Words and Swords (ON HOLD)

Welcome to 2039

Lashone stared out the window of the city bus letting her mind wander. She wasn't really looking at the people or buildings outside. She was just, looking. Looking past all that for a world buried under the dismalness of this one. Crime and prejudices were major problems, which she often thought about, but the teenage girl often wondered about something more:

What happened to imagination?

In a world were crime and death rate was up to new heights and employment had grown into a massive problem, you'd think this would be the least of most people's concerns. Lashone wasn't like most people. She didn't have the concerns of most people. She knew that and was more than willing to accept, and even embrace it. Labels didn't bother her. People called her weird or nerdy or outlandish on a daily basis; she'd take it as a compliment.

She felt like that was what the world needed. Something different. The brain constantly craved novelty, and imagination satisfied that craving. But no one had time for novelty these days. Everyone was working 24/7 looking for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th chances at life. Instead, they were only met with abuse, unemployment, poverty, and discontentment. But everyone was too worried about other things to think about someting as trivial as "imagination". There was too many other things for people to concern and busy themselves with. Not just worries about the government, but something more...dragons.

To be honest, to Lashone, meeting a dragon would be a dream come true. There was the slight issue that dragons and humans weren't currently on the best terms, but it could work out, right?

Her teachers in school had described dragons with words like "power-hungry" "blood-thirsty" "selfish" and "uncaring".  Lashone couldn't help but sit there and wonder why and how two species that were so alike, could hate each other so much. "Well," she mumbled during the lecture, "I guess there's a reason they say 'opposites attract', not 'likes attract'"

The comment had earned her a couple of pointed stares from her classmates and her teacher, who hadn't heard what she'd said, but more than likely had a very good idea. Lashone had become an infamous rebel in the classroom. Not that she would disrespect her teachers, she just questioned what was taught instead of unconditionally absorbing everything like heavy sponge. She was selective. She was inquisitive. And because of this, she was intelligent. And all her overseers hated it. With a passion.

Lashone sighed, wondering if there were other species, believed to be fictional, living out there in the real world. Maybe for every human being there was another fantasized species with the same or similar traits. Elves, ogres, gnomes, alicorns. The possibilities were endless!

After all, just a few decades ago, no one believed in the existence of dragons. If anyone had been told all those years ago what was going on in the present, they would've laughed till they hit the floor.  But now that the supposed "impossible" had happened, what other "impossibles" were they in store for? Elves, gnomes, mermaids, fairies? Perhaps others saw this as a cause for panic, which, in reality was understandable. Lashone could relate. Some of the scariest things in life were the things you knew nothing about. But she still felt a happy, warm excitement rise in her at the idea of more mysteries uncover and people to meet. It was exciting. It was petrifying. It was a bundle of emotions. Luckily, mostly positive ones.

The jolting of the stopping bus pulled her out of her thoughts. She grabbed her backpack and hurried off the bus, shooting the driver a friendly smile. He answered with a grimace. The bus drove off leaving her there on the sidewalk.

Lashone hated the city. With a burning passion. Gas fumes hung in the air while the smell of a dying cigarette entered her nose.  Unfortunately she had to walk through it to get home. She could stop at a teleporter station, but to her, that wasn't really an option. The idea of her body being dissassembled into light particles to be reassembled after traveling (literally at the speed of light) sent shivers down her spine. There were WAY too many ways that could go wrong. You get stuck in light form. Your arm could reassemble on your back. Your arm might not even reassemble. It could get caught in the flow of light particles. You could theoretically get some else's arm. You...

Lashone shook her head trying to stop herself from going down that slippery slope of thoughts. The other reason she walked was because the teleporters had gotten much more expensive. They costed an arm and a leg to use. Lashone chuckled a little at her terrible joke.

The city was slightly intimidating. Typically it was chilly as the shadows of towering buildings were cast over passersby. Wind would howl as it raced through the tiny allies separating these constructs. The buildings were tall and gray and painfully plain as was everything else there. The buildings were usually full of robots, and a ridiculous number of them too. Several patrolled the streets, though most bots kept an eye on her because she was "irregular" and "an anomoly in the algorithm" or they would observe her and just start screaming "ERROR! ERROR!" which made her burst out laughing. Her cheerful laugh would ring out in the dismal streets making it clearer that the bots might be right. She didn't belong. But she already knew that.

Most jobs were replaced by bots, as one can probably see so the rate of poverty increased significantly. Many were making a living as content creators on social media. Even if robots could take over doing menial tasks, they still weren't developed enough to be entertaining or relatable. Not more so than humans. Not yet at least.

If one didn't work as a content creator, they were either rich enough to buy themselves a spot in the government, or were a programmer or bot manager. It was a wonder that some how teachers had yet to be replaced. Though, the only reason they still had jobs was because of the immense amount of money schools put toward Bot Manufacturing Companies. Schools either invested great deals of money into them or spent boatloads of cash on buying what said companies manufactured to use in their own schools. Teachers hadn't been replaced yet because they worked well with the machines the companies that made them. However it was only a matter of time before things got out of hand. It was evident to anyone who wasn't blind that the teachers weren't doing much real teaching. They were a messenger of information that the bots' already had and could articulate. Teachers didn't interact with students. Bots did. Teachers did not discipline students. Neither did the principal. Another task for the bots. Eventually, to anyone in power, teachers would be seen as expendable. Lashone believed it would be sometime in the near future. The only jobs left would be government jobs.  Bots would eventually run everything else.

As optimistic as Lashone was, she knew this was true. She had accepted it, even if most around her refused to. The world they knew was changing. People didn't like change. They despised it. And some would rather pretend it wasn't there. But Lashone didn't like lying to herself. She found it disgusting and uncomfortable. It was down right wrong. A lie was a lie no matter who you told it to. So she was willing to face the truth and try and look on the bright side.

Soon enough, the light of the warm sun began cutting slowly through the dismal cold of the city. Lashone smiled. She was almost home.

"IDENTIFICATION IS REQUIRED."

Lashone's smile dropped as she turned to her left to see a small guard bot staring at her expectantly. She rolled her eyes and stuck her hand in the pocket of her hoodie before pulling out her ID card. People weren't expected to leave  the main city for just any old reason. No siree. That's completely unreasonable. Nope. You have to go through the long, daunting, exhausting process of scheduling an appointment with a travel bot. Then send a letter to the city council which takes forever. And after a few weeks, if your lucky, you get to leave. But since the council has unprecedented power, they could make you stay in the city for literally any reason. Just because they can.

Luckily, since Lashone actually lived outside of this dump, she didn't have to go through that process multiple times a week. She just had to have the guard bot scan her ID and she would be good to go.

After a quick scan of the ID the bot remained silent. Lashone stuffed her ID back in her pocket and walked past the robot in a dignified manner. 

After a few moments, the city smog and chilling streets were far behind her. Rolling green hills went out as far as the eye could see. The sky was a bright blue, cloudless, and the sun glowed in the center of it, its light dancing upon the grassy ground. Soft breezes tossed Lashone's dark brown locks which were up in a ponytail. Her cocoa colored skin gleamed in the sun's light.  Her brown, old cowgirl boots hit the ground hard as she ran though the grassy, hilly field. She shook off her blue flannel she had been wearing to reveal and bright yellow t-shirt. She tied the thin jacket like shirt around her waist as she continued to run in her long blue jean pants.

And soon enough she made it back to the safety of home.