World Nation Disturbia

Chapter 1: Gabriel

"Love is an independent feeling, that caution can avoid but cannot vanquish; and that, once born, only dies once it is over for good or once all hope is gone." Choderlos de Laclos, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Lettre CCXXVI.

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Here, everything is clean. I have never set foot out of the Sphere 1 but I have seen photographs during my Real History classes. I always felt ridiculously proud to live in Albion when I saw comparisons between our Under Spheres and the ones in Kemet. Over there, even the Sphere 1 looks miserable. There are hardly any lights in the classroom yet but I turn the pages without the slightest hesitation. This morning, just like every morning, I arrived before the rest of my classmates. Being in the Elite of the Elite requires a discipline my peers seem to have forgotten. Not that I care. Once again, I am one step ahead.

Albion, Sphere 9, page 15, boxed text on the bottom right of the page. Sphere 9 of Albion Territory, on the Great Albion Island, welcomes any Citizen who has scored from 0% to 4% on their Third Evaluation. After the Elder Age, many workers from Sphere 8 were moved in order to set up home in Sphere 9. Edo, Sphere 9, page 45, boxed text on the top left. Sphere 9 of Edo mainly revolves around fishing and is the main food provider of the Territory. Because of the small size of the island and the lack of useful lands, livestock farming and cultivation is a very small part of the Citizens' lives. Kemet, Sphere 9, page 120, the whole right page. Kemet's Sphere 9 is one of the most dangerous in all of World Nation. Its population rises every year and the living conditions become more and more difficult each day. On the picture, children in rags look at the camera that fixed them in History with an empty eye. It feels like they are staring at me. Every time, the look in their eyes reminds me of the eyeballs of the whole fish Elizabeth sometimes cooks. My mother never cooks, she has a maid for that. But for some reason, she always wants to cook that meal. In the background, miles of wavy metal sheets go on forever, like the whole Territory belongs to those second-rank Citizens. I go back a few pages to find something reassuring. Kemet's Sphere 1 is nothing compared to Albion's, but at least, it is here and it looks like something familiar. But I already know my Real History lessons by heart and I do not need to spend any more time on it. Truth be told, I should actually concentrate on my Propaganda Gestion notes. But I cannot help it, I always go back to those pictures that scare me as much as they amaze me. Almost with a hint of regret, I close my book and put it back in my bag from which I pull my lessons from yesterday. Professor Stout will not miss a chance to give Eliott Taylor all the advantages once more and I will not give him an opportunity to humiliate me in front of the whole class.

Eliott Taylor is a rowdy boy. He talks a lot, and has a dirty mouth. I suppose being born in Sphere 4 does not help his ways. His father probably does not even have the slightest idea of what is acceptable in Sphere 1 or not and never told him to mind his repulsive behavior. As for his mother, she did not even live long enough to know he was accepted in Sphere 1. This is something I am not suppose to know. We rarely speaks with our friends about their family, and Eliott Taylor is definitely not my friend. I overheard a conversation between Mrs Carthew and Mrs Wilkinson one night I had stayed late to study. St Michael was empty, or so I thought. They were only whispering and they mentioned the disappearance of that student-from-Sphere-4-who-had-just-been-accepted-in-Sphere-1's mother. I remember that back then, that situation was so unusual that I was eager to meet him. I wanted to know what a student from a Lower Sphere could look like. Was he wearing the marks of his origins on his face? I knew the shirt of his uniform was going to have four stripes, as I read in my Albion's History book. But could I guess from the very first look that this boy was not like me? I had my answer on the first day. His features were normal, not even rough. Truth be told, his face was beautiful, even. But the way he walked, stand, wore his uniform even, gave him away. And his hair was way too long to be acceptable. No, that boy did not belong in our school and anyone could see it. He was not ugly and did not seem stupid nor mean and yet... When our eyes crossed and he smiled at me, I decided I would hate him for the rest of my days. Why? Because I hate injustice. I do not want to know how the people in the Lower Spheres live, none of this is unfair. But the fact that this opportunist, this dirty kid who knew nothing of the rules of the Elite of the Elite and who thought he could learn by our sides was going to school with me drove me mad. My father talked about him for dinner. A perfect score, 100%, for the First Evaluation. "Better than you, Gabriel, is it not?" I dared to think that my 99.5% would be enough for them. Even Oliver did not have more. Same, but not more. Within one single one day, Eliott Taylor was borned to my eyes and questioning my superiority over him. When I heard he had Central Administration and Gestion with an 99% score to his Second Evaluation, sobs crushed my chest. How could I, Gabriel John Ackerley, with all the hard work I had done and my family's Aptitudes, be equal to that Sphere 4 rug rat? And I would have to cope with him until our Third Evaluations. The worst competition was yet to come. Will his spouse be better than mine? Will he be my boss, or will I give him orders once we settled in our final roles in Albion?