Chapter 1: The Interview

The world wasn’t always like this.

I watch from my apartment window as masked Enforcers pin a screaming woman to the ground. She writhes as an Enforcer places a knee on her neck. Her hair is in tangles and poorly kept, her clothes are torn abs stained, clearly, she’s Lowest Class or gotten out of the Sewers. Other citizens on the street are glued to their communicators, they mindlessly walk past the woman screaming, too busy checking the Network, sports scores or who was sent home on Love Pyramid. The woman turns her head, and I can see the desperation painted on her dirt covered face.

“I have the credits!” She cries, her voice getting quieter. “I have the credits!” The Enforcers don’t care, they never care. They call themselves Peacekeepers, they are anything but. I need to look away, flashes from the past come bubbling back and I step away from the window and ground myself. The Enforcers do what they command. The memories make me think of what my mother used to tell us, the idyllic past, how Avalis used to be and how it came to be how it is now.

First, they came for the leaders, corrupting them with greed, greed for power, greed for authority, greed to dominate, a greed that could not be quenched. Then they came for the famous, whispering lies and turning them into credit mad machines. Then they came for the helpers, those that stood in their way, and cleansed them from Avalis. Lastly, they placated the masses, convinced them that their evil was for their safety and their preservation, convincing them with twisted words and lazy distractions, and no long after that, after each pillar of our society had been carefully demolished, they climbed atop the rubble and declared themselves our saviors.

Lykar, Zylen and I would sit on the floor of our cozy childhood home while our mother would tell us stories of what the world used to be like, cooperation, community, and whole villages coming together for the good of everyone. That was before the Invasion, before they took over. Mother told us that my great grandparent’s generation were the last to live freely. Now, instead of community we are told to worship individuality, pitted against each other for their entertainment. Forced to compete, to struggle, to turn on each other, forced to survive, because those that are unfortunate enough to find themselves in the Sewers at the end of each cycle are never seen again. So, we trudge along in our silos, keeping our head down and doing enough to get by to stay out of the Sewers. Some tried to stand up, rebel, my brother Lykar was one of them, I haven’t seen him in five spans, they came and took him, we don’t know who reported him. Everyone knows what they do, how twisted they are. These monsters won’t stop until they’ve devoured our world, until they’ve beaten us all down and sucked the last drop of free spirit from us.

I don’t know if I’m angrier with the monsters or the elites that yearn to be them, even after all they’ve done, or the Enforcers, the ones that gleefully turned on us to serve them. In truth, the monsters, the elites that fund and support them, and the Enforcers are together, one entity of destruction, an affliction on our once magnificent society. Part of me wishes we could go back to what life was like before the Invasion, but I know in my heart that too many are complacent, we’ve been conditioned to roll over and die, we’ve been conditioned to let the monster’s win.

Sirens scream on the street below my apartment, the streetlights flicker as a squadron of Enforcers races down the empty street. It’s more than likely that they are off to disrupt and arrest a rebel meeting. Take them off to the Institution to never be seen again. The microwave beeps and I take the minute noodles out and add red pepper flakes, eating like this keeps me out of the Sewers, so I make do. The tv, my communicator and the computer all turn on as the clock hits 1830, the daily update from them.

“Good evening, Avalis,” Vlain Jurturon speaks into a camera. He is the press secretary for the Fain Woulf, the President. They looked like us, generally more perfect versions of us, there are rumors however, that in private they take on a more terrifying form, one that no one has seen and survived. Vlain was like the others, strong cheekbones and chin, sparkling brown eyes, perfectly styled chestnut brown hair and a pristine tan suit with his signature black tie dotted with stars.

