Author: Kate Leslie
Category: Other
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/kate-leslie/page,2,561377-the_project_project_2080_book_1.html
Even between New Humans there was a class distinction between those who had physical enhancements, like Mia’s employer, and those who had performed a memory transfer. The president had the latter. His father had been the founder of Project 2045, but he had passed away before its entire introduction. His son Julian had completed his life’s work and made himself the leader of the new society. The actual age of the president was unknown. Viewing his appearance, you would think he was in his early twenties.
A glance at her watch told Mia she would be late. She hastened her pace and crossed one of the bridges spanning the artificially constructed canal that ran through the entire park. So early in the morning, she pretty much had the park to herself. Later on, it would get busy with people strolling about, sitting on the park benches along the paths, or renting boats on the canal. No one would take any interest in the green spaces or plants for such things were taken for granted. It was about socializing and being seen. Everyone was young, everyone was beautiful. If something was no longer fashionable, they simple underwent changes. That could apply to the hairstyle, but also the nose, mouth, or eye color. The possibilities were limitless.
Mia exited the park and entered the street on which her employers lived. It was a quiet residential cul-de-sac. The houses resembled glass cubes. The one-way glass offered no glimpse of the interior. Each lot was surrounded by a white wall that provided privacy from the neighbors. All in all, bright colors were preferred.
Mia stopped in front of the Ahlers’ gate and was scrutinized by the security camera above. Its integrated face recognition identified her and a buzzer sounded. Mia pushed open the gate and hurried up the white flagstone path to the front door. Ava, the little daughter, stood waiting in the open door and greeted Mia joyfully. Mia suspected her parents did not spend much time with her. Mara Ahlers had a friend over and was busy chatting on the sofa in the sprawling white-tiled living room. As usual, some trivial soap opera was on the big screen embedded in the wall. The whole house was stylishly furnished in black and white.
Ava’s cheerfulness at Mia’s arrival alerted Mara’s friend of her presence. She gave Mia a disparaging look. She obviously disapproved of her, too ordinary, too natural. Clearly, her olive skin tone and her simple clothes gave her away. Quite in contrast to Mara and her friend who both wore colorful and expensive fabrics and had an alabaster skin. Mia forced a smile so as not to provoke Mara’s wrath for she relied on the job. “You still employ natural people?” the friend asked. “Don’t you find them too unreliable?”
“She takes care of Ava during the day,” Mara replied without acknowledging Mia. “We would have replaced her long ago, but Ava insists we keep her.”
Mia knew she should not pay attention to their words, yet hearing them she could not help but feel degraded and hurt. By now, she should be used to being treated like an object instead of a real human.
Ava, who continued babbling cheerfully, tugged on Mia’s sleeve while peering up at her worriedly. “Is something wrong?”
“Huh?” Mia turned away from Mara and her visitor. “No, my dear, everything is fine. Go grab your coat and we’ll go to the park.”
As Mia waited for Ava, she tried to ignore the women gossiping about the shortcomings of natural people and focused her attention on the banal soap opera on TV. Just then, the television program was interrupted by a breaking news story. Even Mara and her friend fell silent and listened. Breaking news was never good. Mia took a few steps and stopped in the doorway.
The news reporter described a crisis in District 2. Apparently, diligent work by the authorities had alerted them to a planned coup against the government. Since the terrorists had not yet been arrested, instructions were given to evacuate the planned target.
Mia’s heart skipped a beat when she recognized Ben’s school. “They are talking about my brother’s school.”
Mara turned to Mia. “Did you say something?” she asked, irritated.
“That’s my brother’s school,” Mia repeated louder. “I must leave.”
“You can’t leave now. You’ve just arrived and late on top of it,” Mara declared accusingly. “You told Ava you’d go to the park.” That was the end of it and she turned back to her friend.
Mia’s throat was dry, so she cleared it. “I’m truly sorry, but I have to go check on Ben.”
“Who is Ben?” Mara asked, turning to Mia once more, impatiently and narrowed her eyes. “You are standing us up because of a boy? You can meet your boyfriend in your free time.”
In the past, Mia had mentioned Ben several times. Mara had probably not listened or simply forgotten. “Ben is my brother. I must go to his school and make sure he is alright.”
Mara glanced at the TV, then back to Mia, apparently just making the connection. “Oh, you mean the breaking news. They stated the authorities have complete control of the situation. You being there won’t do any good.” She exchanged glances with her friend, who seemed reassured about her criticism of employing natural humans. Mara rose and faced Mia. “And what about Ava? Who will watch her? I have an appointment with my beautician. She is incredibly popular. I can’t simply cancel and make a new one, who knows how long I might have to wait.” A fold formed between her eyebrows. Apparently, her beautician was not that good after all.
Wordlessly, Mia turned and walked to the door.
“If you leave now, don’t bother coming back,” Mara called after her. “And I’ll deduct the cost of finding a replacement from your outstanding pay.”
Mia paused a moment. Had she lost her job? She could not worry about that now. Once Mara calmed down, she would realize Mia had no choice.
