abel [https://imgur.com/gfZpXk6.jpg]

"There it is. Sky Sight."

Abel opened his eyes at the sound. The train ride had been near silent until those words were uttered. On his right, an older man in his thirties had his head leaned back and seemed fast asleep. To his left, he saw a group of three girls wearing high school uniforms. One of them had spoken. As startled as he was, Abel wondered if he too had begun falling asleep on the long trip.

Sky Sight.

The three girls were now positioning themselves with their knees on the cushioned seats to look out the windows. Abel tilted his head back, not wanting to go through the effort of standing, but still unable to deny his curiosity. His eyes adjusted for a moment, and then he saw it.

Sitting high up in the sky, partially covered by clouds, glowing like a second moon.

It really was Sky Sight.

Some called it the pinnacle of human achievement, while others viewed it as the pinnacle of human folly. After years of fighting and planning, regulating and revising, a machine with hundreds of breakthroughs and setbacks had ended up floating above a now famous city. Agona.

"Do you think it's watching us?"

"Of course not, we aren't in the city yet."

The girls were now talking amongst themselves.

Abel lowered his gaze to the world below. The train was moving at incredible speeds, the tarry landscape passing by, shadows of the distant landscape flashing by in mere moments. He had heard that the trains which passed through Agona had adopted the technology used in the city, a new type of magnet-powered bullet train, but he was still shocked just how fast they shot along the rail.

A blue aura became apparent in the distance. The city limits. Isolated for miles, the area surrounding Agona was barren wilderness. It was a high-tech colony far, far away from the closest city. The tall buildings encased within the blue shielding created a stark, eerie contrast.

The outer limits of the city were clearly visible, a clean edge, one of four straight sides. A big square of civilization in the middle of nowhere. Abel shivered as they passed through the blue aura and were thrown from rolling hills, deep into a city.

“Now it’s watching us.”

“This is pretty creepy...”

“Yeah...I wonder what it’s thinking...”

“It’s a satellite, idiot, it’s not thinking anything.”

The girls repositioned themselves back into their seats as the train cut straight through the square blocks. Abel raised his gaze back to the object hanging in the sky. He had no special interest in the city or the satellite floating above it, but he doubted there were many people who could say they weren’t amazed by their existence.

Within the city limits, the satellite watched everyone. In every room, in every building, on every street corners. The eyes of the satellite were cameras, in the corners of rooms, within the streetlights. It’s ears were microphones attached to those cameras, listening, attentive, analyzing. Giant thermal imaging units were buried under each building, allowing full-scale thermal reproduction models of the city each second.

All of the data was sent to servers even further beneath the city’s surface, rooms filled with supercomputers. The main processing unit, the head processor, a nuclear supercomputer deemed too unsafe to be kept close to the city, could be seen glowing high in the sky above them. It’s sole purpose was to be fed the summarized data and to make decisions within the city.

Expectedly, critics popped up worldwide, calling the idea an abomination. Within the city, humans would be stripped of their rights. Under such a system, privacy was impossible. Ten years of arguing and regulating had passed before the scientists and nay-sayers came to a legal consensus, but Agona was still a sensitive subject in some communities.

When Abel was in middle school, the city had finished its construction. The first volunteers, a group ten thousand strong, passed through the blue light just as he had moments ago, filling the city.

Five years passed. The results were immediate and startling. Peace.

Karma existed in Agona. Real Karma.

Each citizen had their own HUD, a heads-up display, which showed their karma level on request. The microphones in the city picked up on certain spoken keywords. The HUD would appear, a tiny window in front of each person’s eye, using some technology Abel was sure he would never understand. He’d heard talk that the city had been developed as a giant hologram, but it still seemed nothing less than technological magic.

As for what fit into the city’s view of Karma, Sky Sight was the judge. It was the justice sitting watch over them all, determining which actions were positive and which were negative.

Religious communities thought it was too powerful, too akin to a higher-power. They called for the city to be destroyed, to be consumed by brimstone as divine judgment, but their reasoning was ignored as prosperity continued to boom within the bright walls of Agona.

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Outside, the train began to slow. Abel glanced out the window, the roads passing by, straight and flat. They were in the southern section of the city still, right angles everywhere. According to his grandfather, the northern city had been built to look like any other modern day city. There were hills in the road, curves in streets, patches of foliage and parks. The south was a sea of identical skyscrapers, lacking any natural beauty.

The old man knew far more than Abel about the city. His grandfather had followed the planning and construction his whole life, always a proponent fighting for technology. Abel knew he would be excited to hear that he had passed through the city for the first time.

The train began to slow even further. They were at a crawl now.

“Give me a break.”

