Dystopia

Chapter 11

"Eric where were you the entire Ceremony?" Eric's mother demanded.

"I got lost in the hallways, I forgot the way back." Eric lied. 

"Don't you lie to me child! You better have been alone because after you left, I saw one of the Raynott family's son leave the auditorium. Did you agree to meet him?" 

"I did not! I didn't even see him, mother."

After more scolding and life lessons, Eric's mother finally finished with him and left his room. He sprawled on his bed and sighed in frustration. Everything was turning upside down, his world as he knew it was changing. Change was approaching, but why now? He hated lying to his mother, but he would lie than die. Because even in this society, the law trumped over a mother's love. Had she known he not only spoke with Mathew, but to Oliver and Ikay too, he would be dead by now. 

But it was just so strange. Were they chosen to bring change? It was too much coincidence for all of them to exist and meet. The Governing Elites never made mistakes. They had to be purposely chosen. And if they were, then who chose them?

Eric sat up on his bed and picked up his laptop. He needed to know more about the rule of not talking to each other, and since its origin was unknown, then the answer would have to be in the past. Why did their lives depend on it? He logged in and opened the web browser. He typed into the search bar "The Ancient Times" and clicked search. The laptop thought before a red screen with the word ISOLONE in bold white letters appeared and flashing white letters read: "Access Denied".

"Tsk." Eric exclaimed. 

He moved to his desk and sat there thinking. How could he get access? He thought and thought but nothing came to his mind, except an absolutely ludicrous option. But he was doing the impossible, what did he have to lose? Only his life. 

Eric minimized the window and went to the computer's basic command program. Upon clicking, the window showed a blue screen asking for an authorized password. 

"Of course . . . why would they allow anyone to access this?" Eric muttered as he rubbed his face. 

If he at least wanted to be  undetectable, he needed help from the inside. Someone inside the Governing Elite to help him break through and find answers. Eric began devising his plan to get inside the Governing Elite grounds and getting a hold of something known as a Master Code.

The next day, Eric attended school. He was nervous today for it was time to execute his plan. There was only one way in, and that was getting sent to the Isolone Execution Wards. 

In the Ancient Times, humans built prison cells to keep criminals in until they completed time or were granted a pardon. In the Isolone though, the Isolone Execution Wards were the equivalent of an Ancient hotel. Used to hold war prisoners and people from the factions that dared defy the Governing Elites, the Isolone Execution Wards emptied every third sundown. There wasn't a need for a huge facility, since the Government had the entire population terrified enough with the public televised executions.

Eric was planning to get sent to the Execution Wards but instead, he would earn a pardon from Mathew once he convinced him into allowing him web access. The hard part was actually breaking a law so grand he would get sent there. The only thing Eric could think of was interacting with someone from another faction, but how would he do that? He had no way of contacting Oliver or Ikay. 

Eric breathed hard as he entered the school grounds. The Mentor stood on a raised dais and spread her arms as she proclaimed:

"Children, today we will have a visual lesson on the system that conforms the Government."

Suddenly, it came to Eric. Maybe he couldn't do anything, but how about saying the unthinkable? Eric formulated his words carefully, making them sound as intentional as possible because in reality he did believe in this. Eric raised his hand proudly into the air, the Mentor turned to him and allowed him to speak. 

"Has anyone with a brain in this place thought about starting a revolution?" Eric inquired, putting every ounce of purpose he had in it. 

The Mentor's face became furious as everyone gasped and turned to him. She looked at him with eyes fueled by the fires of rage and seethed in a deadly whisper:

"Your speaking privilege is banned, Eric-434."

"The Government is controlling us. Everything from what we eat to what we learn. We don't work for the advantage of us, we work for the advantage of the Governing Elite!" Eric pressed.

"Eric!--"

"They are evil! They are ruining us! Soon, they will have the entire earth under their command and then there will be no escaping! We must act now, before it's too late. I want a revolt against the Governing Elite! We must march to the Governing Elite grounds and kill all of the Governing families!"

The Mentor stared wide-eyed, still holding her glare and Eric challenging it with his own. 

"Out of the grounds . . . NOW!" she commanded as she marched down. 

Eric ran outside and the Mentor caught up with him. She made a mental link with someone as her brown eyes flashed blue. She then turned to Eric and said:

"This type of rebellious behavior will not be tolerated child. You are going to the Governing Elite grounds and you will beg for a pardon, otherwise you will be executed on the third sundown!" 

Eric tried to look as terrified as possible even though he felt overjoyed. His plan worked, he just hoped that he was getting sent to the Raynott family.