Democracy vs Corporatocracy

Chapter One: Running Away

March 1st 2041

Marcus was in his dimply lit room, at the penthouse apartment he had lived in for 2 and a half years. He looked down at the streets of New York City and saw people rummaging through the streets. It was 10 pm and most of these people were heading home from work. Ever since the United States Government gave Corporations control of the economy, working hours had increased and payment had decreased. On average, Americans worked fourteen hours a day, most days a year. It was very difficult to afford food, rent, healthcare and education. The Corporations had ruined the American Dream. Marcus looked at his bag, that had some food, water and clothes inside of it. He decided to put one last thing inside the bag.....a photo of his father and no, not the man his mother married 2 and a half years earlier, the man who raised Marcus. The one who taught him to walk, talk, ride a bike and help those less fortunate than them. Joseph had been a wonderful father, but the car crash he was in 3 years earlier ended his life too soon. Marcus was just 13 when it happened, he never knew how good he had with his father, until Joseph was gone. Marcus headed over to his bedside drawer and opened it to reveal a photo of him at his 13th Birthday. He picked it up and removed the Photo from the frame. Carefully hidden inside the frame was a photo of him with his father, at Marcus's 13th birthday party. Marcus had his fathers brown eyes and his 'mothers' black hair, but Marcus had dyed his hair blue using hair spray but a few minutes earlier. Marcus dearly missed Joseph and felt a tear go down his cheek as he thought of him.

He had never had a close relationship with his mother, probably due to the fact that she was almost always away on business trips and only home 3 or 4 times a month. Barely 6 months after his Father died, Karen married Albert, her boss. They then moved out of their house in Harlem, to that penthouse in the city centre of Manhattan. Albert forced Marcus to change his last name to Krieger and he burned all photos of his Father. Before Joseph died, he would have Marcus do a 1 hour studying session on the weekends, so that Marcus could get into a decent university. But Albert made him study for hours on end after school, weekends were the worst. Albert would have Marcus study banking and finances so that Marcus would become an executive in MegaCorp. But Marcus didn't want that! He wanted to contribute to society, not become an executive for a company that ruined people's lives. Albert had recently told Marcus that he was sending him to a boarding school owned by MegaCorp as punishment for getting an A-. This was the last straw for Marcus, he had chosen to run away. As Marcus looked down at the photo of his Father he took a deep breath and said "This is your choice Marcus, life as a miserable and unhappy executive, or a life of freedom and self choice". He placed his fathers photo in his bag and slowly zipped it up, so as to not wake up Karen and Albert. Marcus breathed very heavily as he did this, worried that something might go wrong and he'd be caught.

Marcus put his shoes, trousers and black t shirt on, he placed his bag on his back and walked across the room to his door. He was wearing a black hoodie, so that the security cameras wouldn't notice his dyed hair. He carefully opened his door so that no one would hear him and made his way across the hall. He knew where the creaky floorboard was, so he carefully stepped over it and didn't make a sound. He passed by the dining room, where he saw the table where he studied for hours each day and the little hook where Alberts keys once were. Marcus had swiped albert's key to the house, when he wasn't looking and was going to use it to escape. As he walked further, he saw the door to another room, the one where there was another connection to his father. He couldn't bring them with him, but vowed that He would come back for them one day. He walked up to the door that led to the elevator and placed the key into the lock. The square key was analysed by the lock and the door opened. He placed the key on the floor and entered the elevator. Marcus pressed the button with the letter P on it and the elevator went down to the parking lot. As the elevator went down. Marcus left a note on the wall of the elevator that said "My name is Marcus Libertad". Finally the elevator stopped and Marcus was on the ground floor. The doors opened and he saw lots of expensive cars, all owned by greedy and heartless corporate executives. He saw the car the butler had driven him to school in every weekday for the past 3 years. Marcus had been forbidden by Albert from going anywhere other than that private school with all those snobbish rich kids, who harassed him because of his Latin American heritage. His father's parents had moved to the United States from Peru, to escape drug cartels that wanted them dead and buried. They had Joseph in America and did everything to give him a good life. Marcus had a very close relationship with his grandparents, but thanks to Albert he was not there for either of their deaths.

Marcus moved silently across the parking lot and saw the exit to street level. It was then that he saw the night guard, who he knew was very underpaid. He took of his bag and bought out 300 dollars, which he had stole from Karen's purse. He walked up to the exit, the night guard saw him and said "Hey, what are you doing down here!?" As he was about to call his boss, Marcus said "I will give you 300 dollars to not tell anyone you saw me". The night guard froze, looked at the money, paused for a moment and said "Okay". Marcus gave the night guard, whose name tag said "Jim", the money. Jim then thanked him, saying "This is the last piece of money I need to pay of the surgery for my son's kidney transplant, thanks to you he will live". Marcus smiled and said "Your welcome, oh and if anyone asks, say that I likely escaped through the air ducts". "Of course" said Jim. Marcus then walked through the car exit and up to street level. He then breathed in that freedom filled air and walked of the start his new and free life. But he vowed that one day he would come back for his last connection to Joseph and give them a free life as well. Little did he know that soon he would come across the sign that would lead him to where this new life would begin.