by Aaron Denius
Dad walks to the center of the room. I stay planted by the door. The ability to run away if I have to brings me comfort. Dad reaches out to her. “Ev?”
She looks up, and I see her eyes for the first time. They are green like mine, but hers seem to transcend all logic. They don’t look at me. They look in me. I want nothing more than to be with her, but my nerves cause me to look away. She looks away as well.
Dad walks back over to me. “Maybe I’ll just leave you two alone.”
He nudges me toward the center of the room as he walks out and shuts the door.
“What?” is all that comes out of my mouth before I stop myself in the middle of the room. I feel exposed without the comfort of a wall behind me.
I look everywhere but at her. I’m so nervous that I haven’t noticed anything else in the room. A couch and two chairs sit to one side. On the other side is a table with water and protein pouches. I can feel her watching me. It’s too quiet, and I suddenly don’t know what to do with my hands. I decide to break the silence. “What’s your favorite flavor?”
I walk toward the table and see movement out of the corner of my eye. I turn to look at her, and before I have time to react, she has me in her arms.
I don’t know what to do. I just stand there. Her hair feels soft against my skin, and it smells like a mix of sour apples and vanilla. I want to pull her closer in, but my arms won’t move. She must sense that I’m uncomfortable, because she pulls away.
She falls back onto the couch. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I reply as I sit in one of the chairs across from the couch. “You just surprised me.”
She manages to show a little smile. “I feel like such an idiot. It’s just that…[A1] I… well, I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. I knew you existed, but they never let me see you. I was just so excited and then nervous.”
Her confession puts me at ease. “You just described everything I’ve been thinking. That’s why I asked you about the protein pouch. I was so nervous, I didn’t know what else to talk about.”
“Apple.” She laughs as she leans back on the couch. It’s intoxicating; I can’t help but join in. The air around us doesn’t feel heavy anymore. “What’s yours?”
“Anything with vanilla,” I respond. So many questions rush into my head. Before I manage to ask any of them, my dad comes back in. As much as I didn’t want him to leave me alone in here with Ev, now I want him to be gone.
He smiles. “Looks like you two have hit it off.”
“Not yet, Rene! You haven’t really given us much of a chance,” Ev sasses back. She calls him Rene? That’s my dad’s first name, but I would never call him that. In fact, I would never speak to him the way she just did.
This actually reveals more about him than it does her; the side of him that I know would never let me talk back to him. He obviously treats us differently. It exposes a duality to my dad for the first time, and I feel that he is hiding things from me.
“You’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other. From now on, you will be training together and taking classes together.” He looks at both of us with a grin. “Your first class starts now.”
We both stand and walk toward him. He puts his hand on my shoulder, and it feels like a foreign object. He’s still my dad, but I only know a fraction of who he is. I know that I will no longer be satisfied with the answers he gives me. I need to seek things out on my own. I need to know what he and all the scientists are actually doing. I need to find out why we are confined to this compound. Most importantly, I need to learn what my true purpose is. Why I was created.
We walk down the hallway to the end with the classrooms. Dad is beyond happy. I guess he’s been looking forward to this day longer than we have. Probably since before he created us. “You two are getting a new teacher today—Brianna Lawson. She’s a handful, but you will like her.”
“What’s the class?” I ask.
“It’s a fundamental class,” he responds. “Recent human history. It’s everything that has happened since 1900.”
“It sounds boring.” Ev folds her arms. Her coarse approach to my dad causes me to laugh. She certainly carries some resentment toward him.
He’s not amused. “I promise you it’s not boring. It starts with the first world war.”
“Okay, that does sound fun.” Ev smiles.
My interest is also piqued. “How many world wars have there been?”
“Four,” my dad says as he stops just outside a door. “But you will learn more about them from Brianna.”
“Thanks Dad,” I say out of habit. Ev walks in, and I follow. He closes the door behind us. The room has windows on one wall, and the other walls are empty. Like every other classroom, this one has about a dozen giant beanbags arranged in a circle on the floor. I choose the green one as usual. Ev sits in the beanbag next to mine.
“He lets you call him Dad?” she asks as she makes herself comfortable.
I can tell this is a sensitive subject for her. “That’s what he told me to call him. He would never let me call him Rene.”
“I knew he preferred you.” She’s obviously hurt. “All he does is talk about you, and he corrects me if I ever call him Dad or Father or anything.”
I don’t really know how to respond, but I try. “I think it’s because he respects you. He sees you more as an equal. All he does is coddle me. I just thought that’s how he was.”
“Not at all,” Ev laughs. I really like when she laughs. It makes me feel better.
We both stand when the doors open, and Brianna walks in. She is much younger than I would have imagined. Not much older than Ev and I. Her deep red hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and the big glasses she wears cover half her face. I can tell that underneath those glasses, she has a very refined quality about her. She carries herself well, which might be because of her age. People have probably never taken her seriously, since she is young and pretty.
