Project Pandora

 I was sprinting in the middle of a place where darkness and oblivion seem to stretch to infinity. I cannot see a thing, my palms are unable to grasp anything. But I must not cease from running, because of the ominous footsteps of those people who are chasing me on this metal floor. My heart erratically pounded on my chest as I felt numerous presence, there are many of them. “You cannot escape death!” they all roared in chorus. Their terrifying voices echoed amidst the darkness of this place. But Why? What have I done to them? Why are they doing this to me? Wait, I was taken aback by the flood of questions inside my mind when I saw a glint of light on the far edge of this seemingly endless darkness. It looks like an open door; a path that will lead me to another dimension that I need to enter. I need to close the distance… to come near it, to open it. That is my only hope to escape from them. But, someone suddenly seized my arms, then my hands and my shoulders until I cannot move anymore. They keep on pulling me back to the sinister realm of darkness and I am unable to do anything. “Stop! Let go of me!” I screamed.   “Leo,” a sweet voice called my name. The metal ceiling is what I immediately saw the moment I opened my eyes. There is nothing in our room aside from the scraps of metal that are merged to create a wall, floor, and ceiling. Even the very bed where I sleep is also made of this cold metal. The scent of rust lingers in every corner and the only time I cannot smell it is when I am asleep. This room is a bit small but the ten of us can fit inside. Nothing is interesting to see here other than the scrap metals and these beds. Besides, this is only one of the hundreds of cramped rooms that we, humans, live in. I honestly still do not want to get up, but I need to do my tasks, not to earn money but to live, literally. Sometimes, I cannot help but entertain the idea of just ceasing from doing all these repetitive things that I do every day because I am starting to get tired of it. But I would still try to brush off these thoughts in the hopes that one day, I could finally be free from this box of a world. I refuse to stay in a life wherein I felt like my arms, legs, and neck are being restrained with a rope; a situation that feels like I do not have any control over my own actions, like a puppet that unwillingly follows the ones who have a hold over the strings. The only reason why I choose to get up after hearing the first siren here in The Box is that it is my dream. I do not wish for anything else but to finally reach the day that I was waiting for. I have been thinking about this plan for quite some time and I will make sure that no one could ever stop me from doing it. I can already feel the coming of that day—the day when I can finally escape from this forsaken place. I sat up from my bed and there I saw a thin figure standing in front of me. It was Yuri who is wearing his usual glasses which do not complement his not-so-smart nature. Besides, he is worthless in terms of conversations most of the time. I do not like him as a person because of how he perceives things. He is the type of person who will just blindly follow everything as long as his safety and well-being would not be jeopardized. It is easy for him to just choose the least complicated option; something that will prolong his life. I remembered when I was just a kid, my heart was also filled with fear that I had no choice but to follow everything because I do not want to put myself in danger. But as I grew up, I realized that everything is ephemeral; it has an end. That thought ignited the fire within me; an unquenchable desire for freedom. That is why I do not understand Yuri’s mind because after all the years we have spent here, everything about him remained stagnant. It makes me wonder if there is still a faint hope for him to have a change of heart the way I did. This is how he finds his mundane source of happiness. So I just choose to befriend him—not because it is an easier way but because we are staying in this same room so I must, at the very least, try to get along. He is also sixteen years old, the same age as me. He is also kind and seems to be fond of me so I just let us be friends. Besides, the choice is a luxury that is limited to specific situations, you will not always have a grasp of it. Hence, not because you have thought of something does not mean that reality would immediately open a space for it to fit in. I just cannot entertain the idea that to live in peace, you need to be obedient. Whatever happens, I cannot conform to that kind of belief in this kind of rusty life that we have in this world that we live in. In retrospect, I do understand Yuri. It is hard to do something that requires deep thought. So it is easier to choose something that does not require complex thinking; it is easier for us to choose something less complicated. Maybe, this is the very exact way on how the world works—to always opt to do the easiest one. We do not always get what we want because if we do, then that would be boring. But if the degree of hardships is just too much to bear, then I would choose to fight, since I do not have anything to lose. “It’s already noontime,” Yuri informed me. My face was not fazed, my body was still not in the mood to cooperate, and my mind was also not in its rightful shape to process his words so I remained staring at him. But still, thanks to him that I am somehow awake now. Yuri was the first person that I have met since I came at the bottom of The Box, eight years ago. The Box is a new world found beneath the surface of the planet. It is a place where we, humans, live. It is comprised of metals and machines. The Box is divided into three parts: the uppermost part is called Bughaw, the middle portion is called Hiraya, and the bottom part is called Balwarte. The uppermost part of the Box is a place where you can find people with distinct powers who are also known as variants, other high-ranking officials and leaders also reside there. I have been there once because all of the infants that were born in The Box came from that place. In addition, laboratories and officials who draft the laws are also located there. Meanwhile, those who are deemed normal, healthy, intelligent people, and physically capable to serve the military are found in the middle portion of The Box. The scientists in Hiraya are responsible