Copper & Zinc

Prologue

They all looked the same. Light skin, dark hair, brown eyes. They all had the same lives. Work, eat, and sleep. Just survive, not live. But I had been cursed with the coppery waves that flowed down from my scalp to my shoulders. So every single day, I would straighten my hair with an ancient device that would burn my flesh with a single wrong move. A strong-scented dark liquid blocked out every shade of orange with a shadow. Powder the color of my skin covered the freckles that betrayed my identity. The junkyards had so much to offer, but humanity was tucked away in the sky, content with one thing. Survival.

The only thing the wastelands didn't have was food. How could there be food? It wasn't fit for animal or plant life. I was the only living thing on the surface of the planet. At least so I thought. My home was well camouflaged with the garbage. Probably because it was made out of it. Just a shelter for a pod. No matter how far I strained my memory, I couldn't figure out how I had the pod. But without it, I would have died. The first memory I have is waking up in the pod in a stasis chamber with a low battery warning. The automated tubes and wires detached themselves from my head and nerves. I sat up and the first thing I saw was myself in a mirror. Somehow, probably the wires connected to my brain while I slept, I knew how to find the resources I needed to survive. Somehow I knew how to find and power a pod charger. I must have had parents at some point, but not any that were in my life, nor any that I could remember. According to the pod's internal calendar, it had been ten years since I woke up, and I had stayed mostly off the grid. I was in danger, and I knew it was because of my hair. But for some reason whoever put me in the pod didn't find it important to tell me why I had to fight to survive, only sneaking into the Sky Cities when I needed food.

Today was one such day. So I flipped the power switch in my pod and ran the strange rod through each strand of my hair, the heat mingling around my face. When I was done, I had perfectly straight hair. Some powder on my face covered up my freckles, and I looked like anyone else in the cities. As the pod ascended into the sky, I couldn't resist staring out the window. All around me was trash. It was hideous and beautiful at the same time. I wondered what the world was like before people destroyed it. But at the same time, there were so many treasures buried out there for those who cared to look. Soon enough, the pod clicked into a docking station at one of the Sky Cities. I didn't bother to check my navigation charts, because I didn't care where I was. Any place with humans had food. I tapped a button on a machine behind me I had found. I had connected it to my pod, and it would put a braid across the top of my head that kept my hair out of my face. It only worked when my hair was straight, but it was great in case I had to flee the scene of a crime. Usually, that crime was thievery. I adjusted my scarf, then plastered a smile onto my face. No one ever gave you a second glance if you were smiling.

I walked across the metal streets, searching for the nearest marketplace. I saw one with a stack of canned goods. Cans were the best because they contained food that would last for a long time, and you could repurpose the metal. Living in a junkyard my whole life had knocked a sense of resourcefulness into me. I picked up a can, pretending to examine it. Kidney beans. I suppose those would work. As I pretended to set it back on the stack, I dropped it into a satchel I was holding, all the while with a smile on my face. No one gave you a second thought if you were smiling.

Apparently happy people can't be sinister.

I scraped another few cans into my satchel. Mostly kidney beans, some tomato paste, and even a can of noodle soup. I didn't dare to try to take anything expensive with meat in it. Those were valued more by the people. To me, anything edible was of value, especially if it had a useful container. Most of the cans they used were very thin and flexible, easy to cut into wiring with the right tools. I slowly make to leave, but the shopkeeper looks at me and says, "Hey, aren't you gonna buy anything?" My smile falters, and that's the moment when his face darkens. "No, I was just looking." I stutter out uselessly.