Zen hurried around the house searching for her dimensional pocket. Usually, she had it on her drawer but last night for the mission, she had to leave it in Marie Elena‘s room since it didn’t go with the dress.

Oh, I hope I didn’t leave it at uncle’s or I am so screwed!

Isaias walked in yawning and scratching his head.

“Morning sis. Shouldn’t you be going to the trolley by now?”

Zen was checking the couch cushions and looked up. “Isaias have you seen my dimensional pocket,” she asked, getting up and checking behind the couch.

“You more than likely left it at uncle’s house.”

Zen sighed and then tapped her ear. A contact list beamed before her eyes and she chose her contact.

Click

“Zen it’s early,” came Marie’s grouchy voice through the comm.

“Sorry, Marie. I seem to have left my dimensional pocket in your room again. I need it for work. Can you bring it over to Constantine’s? I’m late as it is.”

“Sure, what time?”

Zen winced. “As soon as possible...possibly now?”

“Zen! I need my beauty sleep!”

“Promise to owe you one Marie...please?”

“Oh fine but you really owe me!”

“Thanks, Marie.”

Click.

Zen stood and straightened her brown smock dress and grabbed her brown tailcoat.

“I’m off. Hopefully, I’m not too late. Bye Isaias!”

“Bye, hermanita. Don’t forget your lunch capsule!”

Zen came hurrying back and grabbed a brown capsule from the fridge before slamming the front door. Zen rushed to the trolley stop a few meters from her house and sighed when the bulbous lights from the trolley shone through the morning fog. It was likely to be a scorcher but the morning was quite cool enough to emit a thick fog. Zen watched the trolley glide like a silent snake on the prowl on the magnetized path, even though it had no need for wheels. It floated an inch above the rails that guided it like all vehicles with disengaged driving. It came to a halt a foot in front of her and she quickly bypassed the white sterling and cream cars and made her way to the last one, which was gray to match the color schemes of white and cream.

The car was packed like a plush toy, in an overpacked factory at this hour. She managed to find a solitary spot in the back where she found a place to hang onto the handlebars. The trolley started again and Zen gazed out the big window at the plywood houses of her neighborhood. The peeling wood was made to seem so real and it felt real she had the splinters to prove it. The metal doors contrasted greatly and were the only thing of real high tech allowed to the Lows along with letters and comms and that’s because they were mandatory for everyone to have. Good construction material was left for the middle classes and the elite. Cement, Stone Marble all these were for them. As there was no real wood anymore from lack of trees, the Low had to deal with synthetic plywood and plastic that chipped.

She sighed. As the trolley moved on, Zen leaned her forehead on cool glass and glanced at the largest building in the city. The Enforcer’s Quad where everything from fines to house bills was paid. It was round and shaped like a big U. She often wondered if they had forgotten the f in front of it. Most days that’s what it felt like it stood for, a big FU to the classes, especially hers. A stone archway came into view which was the crossing from her side to Arco Iris.

The people were also different. Gone was the blasted brown and in its place were vibrant colors. The people looked healthier, well-fed, kept, and most of all happier, as they frolicked about their lives on the streets with Lows carrying their things for them. What she wouldn’t give for one of them to be a Low for a day even the kids as awful as that sounded. The trolley made its way to the gates.

Thirty minutes later Zen and several others got off and ran their thumbs through the ID port. Then the calls were put through and as always Suzanna made her wait while she confirmed her entry with her mom, making her late. The guard finally waved her through and she walked to the Constantine’s apartment. A few minutes before entering, a buxom brunette dressed to kill in a red halter dress and heels appeared. She smiled at her disgruntled cousin.

“This is the last time Zen!”

“If you didn’t rush me into dresses this wouldn’t happen Marie.”

“I’m going to sew it on next time you forget the gadget so help me. I could have been sleeping! Instead, I have to travel a block from home to see my estranged cousin.”

“Who’s late for work. Thank you, Marie. I really owe you. I’ve got to go!” said Zen as she strapped the dimensional pocket on and set it for cleaning supplies.

“We are going shopping this Sunday...for clothes!”

Zen grimaced. “Alright.”

“Good. Go.” She waved and strolled away to a massive sixty-story foot building made of metal and glass. It shone in the sun.

Zen hurried up to the Constantine’s floor and knocked.

A slim pixie-faced girl opened the door and glared. “What took you?”

