Holographic countryside raced passed on the other side of the curved monorail window, and instead I imagined the tonnes of rock and earth behind the three metre wall wizzing past.
My fingers gave up fiddling with my brown hair, and instead moved to the black device snugly resting in my free hand. I glanced down at it and again my mind went back to the urgency in Janices voice that came out of the devices speakers. I glanced back out the window and noticed the projection displayed onto the glass infront of my face, ' Now arriving at Raven Street Station' the writing glowed. I visualised my route through the factor to where the government building was located, as the platform came into view and the doors dematerialised at the end of the monotone cabin. My footsteps were loud against the floor of the station as I shoved the communicator into my pocket, and I took note of the few people waiting at the station seats.
My walk to the government building remained uninterrupted as I strode through the vintage sliding doors and left behind the glaring overhead UV light that immitated a sun. My body was engulfed in dry air conditioning as my worn sneakers progressed across the carpet, toward a man wearing a slightly ominous tecno-fibre black suit. "Miss Wright," he greeted,
"Everyone's waiting for you in the meeting room, you had best hurry."
"John," I sighed with a smile," How many times have I told you to just call me Alexa." John's stern look softened ever so slightly and a surge of truimph rushed through me for acheiving the impossible. I pulled back my shoulders to look like I was actually part of the government that ran our underground settlement and walked through the doors John was holding open for me. I thought about my book waiting for me back home as I walked through the bleak hallway at a relaxed pace. If I was going to be late I may aswell appear honest, maybe even cool, about it. Pushing open the glossy wooden door at the end of the hallway, I quickly located my seat under the unimpressed silence of the woman who lead the complete human population, and some other people too. I felt like the weight of everyone's gaze was slowly crushing me and I felt the icy cold wrought steel through the fabric of my favourite pair of pants as I sat down.
I lifted my head just enough to see who I was sitting next to, all I saw was the smirk on his face and I knew this would be a long meeting. Quickly and discretely turning my head I turned toward Janice, even though she was the top dog I decided to call her by her first name anyway. In my head at least. I tried not to make eye contact but her keen eyes were unavoidable, she stopped my thoughts from moving with a gaze that said 'never be late when something this urgent comes up again' and echoed and rebounded with fear all throughout my body. I instantly regreted having breakfast on the way here and the chicken salad inside my stomach seemed to lurch slightly.
YOU ARE READING
Operation Regrowth
Science FictionHumanity has been living underground for many years now, as the surface of planet earth became uninhabitable long ago. And as the few survivors begin to discover that resources are becoming more and more difficult to obtain, Alexa becomes the first...