“Two rotations until the end of the cycle,” he smirked, “if you are in the Sewers, know we appreciate your contribution to the Association, it just wasn’t enough this cycle.” He adjusted in his seat. “Please, leave with dignity, we don’t want a repeat of Blood Day. President Woulf would like to thank all the donors to this Cycle’s Cycle End Gala, we look forward to joining you at this celebration.” I can’t watch anymore. I finished the noodles and threw the bowl in the sink and then headed to my bed, I need to be prepared for tomorrow. I’ve tried to soundproof my room, scrapping parts off old cars and buses, but the sirens and alarms keep me tossing and turning all night. I do my best to ignore them, I need to ignore them tonight, in the morning I have a chance to get a job that will shield me from the Sewers for the rest of my life.

There’s a slight change in the brightness through my window as the morning arrives, the sun barely pushes through the clouds of pollution. For breakfast I have bread and jam, soon I won’t have to worry about rationing my credits. My mouth salivates as I think about eggs and bacon, hash browns and gravy. More motivation to get this job. I put on my respirator and take the elevator down to the lobby of the apartment building. There’s already three Enforcers in the lobby, their questioning one of the newer tenants, he’s an older man with a hunched back and thinning gray hair, he looks severely undernourished, it pains me to see him, he most likely has spent the majority of this cycle in the Sewers.

“Where’d you get the credits?” One of the Enforcers asks, I walk slowly from the elevator, being sure not to make eye contact or seem like I am lingering, another way to get taken to the Association. The Enforcers wear heavy body armor and have helmets with tinted face masks, not knowing who they used to be before they sold themselves to them.

“I got lucky at the casino,” the new tenant said, “enough to pull me out of the Sewers!”

“That’s not what the cameras say, old man,” another Enforcer punches the man in the gut, and the man goes down as the air is knocked out of him. “Why don’t you try telling us the truth.”

“I…I...I... am...” the old man struggles to get his words out between gasps for air. I have to look away as the first Enforcer brings the butt of his gun down onto the man’s head. The man goes silent, and lays face down on the floor, a trickle of blood creating a pool around his face.

“Someone go get something to clean this up,” the second Enforcer commands and the doorman rushes over with a mop bucket. The Enforcers lift the man and roughly carry him out of the lobby. The doorman, Lon, looks at me and shakes his head, I nod in agreement, our silent act of rebellion. The lobby noise resumes as other tenants go about their morning. I turn on my respirator and step out into the city.

Nature no longer exists, they have systematically removed all regulations and forms of nature since the Invasion, nature sparks creativity and peace, something they see as escapism. I’ve seen pictures of forests and lakes and rivers, my mother had them framed around my childhood home, she said they had been taken before the Invasion, and they were the only non-computer-generated frames in the house. I liked the one of the large waterfall, frozen in time with a beautiful winter landscape around it the best, it showed such power and grace at the same time. I have it above my bed. The air is heavy and smoggy, the gray sky is thick with pollution, and through my low-grade respirator I can smell the acrid burning of fuel. Personal transportation vehicles soar overhead between the buildings, larger multi person transportation vehicles flew lower than the personal vehicles. Holographic trees line the road as throngs of citizens stuck in their own lives push pass me. I don’t have enough credits to own a personal transportation craft, so I turn and follow the flow of the crowd towards the Industrial Sector. It’s near the End of the Cycle and I can’t afford to spend credits on a bus.

In the Academy I was filtered into the Engineer track, one of five women selected. Most other women are filtered into the Medic or Education track, some are removed from the Academy all together, labeled as Breeders for them. The breeders are sent to the Farms, to say I’m more than grateful to have avoided that fate is an understatement. I’m not proud I have to interview for a job working as an Engineer for then, I despise them, I believe most of us struggling to stay out of the Sewer despise them for what they’ve done to Avalis, at least I hope they do.