“Suzanna, don’t be rude. I’m sure she has a valid excuse...do you not?” asked a plump woman in a navy pantsuit. She looked a lot like the teen beside her. She was standing beside her large island kitchen that separated the large sitting room with all the modern comforts one could want. The bedrooms were on the other side. The main hall was divided into two, where a large closet and Suzanna’s room were. The rest of the hall kept going to the Master bedroom. There was a big mirror halfway down. An antique Mrs. Constantine valued deeply.

“I seem to have left my cleaning supplies with my cousin the night before. She brought them to me just before ma’am. Otherwise, I was kept at the gate again.”

One manicured eyebrow went up. “Well, you know what to do. Suzanna will be studying as usual. Make sure she breaks for lunch and oh yes Fuufie is with her caretaker so you won’t have to walk her today. That should be all. Now I must go. Suzanna be good dear and study hard. You have that test coming up soon on science and technology don’t you?”

Suzanna smiled. “Yes, mother.”

“Well, then I’ll leave the house to you, Susie. I have to go.” The woman kissed Suzanna’s head and quickly left. Suzanna turned diabolical eyes on Zen. “Well, get to work Brownie, and don’t forget to take notes as well. I want to pass my test.” Suzanna commanded smiling as she walked into the large kitchen and grabbed an apple from the fridge. Zen groaned and walked to the school model droid and turned it on taking out a pencil and paper. The droid looked like a man in his fifties with a small pot belly and wore fitted slacks under a tucked button-down shirt. It was of European heritage and had a broom mustache. It was the latest in droid technology and came with very advanced coursework that Zen did for Suzanna. Schools had been revolutionized after the Neural Tech Age. Now, most things are downloaded straight to the brain. Old families like the Constantine’s hired droids to teach their children more advanced coursework.

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I’m not ready for another boring day of lectures. I hope this one isn’t as long as the others. I have a house to clean too.

“In 2018 they found out about the mind workshop but not the mechanics of it.” Began the droid. Thirty minutes later a bunch of teens were sitting around Suzanna’s room gossiping.

“O, my god! Does your Brownie really do your schoolwork for you?” asked a brunette.

“Of course she does, otherwise she’d be useless to me,” said Suzanna.

Zen gritted her teeth and listened to the droid.

“Then came Neurotechnology in 2986. Neural Technology starts with neural cables that attach to the parietal and occipital lobes of the brain. Everything comes from within the mind itself. Exploring the human mind was always in style, but this method amplified that research by a milestone! Suddenly the human mind was capable of so much more and this was experimented on exclusively. They found ways to amplify the minds of newborns, teens, and finally adults of all ages. Genius was no longer a rare genetic occurrence; it was bought merchandise.”

She took diligent notes while the others laughed.

###

Isaias rode shotgun as Nathan drove him and several others to the Hormiguerro’s hideout. The road started out magnetized with distended drive and shifted to a gravel road rich in rocks and pebbles. Isaias winced as the old sedan drove through the memorable roads. It was the gang he belonged to...his family in a way. He wouldn’t die for his money-grubbing cousin though, and neither would Nathan. Luis ironically was their boss. As they neared the base, he noticed a strange energy coated the place like some strange facsimile of a blanket. It made him nervous to see the calm energy around a usually rambunctious bunch of men and women

“Yo Nate! Something happening today at the base?” He asked.

“Today’s supposed to be a show and tell for the Guerreros. We all go through an interview and if we want, take an exam that lets us into their force,” Nathan replied, getting others' attention.

“Mano that’s today! I thought that was next week!” cried a Hormiguero. The others were also panicking.

“Yo! It’s just an interview. How bad could it be?” asked Isaias.

“Dude, I heard if you fail they kick you out of the gang,” replied the Hormiguerro.

“Relax, the only one failing here is Luis and you know it,” said Isaias making the men burst out laughing.

“He’s right,” said Nathan as he parked in the designated parking spot a few blocks away from the entrance. They piled out of the car and headed for the eastern entrance behind the hideout. Isaias walked in to greet a tall brown man with a tortoise-like shell on his back as a shield and a smaller slightly rotund brown male with small eyes and a red cap on his bald head.

“Tortuga. Gorrito, what’s up,” he said patting their backs as their hands were full of semi-assault rifles.

“Good. The boss is trying to schmooze his way through the interview,” Tortuga said rolling his emerald eyes. Beside him Gorrito snickered.

“He needs all the help you can give him, Isaias.”

Isaias scoffed. “Figures. Where is he?”

“In the white room.”

“I’ll get him out of there. Thanks for warning me Tortuga. Be seeing ya!” Isaias waved as he walked past a group of silent Hormigueros playing poker.