2
Ben
Mia was right, only with a good education would they have a chance to improve their living conditions. Once Ben finished school, he would try to get a job as a programmer. It was good work, probably also well paid. Besides, programming was Ben’s passion.
Mia had had no choice but to grow up early. Much too early. She did not even have time for former school friends and Ben, well, he was not exactly making her life easier either. Like this morning, he really should start helping her. He was resolute in his decision; he would take on an after-school job. Mia always stressed he should focus solely on school, well, that was no longer possible.
“Hello, Ben.” His best friend Daniel greeted Ben in front of the school gate. Like many buildings in their district, the school was in desperate need of renovation. Missing or crumbling plaster was everywhere, exposing raw gray concrete. At least the school’s appearance was in line with the streetscape. Grays in all shades prevailed. “You’re quite late today. Did you oversleep again?”
Ben rubbed his neck with a guilty look. “No, why do you ask?”
“I’m asking because I know you,” Daniel replied with a mischievous sidelong glance.
Both grinned. “You’re right. I stayed up too late last night. I was writing a program routine. Thankfully, Mia woke me in time. You know, she won’t leave the house unless I’m up.”
“Let me guess, as soon as she was out the door, you crawled back into bed,” Daniel said playfully. He probably would have done the same.
“Me, I would never do something like that,” Ben said with a grin.
“I’m sure you would. So, why stand me up? We’ll be late for class.” Daniel started moving.
“I remembered something else about yesterday’s program script and made a few notes,” Ben explained as they walked down the dimly lit corridor to their classroom. Some ceiling fixtures needed to be replaced, but since the budget was tight and they were reliant on the city administration, which did not place any priority when it came to a school in District 2, they had to make do.
“Oh, Ben! You’re killing me. Can’t you act like a normal teenager for once?” Daniel nudged Ben in the side.
“And you consider normal to be what?” Ben glanced down for he had an idea what Daniel was referring to.
“O
h, you know.” Daniel leaned over to Ben to make eye contact. “What’s going on with Clara?”
Ben blushed somewhat. “Clara? To her, I don’t even exist.”
Daniel nudged him again, this time in the ribs. “You should change that as soon as possible.”
Ben’s blush deepened. Just the thought of talking to Clara made his pulse race. She was in the same math class and was one of the most popular girls in school. She certainly had no shortage of admirers and it was not possible she’d be interested in a bookworm like Ben.
“And what about you and Lena?” Ben changed the subject. For a few weeks now, Daniel had been raving about Lena, a classmate. Then again, it was hard to keep track of Daniel’s love interests for he had many. “You should not commit too early,” was his motto. Daniel exuded such natural self-confidence; Ben wished he had just a little of it.
“We are doing okay. Yesterday, we met at the mall. We had a nice talk. After school, we’re going to meet up and study.” Daniel winked at Ben. That was typical of Daniel. Girls flocked after him.
The two reached their classroom and entered. The interior was, despite the cracks in the walls and blinking light fixtures, a bit friendlier due to the east-facing windows that let in the morning light. At least they had gotten that right during the construction of the school for they were big, almost floor to ceiling. They gave the room a little warmth that the rest of the building lacked.
In fact, most of their classmates were already present. Some glanced at the last-minute arrivals, but most were too engrossed in their conversations to notice. Ben made his way between the tables to his place in the back row. He preferred to sit in back because he did not like being called by the teacher. Daniel also preferred to sit in the back. However, his reason was entirely different, he did not mind speaking in front of the class, it was just that most of the time he was ill-prepared.
The class started as it did every day. But, not long after the second period started, they were asked to leave the room and gather outside in the courtyard. They were told about some planned attack, all of which made no sense to Ben. “Their story sounds fishy to me,” Ben whispered to Daniel. “Why would attacking students make the population favor their government less? It’s obvious the government does not care about the well-being of natural people. You’d think anti-government groups would have no problem making natural people their allies. Pretty much everywhere, people are fed up with their living conditions.”
District 2 was located on the southern side of the city of Filiae. It was larger than District 1, which applied to land size as well as the number of inhabitants. It was also the home of industrial areas. Residential areas were cramped with one high-rise built to the next.
District 1 occupied the northern side. Mia had gained employment there in a family household. According to her, the streets there were bright and green areas were everywhere. People did not live in tenement buildings in tiny apartments; instead, everyone had their own pretty family house with all the luxuries and a private garden. Each household also had at least one vehicle. That was something nobody in District 2 could afford. They were dependent on public transportation or, like Ben, walked. Ben would love to see the other district with his own eyes, but unlike his sister, he had no authorization to enter. Sometimes he envied Mia for it. However, knowing how Mia was treated by those people kept his envy in check.
“Ben, you worry too much.” Daniel ripped Ben out of his reverie and back to their current issue. “Overthinking won’t do any good; let’s just go with the flow.”
Ben glanced around. His classmates seemed as insecure as he felt. “That’s easy for you to say.”
“Well, it is easy!” Daniel sounded as confident as ever. He was not rattled so easily.