for maintaining the supply of air, food, and water to the whole population of The Box. They are different from the scientists in Bughaw who are responsible for discovering variants. And the last, the bottom part of The Box is a place where people, like me, reside. We are the ones who did not reach the qualifications mentioned above. There is special energy inside this new world that we live in. But whatever the nature of that energy is—that is something I am not familiar with. Since I was just a child, I was already shunned to the depth of ignorance; unable to learn the things that I want to because it is against the rules of Balwarte. Everything that I know today is solely based on my own experience, just like the training that I have been through when I was just a kid. But I know for a fact that the knowledge that I have now is still not enough. One of the rules herein Balwarte is that we are strictly prohibited to climb up to the Hiraya and Bughaw territories. Death will surely await anyone who even dares to betray the rules. Bughaw is the place for variants, commanders, and scientists of The Box. It is comprised of enormous laboratories, as big as the houses back in the old times. You can also find towering three-story buildings that are also made of metals. These buildings are designated as a residential place for variants, commanders, and scientists. The only difference that Bughaw has from the other two portions of The Box is that there is a type of machine there which creates a door that is connected to the outside. Based on what I know, all of the three divisions of The Box have the same area that is equivalent to a size of a village. The Box can be described as a place with three layers of the village surrounded by metal walls beneath the surface of the soil. These three divisions are connected by a single huge elevator which acts as the sole entrance and exit of each layer. I do not really have any idea how Hiraya looks like, my knowledge about it is only loosely based on what I heard from other people. They say that the laboratories there are occupied by Scientists who make some kind of medicines. I also heard that training ground for soldiers can also be found in the topmost layer of The Box.   I finally decided to get up from the rough and hard surface of my bed. I noticed that there is no one inside the room except me and Yuri which means that we are about to be late for our tasks. Three sirens signify time here in The Box. The first siren is the indication for the start of the day, it means that we already have to get up and do our tasks, the second one means that we are already in the middle of the day, and the third states that it is finally time for us to sleep. I always fail to hear the first siren because of oversleeping due to my exhausted body caused by our rigorous work. Thankfully, I have Yuri to wake me up—it makes my dislike for him fades a little. I can feel the evident soreness of my whole body because of the degree of workloads we did yesterday—but it does not matter. What matters is to make sure that I would not be caught by the soldiers outside because of being late for our tasks. It is hard to live a life in the bottom part of The Box, we are stripped of the right to choose for our own. We always oblige the follow the orders from the people of Bughaw.  We are nothing but slaves. Once we lose the strength to accomplish our tasks, it also becomes the moment for us to lose our worth to live. We do not have the liberty to do what we want. We also do not have the right to influence other people especially those who oppose the government. We cannot inquire questions that boggle our minds every day or even ask why we have to do these tasks. “Tomorrow is the Millennium Years of The Box,” Yuri told me with a visible anxious expression plastered across his face. “Do you know what it means?” He added. I bent down my knee to face my bed before pulling out the drawer attached to it, there I found my clothes so I pick one so I can change. “I don’t know,” I answered curtly. Over the past years, I admit that I am not really paying that much attention to the things he says. It is better that way so I would not have to deal with his stories and other narratives. But a pang of guilt somehow crept into the corners of my mind so I tried to glance at his anxious face. I do not want him to notice that I often get bored every time I talk to him. “Why? What’s the thing about it?” I tried to ask. I started to undress so I can change my clothes. “Screening,” he answered. He is obviously trying to calm himself but his apparent uneasiness cannot be hidden. He is just impossible. He has a weak heart for everything. I stride towards him and stared deeply into his eyes before tapping his shoulder. This is one of the things I dislike about him—his plain cowardice. “Don’t worry. We’re still young, they wouldn’t choose us,” I explained. I suddenly remember that it has been years. According to history, 2036 was the year when the asteroid fell on the planet. It made me realize that a thousand years have already passed since the world changed. A thousand years have passed since an asteroid hit, smashed, exploded, and annihilated almost the entire population of the world. The only human race left were the ones who survived that catastrophic fate. Because of that unprecedented disaster, the economy failed as well as the technology, and the former government. They said that only a 10% probability of people has survived. Everything was pulverized. But a new world rose from the ashes of the tragedy—the metal world that we live in. A world that is no longer round but with four sides; a box. How did we manage to survive? The Box was built before the fall of the asteroid that caused humanity’s demise. After that, everything changed for the people inside The Box. A new government was formed and The Box was divided. Now, a Magus is the one who holds supreme authority over the people in The Box. He is the one who formulates laws and he also has ten commanders who enforce them. The Magus is the embodiment of the law and justice. We cannot do anything about it because the variants are the only ones who are bestowed with rights to occupy positions in The Box to govern its citizens. I am not sure when did this type of rotten system start. But I only know one thing: It is to climb my way up to Bughaw so I can get out of this damn forsaken place.