I must have been in a trance staring at her because Ev bumps my shoulder, and I realize that Brianna has her hand extended toward me. “It’s nice to meet you, Atom.”
I shake her hand. “The pleasure is mine, Ms. Lawson. I like your glasses.”
“Thank you. Please, call me Brianna.” She pulls her hand away and takes a seat on one of the beanbags. I can feel that my cheeks have turned red because of the heat emanating from them. Ev must have noticed them as well because her eyes are burrowing holes into me. I feel ashamed, so I avoid making eye contact and sit back down in my beanbag. When Ev sits, she shuffles her beanbag closer to mine. My heart races as she does so. If she feels threatened by Brianna, she shouldn’t.
Brianna places a 3D hologram projector on the floor inside the beanbag circle. “I want you two to recall your world geography.”
She hits a button on the projector, and a giant image of Earth projects before us. It looks odd. The ice shelves at the North and South Poles are much smaller. She continues, “This hologram of Earth looks different than what you are used to. That’s because this is an image of what the world looked like in 1914.”
“It’s so different,” Ev mumbles. I look at her and can tell that she is just as enthralled as I am. Dad was right. This will be interesting.
“I want you two to just sit back, watch, and listen. This information will be important for your survival.” Brianna taps the wall behind her, and the windows darken, leaving the hologram to light the room.
What does she mean by our survival? What are we going to have to survive? These questions flood my mind, but just as quickly as they came, I have to brush them aside. Brianna has started her lesson.
*****
World War I marked the beginning of globalization. Before 1914, conflicts remained localized to their specific areas without much outside influence. When America joined the war in 1917, the world got a lot smaller. Any issues that would arise would now become worldwide issues. With radio and later television, these issues also became the concern of
any citizen with access. That war ended the German Empire but gave rise to two new ones: the Soviet Empire and the American Empire. This also brought us into the SciTech Age.
The Soviets, America, and Germany all poured money into scientific research. This would lead to Germany attempting to reclaim their empire, and their quest for power ignited World War II. In 1939, Europe was once again at war, and in 1941, Japan brought America into the conflict. Though the war itself was mostly over control of certain land, World War II proved significant because it introduced the world to nuclear technology and nuclear weapons. America’s strong-arm gesture to drop two atomic bombs on Japan would actually raise tensions between them and the Soviet Empire. Both would try hard to win the space race and the nuclear race.
The space race eventually put a man on the moon and would lead to the development of the internet. This would be the final step to complete globalization, because information could be accessed by anyone at any time. Whether national or personal, secrets would become obsolete.
The nuclear race would have different consequences. Though the Soviet Empire would fall apart due to internal conflict, the number of nuclear weapons developed by them and the United States would exceed 70,000 by 1990. Relations between nations from that point on would always carry the threat of a nuclear attack. By 2040, eighteen countries had nuclear weapons.
Around that time, robotics had become commonplace and were used in everything from household chores to space travel. Earth entered into one of its most peaceful eras, as the world powers united on the joint goal of putting a colony on Mars. Together, the Americans, the Chinese, the Russians, and the European Federation formed the NCM and built a base on the moon. Over the following decades, they progressed to developing the first self-sustaining and renewable colony on Mars.
Though the first-world countries had all switched to renewable energy, the rest of the world still depended heavily on fossil fuels. With reserves already low, the colonization of Mars drained what was left of the fuels and left the rest of the world is a perennial dark age. Conflicts arose between the third-world countries, as they would fight to attain each other’s resources. Brazil invaded Venezuela and took control of their oil, becoming a superpower in South America. Battles raged on in Africa as famine became its biggest killer. The worst of conflicts would happen between Pakistan and India, when Pakistan invaded and India retaliated with nuclear force. This marked the beginning of World War III. Afghanistan and Iran allied with Pakistan and launched their nuclear missiles at India.
This forced the hand of the NCM countries. They sent troops into the region to stop the conflict and disarm all active nuclear weapons. Overall, the blasts and the ensuing fallout killed nearly 250 million people. When the dispute was resolved, the NCM and other participating countries with nuclear weapons signed the Fallout Treaty, agreeing to disarm all active weapons. Any country that did not participate in the treaty would be invaded and forced to disarm its weapons. The two lone holdouts, North Korea and Iran, showed little resistance to the NCM armies that forced their way into the countries. The disarmament of the last nuclear missile would mark the end of World War III.
With Earth in relative peace, the NCM countries turned their attention back to science and technology advancement. They worked to develop chemicals that would offset the nuclear fallout effects and allow the areas to be habitable again. They developed cheaper versions of renewable energy that would let the poorer countries begin to flourish. Lastly, they worked to make Africa a self-sustaining ecosystem by creating a web of pipes that would bring water from a compound on the Nile to the rest of the continent. With access to fresh water, farms could be more easily cultivated, reducing the risk of famine and disease.