I enter a river of others glued to their devices, a soft blue glow lighting every face around me. Some have blinking green lights embedded into their foreheads above their right eye, the river thins as citizens enter the towering skyscrapers that line the street like endless walls of a maze. By the time I reach the Industrial Sector there’s no more than a dozen others walking with me, each one staring into the toxic glowing rectangle in their hand. If I wanted, I could strip each one of their credits from them and they’d be none the wiser. I left my communicator in my apartment, I don’t need any distractions today. At last, I see the holographic sign on one of the buildings, it’s not a skyscraper, there are no skyscrapers in the Industrial Sector. The building I enter is a four-story warehouse, it extends further back than. I can see, made from concrete there are only windows on the front. The reinforced glass doors have the company logo etched into it, Hox Enterprises, I push the door and walk inside.

The air is warm and fresh as the door closes behind me. There’s a pair of security doors ahead of me, an Enforcer sits behind thick bullet proof glass to my left.

“Name and reason for your visit,” he says through a speaker, even inside he’s wearing his body armor and his tinted face shield.

“Eiona Dolgaran,” I say, “I have an interview with Svalbar Hox.” The Enforcer types on the holographic screen in front of him and taps the glass, a green light flashes, he’s taken a picture of me and is running it through the Database, an AI powered identification system they introduced after the Invasion. My credits, address, family, Academy rank and several other identifying features appear on the screen before the Enforcer. He nods and I hear a buzz, the security doors open.

“Go ahead,” he says. I walk through the doors and stop in my tracks, the lobby of the building is breathtaking. A three-story waterfall is the center piece, crystal clear water cascades down a moss and vine covered cliff. I can’t believe the stream is lined with live plants, ferns and grasses, the water collects in a pool surrounded by rocks and more live plants. I gasp as I peer into the pool and see live fish swimming around below the waterlilies. Comfortable couches lined the pond, tables and chairs were arranged behind the waterfall. The second and third floors circled the cliff, giving workers a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the centerpiece. There is a reception desk situated right in front of the pond, the waterfall directly behind the woman at the desk. Her blonde hair cut in a shoulder length bob, a cranial interface implant flashing green above her right eye, and she wears a pink blouse that matched her eyeshadow and lip stick. She peers at me with cold green eyes.

“Hello,” she says with a disinterested tone, almost robotic. “Welcome to Hox Enterprises, how can I direct you?” She looks back at her computer screen.

“Hi, hello,” I stumble over my words, I’m nervous, and in awe from luxury of the building. The smell of coffee and breakfast sandwiches wafts over me and my mouth starts to water. “I’m Eiona Dolgaran, here to meet with Svalbar Hox at 0930.” The woman behind the desk pokes at the screen before her.

“Yes,” she says, not looking up from her screen, “he’s expecting you, third floor, room 333,” the woman points at the stairs. I thank her and head to the stairs. I have to walk around the cliff in the middle of the lobby and notice a coffee shop the rotating screen advertising fresh coffee and breakfasts. Coffee has become a drink savored only by the Elites, it’s an expensive plant to keep alive in Avalis. I reach the stairs on the opposite side of the lobby and see an elevator built into the backside of the cliff. Citizens in Hox Enterprises uniforms sit at the tables at the base of the waterfall enjoying their coffees. I bound up the stairs to the third floor and scan for room 333.

There are pictures of the Hox’s with various presidents and other Elites with substantial influence. From my research Archibald Hox swooped in right after the Invasion to secure a hold on many lucrative new government contracts, selling his soul seems to have paid off. Room 333 is at the end of the hall, a large mahogany door framed by stained glass, C.E.O. Hox, engraved in gold on the door. I knock on the door and wait, after a minute a screen appears on the door, a man with silver hair and striking icy blue eyes, a stark contract from his ebony skin, is examining me. I see a Cranial Interface Implant blinking green over his right eye. He’s obviously an Elite, potentially one of them, but I’m unsure if the rumors of Biosyncing are true, but if they are I’m sure most of the Elites have allowed one of them into their skin.