Several buses were parked in the schoolyard. A barrier had been erected in front of the school, before which a crowd began to gather. At the main doors of the school, they were met by an officer who instructed everyone to follow him. He stopped at the door of one of the buses and ordered the students to board. One by one, the students entered and filled the seats. Since certain students wanted to sit together, chaos quickly ensued. Some tried to fight their way to the back rows while others blocked the aisle chitchatting. Someone tried to climb over the backrests when Mrs. Wiest, their class teacher, called for her students to behave. Then everything went quiet when the officer shoved his way inside, pushed her out of the way, and bellowed like a drill sergeant, “Everyone, take the nearest seat, NOW!”
“I want to sit with my friends. I can’t get to them,” one of Ben’s classmates exclaimed.
“I don’t care, take whatever seat is available, that goes for everyone, end of discussion!” the officer ordered in a tone that left no room for argument.
Still, the students grumbled.
“I ordered you to sit down. NOW GET TO IT. I don’t want to hear any more complaints, or I’ll take more drastic measures.” His hand went to his holstered weapon for emphasis.
Suddenly, everyone was in their seats. As Mrs. Wiest tried to take her seat, the officer hindered her. “But I must stay with my students,” she protested. “I am responsible for them.”
“No, from now on, the military is responsible. Please disembark at once!” The officer rudely forced her out the door.
Mrs. Wiest attempted to formulate a rebuke when the doors closed, the engine started, and the bus departed. Mrs. Wiest was left behind, standing there pale and helpless. Daniel shrugged and turned from the window. He too was a little leery now especially when he saw the accompanying officer eyeing the students with cold expressionless eyes.
3
Mia
Mia sprinted back to the subway station. Her lungs were burning and her heart raced, but she could not afford to take a break. Not yet. She reached the station and boarded the first train heading for District 2. She used the time on the train to catch her breath and replay the news report in her head. It made no sense to her. Why attack a school?
The train arrived at the checkpoint, but since they were unconcerned with those leaving District 1, the controller waved Mia through as if she was an annoying mosquito.
By the time Mia disembarked, she was rested, at least physically, and started to sprint again. Ben’s school was only two blocks down the road.
A barricade was erected around the school and guarded by soldiers in black uniforms. The sight made Mia stop dead in her tracks. A common reaction for people from District 2 since they avoided any confrontation with government authorities. Whenever the military was present, danger was expected. Mia took a deep breath and started walking again. She wove through the crowd that had gathered and addressed a soldier. “Excuse me; my brother goes to this school. I’m here to take him home.” The soldier’s expression remained unmoved as if he had not heard her. “The news report stated,” Mia made another attempt, “a planned attack on this school was supposedly foiled. So, if it’s okay, I’d like to take my brother home with me.”
“I cannot help you.” Finally, a reaction, unfortunately, not the one Mia had hoped for.
“The news report stated the situation is under control. So, there should be no problem if I take my brother home.”
“Girl, don’t cause trouble. Just go home.” The soldier’s gaze swept over the assembled people. “That goes for all of you, go home.”
“I’m not leaving until I see my brother.” A murmur of approval rose from those around her.
The soldier scowled at Mia. “You are a troublemaker.” He held out his hand. “Let me see your ID.”
Instinctively, Mia stepped back. If the controller had followed through with his threat of adding a note to her data, she could actually get in trouble. “I’m merely worried about my brother,” she stated as calmly as possible.
Unperturbed, the soldier gestured with his hand. “Hurry up. You’re wasting my time.”
Mia rummaged through her bag, searching for her ID. She hardly ever found at once what s
he actually needed.
“What’re you waiting for?” the soldier asked. “I can just take you away for questioning right now.”
“Sorry, I do have it.” As Mia continued to search in her bag, someone grabbed her elbow.
It was a young man. “Excuse me, she does not want to cause trouble. Come on, Mel.” He pulled Mia away from the barrier and maneuvered her into a narrow alley.
Mia had been too stunned to put up any resistance but now freed herself from his grip. “Let go of me!” She attempted to walk around him, but he moved sideways and blocked her way. He was a little over six feet tall, thus had a good seven inches on her and an athletic figure. Physically, he was superior to her. Then again, she could shout for help and alert the people at the barrier, but what about the soldiers... One of them had already threatened to detain her.
Mia crossed her arms and stared defiantly up at the stranger. “What do you want from me?”
His assuredness seemed to crumble. “I merely wanted to help you.”
“Do I look like I need help?” Mia glared at him.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Just now, yeah, you did.”
If the situation had not been so dire, Mia might have found him attractive with his dark hair and sea blue eyes. She groaned inwardly and looked away from his mesmerizing eyes that befuddled her. She again attempted to get by him. However, he had chosen the right alley, for it was too narrow for an easy escape. Actually, calling it an alley was an overstatement. It was more of a gap between two houses. Mia huffed to express her annoyance. “Just so you know, I don’t need your help. Now let me go.”
“I can’t let you get yourself into trouble.” He touched her arm and she quickly shook his hand off.
“Why not? What’s it to you?” Earlier he called her Mel, perhaps he had mistaken her for someone else. “I’m not Mel.”
“So, I see,” he replied with a chuckle.