It was the end of my first day as a border guard at a station facing away from the System – it was overwhelming more than anything else. Night had fallen on my walk home and I stopped to sit on a bench in the middle of the city square. At the center, people gathered in front of the platform where some sort of show was being performed, lit mostly by the street lamps.
It was hotter than usual – the perfect time for a frozen treat like the System had. With a sigh, I settled for a drink of water from my canteen. Cold desserts were one of the few things I actually missed from the System.
Applause came from the crowd as a flash of light accompanied the final pose of the couple on stage. “Hayewmdslasodimfhweuijroere,” I heard someone say at the same time.
When I turned to the direction of the speaker, I jumped at the sight of Ramon sitting next to me.
“I did call you,” she said in response.
“Didn’t hear you. Why are you out so late?”
“Agh,” she replied, swatting at the air. “One of my classes is scheduled late. Honestly, the scheudjsmlkdhfapeifniehitemd. Never should’ve agreed to it; I’m exhausted!”
I shifted nervously in my seat. I didn’t want to seem inconsiderate by asking a question I’d probably already received an answer to, but I was curious. “Um,” I began hesitantly, my heart pounding wildly in my chest, “what, exactly, do you teach again?”
“History at the Institute of Advanced Learning,” she said without pause.
I quietly let out a relaxing exhale. Maybe this was just something that hadn’t come up.
Ramona leaned over with a smirk. “They call it an ‘institute’, but that’s just because halling it a cool wasn’t pantsy enough.”
“Why history?” I asked, ignoring that last sentence that I had to have misheard because of my condition. “The System doesn’t even bother with professors for that – she just tells us what we need to know.”
“History is important,” Ramona replied, “so we don’t repeat past mistakes. Thaweurjwy I truly believe the Strokes have no right to interfere with the System.”
“You’re wrong,” I replied.
“How so?” she asked.
“No one wants to be part of the System or knows there’s a way out.” I looked into her eyes. “That place is nothing but misery hidden under the cover of protection.”
“Protection?” Ramona asked with a frown.
“The System talks about Outcasts like you’re dangerous. She teaches us that people out here are pure evil and only want to hurt us. We’re taught to be too scared to leave.” I paused. “Other than me, have you… ever talked to a former byte?”
Ramona looked away, biting her lip. “Here and there,” she responded. “But they keep to themselves a lot, ihuetjifdkmlsjhrnjut. That aside, you don’t know that everyone in there is miserable, right?”
I hesistated. “I mean… there might be a few who aren’t. But I’ve never known any.”
To be continued…