The Greatest Lie

Wake Up Call

 M Corp headquarters was located in the barricaded community where Russell and his family lived. Its skyscraper was visible for miles at the right location, and it also served as a watch tower for M Corp to monitor its borders. Security constantly did perimeter sweeps and even though a curfew was not always enacted, you would be questioned if you were out later than necessary. The tight knit society knew almost everyone since they all shared the same employer. The few people that ran the controlled businesses were subcontractors of M Corp and treated with similar employee benefits. It was not the only control that M Corp held against the people of the world, they had similar strangleholds at the remains of once bustling cities spanning the globe. This lucky portion of humanity was overwhelmingly the remains of the former rich and powerful. This included former politicians and celebrities that were now part of the elite M Corp membership. As soon as things started to turn ugly, people desperately fled to M Corp and opened their wallets, willingly giving away most of their freedoms and riches to make things someone else's problem. They were able to hide away for years, sheltered from the atrocities that were occurring right under their noses. It had seemed like the perfect system until the lottery came to ruin their Utopic life. When M Corp was forced to deal with the growing support for the mysterious plan of the lottery, backroom deals were made with the elite to promise that they would not be forced to take part. Tight lips allowed these deals to remain secret and it appeased the financiers enough to allow a referendum to occur. Either way the elite of M Corp were going to benefit, if the lottery passed then nothing would change for them, if it failed then it was still life as usual. Hardly anyone in the higher ranks of M Corp was opposed to this win-win situation, unless they still held some sort of moral compass that had not lost its calibration. Russell's parents had not lost the values that had been instilled on them by their parent's, and they knew that this deception was not fair. They tried their best to convince Russell, but his teenage brain couldn't trust what they were saying.

Somehow Russell had been able to sleep through the whole night. He was exhausted from everything he went through the day before and sleeping in a rat infested building did not deter him from resting peacefully. All of that changed when Russell's feet fell from underneath him and a blinding light shone into his eyes as the bench his feet were propped up on was kicked away. A voice from someone standing next to him began to speak, but his eyes were still adjusting to the abrupt wake up he just received to be able to see who it was.

"What are you doing here?" the person asked a second time, this time Russell's eyes were able to see that it was an M Corp security guard. An assault rifle was slung over one shoulder, with his free hand resting on the butt end of it. His other hand held the flashlight that was now luckily no longer pointed directly into Russell's face. He was middle aged, around his father's age, but the creases that had started to form on his weathered skin proved that he had to work harder than most at M Corp to make a living. His face was warm and inviting, and Russell felt comfortable opening up to him, even though Russell knew that technically he shouldn't be here. He was pleased at first that someone was looking out for him, but the reality that he might get in trouble for this began to set in. The guard pushed up his coke bottle glasses further up on the bridge of his nose as Russell searched his mind for an excuse, but couldn't think of one.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go. My parents kicked me out because I voted for the lottery. I didn't think anyone used this building anymore." Russell explained, figuring that honesty was the best policy at this point.

"Well you're in luck kid, the lottery passed and M Corp is going to start signing people up. This place is gross and crawling with rats and spiders, I'm surprised you were able to get any sleep at all in here. Follow me and we will find a better place for you to go." The guard instructed Russell, feeling sympathetic for his situation, but also getting way too excited at the ability to help in beginning the implementation of the lottery.