to be a mother and do things right where my parents obviously didn’t. I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“No, that’s just your imagination. I want you…not the other stuff.”
“Stuff? You have no idea how insulting you’re being right now.”
Rio sat up and pointed at the Star Force tower.
“They are the only reason people get the chance to have families. Out there they’re fighting aliens to keep them away from Earth. Without them we’re all dead. Protecting Earth is more important than being a parent.”
“There are plenty of soldiers, Rio. Let someone else do it. You don’t have anything to prove to me.”
“It’s not about you. I guess I need to prove it to myself.”
“Prove what?”
“That I’m a man…and a better one than the average guy. I’m not now, but I want to be. I can feel the potential to be something…more. But I can’t do it here. This place, it eats away at that potential, and I’m afraid if I stay any longer it’s going to destroy it. I have to leave this place before it kills me, Nadia. I need you to understand that.”
“And you want to take me with you?”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“Then don’t leave.”
“I have to. I know that now, clearer than I’ve ever known anything else. I’ve earned my slot. It’s my chance and I’m not going to pass it up.”
“So you’re going to just leave me here?”
“Come with me and make a life for yourself. You can have children later if you really want. There’s no rush.”
Nadia crossed her arms over her chest. “Spoken like a typical male.”
“Meaning what?”
“A girl can’t wait. It’s biological. It’s literally in our DNA.”
“What about that woman on the news who gave birth at 93?”
“Star Force’s freaky medicine.”
“Self-sufficiency isn’t medicine…or freaky.”
“Yes it is. It’s unnatural.”
“You don’t want to live forever?”
“Nobody lives forever, Rio.”
“Don’t you want to try?”
“No. I want my husband and my children and that normal life you seem to hate.”
“With a passion,” he emphasized.
“Enough of this,” Nadia said, standing up. “Get your head on straight and I’ll talk to you in the morning. Hopefully with a good night’s sleep you’ll wake up sane.”
“I’m not joking, Nadia,” Rio said as she started to walk away. “I can leave now if I want. You’re the only reason I’m not gone already.”
She turned around. “So you want to convince me to come with you. What makes you think we’ll even be allowed to stay together? Damn it, Rio, I’m only 16.”
“Star Force doesn’t care about your age, only your abilities.”
“If you go off to war then where will I be?”
“We may be apart from each other, but we’ll both be gaining experience and rank, and who know
s what else. We can become better people and hook up again down the road. If we attain self-sufficiency there’s no rush. Why can’t we be individuals first, couple second?”
“It’s one or the other, Mr. Jakson.”
Rio sighed. “I’m sorry, Nadia. I knew this would be hard on you, but I’m not giving up on you. I don’t have to be with you physically to love you. I can be halfway across the galaxy and still yours, married or not. I have to do this, but it doesn’t mean we have to split up.”
Nadia gulped. “So you are serious. You’re choosing Star Force over me?”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Rio said, standing up and looking into those green eyes he’d grown overly fond of.
“Yes it does,” she insisted. “I’m willing to make you my entire life. If you’re not willing to do the same, then there is no other option. You can have your Star Force career or you can have me. Not both.”
“I’m sorry then,” he said, trying not to get choked up. “This is something I have to do, or I’ll never be happy. I want you. I need you. But I need more than you. I need to be a man before I can be a husband, and I can’t do that here.”
Nadia shook her head. “If you go, I’m not waiting for you.”
Rio clenched his teeth together to help hold back the emotions swirling inside of him. He’d worked through this conversation beforehand in his head, already having made his decisions so he wouldn’t lose his nerve. He just hadn’t known how she’d respond, but this eventuality wasn’t hard to imagine, so he’d prepared himself for it.
“I love you, but I have to go. If you can’t work with a long distance relationship, and you need someone physically with you day in and day out…then that person isn’t going to be me.”
Nadia’s jaw dropped, then she took a step towards Rio and slapped him across the face…hard.
He couldn’t hold back the tears, but Nadia didn’t stick around to see them. She walked off in a huff, leaving Rio alone on the edge of the roof park.
He turned around and walked to the clear fence and stood a few inches away from it, staring out across the other rooftops and the sea of people they contained. His eyes went straight to the Star Force tower, now with another piece sticking out of the top that hadn’t been there a few minutes ago.
That was it. He’d just done it. Maybe she’d have second thoughts tomorrow, try and convince him to stay, but he knew that she wasn’t coming with him. She was afraid to leave…or maybe she actually wanted to stay. Rio couldn’t understand that, for every fiber of his being wanted to be away from here, and if she truly wanted the family life, then it was best that they part ways now, before they made each other miserable down the road.