CELESTIALS PRESENTS: THE FIRST SQUADRON
blackness
ASHLAND
7–31–4993
1:45 PM
I went to visit Arlo’s mother, Leontine Costa-Franco.
Arlo’s family lived by the Zephyrine docks on the coast of The Atlantic. They were a beautiful bunch of three, a family that epitomized peace.
Leontine was an amiable elderly lady. Her look was similar to that of a seasoned veteran, but she was full of life; stronger than any woman I knew.
“Helena, há quanto tempo! Entre, entre. Can I get you something to drink? Maybe some tea? Vinho?” She chuckled.
“No I’m okay, thank you. I just came to check up on you and Claude. How are you two holding up?”
Claude Adler was Arlo’s stepdad. A nice, tall, hairy old man with a soft squeaky voice.
“Oh, Claude! My lovely husband. He is out on the boat right now, fishing.” Leontine replied, “We are making ends meet. Ever since Arlo left, it has been quite the struggle, gathering supplies and keeping this flat in one piece. But we have been making it work! Deus fornece.”
“Arlo… and where is Arlo?” I nervously asked her.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you? He went on a trip with some of his mates months ago. He’s in the Ozias district.”
“No, he… he didn’t tell me anything… I’ve been wondering for weeks now. What’s the trip for? There’s nothing special in the Ozias district, that’s for sure.”
“Well, he couldn’t tell me Helena… I’m not sure why.” She paused.
He obviously couldn’t tell me either.
“Thank you, Mrs. Costa-Franco. I’ll be going now,”
“Wait, you haven’t taken your tea!”
“Tell Claude I said hi.”
I rushed out the door.
He left me.
I decided to go for a walk. Districtwide curfew was strictly 2 AM that night, and it was a quarter past that time.
I walked past the vacant glass houses and the perfectly planted orchard trees, listening to the beeps and hums of the automated help bots performing their daily cleaning tasks. Their metal pods sliding on the polished stone grounds kept me on guard. If they detected my presence, they’d inform the authorities.
Despite the cloud of black dust that constantly polluted the atmosphere and the emptiness that filled the streets, I still believed my district was beautiful. About 100 miles north of Lisbon, Ashland stood as one of the Manchester Colonies, a group of developing cities “colonized” by Senators from Manchester.
Over a century ago they came with their officers, big guns, and technology. They offered help.
The Senators promised to provide our small district with the latest advances in technology; Newer models of the motorized airships, transhumanistic robotics, even early data streaming prototypes. Everything we had already built or were in the process of building, the Manchester Senators figured they could do it better. Apparently, that’s why we needed them.
All they really accomplished was teaching our people how to talk like them.
My ears were suddenly met with the deafening sound of alarm sirens. I froze in my position for a minute, then dashed towards a nearby alley.
Soon, I heard the heavy sound of boots clamping the ground, followed by a bright flash of light.
“Halt! You are in violation of curfew hours! Submit or you will be sanctioned!”
I ran.
“Suspect is running, pursuit initiated… Situation 510, suspect is on foot, wearing a blue hood… requesting airship back-up…. Hover car backup is in bound.”
It was the officers. With no other job than to enforce the laws through any way they saw fit, these individuals were truly the dominating forces of each district.
Petty law violations were usually handled by the bots, but when an officer was involved, the situation was taken to the next level. They weren’t known to simply sanction criminals and curfew violators. They were known to abuse, harass, and even kill perpetrators. Even for the slightest offenses.
As I sped through the maze of streets I knew as my neighborhood, the officers got closer and closer. Lights got brighter, voices got louder.
“Stop right there!”
A stationed hover car half a block ahead of me redirected my path towards a narrow alley.
A gunshot rang, and the sound pierced my ear drum. My arm went numb as I dashed around a corner.
Then I felt a presence.
I saw 2 shadows running about a meter ahead of me. Swift as birds, agile as jungle animals, they got closer to me. I wasn’t sure if these were actual people, or spirits…Were they guiding me to a certain destination, or trying to capture me?
I was violently seized.
I felt another numbing blow. Then it was blackness.
Complete blackness.
