Tandem

Chapter one

Tymon Pengel

There once was a time where everything was simple. Where the grass was green, the leaves changed color, and people were free. Seasons changed, it rained, and nothing was the same. seems simple right? Wrong. Simple is what we now crave in the future, where everything is cold and complex. Everything is controlled. Kept the same way for centuries. Unnatural grass, light, heat and cold is what we, in the future, now have.

Everything has a direct function. Society is supposed to be routine and perfect. Humans lack simplicity and even the most average of actions become mainstream ideas. People have their desires and emotions wiped out. Everyone lives, to die. We have some free will, but not much. And since everything from our old, normal lives on earth was removed or changed, being simple became impossible for us. We weren't taught any other way. We were raised like this. In this life. This isn't even written on a real typewriter. Oh what a luxury that would be. To own a real typewriter. But those were all eradicated centuries ago.

In search of a fault free future, the department of human evolvement, or DHE, decided to remove simple solutions and replace them with the state of the art tools we now have.

Do you have a pencil? the writing utensil of your time? Well, hold on to it. In fact, hold onto 10 if you can. In the future, real, authentic pencils are as rare as it comes. We now have thought to word processing tablets. The DHE said it was better. Having the same print is much more efficient and easier then trying to read all of our different hand writing styles.

Now everything in the future is...easier. By removing what we once thought as simple, we've created a complex path for generations to come. Ironically, while the future is complicated, in a sense, it has become simpler than it has ever been. Almost everything is automatic, done by machine, or easy to operate.

But the oddest thing, is our world itself. Earth was deemed dangerous by the DHE so we were moved to a separate world. Separated. Safe. Alone. Confined. Above the earths atmosphere, held up by anti-gravity processors, is a world as simple as it is complex. It was designed to preserve humans for the future, keeping us safe and fit, to provide the "perfect" human. The DHE decided to name this new world Tandem.

The old world, as we call earth on tandem, is mostly deserted. Mostly. When we evacuated, the DHE made all earth residents take a test. When completed, based on the answers, certain families would be escorted to the ship and taken to tandem.

My great, great, great, great, great grandparents were one of the first on the ship. They were my ancestors, and while I did not know them, they became an extremely important part of my life decades from then. As for the people left behind, they too were separated. One group, the peaceful, moldable minds. Useful for reconditioning or placement. The others were excess. The excess group was exterminated. The details are too gruesome to go into right now.

The peaceful group has a special job on earth. They farm food and collect water for Tandem. In return, we supply them with crucial technology such as medicine and tools. They supply tandem everyday with harvest from their world. Hence their group name, the suppliers.

To us, they are nothing but peasants keeping us fed. Meaningless workers scrambling at the ground. But to them we are their gods. We control every aspect in their lives. To them, we are providers. Giving tools and medicine, crucial to their survival. We provide them from our society hence our group name, providers.

A great and horrible war had been waged between the two worlds before. In terrible confusion, many lives were lost. Once the war had ended, a treaty was decreed by the providers, of which there were many more due to their large victory over the suppliers. The treaty stated that there would be no future wars unless the new ways were disobeyed. This is when the suppliers where given their official jobs as farmers.

Its odd. relying on the past to further the future.

Even while our technology surpassed theirs greatly, it lacked something that would make us able for us to grow food, and engineer water. So it was added to the treaty, made sure by Earth leader Alus, that we would supply medicine, and other forms of our technology to those on earth in return for food and water. Just to make it fair and to make sure they had something to work for.

In tandem church, we learn all these things. Children on tandem start school at eight years old and end at 18. We learn of the history of our world and the possibilities in the future. Children are separated in school into groups for specific learning purposes. Each person has a role in our society.

There are many groups. Each family carries on the traditions started by the ancestors.

There are the 5 groups on Tandem.

The intelligent, in charge of lots of teaching and mathematics. They also manage Tandem money.

Theres the dealers. They are in charge of transporting anything and everything on tandem. They also help with technological advances in machinery and what not.

The pander are in charge of anything with the science and history of tandem. They do the teaching at school and church.

Inverts are in charge of the way, like voting and prosecutions. They mostly handle politics and dealings involving the old world.

Then theres Interim, the real law. Reckless, rough, brutal people who control almost everything. They hold most of the power on tandem, although they say power is of the essence. Whatever that means.

My family belongs to pander.

I am currently 15 years of age. Which means i can choose. I choose what I want to do as a role in society. But only if I am prepared.

Oh, did i forget about me? I could possibly be the most important part of the story. I'll make it brief.

My name, Tymon Pengel. Age, 15. messy dark blonde hair. green eyes. Belongs to pander. Family of four, same as everyone else. A father, mother, sister, and me.

This year i get to change my life. I can become a Strayer. A group that little is know about. Rumors say that less than a quarter of the people make it past the initiation. The mystery of their occupation intrigues and excites me. Its a hazardous occupation, others say, but i'm almost positive its what i want to do. At school, kids talk about how Strayer investigates the old world, and does tests and actually go down to earth. They have to be agile, nimble, smart, tough, and enduring. Exactly right for me.

You may be wondering how I know all this. Maybe wondering why I am the way I am, self aware and in control. Well, since I was little I've been different. A lot different. As a little kid, I was much more outgoing than the other kids. I was talkative and hyper. I tried to make new friends wherever I went and laughed at everything. This type of spontaneousness is looked down upon. Children are supposed to be quiet and obedient. I was the opposite.

And there were others like me too. They were talkative and jumpy. Of course, we all got along very well and sure after, became friends.

Just like them, I'd been tested and treated but nothing helped. And as I got older, me and the others like me would talk about the tests and medicine we were given. We talked about our dreams and ideas, goings forbidden on tandem, and we met secretly after church and school to share news and secrets.

We learned about Tandems true way, and the truth behind the tests, and learned to hide our differences. And it worked. For years. But as we grew older, we grew further apart. I saw less and less of them, and then nothing at all. I've never seen the others since.

Now...Back to the test for the choice.

For my initiation, I have to jump off the edge of Tandem, and free fall down to earth landing safely using my own techniques. If i am prepared to be strayer i will be able to survive in the loading docks and ride back up with the dealers.

If not, i will be killed. Or worse, be stuck on earth.