Year 2035

The Warmup

It's about 21:30. Oscar is sitting next to me. He's shaking a bit, I think he's nervous, but honestly, I can't blame him. We'll be heading out on our first assignment this evening, and even though it's just a check of the low-income neighborhoods, there's still a chance we'll find a "privileged," hiding there. We haven't gotten any reports or tips about it, but it's hard not to be a little scared on your first drill.

"Jake?" Oscar's voice is shaking.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll have to investigate a house? Like, go inside and look around?" It isn't uncommon for a few Prioviledged to be hiding in a low-income area. They have secret houses that they put in some desperate person's name, and of course, they go for it because the prospect of free rent is something to jump at.

"No, of course not," I lie to him. He's always been jumpy, and I don't want him too nervous. I personally don't think he should be coming at all. "And we're at work, you should use our last names. I don't want anyone thinking that we're not talking tonight seriously. A lot of our future in the People's Corp depends on how we handle tonight."

It wasn't completely a lie. Whenever a house in a low-income area is searched, it's almost always because someone ratted the title owner out, and sometimes there is an error with their tag.

"Come on," I get up and gesture for Oscar to join me, "Let's get a drink of water. It might help you calm down." 

"Good idea. Do you think we'll have to use our guns at all?"

"It's not a fucking purge, everything we're doing is legal. The area we're patrolling has no reason to fear us, and if anyone is stupid enough to shoot us, they know we fire back." we reach the water fountain and have a dink.

"You know, the neighborhood we're going to hasn't had an incident in two years. I did research on the are."

"Oscar, what the hell are you worried about? we're just driving around and maybe knocking on a few doors, honestly, you're overreacting, and Seargent is gonna be pissed and make you do PT or something if she sees you like this." I walk away. Oscar's nice, but honestly, I can't afford to get caught up in his shit. As a member of the 46%, I have to be very aware of my reputation, Oscar is only in the 62%, his children might have to worry about the whitelist if he makes enough doing this and whatever career he chooses. The People's Corp is a part-time gig for most. the higher-ups usually go full-time, but even Searg has a job and a bank as a teller.

Across the room, Abdullah is enjoying a cup of coffee. "I heard that we'd be together tonight."

"Cool." He's not much of a talker, but he is much calmer than Oscar so it's still a step up.

"This is your third time right?" he nods in agreement. "what was it like for you last year? we haven't talked too much so you don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to." Fuck me, I sound like a pussy.  He sets his coffee down on the table next to him.

Uh," a long pause as he stares at the floor, "Well, I don't know. We didn't have to do much. there was a shooting in the neighborhood over, but no one got hurt... except the privileged that started it." for half a second our eyes meet.

"Did they kill him?" I didn't want to be so blunt about it, but we're at war, it just happens.

"Oh yeah. We heard the shots, and two minutes later we got a call on the radio not to worry about it. Dumb ass... 'hey I'll buy this piece of shit car and just park it over here and hide in the trunk overnight.' Of course, someone reported the car, they checked the plates, and within the hour, dead." Abdullah picks up his coffee and states sipping it again. clearly, he doesn't take the guy's death that seriously, but they are the enemy, and if they're not on the whitelist, it's fair game. 

"Do you know what percent he was?"

"No," he scoffs, "I didn't kill him, and I didn't file the report. 

"Right," the silence is beyond uncomfortable, but given the choice of other privates around us, I'm not going to abandon the conversation. We still have about ten minutes left before we head out to patrol. "Why'd you join the Corp?" Abdullah gives me this weird look, I think I slipped up with the small talk.

"My parents are immigrants who have trouble finding work because Americans are kind of racist because of Nine-Eleven. I work here so I have some extra money for them and to put into savings in case they hit a rough spot." His tone is less than friendly, but I understand. Maybe it was an insensitive question to ask.  "Are you gonna ask me about my percent? What about why I don't have an accent?"

"You know that's not what I meant," I didn't mean to start an argument. "It's a common question and it was not influenced by your ethnicity." He stares off in the distance silently. That's it, I'm out. I walk away and spend the rest of the seven minutes reading a pocket Bible. I'm not particularly religious, but I'm not allowed to be on my phone, and no one here is gonna stop me. 

"Alright!" Seargent shouts from across the room, "Move out! I will see all of you back here in eleven hours."

I grab my gun from the rack. Time to get to work.