Olivia
Olivia stood with her hands clasped behind her back. She watched the skyline of Megacity One from a large glass that served as window to the one hundredth floor of the Tower of Excellence. Far within the tranquility faked by its inhabitants, she saw the huge towers that represented each Citadel of Excellence, bearing digitally imprinted symbols that reminded citizens of their Councillor’s power.
She turned around and cast her gaze upon her mother who was embedded in a tanning bed receiving a sunless tan.
“Tell me again, mother. Why do I have to be matched to Lucan Capricorn?” She folded her arms.
“That’s because your father is going to make him a very powerful man in the city. And, dear, your father doesn’t give without receiving. He would need a leash on his new dog and that would be you. Think of it this way, you get to have everything you could want.”
“But I have everything I could want,” Olivia lied.
“Well…more of everything you could want,” her mother said.
She walked to the machine and raised the cover to open, revealing Dr Lysander in a two piece swim suit and scattering spectrums of U.V light in the process.
“I’m serious, mother,” she spoke solemnly, “I heard rumours that Section 5 is preparing to make a long journey to MegacityThree in hopes of trading copper coils for tanks of water. Also, a source of mine told me that Nexus pharmaceuticals are developing a serum that suppresses emotion in an effort to control mob violence and restrict rebel influence. Are they all true, mother?”
Dr Lysander rose from the tanning bed, “keep your conspiracy theories to yourself, Olivia. The role of the Remnants of Men was another way of not putting all our eggs in one basket. I don’t even believe any of them can make it five days in that hell they were sent to, that is the reason prisoners were used in the first place.”
“They might surprise you,” Olivia countered, “I saw their statistics from the test performed before they left. One in particular…”
“Is this about the boy, Runner?” Dr Lysander struggled to fit her skirt around her waist. “I liked that kid a lot, Olivia, but sentiments don’t change the fact that he is a slum dweller. And it is their blood and sweat that keep our city running. There is a ninety-five per cent chance he would die out there in the barren lands, so erase him from your thoughts and look towards Lucan’s coming.”
The tender ring of a bell drew Olivia’s attention to the elevator. It opened and a woman stepped out, carrying dresses of several colours arranged in plastic bags. The woman hung them on a hanging rail and forced a smile on her face.
“Good day, Dr Lysander Patterson. Here are the dresses as you requested.”
Olivia glanced at her mother, “what is this mom?”
“Sit,” her mother ordered.
She sat on a chair opposite the hanging rail and gazed at the beautiful dresses. The woman pushed a mirror and set it to stand beside the rail.
“Come, miss,” she beckoned at Olivia.
Olivia walked lazily to the hanging rail. She knew the drill and began to unzip the white dress she wore. She undid her dress until she was left in her undergarments. The woman picked a silvery dress that came down like an eight and spread open from the hips downwards. Olivia wore it to match diamond dotted shoes with heels the length of a pen.
“Liberum designs,” Olivia twisted before the mirror. For a moment, she partook in a bit of narcissism as she admired her full rear.
Her mother came behind her and began to remove the pins that held her hair together. “Lucan is going to go crazy when he sees you.”
YOU ARE READING
Liberation (Remnants of Men)
Bilim KurguWhen seventeen year-old Runner was sentenced to death for stealing a loaf of bread in MegaCity One, his dreams were literally at an end. But then he opts to sign up for the Remnants of Men, a government sanctioned search for a rumoured fresh water l...