These Guerreros have everyone acting like a bunch of nuns. Are they that bad?

Isaias walked to the end of the hallway where the Blue room led off into the White room or his boss’s office. Inside he could make out three figures. Two were armed to the teeth and the last was shifting nervously.

Here goes nothing.

Isaias knocked on the door.

As usual, Luis was dressed like a GQ model in an Armani suit of pure black and shiny black dress shoes. His mahogany hair was up in a ponytail and an unlit cig butt hung from his pouting mouth.

“Boss! The artillerymen found something in the Green room that needs your approval,” Isaias said waltzing into the room unafraid of the Guerreros at his back. Luis swallowed and adjusted his tie, then turned back to the men.

“Well gentlemen, it seems work calls. I’ll leave you with one of my lesser men to interrogate,” he said turning to Isaias. “It’s your turn to be under fire Isaias.” He left with all haste out the door.

“Coward,” muttered Isaias before he turned to the blinking Guerreros. “Alright let’s get this over with then,” he said sitting in Luis’s vacant seat. The Guerreros turned to him and shrugged.

“Name.”

“Isaias Luis Amargarita.”

“Rank.”

Unofficial Lieutenant “a lesser in rank.”

“What is your job?”?

What isn’t my job? I manage contracts, finance, and basically everything Luis should be doing. “Officially a poison maker and assistant to Dr. Shea.”

“How did you join the Hormigueros?”

“That’s a funny story. I was thirteen…”

It took thirty minutes for the Guerreros to question him about everything. They were greatly amused by his tale of admission into the Hormigueros. None like him for sure. Nathan was called next.

“Good luck man. They’re a tough crowd,” Isaias warned. Nathan smirked and patted his back.

“Shouldn’t take more than five minutes hermano(brother)...unless they find something interesting.”

What the hell did they find so interesting about me?

Isaias shrugged and walked over to the green room, their poison center where Luis was arming a stink about some poison.

“What do you mean we only have one sample left? Didn’t we have a stack of Guerrero’s Blood?” He shouted at a rail-thin man.

“We did but we used it all for that mission remember boss?” The man said.

“Find me the sample, Shea!”

Shea nodded and headed for the cold room upstairs.

“What do you need my Guerrero’s Blood for Luis?” Isaias asked as he entered the room. He reclined over the nearest wall and crossed his arms staring at Luis. Unnerving the manboy.

“Nothing a Low needs to know of Isaias. This is gang business.” Luis replied taking a step back unconsciously.

“A gang that I run and you know that Luis. You are not going to sell our last of Guerrero’s Blood for more profit.,” said Isaias.

“We need the money.” Luis stuttered.

“I know that’s why I have a meeting with the Callejeros at three today. To make a new benefiting deal. It would be best if you made it though, that way we wouldn’t lose face.”

“You’re the deal maker, Isaias,” Luis said snidely.

“Only because you won’t take up the whole mantel, cuz.”

“Let’s get one thing straight here cousin. You are a Low privileged by uncle for some reason…”

“Hey, I earned my place here…” Isaias’s eyes narrowed and he curled his fingers into fists. He hated his talks with his spoiled cousin who hadn’t worked for a thing in his life.

“You are an excommunicated Arrio and will amount to nothing just like your mother and sister and…”

In seconds Isaias had Luis on the ground, his leather whip coiled around Luis’s neck. Luis gave a frightened yip. He had never seen his cousin so mad. Shea returned.

“Isaias he’s not worth it. Let him go.” Shea said placing one hand on Isaias’s shoulder.

Isaias uncoiled his whip from Luis’s neck and snapped the whip back. “If you ever talk about my family like that again...even los Santos (the Saints) won’t save you,” he said and stalked off.

Shea helped Luis to his feet while Luis trembled slightly. He had almost forgotten that his cousin could outrank him in a fight.

“Did you bring the sample,” he asked Shea who nodded and presented the turquoise liquid. He took it and walked off with his usual self-righteous lope.

Isaias stalked back into the white room where the Guerreros were giving out exams to gang members. Most weren’t taking them. He thought about his family's fate being excommunicated Arrios. It means we can be used by the family like the slaves they think we are. Mama has put her foot down, but me and Zen, who are still finding our niche in this world. Yeah, they can use us all they want, and we can’t say a thing! Thanks, uncle. We were better off being banished by Grandpa. I’m nothing, am I? Useless? I’ll show him!

Isaias passed some disinterested Hormigueros and grabbed a test before grabbing a seat and taking it.

I’ll show them all!