Plutonians

Chapter 2

I sigh and gaze outside, at the headquarters of the society where the purported higher class people and administrative officers dwell. In the vicinity stands a majestic building that belongs to the head of the nation, Drake Wart, who lives with his second wife, Myra and son, Albus Wart. If people's sayings have to be believed, then his first wife died while giving birth to their son. Her death astounded today's exceptionally advanced medical sciences and AI doctors.

Since then he was dogged to strengthen the technology and medical field. People are also well aware that it wasn't his love for his wife that evoked his interests in progression of the republic. Instead he put on this false front so as to impress Myra and her father - the ex-head of nation.

Soon after his mission was accomplished he got married to Myra. After Myra's father's death, Drake was bestowed as the head of the nation. So it was chiefly his inherent self-centered nature that demanded him to be the world's most powerful - head of the superpower nation.

California's previously known 'silicon valley' or the San Francisco region became the capital of the U.S. This was a blooming hub of innovations in life sciences and artificial intelligence, medicine, robotics, domotics and all. Thus a nationwide voting culminated to the declaration of San Francisco, as the capital of U.S.

According to Drake's nation division policy, now all cities were regarded as regions and states didn't exist. There were solely different nations, neither continents nor islands.

The former UN was running a global monarchy. It was unanimously decided in a UN conference, of course without public's consent that in time of future war, nations won't be combating together. In fact they had to compete with each other to establish their nation as a superpower.

Myra's father- a notable leader then, paved way for U.S's victory in an erstwhile war, thus laying foundation for superpower U.S. And after Drake became the front-runner, the world was bound to comply with the new monarch and his policies.

Setting up this society, creating deeper divisions between nations and dividing people into classes – on the basis of vocations they qualify for- were his paramount steps to emerge as a high-octane.

Ignoring what Zed said, we start ambling down the hallway. Each of us walked, mum. From the foyer to the washrooms, the entire vocational society is built up of pellucid glass with glittering lights lit up at every three steps. The glass cupola crowned over the central hall glints, crafting a vivid fairyland scenario, though it's not. Moron silence except for the metallic footstep sounds, reverberate at every curve and corner of this society. There are more than required cameras ineptly kept out of sight, behind every light, which are controlled and observed by immediate people of Drake.

Blithe about the surveillance of bots, I turn towards Lara and bark out of disgust, "This place is awful. You too know that we were not chatting inessential issues, like 'hey! look, what my boyfriend has gifted me!'.......we identified a flaw in their program, but the bots are never going to accept this. They believe they are the most pristine creatures built on earth."

"But I didn't gift you anything Eva!" Zed says in a kittenish manner.

"Will you both please lower your voices or else along with you I'll be expelled out of this society, which my parents can never endure. Let's first get into the cafeteria and then we can talk", Lara whispers in an unease tone.

Lara is the law-abiding daughter of her parents who cannot go against their will even in her worst nightmares! As we reach the cafe I reminisce what Zed had told me a moment ago in the corridor. I look at him narrowing my eyes, "You are not my.....boyfriend". "Did I say you anything like that?" Zed says heedlessly.

I met Zed when I entered this society, at 15, before which I considered all boys to be ruffians and thus a subject of odium. But he is different, he belongs to my community, he is a droll, a bright pupil and a guy with two girl pals! I don't know why I am recollecting all these facts about him, standing frozen. He turns back and widens his eyes. With a grin he says "What? Are you interested to be mine?"

"Pardon me" I respond without hanging back.

Lara simpers and gestures us to our cabin. The cafeteria is divided into myriads of cabins each consisting of four seats. Administrators say the purpose of such arrangements is to maintain our privacy. But the inclusion of cameras in each cabin signifies that they tend to focus on our personal conversations more precisely.

 Yet it is the only place left on Earth where one can find more humans than bots and AI equipments. Besides it's the fortunate place where bots are waiters instead of being tyrants. Here they serve only a single staple food daily – burritos and a fruit beverage. There's an AI food machine that serves sapid delicacies within a flick of a finger, but its perks are savored only by the upper class folks.

"Lara, have you ever had anything from the food machine", I ask curiously.

"Only on some auspicious occasions, otherwise it's a property of higher class." "Well now you can puke out all the grudges you have for this society"

"Do you think this the safest place on Earth where one can express anything?" Zed sensibly asks. "Do you have any idea whether they use audio recording machines over here?"

"No idea. But Eva better knows how to speak and you know how to understand", Lara says smirking. I nod my head. We all learn as teens how to control public speaking. So for this scrutinized society we use 'og' to refer to the government, 'os' for the society and 'ob' for bots, simply reversing the first two letters of each word.

"It's intolerable. The 'os' and then the vocations.....anyways here the winner is the one who belongs to higher communities or gets recruited to the same. Here either the versatile one is celebrated or the one who blindly follows the 'og's' path. I don't want to be confined by the norms laid by the...." I say with my voice shaking.

"You sound like a radical", Zed interrupts frowning. "What do you plan to do with this oppressive....'os'?"

I too don't have any answer for it. "I don't know what I should do for this repression. I just want to free myself and all those who feel subjugated", I mutter.

"I believe its despairing. But Eva we have to....you know we can't pick out flaws from bot's programs, we could also have done the mistake. I know you are a free soul and that you are intolerant to the belief of versatility here. Moreover the vocations you are engrossed in have been categorized as the menial professions. But instead of carping about these matters, accepting this society is the only choice left with us in this world. We are choice less", Lara says straining her brows.

"No Lara, we are given choices but then there exists deep divisions and after all we are bound to work for the...'og'. The 'og' after mushrooming 'ob' everywhere now wants to turn every human into a mere pawn. We had never lived an independent life nor shall we ever be able to, here. And apart from all this, I can prove that there's an error in that specific bot's program."

Lara places her cold hand on mine, revealing the mediocre tattoo on her wrist - an oval with a vertical central axis. Ma too has an exact copy of such a tattoo on her left shoulder. I wonder what must have wooed both of them to such a nondescript design. 

"Hope you don't take it otherwise Eva. But is it really the 'og' or 'os' or even 'ob' hassling you or is it simply.....anxiety? See you have always been treated differently, in school and in this 'os', so maybe that's what vexing you", she says as meekly as possible.

At first her words hit me but then I try to consider what she said, for a while. May be she's true, may be anxiety is what consuming me from inside. After all Lara and Zed are familiar to my anxiety disorder for which I had been taking medication formerly.