The Way of Life

Lydia was hungry. She waited, because she knew that when she felt hungry, it was almost time to eat. There! The alarm went off everywhere around the enclosed glass Establishment. That was the signal to begin eating. Everywhere around her, people were bustling about, preparing their morning meal. Now Lydia prepared her food, too. She took a plastic-cased container from the Freezing Unit and placed in on the Food Platform. Seconds later, intense heat rays beamed down on the container. The plastic wrapping split down the center and fell away, like it was supposed to. Everything happened like it was supposed two. Ten seconds passed. Food Platforms everywhere stopped in unison with hers. She took the container and ate the contents at the Feeding Area of her Person Cage. All the food was in the form of small, round pellets. They were colorless and tasted the same with every bite, but they contained the nutrients she needed.

Lydia was fourteen Sun Rotations. Of course, nothing like the Sun had ever existed, and its Rotations were as meaningless as its phantom being. It was, is, and always will be a unit of measure, consisting of a number of Earth Rotations. At thirteen Sun Rotations, People were taken out of their Growing Facilities and moved to their own Person Cage to live until Death. At the Growing Facilities, young People aged from Beginning to Twelve Sun Rotations learned how to obey the rules of the Establishment. How to follow the alarms, use the Food Platform, the Sleeping Area, the Bathing Area, and respect the Establishment as the One and Only way of Life.

The alarm went off again. Everywhere around her and within her, People disposed of their containers and plastic wrappings in the Discard Chute. It was the law. Afterwards, it was Exercise Time. Everybody, including Lydia, moved inside their own Person Cage to the Exercising Area. They moved in unison, without seeing each other, but doing the same things. That was what you learned in the Growing Facilities. Bending, jumping, stretching for some time. The alarm went off again. Laundry Time. That was the schedule. Everybody within the Establishment gathered the last Earth Rotation’s worth of clothes from the Clothing Storage Unit and carried it to the Clothing Discard Chute. Everybody dropped it in at the exact same moment. Their stride and pace, their lifting and dropping, were all the same. Unified. It was the Way of Life.

The clothes would be discarded somewhere and new ones would be produced and deposited with the Daily Provisions in the morning, along with their three meals and a new Toiletry Items set. Everybody was the same size after they reached Twelve Sun Rotations. The color was the same—bland white. Nobody dared eat morning meal food for evening meal food, or neglect to discard the clothes or leave their food wrappers on the Food Platform. One act of disobedience, and one was sent to Reform Facilities. It was much like Growing Facilities, but for those with more Sun Rotations. Nobody cared to disobey, though, not only because they would meet consequences, but because the Establishment was so perfect that nobody had a reason to act against the rules. It was the One and Only Way of Life. Nobody had a problem with the Way of Life.

Almost nobody, that is. The monotony of it crept into Lydia’s body and seized her being. She didn’t like it. She wondered—was anybody disagreeing with the Establishment? Were they too scared to speak their mind? The whole notion of the Way of Life—it needed to be changed. It was dangerous. And she wanted something–anything–to change. 

Lydia didn’t know much, besides how to work the Food Platform and how to Exercise and how to use the Discard Chutes but she did know, for sure, no-doubt-about-it, one thing.

She had to get out.

Do you want more? Read part 2 of this exciting tale at: 

The Way of Life Part 2