The Goldens had everything they could ever want, but that wasn’t enough. Perhaps that’s why they visited Zone-1, or as they refer to it “the hell-zone”.
In 2086, Time, once somewhat equally distributed amongst humans, was successfully implemented as a form of currency after one of the largest corporations in the world invented and utilized life-energy transfers. Those in the upper tiers of society enjoyed a virtually limitless lifespan, incredible power and influence over the System, a coalition of Zones numbering from 1 to 100, and could see their lineage thrive for eternity. The unlucky majority, though, experienced life in constant torment, as they watched their time tick by, hoping that in their last hours someone would appear and save them.
On a dirt street covered in broken glass and syringes was something he had never seen before, a touring pod. It was a large floating platform outfitted with chairs, beautiful couches and tables with a bar situated at the very center. Shielding it from all sides was a light blue coloured force field. It hovered slowly through the main street, heading towards the central district, where most of the excitement took place. From his little hideout in an obscure, rat-infested alleyway, his eyes were steadily fixed on the contraption before him.
Around him people started to gather, some angrily shouting slurs and others too hungry to speak. A young man walked right up to the vehicle and was swiftly repelled by the force field, shot a few meters away onto his back. Others walked up and pleaded for “W’s”, the equivalent of pocket change for those in the upper zones. The rich usually dealt in hours as though it were nothing more than a currency; “100,000 H”, or just around 11 years of lifespan was nothing to these individuals. Down in the lower zones where education is hard to come by, and math is used far less than one's knife skills, simpler terms are used. D’s for days, W's for weeks, M’s for months, Y’s for years, though the latter is rarely used.
"Please! – I beg you! – I only have days to live, please – take him!"
A woman clutching her baby placed herself directly in front of the touring pad, and, tear-streaked, begged for her newborn child. Within a few seconds, the Pod arrived a couple meters from the lady. It stopped for a brief moment, the woman’s eyes lit up, but it was short-lived. A robotic voice suddenly erupted from the front of the vehicle;
“YOU HAVE 5 SECONDS TO EVACUATE,
4 --
3 --
2 --
1 --”
As the woman finally came to her senses, the vehicle started moving again. An older man darted toward the lady to push her out of the way. He managed to reach her in time, but got himself caught in the front of the Force field. With a loud, high-pitched WHAM, he got thrown back at least 8 meters onto a small shack, hitting himself against a few boards that kept up a small rug canopy.
It was until that moment that the boy looked inside the vehicle.
Inside were many figures, most of them standing, looking outside, sneering. The boy immediately felt a sense of both intense awe and despair. Dressed in white and gold, with diamond jewellery so brilliant they could make for flashlights, were multiple women, holding glasses of the most expensive wine. Beside them were their husbands, with bellies to rival ancient kings, wearing jet black suits and ties, all with the latest holographic watches, visors, and other high-class accessories. As he watched the men and women who appeared only several meters away, it was clear to the boy that their worlds could not be further apart.
This, for them, was much like a trip to the zoo, that is if most animals on earth had not perished in the late 2120s. Their eyes were careful not to meet those of the so-called "savages" of the lower zones, as that would leave a bad taste in their mouth. They gazed down upon the crowds, as you would look at ants, indifferent, lacking any of the emotions that once defined humanity. Only occasionally would a human peak their interest, whether it be by acting abnormally, or displaying a funny characteristic.
Somehow through the Chaos of it all, the boy caught a glimpse of a girl around his age riding in the futuristic chariot - and to his surprise, she was looking right at him, straight into his eyes.
This was the first time anyone from the upper zones had looked at him directly. For just a moment he felt as if the world stood still. The girl's eyes differed greatly from the adults, they were alive, brimming with love and compassion like he'd never seen before.
She wore a silk white dress covered in tiny diamonds, her light golden hair done up in a loose bun. The boy, with nothing but a couple of rags strewn across his sickly looking body, felt ashamed of his appearance for the first time.
As if to read his mind, the girl smiled gently and approached the end of the pod, until she stood only meters away, high up on the platform. The boy sifted through the crowd of beggars to get closer. She looked down at her necklace, a sparkling blue pendant filled with an intense aura. She lifted her head again and glanced from side to side. Without wasting a single second, She tore the necklace from her neck, her eyes fixated on the boy as she threw the necklace to him.
He caught it, and immediately, without even taking so much as a glance at the pendant, thrust his vision back upon her. Just as he caught her gaze, the pod began its entry into the main district, a place too dangerous for the boy to venture into. In the final moments of the extraordinarily rare exchange, the girl said something to the boy. There was no way for him to hear her, he could only try to read the movement of her lips.
As the vehicle left the street, the boy replayed the scene over and over again in his mind. He could only decipher the following words;
"Come and find me"
Author's note: Yo! This is my first submission, I've always had this (what seems to me like a) cool idea for a novel, and recently decided to give it a go with the first chapter! Hope you liked it.