Humanity was once again flourishing, but in their research, they found that global temperatures had been steadily dropping. By the beginning of the twenty-second century, Earth had entered its next ice age. The average temperature had dropped nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit and would affect the cultivation of food. Africa would flourish as climate change brought more rain. Other parts of the world would not fare as well. Famine and disease ravaged South America, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
As the ice shelf pushed its way south, the northern countries became uninhabitable. Canadians were welcomed into America. Europeans made their way toward the lands surrounding the Mediterranean. The Russians attempted to move down into China but were met with a heavy blockade, as the population was already too big and too hard to feed. Left with no other option, the Russians attempted to force their way in, ending a long era of peace between the two countries. The other countries of the world did not concern themselves with the Russian/Chinese War, because they all had to deal with their own regional conflicts. Since the food supply could not keep up with the people’s demand, countries closed down their trade routes, putting those with poor access to resources at risk of famine and disease. Anarchy reigned supreme.
Earth had entered into World War IV. Countries fought other countries, civil wars raged in half the world, and neighbors fought each other to access resources. Amidst the chaos, those with money immigrated to Africa, where the climate was ideal, the resources were plenty, and the population was minimal. Africa became a mixing pot of the world’s privileged, including politicians and scientists. Together they decided that to save the human race from collapse, they needed to end the ice age.
A decision was made to collect all the top scientists and assemble them at the compound by the Nile River. There, they were tasked with finding a way to reverse the ice age. One of the scientists, a young geneticist named Rene Anfang, was put in charge of creating clones to use as security for the compound. When progress was stalled on finding an end to the ice age, Dr. Anfang and a few other scientists began a revolution to change this compound’s objective. The revolution was successful, and the scientists embarked on their new goal—the reset that we are in today.
CHAPTER II
The history lesson was six hours long and was a lot to process. It left me with so many questions, but all I wanted was a nap. Ev and I went back to our separate rooms and rested. I must have really needed it, because I fell right to sleep, and though I wake up four hours later, it feels like I was only out for a few minutes.
I sit up from my bed and see that it is just past ten o’clock. Most everyone will be asleep by now. If there’s any night that I need to go up on the roof, tonight is it. I grab a couple of protein pouches and my blanket. Last night was pretty cold, and I’m sure tonight won’t be any different.
I leave my room and nearly make it to the library before realizing that I could have Ev join me. I turn back and head down the empty hallways. I’m still not used to seeing them barren. They feel haunting without the drones. I turn down her hallway, and it occurs to me that I don’t know which door is hers. I take a wild guess and choose the third of the six doors.
“Ev?” I knock. I wait a second before I move to the next door and try the same thing. This time I strike a little louder. I’m afraid that if it’s not her room, I’ll be disturbing the actual tenant.
I walk to the next door and am about to knock when I hear my name called from behind me. Ev is poking her head out from the first door. Why didn’t I try that one first? I walk toward her. “Hey.”
“What are you doing?” she asks.
I point to the other doors. “Did I…”
“They’re all empty,” she responds. “No one has ever been in any of them. They keep them locked.”
“Weird. It’s the same in my hallway.” I lean against her doorframe. “I just thought that was where the drones stayed.”
She leans against the other side of the doorframe. “The who?”
“The drones. Those clones that were always guarding the hallways,” I say.
“I didn’t realize that’s what they were called.” She smiles. “What are you doing here?”
I smile back. “I want to show you something.”
“Are we allowed to leave
our rooms?” She takes a step back into her room, a bit skeptical.
“They never told us we couldn’t. Come on. You’ll enjoy it.” I reach my hand out to her. This gesture must make her feel more comfortable, because she takes it and lets me lead her back down the hallways. After a few turns, I realize that we are still holding hands, and my heartbeat increases. I can feel myself getting sweaty. I let go and offer her one of my protein pouches.
We get to the library and walk in. “I’ve been to the library before, Atom.”
“Just come with me.” I’m frustrated by her hesitation. With how reckless she was in talking to Dad, she is way too cautious with me now. Hopefully, once she sees what I have to show her, she will appreciate it. She follows me to the library’s back, where the ladder is, and I climb to the roof. I look back down and see her standing on the ground, looking around. “Climb up. No one is coming.”
I lay the blanket down and sit. After a few moments, she sits next to me. “We shouldn’t be up here. We could get into a lot of trouble if anyone found out.”
“No one is going to find out. I’ve been coming up here for a while,” I respond, a bit annoyed. “Just relax and take in the view.”
I can tell she is trying since she takes a deep breath and leans back on her arms. “What are we looking at?”
The sky is just as clear as it was last night. I point to the top of the pyramid on the other side of the wall. “You see that over there? That’s the top of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It’s over five thousand years old.”
“Wow.” She is genuinely impressed. “What is it?”
Her questions make me smile. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned. “There’s actually more than one. That one is just the tallest. The Egyptians built them as a way to honor their dead kings or pharaohs. So they are pretty much giant tombs.”
“That’s amazing. How do you know all of that?” She leans forward to get a closer look.