One in a Million

Prologue

My teacher used to say that at one point, nearly half the population based their entire beliefs on a book. He also said that according to that book, near the beginning of the history of humans, everyone was similar. They all spoke the same language, and everyone was at peace. Then, people started to get arrogant. They noticed differences between them and "God", a magical being who lived in the clouds, that led them to believe that they were superior. Because of their pride, they decided to build a tower to "Heaven" (as they called the space above the clouds). Their God didn't like this, though, so He cursed them all to speak different languages. They couldn't understand each other, so they abandoned the tower, which they called "Babel". The book shows their newfound differences as a good thing, and half the population believed it.

I think they were all idiotic.

Differences are hindrances. That's what everyone in our town is taught, from the Gen 1s all the way to Gen 6 - my generation. I'm the sixth female in the Saai-Igav family, so everyone calls me Saai 6. My little devil of a brother, Igav 6, just made it through his first graduation last month, and he's now announcing that he's out of primary school to anyone with working ears. Saai 5, my mother, always listens to him with a smile on her face, but I'm pretty sure she's sick of his constant gloating.

I live in a place called the City. According to my teacher, the City used to be a place called Normal, about 500 years ago. Normal was nearly in the center of a state called Illinois, and had a sister city right next to it called Bloomington. Everyone was living in so-called "peace and harmony", but eventually their differences caught up with them. As the Identity War waged on, a small group of people got together and, little by little, changed everything in Normal: the architecture, the surroundings, and even the name. They made sure no one was different, and that everyone was happy. Which we are! Thanks to that little band of sameness, the only differences between us in the city is our identities and our jobs.

My family are Agros: we grow the City's food. My best friend Noia 6's family are Teaches, and take care of the City's education. He hopes to be a primary school teacher one day, and work with all the littles. I could never, considering my reaction to Igav 6 not closing my door fully. Noia teases me on this a lot.

Everything in the City is orderly and perfect, without the slightest bit of discord. There are no arguments that escalate past the point of red faces, or accidents more severe than scooter crashes. We all live in "peace and harmony" again. 

Well, until variety strikes, anyways.