“Why are you here, Leon?”
It was the first question that came out of the man’s mouth.
The first words he uttered after entering the enforcer station’s interrogation room and sitting down on the chair across from him.
He wore a classic gray west with a dress shirt while his suit jacket was neatly folded over his crossed legs. His dark hair was slicked back with flecks of gray peeking out on the sides.
Just a single look made it evident that this man didn’t belong here. Neither this enforcer station, nor the entire outer territories as a whole. It was the pressure he emitted with his whole being that set him apart from everybody else, including Leon.
What intrigued Leon the most, however, wasn’t the fact that this man of clearly high status suddenly appeared in front of him, but rather the question he asked.
“I broke into the public garbage dumping ground and got caught, sir.”
That earned him a laugh.
“Right, that you did.” The middle-aged man continued to smile while pulling out a thin touchscreen. “Five times at that. Wow, someone might assume you might be looking for some lost treasure.”
“I accidentally threw away some cash and tried to retrieve it.” Leon tried to defend himself but the man clearly knew he was bluffing as his smile never slipped.
"I did some research on you, kid, and trust me that I couldn’t believe what I found.”
Putting the touchscreen on the table, the man showed him the personal file he just opened
“Leon Harper, 17-years-old, grew up in the wastelands to scavenger parents until both of them died due to unknown circumstances around a year and a half ago. You entered the foster system and have been switching families more frequently than you change your clothes. Your educational report was… impressive.” The middle-aged man stopped for a moment, glancing at Leon with one raised eyebrow.
“Unexcused absences, sleeping during lectures, using test papers as your personal sketchbook, as well as playing frequent pranks on the lab managers in chemistry and physics classes.”
“It seems like you’re exclusively stating my flaws.” Leon objected.
“Outstanding expertise in computer programming…”
“That should at least account for something...”
“... and using the aforementioned knowledge to install a virus that shut down the entire school servers for a week, including its connection to the AllNet, which resulted in your most recent expulsion.”
Finishing his sentence, the middle-aged man turned off the touchscreen and dropped it on the table. He appeared almost defeated, as if he was the person mentioned in the report.
"You see, Leon. When I first read it, It appeared to be simply the whims of a teenage child having lost both his parents and venting out his anger at the world, at life. Of course, your special talents not only give you the perfect opportunity to execute it but also expand it to a scale large enough where people very high up in the food-chain like me would get notice of this.”
“Now you sound exactly like my therapist.” Leon scoffed, remembering the words of his court-ordered shrink who got more money than he was worth.
“Yeah, I guess that’s what most people would think, if that report was the truth that is.”
"Sorry?" Hearing the last part of the sentence, Leon got confused for a second before turning into shock.
“Don’t get me wrong, the story checks out and that is what the AllNet has officially registered. Not even the highest Tier 1 Special Clearance could get a different report. Still, you never were the child of two scavengers. In fact, everything about you before you came under the foster system as a citizen of the United Human Territories is completely made up.”
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With every word he spoke, Leon knew that this man wasn’t just someone of importance.
He knew who he was.
This man had information that wasn’t even recorded.
“Sir, what did you say was your name again?” Leon asked, gaining him a slight shake from the middle-aged man.
“Of course, I probably should have introduced myself first. My name is Jim Irvine. I am Head of Development at Alpha Dynamics.”
“Alpha Dynamics?”
That was a name Leon heard of before. It belongs to one of the few mega-corporations that currently dominate the Human Territories. The unrivaled contender in the market for robotics and hardware components.
“Why would an executive, not to mention a department head of such a company, look into my story, Mr Irvine?” Leon truly couldn’t make much sense out of this.
The fact he didn’t belong to this time was… unique. More a result of unfathomable luck than a true miracle. And yet, this man acted like he just found a gold mine.
That’s why the next words surprised him even more.
“It’s because you’re Ben Harper’s son, kid.”
That name echoed in his mind like a never-stopping wave of torment. A name he thought was buried, long forgotten in the past.
“My father?”
“Yes, more than 120 years ago, your father laid the foundation for our current state of peace. His genius among few others saved humanity from the brink of extinction.”
“My father was a mechanic.” Leon desperately tried to calm the storm in his mind.
“Maybe when you knew him. Still, it doesn’t change what he accomplished. My grandfather once had the opportunity to work alongside him. I still remember what he told me about him, even after so many years.”
“What use is it to hold on to some stories of the past.” Leon scoffed, his expression falling with every passing moment.
“The past is what makes us who we are, Leon. Who you are.”
“Not to me, sir. The past doesn’t hold any weight for me at all.” Leon retorted as he stood up from his chair. He moved over to the exit, trying to notify the enforcer-in-charge that he was done talking.
“Are you not even the least bit interested in your father’s legacy, Leon?”
That again. He didn’t know why hearing that word made him stop in his tracks.
His father.
The person who would have done everything for him, and then turned into the biggest mystery.
“Why would that change anything? My father has been dead for over a century.”
“Because you could get answers to your questions.”
“My questions?”
The man nodded, gesturing towards the other seat. Hesitating for a moment, Leon sighed and reluctantly sat down.
“isn’t that why you’ve been doing all this. Meaningless pranks and thefts from places like the garbage dumps. Using your boundless genius for making trouble. Isn’t it because you think nothing matters anymore? After you’ve been cast into a time away from everything you know and cherished?”
“I woke up here to find a cure for my illness.”
“But you never expected it to take such a long time, right?”
He was right. Leon never entertained the idea he would be in cryogenic sleep for so long. Ten years, maybe twenty. It was shocking when he learnt that 132 years have passed and the world has forgotten him and everything before the Great Cataclysm.
“How can I get those answers?”
“I’ll make you a deal.” The man began. “It’s more of a sponsorship, really. When you graduate in six months, you’ll take the qualification test for the Adkins Technical University in the Central Territory, the Capital. As a Tier 5 citizen, you can only apply under a sponsorship, which Alpha Dynamics, represented by me, is taking care of. In return, you will be filling an internship slot in my department where I’ll introduce you to all the research and projects that are directed towards your father’s work.”
“Why am I going to university if I can just start working at Alpha Dynamics directly? It seems like I’m just wasting my time”
“Because it’s the law.”
"What?" This caught Leon off-guard.
Jim Irvine just smiled in return, looking at his silver wristwatch.
“In your time, it may have been different but working at higher-class jobs requires a formal three-year degree at minimum. It’s been that way for decades and everyone, including the successors of top companies have to follow it. Without it, the door to Alpha Dynamics will stay shut.”
“So I have to go, even if I don’t want to?” Leon was completely baffled.
“If you want to get your answers, yes. But even without it, you should make that sacrifice to get a decent career in the future. That is, if you don’t want to remain a lower tier citizen for the rest of your life doing menial work.”
Hearing the answer, Leon wanted to laugh at the absurdity of this system but no sound came out of his mouth. He understood that there wouldn’t be an easy way around it.
The new government ensured laws were held up with enforcers that worked more efficiently than the police of the past.
It would be better for him to simply accept this and attend that university. Who knows, he might even learn something he didn’t already know, no matter how slim the chance was.
If in return, he could get some answers or at least a hint at what went wrong that caused him to wake up more than a century later, it would be a minor sacrifice.
“Alright.” Leon smiled for the first time since talking to that man, Jim Irvine. “I’ll see what my old man left behind.”
……….
‘Every fortune and disaster begins with one single spark of ambition.’
~~Dr. Benjamin Harper’s Memoirs~~