Exile

PROLOGUE-5

I decide to use it. I begin to regret that soon after. The scanner screen reveals so many insertions that I almost drop the expensive device onto the floor. I didn’t expect it to be that bad. The implants were literally everywhere – in my joints, bones, internal organs... some of my skin was also cybernetic. What actually happened? Was I skinned? I still can’t remember the events that resulted in a visit to EPIPHANICS. I only vaguely remember that I was returning from work and the public autocar broke down on the way... since it wasn’t far from home, I decided not to wait for the second one to arrive and return on foot instead. It was probably a grave mistake. Something happened and then I woke up in that terrifying center. That’s right! You have to do something.

I put on the hotel dressing gown and return to the room. There, I make a connection to Sandra.

“Have some mercy, Leeta” she screams nearly the moment she hears my voice. “What’s wrong with you?!”

“I can’t tell you. Listen, take care of Sid. I don’t know when I’ll be back.

“You're horrible! Take care of Sid? The poor guy was meowing so badly that I took him back to my place. You can’t leave him for that long, it’s cruel!”

“Sandy, I can’t explain anything yet, but it wasn’t my fault. I’m glad I left you the code to the apartment.... make sure to lock it and look after the poor Sid until I get back. Then I’ll tell you everything, but not until then.”

“I don’t know why I am even friends with you. You are so irresponsible.”

“Sandy, honey, forgive me. Something really terrible has happened, but I can’t talk about it right now. It’s important that nothing happens to the cat, I’m the only one he has, and he’s the only one I have after Chris left for the Polytechnic.”

“How ungrateful. Am I nobody to you?”

She was right, Sandra has been my neighbor and friend almost from the very beginning, since I started working at the Academy. She’s the only one I can count on. She has helped me more than once already, and honestly, I didn’t owe her any favors. I know that she will look after the cat as well as I would until I get back for him. A cat is an expensive animal, much too expensive for me to afford, but I got it from my social father after all. Sid is big, red and has a gentle character. He’s a great companion and I wouldn’t want to part with him for anything in the world, although the special type of cat food consumes a large part of my income.

After calming down, I turn off the communicator and go to take a shower. Suddenly, I realize that I don’t have my clothes here, I have nothing but that suit. I can’t keep wearing it all the time, I would look ridiculous in this elegant hotel. I hesitate, but then I pick up my credit card and slide it into the ordering panel card-reader. The offer of the internal network of Miraton stores is displayed on the screen. I choose the clothing store number and order everything I need.

The sum on the card is displayed for a moment and I am left speechless – it was enormous. I wouldn’t be able to earn that much within ten years. My secret guardian has invested in me as if I was at least a class A2 and as if he was hoping to gain a lot from it. Why? I’m only a florist technician and a librarian, I have no finished degrees and no beauty. I don’t understand what I could be useful for, so much that I’m beginning to suspect that there has been a mistake here.

Yes, that is most likely. I was simply mistaken for somebody else and when the truth comes out, I can’t be the one to blame. I comforted myself with this thought, then I finally take a shower and wipe myself with a very old-fashioned towel. I don’t like the feeling of dryers or paper substitutes so I’m glad that they have real towels in Miraton. Then, wrapped in a bathrobe, I sit in front of the projector and switch the programs at random. I watch until the room service knocks on the door with my order.

***

The new apartment turned out to be a very comfortable matter, and not only because of its location. The Sunset Estate was designed for people with relatively low incomes, but with some ambitions. It was guarded, equipped with all the conveniences such as gyms, beauty salons and entertainment facilities. It’s true that they were only of basic class, but still.

Living in such a place I could feel the taste of luxury reserved for the rich, or at least the illusion of this taste. An additional advantage was being neighbors with Sandra, and one more person – Mabel, my friend from high school. I met her only a month after moving into the estate and we fell into each other’s arms. Only once we hugged and kissed for all times did we come back to my place, where we could talk peacefully.

“I thought you were at Vera Cruz,” I said, making a caffetino for us, “your parents said you were doing really well there.”

Mabel, who was just lying on the carpet playing with Sid, raised her face and grimaced at me slightly.

“I was, but I came back,” she replied, “I realized that I don’t want to spend my whole life at the drafter board.”

“How is that? After all, the Professional Counseling Office has concluded that the job of an architect is your dream profession and that you have the necessary skills for it.”

“Well, so what? That job bores and tires me.”

“What do you want to do with your life then?”

“I decided to become a floress.”

She said it so casually that I almost dropped the container with the sweetener.

“A floress? Give me a break...”

