vive la revolucion - chapter one.

water.

droplets.

dark.

oppression.

resistance.

The window continued to make Britannia gloomier. The maple, light-colored panes were mocking her. Strains of light floated through - but they weren't good enough. It was a terrible day, just like any other day. The rain was a normal occurrence - what happened to the sunshine, you ask? It vanished, because it was "unsuitable for the residents." It was "more harm than good," according to the Parliamentary leader. But he was more of a dictator, actually. The whole world was under one dictatorship.

There was no dancing, no drawing, no singing, limited laughing. Typical dystopian society, you'd suppose. But unlike 99% of the idiots that roamed the earth, Britannia harbored enmity towards the government. Their truth was a lie. It was a forced lie. She was tired of repeating everything that was supposed to be said. When anyone asked, "How are you, sister?" she wanted to respond, "Motherfucking great, thanks." But cursing wasn't allowed. She'd just picked up a few lines from forbidden texts.

There was another reason that she was a rulebreaker. She was forbidden technology, a "robot."

Even though she looked and behaved like a normal person, she could process things a lot faster and keep more memory. Her movements were swifter and more reliable, her reflexes were foolproof. And she was in charge of the revolution.

As time passed, society's brilliant minds were kidnapped and hypnotized. With all the geniuses gone, civilization fell to ruin. The only one genius left became dictator. But little did he know, there was a secret cult called Prion who developed her. She was their key to success. She would reinvoke the ideas of music, dance, poetry, creative writing, drama - much like a muse of the 24th century. People would once more learn about different cultures and accept them, unlike the current belief that anyone who didn't take the United vows was an alien. They were sent to the outside world to die of starvation and dehydration.

Tiny bugs monitored her every move, but Ms. St. Clair was built for efficiency and intelligence, and knew the expressions to display to put everyone off. Half of the cameras were unmonitored anyways; for that wouldn't have been cost-efficient. This world was everyone's capitalist nightmare. If you didn't have money, you were killed. If you were unemployed, you were booted out of your house and sent to the outside world.

It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, but she wasn't willing to do anything. Being a light sleeper, taking a nap wasn't a good idea, because it wasn't going to be effective with all this surrounding commotion. She sighed. Her favorite dreams were those of The Tube - technically speaking, her birthplace. The Tube was merely a large impenetrable tube which simulated heat and light to prepare her for the real world. It was comfortable and safe, much unlike the world that she was thrown into. Had she chosen to have been born? No. But no one else got a choice. You were born within your rank for whatever purpose. Someone randomly assigned you to a position, not taking into consideration your interests or personality! You could hate a job, but do nothing about it because you were forced to do it. It was a responsibility to your community. "But responsibilities shouldn't be taxing to the human soul!"

Oh shit. What if the monitors heard her? At the beginning, she had a difficult time switching between thinking and speaking. She still occasionally messed up and spoke her thoughts. They tried to encode her with some mind-reading technology too, but if she was having trouble keeping her own thoughts to herself, how could she keep the thoughts of others secret? And what if she accidentally answered their thoughts instead of their words? How awkward would that be?

She pulled out her cellular phone.

"Steven. Dinner at the Round Table at 7. I have a query."

Steven was one of the few programmers still alive, and she needed to know more about Project X - a countermeasure of the government to combat against illegal robot technologies. He was a Central Intelligence Agent - and very good at his job, so he would have some information. But would it be what she wanted to hear? Would it pose a threat to her intelligence-gathering? Would it disturb the revolution? And the most important question; would they be able to kill someone of even her caliber? Would she remain alive?