Alone

3

Location: Zhengzhou China

Date: August 05, XXXX

Xuě lánhuā (Shu-e Laanhua) got up from her bed. Well more like an empty sack of rice. Lánhuā came from a poor family like most Chinese citizens. In these years, it was rare to come from a rich family. In all of her 16 years of life, she had never met a rich kid only a rich young adult couple.

The rich couple had lived down the street from where she lived. Although they were rich, they were really generous. Always giving food to the neighbors and always there for everyone. Sadly, they really wanted a child. They had been trying for years but it always ended with a miscarriage or with no luck. Or at least that was what Lánhuā had heard when she eavesdropped on their conversation with her mom. Last year they had gotten lucky and they got twins. Must've been God's way of saying sorry.

However, the apology wasn't received well. The capital's council members broke down the doors to the couple's home and shot everyone inside. They could've just kicked everyone from the country. After their death, many people became even more afraid of the council members. If the council members could just appear out of nowhere when a rule was broken, how were Chinese citizens supposed to feel safe? Lánhuā stepped on a small spider that quickly scurried across the ground as she remembered the event.

Chinese citizens had been forced to follow the rules that would keep them living in China. Rules that would help out the society to hopefully turn back to how it was hundreds of years ago. China's overpopulation had encouraged the rules to be established and not altered in any way. So after the unfair death of the rich couple, Chinese citizens forced themselves to follow the three rules;

1. Every family can only have one child. If they are to exceed the limit, the family is to be kicked outside of the country.

2. All children need to learn. If a student is caught outside of school, parents and child will be kicked outside the country.

3. China made the first robot. Russia stole it and this sparked the AI War. China has nothing to do with starting the war.

Overpopulation had always been a problem in China. Lánhuā had read books that dated for more than three hundred years that spoke about the overpopulation in China. According to books she had read, her ancestors at one point had been forced to only one child in order to avoid the population increase. She believed that the last leader had chosen to revive this method as it seemed effective.

Ten years ago, China went under a stress period. Countries had started to show their technology advancements but China had wasted all their time and focus on eliminating people from the country.

Lánhuā looked outside before making sure she was safe. Once she noticed the coast was clear, she threw on a brown ragged sweater and rushed outside into the cold autumn morning. China stole Yuno from Russia. We had to prove that we still had it in us. The power of creating something extraordinary... Russia didn't take it well. They angrily shooed Chinese soldiers from the country. It's understandable however since we are the reason that Russia's population decreased so rapidly.

I just can't believe that we were forcing innocent countries into a war with us. A country who had done nothing but steal mankind's biggest accomplishment. Sometimes I think it would have been better if- Lánhuā looked up as she almost crashed into a person. She muttered an inaudible sorry and kept walking only to be pulled back by her sweater. She let out a squeak as she was then harshly thrown onto the ground.

"What are you doing outside kid? Why aren't you wearing your uniform? Don't you know school starts in.... four minutes...", the guy spoke in a clear and strict voice. His voice dropped as he looked at the time that appeared on his holographic watch.

Lánhuā froze. Only capital council members owned a holographic watch. Scared to say anything, Lánhuā slowly looked up only to be met with the fierce eyes of a council member. Before she could utter an excuse, a loud and booming whistle rang through the quiet street. Gosh, why don't you just give the whole world the announcement of me not being in school? She thought as he had pushed a button on his watch.

"I can't believe it. You, a small child who has been learning her whole life to obey the rules have just broken the most important one." He yanked Lánhuā up from her hair and dragged her until he got to the local expulsion center. He threw her onto the floor as he placed his new black boots on the doorway and spit dangerously close to her face. Lánhuā cried in pain as he turned his holographic watch to her face and started to analyze her profile. He got her address and then proceeded to put her in a glass cell that would send an electric shock every time she touched it. Annoyed and wanting out, she banged harder only to make the council member stand close with his murderous eyes. His violent looking eyes and flaring nostrils spoke in rage. 'Do that again, I dare you.'

Lánhuā forced herself to remain calm and sat in a corner of the cell staring into his eyes. The council member in an annoyed huff turned his holographic watch back on, put in the address he had gotten earlier, and disappeared into thin air. He must've gone to my home to see if my parents are there.

Lánhuā had known for a long time that council members could teleport thanks to the watch they always carry. She looked at the ceiling in boredom as she recalled why China had gone to ruins. If China had not been greedy in the technological advances, many of the countries that China took during the AI War would still have their spirit and would still have space for their people, not the Chinese.

Lánhuā looked up as she saw the council guy reappear with her parents held by the back of their rugged coats. She quickly looked away pretending to not know them in order to not drag them down with her. "Sir. I have no parents. I'm an orphan who has entered their home. I was only going to stay for a few months."This is for the best.

Her parents, with wide eyes, denied having a child as soon as she finished speaking. "Sir! Listen to us! Do we look rich enough to have been able to take care of a child since birth? Do we look stable enough to have adopted an orphan?! She suddenly barged into our small home. We couldn't do anything to kick her out since winter is approaching." The council member now had a ghostly pale face with sweat slowly trickling down as he heard their statements. He then looked at Lánhuā trying to see if all three didn't know each other. After what seemed like an eternity, he apologized multiple times for barging into their home and dragging them with him with no sort of explanation.

As they walked away into the abyss of the quiet city abyss, he slowly turned to Lánhuā."Kid, where are your parents?"Lánhuā froze a bit before forcing tears to well up in her eyes. "I...I've never met them, sir."

The council member guy nodded and took her out of her cell. He dragged her through what seemed like a maze of corridors before arriving at a room which had a black sign that was unreadable. He opened the door and pulled her into the pale green room. He asked her to look into a machine which registered her face. As soon as it located her information, it asked if they really wanted to erase all records from her existence as a Chinese citizen. Lánhuā watched as all her information slowly got eliminated by the simple touch of a button.

Once all her information was eliminated, Lánhuā was taken into a different room by a female nurse. She was told to change into a black shirt and green jeans. Before she was done changing a low knock rang through the room and the nurse entered with black shoes. After fully changing and having so much stuff running through her head, she was taken to a room where people in a yellow suit stamped her arm.

E63002. Great. They should've made it red instead of black. Lánhuā was lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the steaming iron with her number getting close to her stamped arm. By the time she realized, she was screaming louder than the fire was crackling as it consumed the wood that it was being fed. Before she could pass out, someone placed a backpack on her shoulders and escorted her outside the room to a long and narrow white hallway.