“What's wrong with that? It’s a great job, well paid and interesting. You hang out in elegant company, travel...”

“And you have to satisfy the fantasies of some disgusting types.”

She shrugged.

“One will be gross, another won’t be, but all of them rich and important. They take you to banquets, to elegant premises, make sure you have beautiful clothes and jewelry, and pay for beauty salons and fitness clubs. You must be the most beautiful and effective because it raises their prestige. The agency pays you a salary regardless of what the client gives you, and some can be very generous. Life’s good. You should try it yourself. I mean, when you go to the Dating Center, you don’t know who you’ll find either, not to mention, no one there will give you even a broken penny.”

“Yes, but I can simply leave that place if I want to.”

I shook my head. I was never attracted to this profession in particular, just thinking about what I’d have to do made my skin itch. Although it’s true that I didn’t have such physical conditions as Mabel, immaculately built and beautiful like from a picture, but they would probably still accept me for a floress course. It’s another thing that I don’t know if I’d even finish with a positive score. The course taught dance, appropriate manners, the art of conversation and many other things at which I have always been awful.

“Have you started yet?”

“No, I only just enrolled for lessons at a school of grace. I need to get the best results before I’m admitted for the official course organized by the Central Agency for Social Life. I’ll manage, though, I know I will.”

“You’re probably on a diet, right?”

“Of course. And you’re not? As far as I remember, you’ve always had the tendency to gain weight.”

“How mean! After I missed you so much...”

I served her the caffetino and some diet cookies. It wasn’t just floresses that had to take care of their figure, I was still doing it as well, because all it took was a month of neglect before I stopped fitting in my favorite pants. Fortunately, the local stores offered a wide selection of calorie-free snacks, because with my uncontrollable appetite I would definitely look like a barrel at this point. The downside of these delicacies with a ‘c-f’ marking is, unfortunately, the fact that consumed in excessive amounts they literally clog the intestines. Otherwise, I don’t think anyone today would have problems with obesity.

“Beautiful pet, where did you get him from?” Mabel asked, helping herself with the cake.

“I got him from my father. And he got him from a breeder friend of his. I doubt you thought that I could afford one. I still can’t believe Sid is here with me. He’s more suited to some luxurious apartment in the district with villas.”

“Once I have a floress certificate and permanent employment, I’ll persuade some customer to buy one for me. He’s cute. I’d just want to pet him for hours.”

Sid, on the other hand, had nothing against such adorations, so he kept lying beside her and murmured intensely like a tiny motor. From time to time, he nudged Mabel on the nose, demanding further caresses.

Ever since that day, we often meet on Sunday for lunch or dinner. Sandra joined us sometimes too, and the three of us went to some place of entertainment. Those were some beautiful days. Working at the Medical Academy absorbed all my attention for most of the time, and Sid was waiting for me when I returned home. I met with friends, used social media, and went to social meetings and shows organized by the estate’s administration.

Mabel kept to her resolve of becoming a floress. She completed the required course in a graceful school and was accepted into the official study sponsored by CAZT. She sometimes told me about the secrets of professional makeup and the art of choosing accessories for an outfit for every occasion. Her hair was now always combed by a professional hairdresser, she also regularly used the services of a beautician. She has always been beautiful, but now she also acquired a specific kind of style, as if she was born and raised in the salons of the highest class, which only the citizens of class A1 and A0 have access to.

If I didn’t know that she’s a B3 just like me, that’s what I would probably think now, especially since floresses of both sexes have their classification symbols removed from their foreheads and replaced with the symbol of a flower. After completing the training, no one will be able to tell whether they come from the lower classes or from any of the upper classes of citizenship. Their manners are always impeccable along with their flawless elegance. Mabel turned into a real princess right before my eyes, but to my relief, on the inside she remained the same girl with whom I used to skip classes at the video-plastic park in high-school.

I was glad that, just like me, she lived in the Sunset Estate, although in a different building. We could see each other often thanks to this fact. I have to admit that, although I would not become a floress under any conditions, I sometimes envied Mabel for her elegance and charm. I am who I am and I couldn’t be different...

***

Dressed in an elegant, brand-new outfit, I think I look decent enough to go to the restaurant and order one of the local dishes. Under normal conditions I wouldn’t even be able to afford a starter at such a place, but I’m not under normal conditions, after all. Since it’s the first time in my life that I have the opportunity to try a little bit of real luxury, I should hurry up, because that won’t last long. Any moment now my protector will realize that he has made a mistake and then everything will end. I have to make use of it while I still can.