Content Warnings: bombing
Celeste was off at work, leaving me alone in her home. I scrubbed clean every last tile of that house. It was the least I could do since she was allowing me to stay with her.
Though I didn’t plan on staying long. I’d already gone back to the apartments for a handful of clothes. Leslie and Ramona hadn’t talked to me since. I appreciated the space. I needed the space to figure out how to start my life all over again.
By the time I was done cleaning up Celeste’s house, it was only the middle of the day. So I took a walk.
Wind rustled through the trees of the rainforest as I walked along obscured paths. And I remembered when I had to ask the System permission just to leave my room.
Almost every single choice in the System had required her permission. But that hadn’t stopped me and my assigned friends from finding blind spots when we were younger. The risk of being punished for purposely spending time out of the System’s sight hadn’t mattered to us back then. It was more important for us to take that risk than to give complete control to the System.
When had that even changed? When had I stopped being so bold?
It was only after joining the military that kind of attitude had even begun to come back. I stopped beside a tree, the System’s white walls looming beyond. It was the first time since being kicked out that I was this close to the System.
After a deep breath, I climbed the tree. Maybe a good view of my old life would clear my head.
As I sat on a branch that swayed slightly in the wind, a city guard spotted me. He stopped his patrol along the top of the city wall and stared at me. I waved at him with a smile.
He continued walking.
A plume of white smoke billowed up in the distance. Probably the result of another Outcast “attack” – that’s what the System would call it.
I already knew Illagu wasn’t doing this, but even when I was a byte I’d never believed it. I never believed Outcasts were responsible for the bombs. No one did.
Just like soot, there were rumors the System had no idea existed. Whispers that she was the one responsible for these explosions in an attempt to prove to bytes how truly dangerous the Outcasts were.
Even with rumors like that, I had still thought the System had meant no harm. I had been convinced that she had simply been misguided in how she protected us. I had believed she was misinformed about the world outside her walls.
But I had to come to terms with one simple fact: the System lied.
And I knew exactly what I wanted to do about it.
I climbed down the tree and traced my steps back through the forest. I passed by Celeste’s house and continued on into the city.
I marched into the Strokes headquarters, the receptionist looking at me with a raised eyebrow as I walked up.
I slammed my hands on the desk. “How do I join the Strokes?”
To be continued…