CODE: DEVOTION

INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 In a world where love, relationships and children were viewed as a government initiative rather than a personal privilege lived Mara Tendo, a writer who believed there was more to this than the government. The population had declined by 50 percent despite the government initiative to encourage relationships and childbirth. Mara however, thought she could do something about romance by creating fantasy novels, though at this point she had no prior ideas for her novels. She had always been the girl who dreamt of a romance that didn't exist anymore. 'My parents had my brother Delyn and I on a contract before separating and I just don't want the same for myself' she said with a sad face as if recalling their childhood days. 'Rom-coms barely exist anymore . Everything is about technology, wealth and other stupid things like sports, living alone diaries' she sulked. 'I hate that stuff.' One morning as she sat across from her typewriter, a notification popped on the screen. It was a system game initiative by the government to encourage relationships and Mara had been selected as a participant, eyes wide open, she gasped for air. She was too thrilled to even notice the million dollar cash payment on her account. 'Yes, finally' I said as I jumped on my toes. The moment had finally come to begin this journey. With no time left to waste, I scurried off to start packing with one thought in mind; I can bring romance back. After days of anxiously waiting, the d-day had finally arrived. A bus parked at the front of her apartment. 'I hadn't felt nervous all my life. To think that I was giving up my normal routine, my bed, my snacks... for a life I wasn't certain of', Mara thought . 'This was a huge risk. But on second thought, I never liked my life here anyway. Adventure and a chance to make history waited for me and I wasn't about to back down', she continued . With one final look in the mirror, she heaved a sigh of relief and turned around, never looking back. The moment her feet touched that bus, she knew this was meant for her. Meanwhile, there was another person whose destiny was meant to entangle with Mara. His name was Chris Luke. A farmer who lived in the quiet woods with his parents. ' As an only child, my parents keep pressing me to get married and have kids to maintain our lineage, but of course marriage isn't as easy these days. So they signed me up for the government program to get a woman to settle down with. Well, I couldn't say no to them bidding against the odds.' Chris said. The bus arrived and with a heavy heart he bid farewell to his parents. He quickly found a seat next to the window, grabbed a music player into the ear and sat quietly studying each one's reaction. Truly he wasn't the only one who was forced on this and with that realization , he turned around with a smug smile on his face. ' It felt reassuring to know.' Chris said. On the next stop, Mara boarded. She was clumsy and happy at the same time. Her eyes are full of determination and excitement. " I did not expect someone to be happy. I felt intrigued. My eyes stayed on her as she found her seat. I think she sensed eyes on her, she turned with a warm nervous smile. I could swear my heart skipped a beat as our eyes met before I swung my head back to the tape in my hand". Chris said. He continued. " I had made the first wrong impression. All I could pray for was not to have any encounters with her". CHAPTER 2 INTO THE SYSTEM The bus arrived at the gates. The place was enormous, though most of it was still under renovation. The buildings doubled the size of a castle, more like an experimental ground and they were the specimen. "As soon as my feet landed on the ground, I felt a tight knot in my stomach", Chris said. Unsure of whether to go ahead with this, Chris subconsciously turned towards Mara only to find her beaming with excitement. Somehow her smile calmed him down. They got settled in the different dorms, enough space for storage, snacks in the basket, everything customized. ' Is that bunker taken?' a voice came from behind. 'No' Chris replied. ' Alan Jackson, I'll be your bunker mate', he said. Chris just nodded and continued unpacking. In his head, he thought, 'oh here comes trouble'. "He definitely looked like one of those bullies in highschool who would do anything to look cool in front of the girls and I wasn't about to get any close to such company." said Chris. Just then came a voice over the speakers demanding to converge at the main grounds in twenty minutes. Chris quickly arranged and found an escape route before Alan could attempt any conversation. He also took the opportunity to get acquainted with the new environment. MARA'S POV I felt someone's eyes bore into me but when I turned to say hi, he glanced down to his hands. He was definitely handsome. ' Maybe he could be my perfect match', I thought. As we reached our destination, I glanced at him wanting to strike a conversation but met a scared look on his face. I found him cute and decided to take a longer look before walking past him and I could feel him looking back. 'Could he have a crush on me too?' ' Was this love at first sight?' I nearly blushed but my clumsiness got in the way and before I could strike a conversation, he had vanished. Third time I wanted to strike a conversation and never got to and that meant we would never talk again. 'So much for third time's a charm' , I sulked as I went my separate way into the dorms. As expected the dorms were beautiful, compared to what I had imagined. Before I could process the environment, an announcement came from the speakers. I had to dump my luggage and hurry outside to find inspiration for my novel.