Breaking the code

Part one

I blinked open my eyes. Water was dripping on my face from a unseen ceiling. Finally I gained complete consciousness and looked around me to see absolutely nothing. I stood up from the cold hard ground I was laying on earlier. It's dark, cold, and unwelcoming. "Hello?" My raspy voice echoed heavily off the walls. I could barely see in front of me, if I held my hand up in front of my face I could barely see its outline.... what did I do to deserve this? A small whimper came out my lips. I'm afraid. I stepped forward cautiously, the wet floor made it hard to keep balance. After nearly falling several times I finally gave up on walking and started crawling on the ground. Why did I end up like this?

Two years ago.

"Keira!" A middle aged man called out to me from across my apartment. "What?" I looked up from my book and looked at the tall brown haired man. "Don't you have your chip ceremony yesterday? Aren't you going to do something?" The man said as he chucked a empty bottle of water into the garbage from the small couch he was sitting in. "Hmm... nope, I don't like the necessity of having a chip put into your hand just to be a member of society! I'm not going to use it." I looked back down at my book. This book I'm holding in my hand is one of the last of its kind. Books now a days are all digital, using paper to make a book is wasteful as they say. I want to go back in time! Back when things weren't decided for you, when books like this were everywhere, where you could leave your home without using credits. The world I live in is simply put... hell. It's a world where you can't leave your own home without paying for it. Everyone has the exact same house, the same clothes, the same hairstyle, everyone is paired for marriage by a system. This world that I live in is called 'The City' the only comforts we are allowed is a small chip put into our hands at a certain age. With this chip you can access the 'Network' you can use it The instantly learn a language, instantly read a book, see a movie, maybe even talk to someone if you're lucky enough. The chip is a huge part of our society here, if you don't have one... you're a rebel. Once you're labeled as a rebel you will never find peace, you will be hunted for the rest of your life by the enforcers. At the age of sixteen the chip is implanted into your hand, a ceremony is held just for the chip. My ceremony was yesterday... I may have the chip but I promised myself I would never use it. Credits is the currency of The City you can use credits to leave your apartment and go to the 'Drag' a place where you can eat different food then the rations you get at home... the problem is credits are stored in the chip, so buying things uses the chip. I can't do anything,
I refuse to do anything. My dad, the brown haired man is 'Jared' this world is a cookie cutter world, everything is the same... even names. There are only four names per gender. You could either be 'Jared, James, jack, or Julien' for men, or for women you could be 'Keira, Karen, Kylie, or kammy.' The only way to distinguish everyone from each other is a number inscribed onto your back. It's like a last name as they called it in the old days. The number passes through generation to generation. My number is 6, a one digit number... someone that doesn't know the society might think 'wow such a low number that must be good right?'... wrong. The lower the number the more hated you are. Why? We don't know, it's just a thing. What I'm trying to say here is this world is gross. If I could bring myself to do it I would have pulled this chip out of my hand and run away to become a rebel. I seriously thought about it but... in the end I can't because my dad would be hated even more. He would be hurt and left alone, so I can't do it.

I've been cooped up in the apartment for two years in a row. I used to be able to leave without using the chip when I was younger but now I need to use it, the problem is I refused to use it. Well I finally gave in today... I'll go insane if I stay here one more second. I swiped my hand across the chip panel by the door and the large grey door flung open with a loud clunk. Cool fresh air blew on to my face. The breeze felt wonderful! I took my first step out of the apartment onto the dirt outside. A big smile crept onto my face. Taking a deep breath I readied myself, and three, two, one! I bolted toward the 'drag' for hours I walked around looking through shops and ate something called pizza for the first time. As a kid I was allowed out of my house for free but I couldn't buy anything so it's all so new. I looked to the end of the drag and saw a small shop with tinted windows. "Hmm? What's that?" I walked over to the sign that hung on the door. It read 'Πύλη της κολάσεως' it's Greek, I'm glad the book I was reading so much was in Greek so I could read it. The sign says 'hells gate' "that's quite an odd name for a store..." I pushed the old wooden door open and took a step inside. It was dark and dusty. Looks like no one ever comes in here. Shelves lined the walls with all sorts of odd things. Weapons...? Clothes, tools, masks, and all sorts of weapons lined the shelves. "The hell?" I picked up a black pipe looking thing, it had a leather strap on one end, it was metal but it was extremely light in my hands. The strange pipe had a carving on the side at one point but got worn down so much you couldn't tell what it used to be. The pipe isn't that long either it's about the size from the top of my middle finger to the end of my palm. Something that could go into a pocket easily. I was looking it over and I put the strap around my hand and held it like some sort of sword hilt and swung it around like an idiot. "What am I doing? Jeez" I sighed out and gave a small chuckle. I put down the pipe onto the shelf again. From the corner of my eye I saw a light shimmer in the darkest part of the room. I quickly turned around to look at what I thought was a person. I sighed in relief as I realize it was just a coat on a mannequin. The coat had some metal clasps on the side that caught the light. The coat was long if I wore it it would probably reach my ankles. It was black and purple. The shoulders had a strip of purple that ran down the arms and. Around the cuff of the sleeves. On the left side where the metal clasps that kept it closed it had purple embroidery around the edge of the seam. Around the waist it had a leather belt with a clasp that was shaped like a snake curling around the belt. The coat was very interesting. I touched the fabric and quickly pulled away in surprise. "Soft yet strong" I've never felt anything like it. It's so much different then the clothes we have at home. I didn't even know you could find stuff like this on the drag I only thought rebels had clothes like these. Thinking this everything clicked together. Weapons, tools, strange clothes, this isn't a store supposed to be on the drag, this is a rebel supply office. My heart started to beat faster and faster. Just being here could get me killed. I took a step back towards the door and accidentally knocked over metal pots of beads. With a loud clang the pots fell onto the ground and the sound echoed. "Shit" I turned around and bolted out the door. I started for my apartment. A few stores down from the rebel supply office I ran down an alleyway  hopefully this is a shortcut to my apartment. It wasn't. Dead end, I stood there staring at the wall that was twenty feet in front of me. I turn around to go back but stopped when I Heard a clang behind me. My heart pounded in my chest, the sound of my heart beat filled my ears. I turned around and saw a pile of garbage was knocked over. Cautiously I took a few steps toward it. "Ugh..." a groan of pain could be heard. "Oh my god" I mumbled out, this has got to be the worst day of my life. Looking at the thing that I heard, I started to feel dread. Laying there in the garbage was a young man around the same age as me, he was laying there unmoving in a pool of... is that blood?