isolation [On Hold]

1. New Zurich, Switzerland 2094

            "You have one unread private message, what would you like me to do?"

            "View message, please," Arianne Keluz spoke as she spun around in her spinney chair.

            "Viewing message," the monotonous voice of Sibyl emanated from the invisible speakers planted in the spherical wall and ceiling of the room, "From Micel Krisner: Hey Ari, how's it going? I've got some news that you'll want to hear. You know the people who're in charge of the Omegas, the ones you told me to keep tabs on? Well apparently one of them suddenly collapsed from a lung tumor during the monthly sweep so now they've gotta reopen the recruiting tests for any compatible applicants. I thought you might be interested so I kinda already found you a guy who can get you in no problem." She stopped her spinning with her foot and turned to face the projection before her. "Calen Dane, he's a genius hacker from the 50s and a survivor of 12/64. He's got quite the rep with the cops, says that he's been detained seventeen times and each time he's released the next day. Kinda suspicious but trust, he's good. The only thing that I don't like is how much he charges. Like dude, not everyone's loaded like you. Anyways, yea so if you're interested, which I know you are, hit me back and I'll send you his stuff. Seeya." The projection ended with a firm beep.

            Ari gaped at the now unilluminated plain wall. They've got a spot! She jumped up ecstatically, and gave a short little dance of joy. Yes! She finally had a chance to get out of this hellhole. She finally had a chance to go outside. Humming Krysm's cover of "Feeling Good" she grabbed her ID, tracker and mob, and for the first time in months rushed out the door.

~~~

            The street was crowded with dozens of people, all gathered around the central HoloPod. Oh, they must've just released the news to the net, Ari thought as she inched her way forward through the melee, sandwiched between two middle aged men with their mobs on, recording the information that was being shown. The commotion of everyone whispering amongst themselves buzzed in her ears. Snatches of conversations drifted their way to Ari.

            "No way, the Omegas are supposed to be failproof they said..."

            "Do you think that it was the radiation that did 'em in or was it the UA?" "Nah it couldn't have been radiation..."

            "Man, I heard that they've already found a replacement bot and that they'd planned this from the very beginning."

            "It was the UA! They're making their move."

            The opinions and conspiracies spiraled around her, yet she ignored them and kept pushing to the front. It took a good two minutes before she finally reached the beginning of the line. Before her sat the HoloPod. It was a knee high, black, cone shaped object with a small circular opening at the top where the beam came from. The hologram itself was no taller than the top of her head and no wider than the width of her arms spread apart. At the moment, it was showing the figure of the leader of the governing body, Mac Wadiles from the Universal Alliance party, or UA for short. The short, small man was sitting at a desk, hands placed in front of him on top the smooth, reflective metal surface. His cool blue eyes gazed at everyone, as if he could see right through them.

            "Now that I have your undivided attention, I would like to announce a couple more things." He raised his left hand and gestured to the crowd, "First things first, it was a deeply unfortunate event that had befallen our fellow International Analyst Inspector. We will recognized the service he has rendered to us and to our future children. Unfortunately we've had to dispose of the body due to possible contamination in the environment, we do apologize to the family and friends of the victim." A shout of disbelief could be heard from the din, and Ari turned her head away from the hologram to try to find the culprit. A young man was being held back by a young lady. She was holding his shoulders and then she moved in for a hug, petting his back as tears streamed down his face. And his eyes, his eyes were full of anguish, but not just that, there was a fire burning in his eyes, a rage so fierce and alive that Ari had to look away before she could be engulfed in his fury. "--and to be clear, the drafting will only include those of you who are eligible and have had the blood work done in the previous fifteen years. Good luck to all, we hope to have another great year."