“You must be Eiona, Cerrix told me you were on your way up.” He looks me over one more time, “come in,” the door opens, and the screen disappears. I step inside the office of Svalbar Hox. From the moment I enter his office the opulence and gaudiness scream at me, on the wall to my right are the heads of five animals, three of which I don’t recognize, the other two have been extinct for at least fifty spans. On the wall to my left is a massive display case filled with rare rocks, seeds and even a living tree, all things that cost upwards of a million credits a piece. Down the hall the room opens, and I see Svalbar sitting in front of a floor to ceiling aquarium, not a holographic one like at the Center for Science, his is filled with water and live fish, I see several species believed to be extinct. The desk is white oak, and he sits confidently in a high-backed leather chair, he’s dressed in a suit that matches his eyes and a silver tie that matches his hair, he’s muscular and his smile flashes perfectly white teeth. Oh, to be an Elite. Svalbar sticks a handout and grips my hand with a vice like grip. His icy blue eyes lock with mine and he smiles, his C.I.I quickly flashes red and then returns to its standard green.

“Hello, and welcome to Hox Enterprises,” he sits and gestures to the chair in front of his desk. I sit, it’s a comfortable worn leather chair. “It’s alligator leather,” he says as I feel the soft leather of the arms, “I’ve been told it was made from the hide of the last one, stuffed with foam and a layer of goose down, you’ve heard of geese?” He asks, I feel slightly uncomfortable sitting on such an expensive chair.

I nod, “they have holographic geese on the ponds around the Academy.” He nods and quickly changes the subject.

“You’re here for an interview,” he leans forward and pulls up a holographic screen. “First in your class in Engineering, interesting thesis,” he looks at me, “what are you doing now?”

“Selling and repairing personal transport vehicles,” I say, “not many engineering positions accept women.”

“We’re not like that here at Hox,” he smiles and scrolls on the screen. “I see your brother is Lykar Dolgoran,” he looks up at me and his C.I.I flashes red again for an instant. “I also see you do not have a cranial interface.” He stares at me, tapping his fingers on the desk. “Care to explain.”

I was prepared for this, while most places say they wouldn’t hire or interview me because I’m a woman, I know the real reason is Lykar being detained by the Enforcers. I nod and look at Svalbar, I maintain contact with his ice blue eyes as I recite what I’ve practiced over and over.

“I had no idea Lykar was in the Diamond Collaboration,” I say, “it was a surprise to us all when the Enforcers took him away. The truth is I’m angry at him, he’s ruined my life, my other brothers life and my mother’s life.” He nods, having a family member caught in a rebel group strips the rest of the family of credits, position and housing. My mother succumbed to grief and ended up in the Sewers, my other brother Zylen, scrounged by and got lucky by falling in love with a sub-Elite woman, and I scrapped parts from personal transport vehicles until I had enough to be a level above the sewers, I’m currently Middle Lower Worker, but I have my ways to save my credits up to keep me out of the Sewers.

“I don’t have a C.I.I. because, honestly it’s too expensive,” the Cranial Interface Implant, or C.I.I., are just over five thousand credits, they are a direct link to the Interface, controlled by the eyes and brain. All the Elites have them, and several of the sub-Elites and Upper Workers have them as well. I also don’t want one, I don’t want to be connected to them and their Interface.

“Well, if you get the job here,” he smiles and taps the blinking green button above his right eye. “You can get one, it opens you up to a whole new world.” He leans back in his chair. “Before we talk about the position, I need you to sign an NDA,” he pushed the holographic screen towards me, there’s tiny writing on the screen and I scroll through it and place my finger on the glowing green button. It accepts my fingerprint and Svalbar pulls the screen back to him and closes it. Svalbar taps his right temple and the lights in the room go dark, even the aquarium behind him fades to black, we’re sitting in complete darkness. “It works better if I show you what we do,” he says as he hands me a helmet, “put this on.” I see the flashing of his C.I.I disappear as he puts a helmet on as well. Static replaces the darkness, and an image appears before me. I am standing next to Svalbar, and we are looking over an assembly line. Machines building machines, occasionally a human mans a control panel or inspects broken machinery.