Abel and the three girls all turned their eyes to the only other person in their car, the middle-aged business man. He regarded them apologetically for a moment, then turned out the window with a sigh. “Sorry. But I’m already late as it is. Why are we slowing down? First the southwest line was down, now this train just stops wherever it pleases.”

“The southwest line was down?” one of the girls asked him.

The man raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, it was.”

“The southeastern line was done too,” one of the other girls said.

Abel worked moisture into his mouth as the others looked at him. “The south line too.”

The cab was silent. It was a rare occurrence for trains to be delayed, let alone be taken down for any extended period. Could there have been three accidents?

“Well,” the man gave a big sigh, “At least we’ll have a story to tell, being stopped in this city and all.” He pulled out his phone, frowning a moment later. “Hm? Does that big barrier block cell service or something?”

Even with his limited knowledge, Abel knew that it didn’t. None of them wanted to answer the question.

The train car began to sway back and forth. In any other circumstances, none of them would have noticed the slight motion, but they all looked at one another in fear. One of the girls looked pale. The silence grew heavy.

“What’s happening?” the pale girl asked.

“I don’t know. We’ll be fine Sarah.”

“Do you think something bad is-”

Noise.

Sudden.

Screeching. Loud enough to wake the dead.

Abel lost control of his body as the sound exploded around them. He tried to cover his ears with his hands, but the sound, its vibrations, were so intense that his sense of touch was useless. His eyes felt as though they were going to squeeze themselves free from his head.

Then the next moment, it was gone, just as suddenly as it appeared.

Abel found himself laying on the floor, his hands pressed against his face. At some point he had started screaming, and it took an effort to force himself to stop. His ears were ringing, louder than they ever had in his life. He wondered if he had gone deaf, if his eardrums had ruptured. He managed to pull himself up to his knees and look around. Two of the girls were laying on the ground, their mouths wide in pain. They were probably screaming still. The third girl was up on her knees as well, looking over at him with a primal look of fear.

He turned his head. The older man was still sitting in his seat, but his fingers gripped at his own head, knuckles white.

What the hell just happened?

Abel managed to push himself off the floor, onto a cushioned seat, taking in even breaths. His hearing was beginning to fade back. The muffled sounds of whining and crying came to him first, the girls consoling one another, clinging for each other, for comfort. Then he started to hear the distant screams, bellowing sounds from other train cars reaching his pounding ears. Then came the voice.

“Hello,” it said. It was male, casual, not unfriendly in the slightest. It seemed to ooze from everywhere at once.

“I sincerely apologize for the pain and discomfort, but I assure you it was crucial to get the attention of each citizen within the city. Now that everyone is awake, allow me to begin.”

“Welcome to Agona, a city unlike any other. Built from the ground up with the newest technology, it has many unique features you’ll find nowhere else. For those of you who have been living in the city, pay close attention, because some of the features have gotten quite an upgrade!

“The Karma system has been given a revamp. Your Karma score is down divided into two, Kara and Bara, for positive and negative actions accordingly. This means that good actions and bad actions are now entirely distinct from one another. Actions deemed positive now give points to your Kara score, without detracting from your Bara score, and just the same in reverse.

“These scores are visible with your CheckSelf command, as before, but I’m excited to announce the release of a new command: Check. Speaking this command will allow you to view the Kara and Bara score of others via your HUD. Simply look at them and speak the word. The information will appear instantly before your eyes.

“Last, but certainly not least, the discounts and privileges previously granted to those who have high Karma levels are still applicable, but the rewards system has been greatly expanded! A complex system of levels has been implemented, allowing citizens to reach up to level five in both Kara and Bara separately. Levels are raised by increasing your scores, and for each level, you will be granted a unique command, tailored just for you!

“Many of you will CheckSelf and find you already have new commands waiting to be used. I encourage all of you to test them and familiarize yourself with their use, as they are now a part of who you are. For those of you who find yourself at level zero in both Kara and Bara, don’t fret! Agona is a city where dreams come true.

“Those already living in the city will have high Kara levels, so to offset this, several trains were redirected into the city. One of these trains has several cars filled with inmates from a top security prison. The others trains are filled with the lucky chosen, from all walks of life. Amongst one of those cars is someone who has already reached level five in both Kara and Bara. If I were you, I would get on their good side!”

“In summary, the rules of this city have been greatly enhanced to increase user satisfaction. Because these rules can be considered an Alpha release, the laser surrounding the city has been increased in intensity, to be certain that no one can enter or leave. Any attempt will end in vaporization.

“This city is now your home, whether you’d like it to be or not. Your acceptance is not necessary. Those who choose to adapt will flourish. Those who refuse to adapt will perish.

“Once again, I apologize for any inconvenience this message may have caused you,” the voice said, “and I hope you continue to enjoy the wonderful city of Agona.”