By 2422, humankind has achieved an ecotopian climate-positive future. There's zero conflict and zero waste throughout the whole world. But, when a young girl starts having mysterious visions of a walled city, it might signal the ancient return of so...
We return to the dorms but can't figure out Ben's message. There's no way The Deserters could have sent him the vision. Physical training with Cole starts tomorrow so we can't stay up too late.
In the morning, I try to talk to Ocean before we leave the dorms but she's not concerned.
'Zee, Cole is wonderful. But please don't tell anyone about us. He'll get into trouble.'
'He should get into trouble. You're only fifteen!'
'We're in love! And he's only five years older. Please, Zee. I don't want to lose my place here. Please. Promise me.' She begs.
I'm torn. I don't want anyone to lose their place here but I don't want to see Ocean get hurt.
'Okay, I'll keep it a secret for now. But be careful.'
We enter the training gym on level eight. It's a vast space with two large viewing panels on both sides and a sizeable blue mat on the floor. I notice Ocean talking to Cole as everyone gets on the mat.
Cole addresses the group, 'During these sessions, your YA protective shield security setting will be changed to a lesser one so that you can learn defensive combat techniques.'
Everyone looks at each other. There are no weapons in our society, nor the need for combat since there's no violence. So, learning how to fight is big news. Why would we need to know this? Also, we had no idea that the protective shields could be altered in any way.
He goes on to clarify, 'Only P.D.S staff are trained in combat should you encounter any difficulty dealing with problematic members of society like The Banished. As the protective shield requires zero-knowledge proof to alter the settings, you must verify the central server using genomic signatures.
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Ocean raises her hand, 'What do you mean verify? I thought no one could change the protective shield?'
Atlas responds, 'Every human born on this planet has a DNA chip that authenticates your identity; this is then linked to the shield. Therefore, everyone in this world is monitored. PDS keeps data on all births and deaths. The protective shields created by The Founders use your own unique DNA and genomic sequence; therefore, only you can change or alter the shield's settings, but no one can fully turn off the shield. You can prove that you are who you say you are once the machine scans you.' She gestures towards a small grey device on a nearby table.
We all form a line and place a hand into the machine one by one. It scans our 'genomic signature' as Atlas said and we have to verbally confirm that we allow the shield setting to be lowered for sixty minutes.
'The shield will automatically return to the full settings after an hour.' Atlas tells us.
'Isn't that a big security risk?' asks Dace. 'What's to stop someone from using this machine to hurt others?'
This time, Cole answers, 'This is the only one in existence. It's black rank clearance to access the device, and even though the setting is lowered, if the shield detects someone is close to death, it will automatically revert to the original setting. The person attacking will endure a fatal electric shock.'