“This is how it started, after the Invasion, my great grandfather, Archibald Hox started this manufacturing plant with funding from the Wraiths.” I look at him, I’d never heard anyone use their name before, they were never addressed formally by the Workers. We watch as a man that looks just like Svalbar enters from the foreman’s office overlooking the floor, a slender man with a ghastly face and hooked nose stands next to him, hovering over his shoulder.

“That is Uxmond Rhystin,” the name pulls a memory from the deepest depths of my subconscious. Uxmond Rhystin was the first president of Avalis after the Invasion, after the Renaming and the Cleanse. He was ruthless in his punishments of those that stood against the Invasion, and he lifted those that turned on their fellows and helped them succeed in victory. His presidential portrait looked nothing like the withering man standing next to Archibald.

“You swear you can figure it out?” I hear Uxmond ask, he’s feverishly rubbing his hands together.

“Yes,” Archibald says, “come with me, we have a prototype complete.” My surroundings fade and now we watch from the observation deck as Uxmond lays on a surgical table, Archibald and three others are gowned up in surgical scrubs, hair covers and masks, strange surgical equipment lies on metal trays around Uxmond.

“This is where it all began,” Svalbar says proudly, I watch as the team of surgeons open up Uxmond, his internal organs are in the wrong places, his blood is thick and black and the body glistens a strange iridescent blue when the light flashed over them. “The first attempt at Biosyncing and it worked.” Svalbar is giddy in the seat next to me. My surroundings fade again and we’re at a different time. “After Archibald’s success, Hox Enterprises spread rapidly into several fields of development, weapons, vehicles, body armor and we continued to perfect bioengineering and Biosyncing. Images quickly flew passed me, emerging me in the sights and sounds of all these ventures. “We continue to lead all Engineering firms in our innovation and our expertise.” Svalbar beams at me, “what would you bring to our team?”

We are back in his office, the lights are on, and my head is spinning with everything I had seen. The surgery on Uxmond stuck with me, when he woke, he looked like his portrait, strong jawed and a solid frame, lush black hair and striking green eyes. Nothing remained of the decrepit thing that entered the surgery suite.

“Unconventional thinking and resourcefulness,” I say confidently. “I’ve never been like the others in my class, I find different, more effective more creative answers to questions.”

Svalbar brings a finger to his right temple and taps, he leans forward and looks at me closely. “Okay, Eiona,” he opens a screen and pushes it towards me. “Find an answer to this that no one has ever given me before.” I read the text on the screen.

Design a prototype for the proposed problem: A life support system that is self-sustaining, unique and sentient.

I examine the question, a self-sustained life support system that is unique and sentient.

“People,” I say, “people are a self-sustaining, unique and sentient life support system.” Svalbar looks at me skeptically.

“Elaborate,” he says.

“Through donation and tissue growth technology I could support anyone that has the same immunomarkers that I have, you could support anyone with your immunomarkers and so on, we create a population chain that relies on other to be healed, and when one person has reached their limit, another takes their place and they are given time to heal.”

He's silent, and then he nods, and I jump as he claps his hands together to a rancorous applause. “Fantastic, Eiona, absolutely fantastic.” He stands and sticks out his hand, “congratulations, you’ve got the job,” I take his hand, I am over the moon. “I’ll see you here at the start of the next cycle.”

“Thank you!” I try not to seem overly thankful, “thank you.” He smiles and walks me to the door, “see you soon.” He smirks at me and closes the door as I exit his office. I head to the elevator and take it to the lobby, I walk past the café and look at the drink menu, at the start of the next cycle I will be rewarding myself with a heavily caffeinated drink. The lobby is full of Hox Enterprises workers enjoying drinks and sandwiches, almost all of them glued to their communication devices, and all of them have a blinking green dot of a C.I.I over their right eye. I hope that’s not a requirement for working here. Before I leave, I take one last look at the waterfall in the center of the lobby and push my way out through the security doors and onto the street.